An Ironman is a test of pain tolerance, and mental and physical endurance. For Jeff Cottrell, the Ironman Memorial Hermann Texas this weekend will be a challenge, but it’s nothing compared to the hurdle he’s overcome to get to the point of competing in his second attempt at finishing.
In 2014, Jeff Cottrell was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and hypertension while weighing 500 pounds. As a registered nurse, he had already seen the signs but continued powering through his shifts while in pain with the joy and infectious personality his coworkers love him for. Cottrell had watched his mom succumb to health challenges just seven years prior and while he had already started the process of making the requisite changes to turn his outlook on life around, receiving that news from his doctor served as an official wake up call.
In 2019, Jeff Cottrell competed in his first Ironman with over 200 fewer pounds on his frame. While he didn’t finish, due to a medical issue, he’s looking forward to crossing the finish line on April 23. He spoke with Muscle & Fitness about the road to getting to this point and making the most of life now and always.
Making Better Choices
The quality of what I was eating changed. That was the biggest thing and I also started seeking out physical activity outside of work. I had the mindset of me being on my feet all day was me being active, but I knew it wasn’t enough. I started walking and got a gym membership. I worked nights, so I would go to the gym at 2 in the morning. The person at the front desk would let me use an office chair to sit it next to the treadmill. I would walk for five minutes and sit for five minutes. I would do that for 30 minutes and I built up to an hour. Once I could get up to an hour, I just started walking for 30 minutes. I didn’t really stop how often I was eating, but the quality vastly improved.
I would go through an entire 12-hour shift and everything from my knees to the bottom of my feet would be on fire. The first time I went a shift without pain, it was kind of overwhelming because I realized I was in a great spot, but I had to keep going. I would power through the busiest days, and I don’t feel like my ability to take care of a patient ever suffered. I noticed that when I used to have to squeeze in a tight area, so I can help provide oxygen for a patient, it became easier. Outside of work, I’ve always had a small circle of friends and they never made an issue of anything, but they were supportive. I was finally able to meet an amazing woman and now we’re married. There was definitely a confidence booster in that. Just being able to live without pain is amazing.
Courtesy of Jeff Cottrell
Nothing Great Is Done Alone
I went from walking to jogging. I had just finished a jog one day and was in the parking lot and I had tweaked one of my knees when I was walking back to my car. I didn’t go to the doctor, and I started feeling better after about six weeks. During that time, I bought a hybrid bike, and I rode that for a little bit, but it was too big. I found someone on Facebook marketplace that was selling a road bike and I bought that. You always want to ride with people, so I started looking for a group ride around me. I found a few of those and I met some people in 2017, and most of the people I met on those first few rides, I’m still friends with them today. These people are doers and they’re motivated in all aspects of life. There was a lot of benefit in me immersing myself within this group of people. I did a progression of an Olympic distance triathlon. When my wife and I met, I think I had just signed up for a 5K. She did one also. We got married six months after we met, and I did my first half marathon two weeks before that. She did hers two weeks after in November of 2017. We did a half marathon every month of 2018 and then a full one in January of 2019. That’s just part of being alive. When you’re hanging out with people, and this is what they do. It becomes what you do.
I watched the Ironman when it would come on TV when I was young, but I didn’t let it move me. It was cool but I never forgot it. I also always liked the song Ironman by Black Sabbath. I worked for Memorial Hermann who is the title sponsor for the event. I worked in the medical tent for two years (2017, 2018) and I had a pretty good thing happen that first year. One of the athletes came in after she was done. I told her I had just started to get into triathlons, and she told me if I have my sights on something, it really works to have a physical thing to look at to remind you of a goal to help propel you to it. She gave me her finisher medal and that moved me. I have never forgotten her, and I have that medal hanging in my bedroom. It’s going to be nice to hang another one next to it.
The First Try for Jeff Cottrell
I was actually on pace to finish in 2019. I did the one thing that everyone says don’t do, which is don’t do anything new on race day. Because of my weight loss, when I run, I run in compression gear underneath my clothes. When I got off the bike and I could really feel how hot it was, I had the bright idea that the bike bib I was wearing was compressing me, but it wasn’t as much fabric as a full t-shirt and compression shorts, and I left that on. I got to an area after mile 11 and sat down on this concrete bench to look through my bag. When I sat down, imagine the sound you would hear if you just poured eight ounces of water on the concrete. I looked down and it was just bright, red blood pouring out of my pants.
