General Discussion 4

[jeriddian]

I suppose I may be the only GJA member with memories of the Big Blackout that struck the Northeast on this day in 1965. Millions lost electricity around 5 o'clock that evening, and most didn't get it back until past midnight. Thousands of NYC commuters were stuck in subway trains; my father was one who didn't make it home 'til the next day. Quite a night.

I remember this... we went over it in 20th Century History. (Ouch. )

Another reason why I'd never want to go through high school again—so much more history to study.

Hmmm. I don't think I'd mnd so much.......if I knew then what I know now.:P

[Fireand'chutes77]

My mom recently got an exercise trampoline-thingy. Being the curious, investigative type, got tasked with putting it together. Snapping the mat out presented a challenge, but I just wasn't leaning on it hard enough. The tramp disk is about 4 feet in diameter and stiff enough that it won't whang me into our 8-foot ceilings. (Awwww... :P)

Since my mom hasn't had time to try it, I've been the first to test it. It's from a company called "Urban Rebounding" (which, IMHO, sounds more suited to a new style of parkour), and I'd hazard a guess that trampoline-ing is some new fitness craze. The brochures are stating that it's less jarring than ground-contact exercises, provides an automatic full-body workout, and "10 minutes on the tramp has the same effect as 20 minutes of jogging."

Of course, I'm always skeptical of what the brochures have to say. Maybe I'm being a bit liberal on the definition of jogging, but yoinging up and down on a trampoline, inside, doesn't seem like it'll give you the same good wheeze-gasp cardiovascular exercise as a good run around the block.

I booted up the provided DVD and selected beginner. I'd been hoping for an instructional set-up and then a list of moves to do on your own, but instead it was structured as a work-out video, which I despise. The hosts are always too eager and yelly, the backgrounds too fake, and the backup exercisers are always too stringy and smiley and Botoxed. Feeling obligated to keep time with the gratingly enthusiastic host is never fun, either. Maybe workout videos are more of a girl thing?

Anyway, the 10-minute workout consisted of a lot of "downwards jumping." The host said not to "jump," in the usual sense; try image a ceiling over our heads, and try to "push downward" with contracted ab muscles on the balls of our feet. I'm not sure how well I did on that. Mixed in that were feet-together back and forth movements, jumping jack movements, arm pumps, and ab twists (together-feet twist one way while jumping; core and arms simultaneously go the other).

At the end, my legs were a bit tired, but I didn't have that panting, heart-racing feeling that I'd wanted, as like at the end of a run. My ab muscles didn't feel as sore and "worked" as I'd wanted, either. I'm guessing this is because of three reasons - I'm not doing something right, I'm using the beginner workout, and the workout is happening constantly, gradually, without having the stress of ground strikes, so I'm not noticing it acutely.

Jeriddian, I know you're with internal medicine, not a kinesiologist, but you might know more than I do - is this trampoline-thing any better than traditional exercises? More effective that traditional running? Don't I actually need ground-contact stress to build muscle? Is this thing anything more than a fad, or does it have actual value?

[jeriddian]

Jeriddian, I know you're with internal medicine, not kinematics, but you might know more than I do - is this trampoline-thing any better than traditional exercises? More effective that traditional running? Don't I actually need ground-contact stress to build muscle? Is this thing anything more than a fad, or does it have actual value?

One reasons you may not feel like you exercised is that you are 17 years old.:P It may be a different story with your mother when she does it.

However, that being said, I think this is yet another of a million gimmicks out there to make you buy someone's product, taking advantage of people's desire to look for a crutch or short cut in attaining the exercise results they want. I don't see any advantage in this methodology over tradional exercise routines, and from your description doesn't really sound like it's that effective.

Don't get me wrong. If it works for your mother, fine. The way each person tackles attaining the discipline to exercise is different. If she doesn't like doing traditional exercise, but does like this method, and it works for her to get the weight off or get in shape, who are we to argue? However, chances are that 99% of the people who buy the product will not get the results they want, mainly because they just don't stick with it, or the product doesn't deliver what it is supposed to deliver. It's the same with the Bowflex or the Total Gym thing you also see on TV. It only works if you use it (and if the product really delivers). I've always wondered how many Bowflexes and Total Gyms are out there that are no longer used, just gathering dust, and I would say it would be a majority of them (although I admit I have no data. I'm just judging form human nature.)

The key to exercise and weight control is always going to be lifestyle change, which to creatures of habit that we are, is just about the hardest thing to do. Whatever method of exercise is chosen, it has to be appropriate for the condition of the person using it, combined with proper diet and rest, and must be mantained regularly without fail. Aerobic exercise (especially non-impact exercise like cycling or swimming) combined with some light weight training seems to be the best mix.

