Do This Not That: Don’t favor one side, use both

Free weights are preferred over machine weights because they force both sides of your body to carry an equal load. Cyclists experiment with PowerCranks to prevent one leg from slacking off during a race. The exo ball is popular because it, likewise, is based on the premise that a happy, fit body is a balanced body. Yet we live our daily lives so physically out of whack it’s a wonder we can stay upright. read more

Playground Boot Camp

“I oughta be doing that with you,” the moderately overweight mom who was watching her son yelled.

“We’re starting a class in April,” Polly Eslinger yelled back. “You’re welcome to join us.”

Eslinger’s response seemed to surprise the woman: We were on Cary’s Middle Creek Park Playground at the time, six grown-ups mixed among  kids cavorting on the equipment. A class in what, the woman probably wondered — playing on a playground? read more

Explore the outdoors, discover yourself.