I also knew I was beginning to get a little loopy in the mind. There’s one road where it gets a little dark in between streetlamps. I just imagined myself having an active bleed and already being depleted. If I pass out somewhere in that little area, and no one sees me, who knows what could happen? I just figured there would be plenty more of these and it wasn’t worth it. The way I look at everything is there is no end to this. I have to keep doing what I’m doing for as long as I’m alive. My main goal in all of this is to never become one of those people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s and get comfortable with doctor visits because you think that’s part of getting old. I can’t do that. I look at it like if I’m in the doctor’s office one day out the year, aside from my annual physical, that’s a decrease in the quality of life because I don’t want to be there. I want to be enjoying myself being out doing something. So, I have to be proactive right now because there is only right now anyway. You can be in pain at the doctor or at the gym.
Courtesy of Jeff Cottrell
A Message From Jeff Cottrell To Those Facing Their Own Journeys
The easiest thing just from a data analysis is walking with a little bit of extra effort, 30-40 minutes, three to four times a week does wonders. It doesn’t have to be an Ironman or something crazy, especially when you start. Just do anything and make some sort of progress and build on it. There’s no timeline and no finish. Think about your quality of life and try to improve it. It’s not just physically, but mentally and all aspects of life. There are plenty of stories on the news of people who would give anything for a 45-minute jog to be the biggest thing they had to worry about. There are people on this planet that don’t even know where their next clean cup of water is coming from. Everyone has to find their own motivation. Join a community. That always helps and it’s helped me tremendously. You only get one chance at this thing so try and make the best of it. There is this saying that I always tell myself; Do something good for yourself and somebody else. I just believe if everyone adopted that, we’d be cool.
To help you avoid falling into those traps, here’s a heads up on the four biggest holiday fitness destroyers and some tips on what you can do to keep them at bay.
Do you want to build muscle or burn fat? Why not both? Use this month-long training program to get shredded fast, while holding onto or even building muscle!
In a circa 2021 fitness landscape full of endless burpees, boot camps, and live streaming cardio, Rashid Shabazz, also known as “Roc,” is sticking with bodybuilding as the go-to training methodology at his suburban Atlanta gym, Roc Fitness.
A former IFBB pro bodybuilder, Shabazz’s affinity for hypertrophy-style workouts isn’t just nostalgia or confirmation bias. No, he’s prescribing “bodybuilding for the masses” because it works. Full stop.
It worked in the 1960s and ‘70s in bodybuilding’s “Golden Age.” It worked in the ‘80s and ‘90s when Lee Haney (Shabazz’s mentor) and Dorian Yates ruled the sport. It worked in the early 2000s, when Shabazz won his pro card as a light-heavyweight at the NPC Nationals (2004) and went onto a respectable IFBB career, highlighted by two Mr. Olympia appearances (2008 and 2010). And it’s been working ever since with his personal training clients of all shapes, sizes, and experience levels — from high school athletes to busy moms to Shabazz’s most famous client, NBA Hall-of-Famer and Olympia Weekend Ambassador Shaquille O’Neal.
“I still pay homage to my bodybuilding roots, and I’ve gotten the general public to not only buy into this style of training, but get great results from it,” says Shabazz, whose celebrity client résumé also includes NFL legends Ray Lewis and Shannon Sharpe. “Depending on how long we do it and how consistent we are, I know we can get results and change the body, because we we’ve done it for so many years in bodybuilding.”
Shabazz and his team of trainers at Roc Fitness in Sandy Springs, GA are hellbent on proving that bodybuilding, combined with community, is still the best path to a better body. And they’re putting their money where their mouths are with the upcoming Roc the Summer Challenge, a 30-day nationwide transformation contest launching on July 5 — with a grand prize of up to $5,000, plus other proceeds going to charity via sponsors.
“A lot of the challenges you see these days are just about weight loss,” says Shabazz. “With the Roc the Summer Challenge, we want to find the person that not only drops the most body fat, but also puts on the most lean muscle. We want people to eat the right foods instead of just starving themselves, and to lift weights instead of just doing cardio, so they can build a body that they can continue building on.”
