I imagine the planes flying over my house on the way to LAX are windchimes gently blowing in the wind.  The dog barking next door is my throughbred Clydesdale neighing in the stable.  The crackheads arguing on the sidewalk are businessmen discussing politics.  The gangbangers tagging up the wall are really hired artists commisioned to paint a beautiful mural.  The littered alleys are yellowbrick roads lined with Jacaranda trees.  The sirens from the firetrucks, ambulances, and police cars are church bells tolling 12 o'clock.  The prostitutes standing on the corner are picturesque statues from the Roman Empire.  The little bad kids throwing rocks at the cars in the parking lot are well refined children playing croquet on the lawn.

As I can't lay in my bed any longer, I open my eyes and everything was what it really is

WELCOME TO THE GHETTO

Here are four reasons you need to alter your workout to do all you can to avoid the bench:

Reason #1: The Bench is an excellent test of your ability to push a bar off your chest while resting on a bench. Thats about it.

It is NOT a good indicator of your ability to perform in an athletic event (other than bench press contests, I guess). It is NOT a good indicator of how many push-ups you can do. Many athletes have been amazing without good bench press strength (see this article on Kevin Durant - he is one of the next NBA draft picks.)

It is NOT real world in any way shape or form (unless you happen to wake up with a bar wrapped across your chest every morning.)

Reason #2: The bench in bench press immobilizes your shoulder blades and can make you more susceptible to shoulder issues as a result.

Think about where your shoulderblades go when you lie down on a bench. Think about how freely they move in any other standing exercise. The difference between you standing vs you lying down with the blades pinned is staggering and is one of the main reasons people experience such shoulder issues as a result of this primitive exercise.

If you want a workable solution try dumbbell presses on a fitball. That works great for keeping the shoulderblades fluidly moving. It also requires other muscles to play in with the exercise.

Reason #3: You already have an overdeveloped chest.

Think about every time you get up off the ground. Every time you try to move furniture. Gravity is such that we use our chest much more than we use our backs. It is also the easiest thing to see in the mirror, so we naturally work it to make it more prominent.

Our poor back and rhomboids on the other hand get left behind more often than not. If our shoulders are pushed forward that can irritate the capsule which can lead to reduced force production.

Reason #4: Death

Every year a few people die doing this non-functional exercise, when they would receive so many more benefits from doing a dumbbell press or 1-arm flyes instead. If just one person dies because of this exercise, that means there are many more out there that have been injured through improper (or absent) spotting.

More often than not, this happens:

Although I cannot deny that if you want to work a muscle group the chest press is an excellent exercise, the potential for injury with this exercise far exceeds the potential gains when we examine the close relatives of this exercise:

Alternatives to the bench press that significantly reduce the risk of shoulder injury and simultaneously activate the core:

Barbell/Dumbbell Press on Fitball

Chest fly on fitball

Push-ups with different hand positions

Of course, if you tell your friends about this they will likely want to keep doing bench press. It's human nature to keep doing what is easy rather than what gets us where we want to be.

Know that this article is not about to convince your friends to do the more functional and practical alternatives listed above. Just don't let them come crying to you when they start to experience back/shoulder/neck/elbow/wrist pain or postural imbalances from doing such a non-functional exercise.

In short, the bench press is an easy exercise to teach and do. That doesn't make it the best, and it doesn't mean there aren't a dozen other exercises out there that will provide better gains for the energy and effort expended.

Jamie Atlas

http://jamieatlas.com

Want some more fitness ramblings in your inbox? Make sure you subscribe to my rss feed!

Music:
Kristian Stanfill - Paid It All

We were both presenting at a weekend conference and we both got the chance to talk and compare notes about what we had done and where we were going.

In case you don't know who Beth Horn is, she is otherwise known as 'Venom' on the TV show 'American Gladiators'. She's the one in the skin tight outfit that looks like a Captain America outfit crossed with a roll of duct tape. Oh wait... thats all of them (take a moment to feel sorry for the guys, who have to try and look tough while wearing a cross-your-heart silver bra).

