James N. Wright, MS, RCEP

Happy New Year all!
 
Gotten started on your “New Year’s Resolution” yet?  Your “fresh start”? In golf it’s called a “mulligan”. In tennis your second serve. In football a penalty may give you a replay after you fumbled or got sacked. Continue Reading »

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Got some thanks for (more or less) defending some favorite vices last few times, but, alas, today I can offer only a double edged sword. With one edge perhaps a bit sharper than the other…
 
Sugar…whether refined, brown, powdered, under some other name (suspect anything on the label ending in  “ose”)…your body doesn’t much care (even honey, by the way, works just about the same in your system):  A little here and there will, at worse, promote tooth decay. A bit mixed in a beverage will indeed improve your performance in an hour or more endurance event.  But a heaping helping with breakfast, whether as the primary component of the waffle syrup, the mound on your breakfast cereal (or in the case of most kids cereals, the even BIGGER mound within), will have not so tasty consequences:
 
High consumption of simple sugars triggers a higher production of insulin, which helps you store more of those calories in the form of FAT.  Your body then burns less fat as fuel, and you produce more triglycerides (another form of fats that is suspect in clogging arteries…).  Your appetite actually INCREASES.  Your energy level may surge initially, but later in the morning will dip below its normal level (your insulin working extra hard to bring down the blood sugar. so you can LIVE!).  These are the mechanisms, published studies confirm that subjects consuming more breakfast sugar, versus complex carbohydrates, will indeed eat significantly more for lunch. And generally, voluntarily, exert less energy between breakfast and lunch.
 
There you have it.  “By any other name it TASTES as sweet”. But it doesn’t necessarily treat you that way!
 
Enjoy your breakfasts AND the rest of your weekend!
 
With my blessings!

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The Fitness Center and the Intramural Program are staffed by student “work study” positions.  If interested, please see financial aid to determine your eligibility and complete an application. If you find you qualify, you are invited to submit a letter of application, a resume, and a list of available times and hours approved by financial aid, to the “in box” of Mr. Wright’s office, F-106-K; as well as submitting the same materials to his email address, wrightj@brcc.edu. You’ll also need to have admissions verify to me your eligibility.  Fitness Center positions may entail up to 20 hours per week, generally within the M-F 7-7 time frame; intramural positions are primarily during the months of January and February, with 3-5 hours each Sunday afternoon and a few additional hours during the week.

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A small but fully quite functional fitness center, the “Fitness Lab”, featuring state of the art cardio and strength training equipment, is available at no charge to all faculty, staff, and students. See the Fitness Center page of this site for specific information on joining and using the center, as well as for current hours of operation.

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I’ll try to keep this site updated with previously sent out fit-tips, categorized by topic and time sent out (via mass email, as per usual). So get on board with the “fitness thing” with us! As always, I’d welcome any comments on current or previous fit-tips, as well as any requests for future items to address!

In good health and with my blessings,

J.Wright

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2010 Intramural play begins the Sunday afternoon BEFORE the first week of the Spring school session, January 10; registration deadline is December 1, mandatory meeting Dec 2, relase forms and class schedules due Dec 4. Go to Intramural Basketball page of this site (see link on left column of this page) for specific information and required forms. Thanks, looking forward to seeing you “on the courts”!

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A video demonstrating the proper use of each strength station in the fitness center is available here; in addition there are numerous videos of a variety of fitness topics, from non-equipment exercise options to stretching to programming and tips for special conditions such as shin-splints or back problems. Check out a topic of special interest or peruse them all for a good foundation for developing your own fitness and/or rehabilitative exercise program.

You can find all the fitness center videos in the Fitness playlist on BRCC’s YouTube channel .

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