The Cutting Edge of Physique Transformation
That word — bodybuilding — is off-putting, if not downright scary, to a lot of people. Most of us want to trim down and get leaner, not build up and pack on size, and training like a bodybuilder would seem antithetical to this goal.
That’s a misnomer. Bodybuilding-style training is effective for building muscle, but it’s also great for dropping body fat, and lots of it. On the nutrition side, bodybuilding is all about eating for your goals, even (and especially) when that goal is to drop body fat.
Ultimately, those wanting to lose weight (which is a vast majority of the American population, both men and women) are looking to change — to transform — their bodies. And no athletes on the planet know how to create this type of change better than bodybuilders.
Shabazz’s programming at Roc Fitness is unequivocally bodybuilding, albeit a modern version – one that combines the contemporary group fitness model with bodybuilding’s bedrock training principles of exercise selection, load, volume, and intensity.
Roc Fitness offers hour-long classes every day during the week, starting as early as 5 a.m. A typical class size is between 14 and 22, with one or more certified trainers running the class and providing constant coaching cues. Outside of group classes, members can sign up for traditional one-on-one personal training, either with Shabazz himself or one of the other trainers on his team like Aaron or Omar Whavers (Shabazz’s nephews), IFBB Figure Pro Simona Douglas, or NPC Bikini competitor Nikki Raymond.
This class setup may look similar to CrossFit and other similar “functional fitness” gyms, but the workouts are entirely different. Instead of box jumps, rope climbing, and Olympic lifts, Roc’s classes feature members doing stations on staple bodybuilding exercises like lat pulldowns, leg press, and Smith machine incline press — moves that wouldn’t normally be incorporated into a group setting.
“This is the cutting edge,” says Shabazz of his classes, which are offered as both co-ed and men-only groups. “I’ll take two, three, sometimes four, of the best exercises for a particular body part and run people through a circuit, grouping them together based on their bodyweight and if they’re trying to build more muscle or lose fat. I may say, ‘Joe, you and Alex are going to be on the leg extension while Sam and John are doing leg curls. Finish your five sets, then switch exercises and do five sets of leg curls.’ Imagine that, instead of having a big room of people jumping up and down doing burpees.”
Training is just one piece of the puzzle. Roc Fitness also offers comprehensive nutritional guidance, ranging from basic food education to full-scale diet plans to meal delivery. For the latter, Shabazz has a local meal prep company he refers members to, and there’s even a restaurant around the corner from the gym, Chef Rob’s Caribbean Café, that he works directly with to offer healthy menu items — including his namesake “The Roc Meal,” which consists of an 8-ounce, low-sodium grilled chicken breast with fresh herbs and crushed black pepper, jasmine rice, and streamed broccoli.
“We do everything here — training, meal prep, cardio plan, all of it,” says Shabazz. “I’ve been privileged to do this so many years that it became second nature to pass that information down to athletes as well as regular people.”
Shabazz’s last professional bodybuilding show was the 2010 Olympia 202 (now the 212 division), in which he finished a respectable 11th place months after an impressive 202 win at that year’s IFBB Phoenix Pro. During his career, Shabazz was known mainly for two things: his shredded, aesthetic physique as well as his burgeoning personal training business, already in full swing thanks in part to the cachet of his famous NFL clients like Sharpe and Lewis.
And not much has changed since then. He may no longer be winning bodybuilding trophies, but he’s training others who are. And he’s still in great shape: At age 53, he’s a shredded 200 pounds. As for his business, Roc Fitness is bigger than ever, as is the star power of his celebrity client roster — namely, Shaq, who Shabazz still actively works with as the big man’s “Chief Fitness Officer,” including regular appearances on the TNT reality show Shaq Life.
A lifestyle and career immersed in bodybuilding well into his 50s was inevitable. “It started a long time ago,” says Shabazz, tracing it back to the first photos he saw in bodybuilding magazines in the 1980s of physique stars like Haney and Robby Robinson. “I’ve always loved the way training made me feel. But I also got a kick out of taking everything I learned in bodybuilding and teaching it to athletes I knew, like my little brother when he was in high school playing baseball.”