I don't hate her in the way that you might think. The truth is, I think she is an amazing person. Over the three day conference I got to understand just how amazing a person she is. So why do I hate her?

I hate her in because she reminds me about all the things I want the courage to be, but do not have yet.

It's not because she is in amazing shape - although I would like a tad more athletic ability, I don't feel the need to start shaving my chest or measuring the size of my guns.

Its because that she has done all sorts of amazing things even when she has been given multiple knocks by life.

This lady is going places. She has overcome challenges, stays positive, is ALWAYS 'on', and seems to have nothing but kind words to say about everyone.

I didn't buy it at first. I mean, how could I? What are the chances of being an amazing athlete AND an amazing person who has fears and hopes and dreams just like mere mortals such as you and I?

But she is the real deal. Which means I now have to handle my own ego, face the home truths about my own abilities and challenges that I have been looking to overcome for a long time...

Heres a few reasons why I hate her

(which also happen to be the secret to her success and also the secrets that await any others who would choose to do the things she has been doing):

She is not afraid to accept or ask for help:

Beth has a family and husband that she has asked for help in many ways. She knows that people are willing to help if she is willing to ask for/accept it.

Her trainer, Bob Dixon is an amazing man who has a constant flow of positivity for all around him. He also keeps her out of her comfort zone, pushing constantly for her to become what he sees in her. She respects him and listens to him. She knows that she is still learning (as we all are) and she is always eager to share ideas and learns from every experience.

She stays positive

When she was telling me about how she broke her ankle in two places with a smile on her face I was curious. When she discussed how her life was thrown upside down and he gymnastics dreams shattered with a torn ACL (followed by another knee surgery soon afterwards) I began to wonder what kind of heavy artillery it would take to keep her down.

Truth is, she is always looking for the way to be positive - whether the sun is shining or the rain is falling. She knows the power it brings her and she uses that power constantly.

She writes things down:

I am constantly telling my clients to write down their workouts. It is important to do so you know where you have come from and where you are going from a fitness perspective.

Beth has written down every workout since 1998. She also has a journal that she writes in. Which means she can see before, now and future from a life perspective. I hear this again and again but I think it might just be time to actually believe it enough to do something about it.

Which means change on my part (and who likes change, right? It just gets in the way of me watching 'Americas next top model' and '' and other shows that let me know all about other people who are doing more amazing things than me). What do I write down? I don't have a journal and I certainly don't write down every workout. So now it looks like I will have to write down my workouts and start a journal which will probably result in some dead trees - I hope you're happy, Beth Horn. The environment is suffering now because of you.

She puts herself first:

We all went out to dinner on Saturday - Which was a great time and Margaritas were flowing freely on the table. But she didn't drink.

She had already drunk her one drink for the week and was not going to budge. And I respected her for that. She gave the answer matter of factly but in a nice way. When she left the rest of the group to get back to the hotel so she could get a good nights sleep, it became obvious that one of the secrets of her success was her putting herself first. Meanwhile, I stayed up 'til 4am. And suffered the consequences that next day.

She dreams big:

Beth Horn gets what Beth Horn wants. Because she sees it and she goes for it. She has other people that remind her should she get sidetracked and she has people that want to see her succeed because she is so excited to succeed. I think we all want to help others achieve their dreams - sometimes we have trouble sharing them with each other. Perhaps we think that there is a risk that they will laugh at us.

And that is the point at which I hate her.

I hope that she gets everything she is dreaming for. I hate her because now I am living in a new darkness, where the future is uncertain and the chance of a new exciting level of success is being entertained. I will always have time for her, and I am always going to be glad to have met her, but for right now - I hate her.

But I respect her.