But again the key is sticking with it, and not worrying about the results for a long time. In the initial phase, people who make that big a turnaround in lifestyle and start exercising may initially gain weight because they've gained muscle before they start to lose adipose tissue and the weight from that.

[Fireand'chutes77]

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to get somewhat more in-shape for a backpacking trip this weekend, on a hike ranked one of the top-three hardest in the state.

I won't get too much done before then, but at least it's a start.

----

I'm reading an article about China's burgeoning "Me Generation" in a several-weeks-old TIME. To my horror, the twentysomethings of China appear to have become just... like... us...

From the article:

"There's nothing we can do about politics," says [one of the twentysomethings interviewed], "So there's no point in talking about it or getting involved."

[They have the power to prop up the Communist Party] - so long as it keeps delivering the goods. "On their wish list," says an official, "a Nintendo Wii comes way ahead of democracy."

"...I care about my rights when it comes to the quality of a waitress or a prduct I buy. But when it comes to democracy and all that, well..." She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. "That doesn't really play a role in my life."

"...We have so much bigger a desire for everything [than our parents]... And the more we eat, the more we taste and see, the more we want."

"We are more self-centered. We live for ourselves, and that's good. We contribute to the economy. That's our power."

Oh crap oh crap oh crap crap crap... People like this are going to run the world into the ground (The same could be said of the Yanks, but there's even more of them than there are of us.) We've created our own worst nightmare...

[jeriddian]

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to get somewhat more in-shape for a backpacking trip this weekend, on a hike ranked one of the top-three hardest in the state.

I won't get too much done before then, but at least it's a start.

----

I'm reading an article about China's burgeoning "Me Generation" in a several-weeks-old TIME. To my horror, the twentysomethings of China appear to have become just... like... us...

From the article:

"There's nothing we can do about politics," says [one of the twentysomethings interviewed], "So there's no point in talking about it or getting involved."

[They have the power to prop up the Communist Party] - so long as it keeps delivering the goods. "On their wish list," says an official, "a Nintendo Wii comes way ahead of democracy."

"...I care about my rights when it comes to the quality of a waitress or a prduct I buy. But when it comes to democracy and all that, well..." She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. "That doesn't really play a role in my life."

"...We have so much bigger a desire for everything [than our parents]... And the more we eat, the more we taste and see, the more we want."

"We are more self-centered. We live for ourselves, and that's good. We contribute to the economy. That's our power."

Oh crap oh crap oh crap crap crap... People like this are going to run the world into the ground (The same could be said of the Yanks, but there's even more of them than there are of us.) We've created our own worst nightmare...

The danger to the Chinese system is that the Communism ideal and philosophy will suffer greatly and deteriorate under this egotistical attitude that the young Chinese have nowadays. This will actually promote a more pro-Democratic concern among them, even though they may profess not to really care about that now. The individual basis for democracy is still enlightened self-interest, and this will drive the younger Chinese geenration more towards that goal as globalization will likely shake them further out of their strict paternalistic societal behaviors and make it less likely to simply accept what has gone before.

As soon as they are able to truly accept the Western ideals as their own, I think you will see a true resergence of the pro-Democratic movement in China. but they have to achieve broad acceptance of the concept of individual rights. Chinese culture to this day does not have that. There is no word, symbol, or idea in their language or culture which translates to the concept of "inalienable right". The closest concept they have of a "right" is a "power" you were able to gain for yourself by force, but nothing to express a thing that every human being deserves and can claim simply because they are human beings (at least in poilitical terms).

Nonetheless, whatever happens, your generation is going to have to deal heavily with the Chinese, and the Indians, and the Brazilians, and the European Common Market, because it is these economies that will be the biggest threat to America. I don't mean this in a tone of political enmity or military might. But America is the greatest power on Earth because if our economy, not our military (It's the economy that makes the military possible in terms of logistics), and the emergence of these new competitors will challenge us greater than ever before in order to maintain our position of strength and power in the world order.

[Fireand'chutes77]

The Brazilians too...? Oy....

What are they going to do, sell us surplus ethnol?

[cpneb]

The Brazilians too...? Oy....

What are they going to do, sell us surplus ethnol?

Don't look too closely, flame-N-silk-double-lucky, but there is tech development going on down there, not to mention the agriculture (cattle and coffee, among others).

We, as Americans, tend to think that no one else can do it; we need to remember that lots of others have been here, returned to their home countries, and, in some cases, shot past us as we sat on our collective comfortable behinds celebrating our successes.

Shego was correct: Back to work!

[campy]

... you need this toaster. Trust me.

[Fireand'chutes77]

... you need this toaster. Trust me.

Yes, but for $455? :P

[Fireand'chutes77]

Sorry for the double-post.

Does anyone here play Halo? I'm looking for a description/technical explanation of the man-portable force fields we see featured in the trailers for Halo 3.