After graduating from Jackson State University with a business degree, Shabazz held a corporate job before leaving “to pursue what I wanted to do for a living, and that was bodybuilding,” he says. “I didn’t know how I was going to actually pay my bills or feed myself or anything like that, but I knew that’s what I wanted to do. And I was fortunate enough to be able to parlay that over to a great career, something I enjoyed doing and where I’m making a difference. For me, it’s really fun taking an average person and helping him or her do extraordinary things.”
Extraordinary things can mean anything from a middle-aged woman hitting a weight-loss goal to an elite athlete finishing his career with a Super Bowl ring (Ray Lewis in 2013 with the Ravens) to a 30-something taking a fitness hobby to the competitive physique stage. One of Shabazz’s current pupils is his business partner and former overseas professional basketball player Ronnie Cropper, who’s currently training for the amateur Olympia Men’s Physique.
“After I stopped playing basketball, I continued to have a strong desire to compete,” says the 37-year-old Cropper. “When I decided to take my personal fitness to another level, I sought out Roc and his 30-plus years of experience in the bodybuilding world. He’s helped me create a more focus-driven fitness regimen, which is ultimately leading me to my goal of switching to a new sport and competing on some of the biggest stages in men’s physique and bodybuilding.”
The Next Evolution of Fitness
With both competitive and business success under his belt, Shabazz’s eye is on the future — the “4th quarter” of his working life, as he puts it. “Be legendary, leave a legacy. That’s what I’m trying to do right now,” he says.
Part of that involves working to keep the fitness industry on the right path, which Shabazz believes should be influenced by both the current digital age as well as the prior era of the ‘90s and early 2000s. For the younger generation, the tendency is to move everything online, to make training more virtual. But in doing so, you lose human contact. You lose community.
“Thing is, even with this pandemic and the protocol I laid out at my gym with wearing masks and all that, you would’ve thought there’s no way I’d have over a hundred clients in here — but we have,” says Shabazz, who’s quick to share credit with his ex-wife and business partner Gina Alexander for the success of Roc Fitness. “We naturally want to interact with other human beings. You can put a person on the computer all you want, do simulations, and keep them at the house, but they’ll still want to find a way to interact with another person.”
As for the training, Shabazz hopes the younger era will appreciate how he and his counterparts approached the gym during their heydays.
“The people that came before me, they got big and cut on basic barbells and dumbbells,” he says. “My generation had a few more toys, with the newer machines and all that, but I still paid homage to guys like Lee Haney by training old school. Right now, everything’s in the digital age and is in the hands of the younger generation. Hopefully they can take a bit of old school and sprinkle it with the new school and make a huge difference. Because if they cancel out their heritage and what we did before them, our era is going to be completely lost.”
Get Ready to ‘Roc’
First things first. Instead of obsessing about the distant future, Shabazz is laser-focused on his upcoming Roc the Summer Challenge. He’s not doing it alone, though. His Roc Fitness team — including Alexander, trainers Aaron and Omar Whavers and Shaneese Bailey — are equally committed. Most important are the “masses,” the thousands of people that hopefully will take on the challenge and change their bodies and lives through bodybuilding.
“I really want this challenge to be big,” says Shabazz. “I want it to be something that people look forward to and use not just to lose some weight, but to put on some lean muscle. That’s what’s going to keep the weight off — not running all day long, cutting calories, and starving yourself. If you put on a little lean muscle and burn a little body fat, each time you do it you’ll get a little better. And you’ll be able to keep that weight off for good.”
The Roc the Summer Challenge is scheduled to begin July 5. The challenge is open not only to Roc Fitness in-person gym members, but anyone training at home as well.
“You can take the challenge anywhere,” says Shabazz. “Ultimately, we’re looking to build a fitness community that can do many things together, including trips, cruises, seminars, workshops, networking, and more.”
For more information on how to join the Roc the Summer Challenge and details on entry fees, workout program options, before-and-after photo requirements, and more, visit RoctheSummer.com.
If you feel like an overstuffed kielbasa in your clothes, it might not take a Herculean effort to get back on track. Exercise scientists at the University of British Columbia found just 15 to 30 seconds of aerobic activity like climbing stairs, performed once an hour for eight hours, can significantly improve your health if you’re packing a few pounds too many right now.