Beth Horn has big audacious goals. She reminds me of a speech made by Nelson Mandela that was one of the readings at my wedding. If you have been to my wedding, you heard this read inbetween the cheesy guitar song I played and some random reading from 'the prophet'.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Marianne Williamson

So thank you 'Venom', for driving me to want more. To aim higher. (but it doesn't mean I don't still hate you.)

I think dreaming big is the biggest issue for all of us. But even if you don't want to be Beth Horn and beat up on innocent contestants with a variety of heavily padded implements, give yourself a chance to dream big.

For you are powerful beyond measure. I am powerful beyond measure. And I am going to start taking more chances to see just how powerful beyond measure I can be.

I invite you to do the same.

Jamie Atlas

http://jamieatlas.wordpress.com

Want some more fitness ramblings in your inbox? Make sure you subscribe to my rss feed!

If you liked this article, you might like:

The one question you need to ask yourself before starting a fitness program

I'm really tired right now. I don't want to remember what had happened. -_-

Music:
Hillsong - Inside Out

Learn How to Play an Instrument - There are all sorts of musical instruments you can play and it doesn't matter how young or old you are.  Even if you have never considered yourself to be very musical you can still give it a go.  However it's important to note that it's not always easy to learn by yourself which is why it's a good idea to get a private tutor.  There are many places you can find details of tutors such as The Registry of Guitar Tutors.

Bonsai Growing - Basically you plant a tree in a pot which means the growth is stunted and you end up with miniature trees.  There are all sorts of trees that you can grow in a pot including pine, azalea and jade.  A lot of care, patience and time is required to grow these successfully but if you want more info you can find it at Bonsai Tree Care.

Bird Watching - You don't have to be a "twitcher" to get enjoyment out of watching birds.  There are some people who are pretty obsessed with the subject and will travel for miles to see rare birds.  But you don't even need to leave the comfort of your own home.  Simply put out some bird feeders and watch various garden birds pay a visit to your garden.  The only problem is dealing with squirrels which is something that Twirl a Squirrel is supposed to deal with.  That reminds me, I really need to get myself one of those.

"If you want me to fall for you, give me something worth tripping over.."

...and I really, really want to fall.

So basically, I haven't spoken to X in what feels like ages. He calls sometimes during the week, but I can never talk for long. He isn't online anymore and he doesn't even bother to send me messages or emails. So, whatever. I'm sick of voicemails that say I am missed and that "I adore you." It's great and all, but I'm over it. Every day I see these couples walking, holding hands, kissing and it disgusts me. Honestly, I think disgust a defense mechanmism, because if I were not disgusted, I would probably be very sad and depressed. Instead, I just think to myself, "Hah. Look at those stupid idiots, so in love. It's gross. It disgusts me. Love does not exist." But at least I recogognize my issue, right?! You know, I imagine anyone who reads my rants must think I am like, completely psychotic and an Ice Queen. But in troth, I am anything but!

On the bus on the way to my Air France flight from Paris, there was this couple who essentially made out the ENTIRE ride to the plane. I turned my back to them. I mean WHO DOES THAT!??! Ugh.

Anyway. I haven't spoken to X in two days, he finally signs onto AOL and we have a brief conversation. He says he misses me, asks how Venice was, etc, I tell him it was fun, went out, blah blah. He asks if I got laid-- and I say, obviously not-- but its sweet of him to be concerned-- then he goes on about how I'm a beautiful girl and he hasn't been able to talk to me and blah blah. He says "I want to be with you". Blah blah. You know, it's great that he seems concerned and wants to be with me but I just roll my shoulders. I don't care anymore. What-theFUCK-ever. I want something real. I want something here. He can't be here. He can't hold me, he can't kiss me, he can't hug me, touch me, love me, laugh with me, cry with me, support me-- nothing. Nada. He can't do any of those things for me. All X can do is make me angry and jealous of other real couples. All he can do is NOT be there. And frankly, that's not enough.

If you cannot appreciate me.

If you cannot be in touch with me.

You cannot be with me.

