It's been taken as gospel by most of us, since elementary school gym class, that you need to stretch before exercise, right? Um, no. Turns out that stretching will actually make your exercise regimen less effective, and can impact performance, all without actually doing anything to lessen injury or soreness.

42-form Tai Chi sword, as performed by Darth Vader:

You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com

Star Wars Tai Chi from John Leo on Vimeo.

I've blogged about eating paleo before, but eating is only half the battle. The other half is proper exercise. Mark Sisson has come up with a program that should fit the bill nicely.

I'd previously mentioned a "Zombie Attack Preparedness" workout I found on the Internet. Looks like they're not the only ones with the idea, because now you can take ZombieFit courses in Chicago - think post-apocalyptic parkour. Wired has a write-up on it as well.

Pretty much everybody needs more exercise, right? Personally, I find that part of the problem is the lack of a goal - you can do 10 miles a day on the exercise bike, but at the end of the year, you haven't actually moved a single inch, right?

Well, here's an idea: walk from the Shire to Rivendell. A journey of 458 miles. If a group of stupid, ( Read more... )

It goes without saying that, when the dead rise, you're gonna have to be fast and strong, or you're so much zombie-chow, right? However, many trainers (dating all the way back to the Romans, in fact) will tell you that the best way to train is by doing what you're training for. Given the lack of ambulatory corpses, this does pose just a bit of a ( Read more... )

Some company has just brought out shoes that simulate walking on an inclined treadmill, and thus purportedly allow you to "burn more calories with every step". You still have to actually take the steps, though, and I don't see how the shoes are going to help people get up off the couch, turn off the TV, and go out into the big blue room (AKA "