Specifically, just two to four total minutes of movement during the workday, when you’d otherwise be sedentary at your desk jockey job, can lower insulin levels, a marker for diabetes and heart disease, the study revealed. It’s a concept researchers call “exercise snacking”—bite-size bits of movement that add up to a major punch.
“Even for a single day of exercise snacks, the effect on improved metabolism are immediate,” says Jonathan Little, co-author of the study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
Here’s why exercise snacks work: “When we’re sedentary for several hours during the workday, our muscles are not used and our metabolic rate is reduced,” explains Little. “The result is that we can become insulin-resistant. But even as little as one 15-second exercise snack an hour appears to boost sensitivity to insulin such that the muscles and other body tissues can process nutrients more efficiently and our metabolism is improved.”
No stairs in your office? Try running in place, jumping jacks, air squats, skaters, pushups, burpees, or lunges. “Basically, anything that gets your heart pumping counts,” Little says.
YouTube fitness videos were great and all when we thought this whole novel coronavirus thing would stay, well, novel. But nearly a year into this, we’re still doing majority of our workouts at home. Like it or not, the uptick in new smart home gym equipment is reshaping how we look at fitness and could decimate the gym industry. If you’ve been stuck in a workout rut, we want you to sweat it—specifically with one of these stellar fitness apps and fitness platforms will snap you out of your funk and actually have you excited to throw on a sweatband and get to work. From VR experiences to a workout fit for a firefighter, we’ve got something for everyone. Read on and catch your breath…while you still can.
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var videoParams = JSON.parse( decodeURIComponent( ‘%7B%22advertising%22%3A%7B%22admessage%22%3A%22This%20video%20will%20resume%20in%20xx%20seconds%22%2C%22adscheduleid%22%3A%22CHQMmOtW%22%2C%22autoplayadsmuted%22%3Atrue%2C%22bids%22%3A%7B%22bidders%22%3A%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%22264049%22%2C%22name%22%3A%22SpotX%22%7D%5D%2C%22settings%22%3A%7B%22buckets%22%3A%5B%7B%22increment%22%3A0.25%2C%22max%22%3A60%2C%22min%22%3A5%7D%5D%2C%22floorPriceCents%22%3A500%2C%22mediationLayerAdServer%22%3A%22dfp%22%7D%7D%2C%22client%22%3A%22googima%22%2C%22cuetext%22%3A%22Advertisement%22%2C%22preloadAds%22%3Afalse%2C%22rules%22%3A%7B%22startOnSeek%22%3A%22pre%22%2C%22timeBetweenAds%22%3A0%7D%2C%22schedule%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22skipmessage%22%3A%22Skip%20ad%20in%20xx%20seconds%22%2C%22vpaidcontrols%22%3Afalse%2C%22vpaidmode%22%3A%22enabled%22%7D%2C%22aspectratio%22%3A%2216%3A9%22%2C%22autoPause%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22autostart%22%3A%22viewable%22%2C%22controls%22%3Atrue%2C%22displaydescription%22%3Afalse%2C%22displaytitle%22%3Afalse%2C%22flashplayer%22%3A%22%5C%2F%5C%2Fssl.p.jwpcdn.com%5C%2Fplayer%5C%2Fv%5C%2F8.18.4%5C%2Fjwplayer.flash.swf%22%2C%22floating%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22height%22%3A270%2C%22key%22%3A%22zIpXE2lBHFJ4R4M%2BvPy7J0bh3QFV3GiboscFlWsIfCsOMZB1YIf2KQ%3D%3D%22%2C%22mute%22%3Atrue%2C%22ph%22%3A2%2C%22pid%22%3A%22eEkK759I%22%2C%22playbackRateControls%22%3Atrue%2C%22preload%22%3A%22metadata%22%2C%22repeat%22%3Afalse%2C%22skin%22%3A%7B%22controlbar%22%3A%7B%22background%22%3A%22rgba%280%2C0%2C0%2C0%29%22%2C%22icons%22%3A%22%23ffffff%22%2C%22iconsActive%22%3A%22%23eb212e%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%23ffffff%22%7D%2C%22menus%22%3A%7B%22background%22%3A%22%23333333%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%23ffffff%22%2C%22textActive%22%3A%22%23eb212e%22%7D%2C%22name%22%3A%22five%22%2C%22timeslider%22%3A%7B%22progress%22%3A%22%23eb212e%22%7D%2C%22tooltips%22%3A%7B%22background%22%3A%22%23FFFFFF%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%23ffffff%22%7D%7D%2C%22stagevideo%22%3Afalse%2C%22stretching%22%