Period.

I can tell you that I am no expert in body building, but I do know that exercise is essential and a requirement for a long healthy happy life. There are no excuses. The first thing to know about getting into a fitter lifestyle is setting a goal. Set a large end goal and give yourself a couple smaller goals to achieve along the way. Then set yourself a deadline. 10 Push ups by the end of the week, 20 the next, 30 the next, and 100 two months from now.

If you go through the week without exercising at all, start with 10 minutes before you leave the door for work. Ask yourself, is your school or place of work within a reasonable walking distance, and if so, walk instead of taking your car, you'll save money and get healthy too. After a few weeks of this, start to jog, then up it to running.

In my experience, excercising, especially running or jogging right after I get off of work or back from school helps me the most. Rather than crashing on the couch, bed, or computer and vegging out for a few hours, I find coming home and immediately excercising no matter how wiped out you were from the day helps tremendously. It gets my mind off the day, I get exercise, I stop stressing about upcoming events, and afterwards I get to come back, plop on the couch and veg-out for a legitimate reason.

Getting fit requires lots of extensive and thorough work, however it also requires lots of little things. Starting tomorrow, analyze everything you do. If you're prone to taking escalators, take the stairs. If you're bored slouching at your desk, get up walk around, do a push up or two. Are you drinking 5 sodas a day, cut it down to 2 or three, or switch to diet. Changing your life is all about big changes, but, sometimes the culmination of dozens of little changes can have just the same effect if not greater.

Heres a few resources to help you get some ideas:
http://hundredpushups.com/index.html
http://www.trainwithmeonline.com/index.asp
http://exercise.about.com/od/cardioworkouts/tp/cardioexercise.htm

-Kline, Improvementstrategies.

today had made more study on the hardware about 89C52 clip, and spend lots of time to understand how to use clips to capture actions on the uncoded keyboard. the English learning process takes more words to remember than yesterday. another thing I have to say is gained lots of news information from the paper I once loved called Economic Observer, marketed in the high social class and only give deep report on news issue.

Google Street project shocked me that how the next generation communication way will become. nobody can give the precise imagination except the Google. I love those great smooth service provided by Google, Gmail is my major mail box, simple user interface and efficient control way added lots easy short-key, gives you a pre-experience on the future mobile office. Google reader is another good stuff even I did not use it frequently I have to mention it. Picasa, yes, needless to say, that is absolutely the best picture manage software in this planet. Google earth now had lavish changing people's daily life behavior, you can feel it from TV, cell phone, any perspective. Google documents online also is a taste of future office working. and lots of other services or products in Google like blogs, video, orkut, and gtalk, etc.

joined a QQ group which is clowned by single persons. aha, maybe I will find some new friends to consume some of my free time.

physical body shaping project seems begin to show effect today. so glad to see this, and this is the reason for I call today's post as a lucky day.

yeah, another thing from the excellent movie I have to talk about. the movie 'wanted'.

story might not suit for everyone, but the visual effect plays so well in this film, I put my 5 stars recommendation on it.

Puppies–who doesn’t love the sweet breath and attitude of a wiggly, adorable pup? But, puppies grow up

quick. And to keep them sweet and willing, owners must understand a little bit about the growth and development of

their charges.

The following is a general discussion of critical periods in a dog’s emotional, mental, and physical

development. If a critical learning period is missed, although a dog may be trained, its basic and natural reactions are

permanently affected and its full potential will never be reached. Missing one or all of these periods may cause a

puppy to become emotionally and mentally handicapped in its social interactions with other animals and humans–for

life.

Puppies cannot be taught anything prior to 21 days. They need only to be kept clean, warm, dry, (between 80

and 90 degrees) and allowed to nurse and sleep. These needs are usually met by the dam (mother dog.)

On average, puppies open their eyes somewhere between 11 to 19 days, with 13 days being average.

