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Lead Stories: Friday, August 29, 2008

Gauging leg strength

Posted October 16th, 2007 at 2:45 PM by Shannon Clark

Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise

One of the best ways to determine how you are progressing on your fitness program and how good of leg strength you have in general is with a wall squat test. A wall squat test will primarily assess your quad strength however the hamstrings and glute muscles will also come into play as well.

The nice thing about a wall squat test is that it is going to mimic movements that you perform very often in every day life, whether it’s getting up and down from a sitting position or walking up a flight of stairs. Being strong in this type of body position will be of benefit to you because it will make these exercises easier as well as help to prevent you from suffering any injuries in the future.

Read the rest of this entry at our partner site: HesFit.com

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Exercise Bulimia: When working out becomes an obsession

Posted July 12th, 2007 at 6:30 PM by Katie Drummond

Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise

woman-on-treadmill For many busy women, it can be a struggle just to fit in that recommended thirty-minute daily dose of physical activity. But for a growing number, an effort to get regular exercise has been replaced by an obsession with burning calories and fulfilling rigid workout quotas - to the point of skipped work, depression, and potentially fatal harms to physical health.

While a fit body needs activity, exercise bulimia – an obsessive illness with serious consequences for the body and the emotional psyche - is becoming increasingly common. Experts estimate that at least 4% of Americans struggle with excessive exercising, but the diagnosis of exercise bulimia is rare in a culture that celebrates trim physiques and a disciplined dedication to workouts. In fact, most sufferers from exercise bulimia aren’t diagnosed with any medical problem until symptoms of more common eating disorders, namely anorexia and bulimia, rear their heads. And unfortunately, they often do, as most of those who struggle with one of the three will battle the others at some point in their lives.

It can be easy for exercise bulimia to go on for years under the radar –

Read the rest of this entry at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com

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Breaking the gender barrier in athletics: 35 years of Title IX

Posted July 6th, 2007 at 1:00 PM by Bridget Sullivan

Section: News & Results, Columns, SPOTLIGHT

Active.com has put together a wonderful page devoted to celebrating 35 years of Title IX. Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 is the landmark legislation that bans sex discrimination in schools, whether it be in academics or athletics. Although athletics has created the most controversy regarding Title IX, its gains in education and academics are notable. Before Title IX, many schools refused to admit women or enforced strict limits.

The following articles take a closer look at Title IX and the breaking down of gender barriers in athletics.

A Look Back at Title IX with Joan Benoit Samuelson By Skip Cleaver
Joan Benoit Samuelson is one of the all-time greatest distance runners in the world. Best known for her Olympic gold medal in the Women’s Marathon in 1984–the first women’s Olympic Marathon–she also set world and American records. She won the Boston Marathon twice, setting course records both times along with a world best in 1983. Tremendously personable, she remains one of the most popular and highly recognized distance athletes in the world.

Read the rest at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com

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Podcast 37: Interview with the legendary Kathrine Switzer

Posted April 9th, 2007 at 12:00 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Columns, Success Stories, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

TheFinalSprint.com’s monthly Success Story selection aims to highlight remarkable and factual accounts of runners who have overcome major obstacles and/or changed their lives, or the lives of others, through running and fitness.

I am proud to announce that TFS’s April 2007 Success Story and my guest in Episode 37 of The Final Sprint Podcast is the legendary KATHRINE SWITZER!

Kathrine, who was called the “Susan B. Anthony of running” by fellow running great Joan Benoit Samuelson, broke the gender barrier in 1967 when she became the first woman to officially enter and complete, what was at that time, the all-male Boston Marathon.

She also won the 1974 NYC Marathon, was a driving force behind the inclusion a women’s marathon in the Olympics, received an Emmy for her work as a sports broadcaster and remains one of the most courageous and inspiring runners in history.

Download the podcast to hear Katherine discuss what led to her iconic run, little known facts about her “race gear”, attempts to forcefully remove her from the course, finding the inner strength to push forward, how the race forever altered the course of her life and the lives of all future generations of female athletes, her new autobiography “Marathon Woman” and much more!

Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)

[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to you

Host: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Kathrine Switzer
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 21.5 MB
Length: 00:31:25

Check out every episode of TFS’s Podcast in iTunes!

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Podcast 32: Interview with Susan Loken; the reigning USA Masters Marathon Champion

Posted March 29th, 2007 at 7:00 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Today’s podcast features my interview with Susan Loken; an ageless and elite masters marathoner.

Susan, a mother of three who first began running in her 30’s, is coming off of her third consecutive More Magazine Marathon title and is the reigning USA Masters Marathon Champion.

Her personal best time of 2:41:31 is only about two and half minutes above the Olympic qualifying A-standard time for women; a benchmark she is poised to reach in the coming months.

Download the podcast to hear Susan discuss the More Magazine Marathon; why/how she started running; finding time to train, work a full-time job and take care of her three sons; coaching the Foothills Sports Medicine Running Team; and her advice for others looking to get back in-shape and/or improve their lives through running.

Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)

[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to you

Host: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Susan Loken
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 7.80 MB
Length: 00:11:21