3A%22uniform%22%2C%22visualplaylist%22%3Atrue%2C%22width%22%3A%22100%25%22%2C%22setTimeEvents%22%3Atrue%2C%22playlist%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fcontent.jwplatform.com%5C%2Ffeeds%5C%2FFZjRfVro.json%22%2C%22plugins%22%3A%7B%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fsb.scorecardresearch.com%5C%2Fc2%5C%2Fplugins%5C%2Fstreamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fovp.iris.tv%5C%2Fplugins%5C%2Fjwplayer%5C%2Fv2%5C%2Firis-jwplayer8.adaptive.min.js%22%3A%7B%22settings%22%3A%7B%22client_token%22%3A%225KRCGIZC9EUT4VN%22%2C%22platform_id%22%3A%22FZjRfVro%22%2C%22player_id%22%3A%22jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div%22%2C%22end_up_next%22%3Atrue%2C%22ssl%22%3Atrue%2C%22campaign_tracking%22%3Atrue%2C%22disable_mobile_upnext%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22iris_buttons%22%3A%7B%22thumbs_up%22%3Afalse%2C%22thumbs_down%22%3Afalse%2C%22skip_forward%22%3Afalse%2C%22skip_back%22%3Afalse%2C%22skip_on_thumbs_down%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22global%22%3A%22iris%22%2C%22jwCMS%22%3Atrue%7D%7D%2C%22nextUpDisplay%22%3Afalse%7D’ ) );
jwplayer(el).setup(videoParams).on(‘ready’, (e) => {
var vHash = “ami” + decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” );
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising ) {
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising.schedule ) {
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising.schedule[0].tag ) {
if ( typeof window.jwVastTag[vHash] === “undefined” ){
window.jwVastTag[vHash] = window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising.schedule[0].tag;
var vastURL = new URL( window.jwVastTag[vHash] );
var vastParams = new URLSearchParams( vastURL.search );
var ui = vastParams.get( “iu” ).split( ‘/’ );
window.prerollTag[vHash] = vastParams.get( “iu” );
window.jwpBids[vHash] = {};
console.log(“AMI jwp prerolltag”, window.prerollTag[vHash]);
console.log(“AMI jwp GAM Tag”, window.jwVastTag[vHash]);
}
}
}
}
}).on(‘beforePlay’, (e) => {
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var vHash = “ami” + decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” );
// skip if the video was paused and trying to resume
if (jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘idle’ && jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘complete’) {
return;
}
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising ) {
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising.schedule ) {
var utms = {};
if ( adsParseUrlParams( “utm_source” ) || typeof getCookie(“utm_source”) !== “undefined” ) {
var utm_source;
if(adsParseUrlParams( “utm_source” )){
utm_source = adsParseUrlParams( “utm_source” );
setCookie(“utm_source”, utm_source, {expires:1800, path: “/”});
} else {
utm_source = getCookie(“utm_source”);
}
utms.utm_source = utm_source;
}
if ( typeof utms.utm_source !== “undefined” || typeof utms.utm_medium !== “undefined” || typeof utms.utm_campaign !== “undefined” ) {
var vastURL = new URL( window.jwVastTag[vHash] );
var vastParams = new URLSearchParams( vastURL.search );
var keys = Object.keys( utms );
if ( vastParams.has( “cust_params” ) ) {
var custParams = new URLSearchParams( vastParams.get( “cust_params” ) );
} else {
var custParams = new URLSearchParams();
}
for ( var key of keys ) {
custParams.set( key, utms[key]);
}
vastParams.set( “cust_params”, decodeURIComponent( custParams.toString() ) );
vastURL.search = vastParams.toString();
window.jwVastTag[vHash] = vastURL.toString();
}
console.log( “AMI jwp GAM tag with UTM”, window.jwVastTag );
}
}
}).on(“ready”, function(){
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var playerInstance = jwplayer(el);
ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer( playerInstance, {
publisherId: “6036076”,
labelmapping: “ns_st_pu=”AMI”, c3=”Mens Journal”, ns_st_ge=”” + decodeURIComponent( “%2Anull” ) + “”, ns_st_ia=”” + decodeURIComponent( “%2Anull” ) + “”, ns_st_ce=”” + decodeURIComponent( “1” ) + “”, ns_st_ddt=”” + decodeURIComponent( “%2Anull” ) + “”, ns_st_tdt=”” + decodeURIComponent( “%2Anull” ) + “””,
