Great Life Gifts

You may have made a commitment to get into better shape this year, but there's nothing that says you can't get it done efficiently, i.e., the least amount of time and sweat required. Is there such an exercise, especially for a beginner? YES On the most recent podcast of Freakonomics , exercise experts unveil the holy grail of fitness improvement: the squat. This stand-in-place-need-no-special-equipment movement is the one exercise that will pack the most health improvement for the time spent. Some of the benefits are: Image from www.sweatlikeapig.com Maintain mobility. Being able to get in and out of a chair without help is a top determinant as to whether people will be able to live independently or have to move to assisted living or a nursing home. Increase functional strength. While you are building your leg muscles you are simultaneously increasing your body's nerve networks to work your muscles more efficiently all over. Tone your butt. Try it and see if y...

Winners are good to hang with. They come out ahead. They have drive and focus and when they have spare time they volunteer on boards and city commissions and sometimes write large checks for art programs. But their winning is predicated on someone else losing and once you’re behind it takes a superhuman, supernatural effort to get ahead. If you’re lucky like some of the popular underdog turned superdog stories out there, you’ll sell the right product out of the trunk of your car on the right corner of the right city. With enough drive and perseverance, they tell you, you’ll come out on top and then you can sell your advice, books, and DVDs to the adoring teeming masses. But what if you don’t have a car to begin with. Or an Internet Connection. Or any Connection. Then what?  You stand in line.  At the Welfare Office,  At the Food Pantry, At the Salvation Army. That is if you’re still able to stand in line. But what if your days of driving and standing are...