Puppies cannot hear anything before three weeks of age. Puppies begin to walk unsteadily on the 18

th

early as 12 days. From 21 to 49 days, playing and play fighting begins.

At approximately three weeks of age, puppies begin to go toward sights, sounds, or smells, and their

tendency to “whine” decreases. All their sense organs are now functional. The puppy is no longer dependent on reflex

responses to hunger, cold, and touch. It can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. They can eliminate independently and

will normally leave their nesting and play area to eliminate. Their memory develops. By three weeks of age, their

brains start to take on adult characteristics. By seven weeks, they have "adult" brains and "mature" brain waves are

first recorded.

At this three week stage, great changes take place mentally and physically to puppies. They find sudden and

unexpected stimulation emotionally startling. Any additional noise, confusion, or rough handling can cause puppies to

become "fear imprinted." Puppies should not be subjected to excessive stimulation during this period, as they are

having to cope with several newly developed senses at once. What a puppy learns during its third week becomes

fixed and will influence its attitudes toward man, other animals, and its environment, throughout its life.

Puppies should not be weaned or adopted before seven weeks of age. Weaning before the seventh week

may cause noisy or nervous behavior for life. Puppies need their litter mates until seven weeks to learn to interact well

with other dogs. Taken before seven weeks, puppies miss critical socialization periods, and may show less interest in

normal dog activities for life.

Puppies adopted after seven weeks may pick fights with other dogs as adults. However, neither adopting a

puppy before seven weeks or after eight weeks will have such a drastic or negative effect that you should never

consider adopting a puppy outside of seven weeks. There are simply too many other factors to be considered when

choosing a puppy for this to be the deciding factor.

At seven weeks, puppies' brains are fully developed. This is the best time to adopt a puppy. It has had an

opportunity to interact adequately with both its mother and litter mates and time to learn the socialization skills critical

to its future interaction with humans and other animals. If weaning and transfer occur simultaneously, the best time to

adopt is at eight weeks.

Research shows aggression develops in puppies that do not stay with their mother long enough and also in

puppies that remain too long. Puppies taken at the end of the fourth week and given a lot of human attention may

become so socialized to humans they do not care for other dogs. Some identify with humans so strongly that they

express sexual desires toward humans rather than dogs, such dogs can be difficult or impossible to breed.

Positive training and gentle discipline can start at eight weeks. With proper training, puppies can be expected

to obey every command they have been taught. While housebreaking can begin at 8 weeks, do not expect immediate

success. Generally speaking, up to 8 months, a puppy can be expected to “hold” eliminations for one hour per month

of age. In other words, a three month old puppy should only be expected to wait three hours MAXIMUM time between

eliminations.

From 8 to 12 weeks also marks the beginning of another fear imprinting period.

From 12 to 16 weeks, puppies cut teeth and declare their independence. The puppies decide who the “pack

leader” is going to be. It is critical to establish yourself as leader during this period. Nothing helps a puppy learn

appropriate dog behavior towards humans more than simply taking it away from its litter mates and having a pleasant

session of one on one play, training, or work daily.

Although these important critical learning periods occur, one should never interpret this to mean that a dog

cannot be trained after these periods. Dogs can be trained throughout their lives and, if the training is done properly,

dogs enjoy the process. Dogs that have no defined purpose are often bored and boredom can lead to behavior

problems. Training is an important way for your dog to express its energy, intelligence, and instincts.

10. Vanity.  I'm not going to lie.  There's a certain element of vanity and ego that drives getting in and staying in shape. 

9.  Strength.  It's nice to have the strength to do things when I have to like moving furntiure or other types of heavy lifting.  I like to know that I can carry stuff without having to worry about pulling muscles or throwing my back out.   

8.  Condition.  There's nothing worse than going outside for a run, walk, or activity and not being able to last for any length of time.  Or playing a pick up game of basketball and pulling a muscle.  I don't want to wake up one day to have suddenly taken so many steps backward that I can't participate in any physical activity due to lack of condition. 

