Health

Strength is a hallmark of health. — You don’t have to compete in athletics for strength to be vital for your health and wellness. Low muscle strength is independently associated with an elevated risk of all-cause mortality. What’s the best way to get strong? Build muscle. What’s the best way to lose strength? Allow muscles to atrophy. …

Here’s why and how to create neural and muscular abilities for better balance, flexibility, agility, and mobility as we age. — The Importance of Balance, Flexibility, and Mobility Dancers and athletes with ancient wisdom knew the importance of critical nervous system components before modern science recognized, understood, and described them with empirical evidence. This story is about over 100 years of work pioneered by two Nobel Laureates (Bárány in 1914 and Sherrington in 1932) who explained the vestibular…

How the Westernization of Yoga is Harming its Origins — FREE LINK FOR NON-MEMBERS They promised me yoga would change my life. And it did, though not quite in the way they advertised. When I first started practicing yoga, I was drawn to the flexibility and strength it offered, and the poised and toned bodies of my instructors. Yoga seemed…

New research links cognitive decline to negative perspectives on growing old, adding to other evidence for the power of positivity — Every time I walk into a room and can’t remember why. Every time I misplace my glasses. Every time I can’t come up with a word I know I know. I wonder: Have I begun to lose my mind for real? I know better. Minor mental lapses now and then…

Most of these strategies will also work well for any runner in any other marathon — Jack Fultz is probably the most knowledgeable Boston Marathon runner-coach on the planet. Not only did he win the historic race himself in 1976 — on a 90-degree day known as “the run for the hoses” — but two years later he returned to finish in 2:11:17 under better conditions. …

Not all forms of physical activity are equal, and more isn’t always better. — They say you can’t run from your problems. But if your problems are psychological, perhaps you can. A lot of research has shown that exercise is protective against a variety of mental health conditions. “In general, exercise interventions — regardless of type, frequency, or duration — help relieve psychiatric symptoms,”…

Subtle habits that make you feel worse day by day — The National Institute of Mental Health has some scary stats to share. More than 21 million adults in America are suffering from depression. Do you hear me? That’s a big-a$$ number of innocent people feeling stuck in a deep, dark hole. I’ve come to the other side of depression and…

Smoothies, juices, and milkshakes —