Naturopathic Solutions

  This NYT article by the well known health and fitness writer, Tara Parker-Pope, dissects the standard push-up.  Here are some highlights from the article.  Read the article in full here:

1. The push-up is a good barometer of overall fitness engaging muscle groups in the arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs.
2.  The obesity epidemic has made push-ups more difficult to perform for the average American—pushing up all that extra weight is not easy.
3. The aerobics revolution has shifted emphasis away from maintaining upper body strength, which is not a good thing.
4. Lots of people can’t do push-ups, including for the reasons listed above.  Kids are failing push-up tests at an alarming frequency rate.
5. Being able to do push-ups is particularly important as we age as push-ups can provide the strength and muscle memory to reach out and break a fall, and it’s well known that falls can be debilitating for seniors.
6. People lose strength as they age but regular exercise enlarges muscle fibers and can mitigate the decline.
7.  A 40 year old man should be able to do 27 push-ups.  At age 60, the number is 17.

While the article focuses on the time honored push-up, it is really another wake up call regarding the importance of exercise in life and particularly as we age.  Let’s face, how many 60 year old men can hit the deck and crack out 17 push-ups?  Staying in shape confers huge health and lifestyle benefits as we age.  Push-ups are a good barometer of your overall fitness and should be part of any training program. 

Les Rice, the best tattooist in Sydney. Well I think so anyway!

I'd been looking to get a short sleeve on my arm for the past 2 years but had found it hard to find a good tattooist. Eventually I emailed Paul Braniff who is quite well known in the Australian tattoo scene. The only problem was he is based on the Gold Coast. Anyway, I was willing to travel if he could fit me in.

A few weeks after I sent the email I heard back from him telling me about Les and how he was just kicking off again in Sydney. You may have heard of the Rice name in tattooing as his father, sister, and brothers are all in the trade.

I would later learn that Les is also an award winning artist, last year winning the world's richest portrait prize, and this being a finalist in the Archibald Prize.

I had my first 3 hour sitting on Wednesday where I got the outline and shading done, and I'll be back in 10 days for the next stage. It's looking awesome so far and can't wait to see it with a bit of colour!

You can check out Les' work at: http://www.artintimidatinglife.com