7.  Activity.  Excercise is a great way of staying active and re-creating myself.  It's something that's fun to do and I can do it with my wife.  There are lots of activities that are also excercise -- Jogging, Tennis, Swimming, Hiking, Bike Riding...just to name a few.

6.  Self Esteem.  Something about regular excercise and healthy diet just makes you feel better about yourself.  When I'm not working out or eating well, I don't feel as good about myself.

5.  Defense/Protection.  I'm no Chuck Norris but I will say that it's somewhat comforting to know that if I were in a situation where I had to physically defend myself or my family that I would at least be in enough shape to take the challenge. 

4.  Energy.  Regular excercise is a great way to have the right kind of energy throughout the day.  I have never NEVER had or ever will have one of those energy drinks.    You know what I'm talking about...Red Bull, Monster, etc.  People who drink those are rarely in any kind of shape. 

3.  Sex Life.  Again, I'm not gonna lie, it helps.  Especially when you and your spouse work out together.  Have you ever heard the term "SYNERGY"? 

2.   Long Life.  Studies have proven (and it shouldn't surprise any of us) that people who get regular excercise and eat right live longer.  I want to be around as long as I can.  I want to be like those 90 year old men you see on the golf course --and they don't use carts!

1.  It's Biblical.  No to get all spiritual but this is the bottom line.  We're told to "present our bodies...holy and acceptable" and we're told to take care of our bodies because they are God's dwelling place.  Christians, of all people, should take personal health seriously.

I just vomitted all my lunch and there were bits of my breakfast's bittergourd. And I'm still having nausea. How aweful was that? I don't know what really triggered this condition. Must be the trip from Makati to Antipolo, maybe the weather, or perhaps the Strada itself. It gave me a lot of nausea before. Or worse, the anger I am keeping inside lately. I remember being really upset before and ending doing the same thing.

One thing is for sure. I hate to vomit. And I hate having headache with nausea. -_-

You don't even care!

Ladies, don't even try to fool me for a second... I know you don't care.

Right now in your head the subconscious wheels are turning, pre-discounting every comment this article is about to make. It wouldn't matter if I came up with some statistic that showed your teeth would fall out from wearing high heels - you would simply discount it with a wave of your hand and a comment like "that's why god invented dentures'.

If all women suddenly decided that they cared, there would be a collective rumble as one and all would gather all their berardis, ferrugias and guccis and ignite them all in a large bonfire the likes of which could be seen by the Mars Lander.

This would be immediately followed by a series of high fashion assassinations to which the french revolution pale in comparison (watch out, Blahnik -you're first on the chopping block!).

This race in high heels is brought to you thanks to the generous support of your local podiatrists and physical therapy association. Every participant gets a free consult and shot of painkiller following the race.

This pricey piece of Manolo Blahnik costs $7000. Thats just for the left one (yep, thats $14,000 if you want the full pair). It should come with a chiropractor and bunion surgery 50% off voucher.

So maybe you DO care and I am being cynical. Maybe it's not your fault. Lets look at how society has conditioned you to need these fashion tools of torture.

If you already wear heels on a regular basis, you have had the following yo-yo thought process probably as many times as you have worn heels:

Order of thinking for the 'high-heeltarded':

Featuring your logical conscience, and your socially bred feelings of inadequacy

Woman in high heels gets out of car, takes first step and goes through standard thought process below:

"Oh man, these shoes kill! Why do I even wear these things?!"

"But my legs look so much nicer in them - and whatever would I match with my dress"

(second step, proceeding compression/impingement of every bone in the foot accompanied by searing pain)

"That is it! My back is already starting to hurt me, my toes are warping into some strange bonsai tree-looking disfigurement and I don't even like this guy that much!"

"Oh but look at her shoes? She looks so glamorous in them! Maybe she looks a bit uncomfortable, but how would any man even notice her tear-streaked face and muffled cries of pain when she has such beautiful legs!"

And so you walk on, excruciating step after excruciating step, paying the price for beauty...

And even though I know you are held back by your guilt-laden fashion shackles, it is my dream that maybe... just maybe.... there is a little girl out there in cyberspace who has not yet had her mind corrupted by the collection of fashion magazines, womens shoe stores or the constant barrage of "sex and the city" reruns. Maybe it's too late for you to change. I don't think it is ever too late. Only you can know.

Next time you think twice about wearing tennis shoes to work, think about these legs and remember that you can look just as good in sneakers no matter what you are doing.

But I look so good in heels! Surely standing in High Heels improves my posture?

When you are standing in the high heels, yes, your posture is improved - because if you did not stand tall then you would fall forward. By tilting the back heels up, our upper body instinctively leans back to prevent imminent toppling over.

But here's the catch - if you stand in heels, then your feet are tilted up. This creates a chain reaction that can cause your hips to counterbalance your elevated heels by tilting the pelvis forward.

Standing in heels can cause your pelvis to tilt forward, putting excess pressure on your lower back.

Is that all? Of course not! If the pelvis learns to stay tilted forward (which can happen if you wear high heelsand/ or work at a desk most of the day) then as you can see above, when we stand our lower back is swayed in and our upper back must respond by arching back.

This chain reaction from the heels to the hips to the upper back has the potential to be a factor in pain and dysfunction in every joint throughout the body and other maladies associated with posture.

Urinary track infections can also be related to wearing High Heels. But dont't take my word for it - click here to read an interesting article that references Larrian Gillespie, M.D.

Maybe I have been too harsh. Maybe not all of this information applies to you and you are careful and concerned about your feet. If that is the case, then I applaud you for putting your body and your feet before fashion.

Here is the take-home message I want this article to give you:

If you have foot problems, low back, knee, hip or neck pain, avoid high heeled shoes at every opportunity.

If you don't have any problems, then please use these weapons of fashion in moderation. For your feets future. For your posture.

Experiment with different shoes. Play with your style. At least find something that you can wear to less important days/nights.

You can be glamorous, attractive and as fabulous as you want to be without artificial elevation. Just take a look at these fashion forward pics:

Jamie Atlas

http://jamieatlas.wordpress.com

Want some more fitness ramblings in your inbox? Make sure you subscribe to my rss feed!

Afternote: I got some great responses to this post, but was really excited to stumble across this other post (click here to view it) that reinforces the whole anti-heel thing and comes from a womans perspective (because I don't wear heels - you try finding size 15 heels!)

After-afternote: If you wanted to take the attention away from your feet, you might want to look at the 'perfect butt' exercise combo I put together. You can read all about it (and watch a short video of the exercises) right here

Before we start going into details, though, you, the reader, need to know how we are measuring the strength of a relationship. In this exploration of the topic, we will be talking about two opposites: physical intimacy and emotional intimacy. In basic terms, I think we can safely define physical intimacy as anything sign that you can see from an external point of view, such as holding hands, making out, sex etc. while emotional intimacy is invisible, untangible, for example, missing the other person, caring about the other person etc.

Personally, I think the best way is by measuring the emotional intimacy of a relationship. Now I know that you can't ACTUALLY measure this, with like an emotional intimacy-o-graph or something, but we can sort of see the emotional intimacy of a relationship by how close two people are. And not physical closeness, like holding hands when they go out, but emotional closeness, like caring about each other, wanting to hear about the other's day, missing the other person, other stuff like that. (Very scientific I know).

On a side note, I think that physical intimacy between two people should come about as a result of emotional intimacy, as opposed to the other way around IE an emotional bond as a result of a physical bond. For example, if two people love each other, then the physical relationship IE making out, sex, whatever would naturally occur as a result of the emotional connection. In the inverse, when sex is a priority, there is no guarantee that an emotional bond will occur, as evidenced by the scores of one night stands that occur.

This is some evidence enough that relationships built on physical bonds don't last. Some of the strongest relationships I know are built with emotional intimacy as a foundation, and from personal experience I can say that when physical intimacy exceeds emotional intimacy in a relationship, that relationship is probably not going to be successful.

Of course, there is no definitive law that says "All relationships where the physical intimacy levels exceed the emotional intimacy levels will fail sooner or later". No. What we can deduce, maybe, at a stretch from the very little evidence, is "Relationships where physical intimacy exceeds emotional intimacy tend to be less successful than relationships where the inverse is true." Even that is a stretch because the data is very limited.

So, in an ideal relationship, physical intimacy should come about as a result of emotional intimacy, and not the other way around. Um ... I wanted to say a whole lot more on the topic, but I have totally gone blank. I will edit this post or post a new one when it comes back to me (and if it comes back to me).

Ok comment! Go go go! Tell me what you think! If you thought it was rubbish, or agreed with it, or anything.

The pain is still here. It's 0224H and I noticed it 5 minutes ago. I wonder if it has something to do with how I sleep, which is usually left-side-lying.

Music:
Kristian Stanfill - I Need You

I wonder about the logic of the dislike people have for doctor and dentist offices.  I mean, all things considered these people are trying to help us out by keeping us healthy.  Still a lot of people, myself often included, have aversions to these places.  I'm sure there are some reasonable psychological reasons but I am not feeling in the mood for looking them up right now.  Personally I hate the hospital a lot more than either the plain old doctor office or the dentist, partially due to awaking in a hospital after suffering some pretty descent alcohol poisoning in my foolish and rowdy college days. The easiest medical visits in my personal opinion are the optometrist.  The only thing I don't like about eye check0ups are those little puffs of air they do in your eyes, and really those are quite minor in comparison to being poked and prodded at your physician.

Oh well, got to keep healthy right?

I have come to realize that whenever I am about to "open it" or even think of doing so, I go hyperventilating. It sucks. My mind used to be strong enough to withstand it, but when days have passed I've realized that I could no longer do so.

My body is reacting in a way, I believe, to "protect" myself. This just tells me that I'm not over it. It seems like it'll really take me some time to do so.

I can't even dare myself to "open it." I hate it. Have I become this weak?

Music:
Garbage - I Think I'm Paranoid

But isn't this just like us?  When we sin, we try to hide our shame by beating ourselves up.  We practice negative self-talk, we kick ourselves, we acknowledge that we are terrible Christians.  Some even go so far as to chastise themselves physically.

God never tells us to beat ourselves up after we sin.  He tells us to return to Him.  But instead, we hide in the bushes, making God come after us.  Why do we do it?  You can bet that Satan has a big part to play in it.  He is the accuser, and we listen to him far too often.  Another reason is that we don't understand God's grace.  We mistrust it.  We can't believe that God could really forgive us with no strings attached.  Surely we have to do some penance.  "God will forgive me if..."

We've also learned that some self-flagellation will go a long way to changing public opinion about us.  We know that we will be judged by the sins we commit, so we seek to lesson the criticism by doing some of the punishment ourselves.  It's a pretty good strategy, actually.  People are less quick to dogpile if they see that a beating is already being administered.

Benefits aside, God wants us to come to Him in our nakedness when we sin.  No covering.  No self-disciplining.  Just us, admitting we were wrong and asking for God's forgiveness.  Adam and Eve had it exactly backwards.  They prolonged their suffering by hiding from God.

When God found them in the garden in their sin, He replaced their covering with His.  His covering involved sacrifice.  An innocent animal had to die to pay for their sins.  Its blood covered their sin, and its hide covered their bodies.  God was demonstrating how they would now have to live in order to maintain a relationship with Him, and He was showing them how He would eventually solve the problem of sin forever. The death of an animal is a picture of Christ's death on the cross.  His blood covers both our sin and our spiritual nakedness.