});
}).on(‘adsManager’, (e) => {
var vHash = ‘ami’ + decodeURIComponent( ‘FZjRfVro’ );
const { adsManager, videoElement } = e;
const iasConfig = {
anId: ‘928572’,
campId: `${jwplayer().getWidth()}x${jwplayer().getHeight()}`, // This is dynamic based on player dimensions, but can be hard coded
chanId: window.prerollTag[vHash],
placementId: ‘Open Auction’,
pubOrder: ‘Video’,
pubId: ‘Direct’
};
if (googleImaVansAdapter) {
googleImaVansAdapter.init(window.google, adsManager, videoElement, iasConfig);
}
}).on(‘beforePlay’, (e) => {
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var vHash = “ami” + decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” );
window.jwpBids[vHash].ix = false;
window.jwpBids[vHash].ixBids = {};
console.log( “AMI jwp IX Bidding init”, new Date().getTime() );
// skip if the video was paused and trying to resume
if (jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘idle’ && jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘complete’) {
return;
}
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising ) {
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising.schedule ) {
headertag.cmd.push( function() {
headertag.retrieveVideoDemand( [{“htSlotName”: “preroll”}], function( demand ) {
console.log( “AMI jwp IX callback”, demand );
if ( “undefined” !== typeof demand.preroll && demand.preroll.length ){
window.jwpBids[vHash].ixBids = demand.preroll[0].targeting.price;
console.log( “AMI jwp IX Bids”, new Date().getTime(), demand.preroll[0].targeting );
}
window.jwpBids[vHash].ix = true;
} );
} );
}
}
}).on(‘beforePlay’, (e) => {
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var vHash = “ami” + decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” );
window.jwpBids[vHash].iristv = false;
window.jwpBids[vHash].iristvBids = {};
console.log( “AMI jwp IrisTV Bidding init”, new Date().getTime() );
// skip if the video was paused and trying to resume
if (jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘idle’ && jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘complete’) {
return;
}
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising ) {
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising.schedule ) {
// Get main item context data
window.irisContext.getContext(jwplayer(el).getPlaylistItem().mediaid).then(function(data) {
// Encode the context data
var context = encodeURIComponent(`iris_context=${data.context.join(‘,’)}`);
console.log( “AMI jwp IrisTV callback”, context );
console.log( “AMI jwp IrisTV Bids”, new Date().getTime(), data.context );
// Replace the server url with the context data (this is for simple ad requests),
// If you have the serverUrl dynamically configured, then you will need to append the context data
// under cust_params, so this is just for testing purpose
window.jwpBids[vHash].iristvBids = data.context;
window.jwpBids[vHash].iristv = true;
});
}
}
}).on(‘beforePlay’, (e) => {
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var vHash = “ami” + decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” );
window.jwpBids[vHash].amazon = false;
window.jwpBids[vHash].amazonBids = “”;
console.log( “AMI jwp amazon Bidding init”, new Date().getTime() );
// skip if the video was paused and trying to resume
if (jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘idle’ && jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘complete’) {
return;
}
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising ) {
if ( window.jwpDef[vHash].advertising.schedule ) {
apstag.fetchBids({
slots: [{
slotID: window.prerollTag[vHash],
mediaType: ‘video’
}]
}, function( bids ) {
console.log( “AMI jwp amazon bid callback”, new Date().getTime(), bids );
window.jwpBids[vHash].amazon = true;
if ( bids.length > 0 ) { //If we have received any bids back
try {
console.log(“AMI jwp amazon bid request ad”, bids[0].encodedQsParams);
window.jwpBids[vHash].amazonBids = bids[0].encodedQsParams;
} catch ( e ) {
console.log(e);
}
} else {
console.log(“AMI jwp amazon no bids”);
}
});
}
}
}).once(“play”, function(){
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var playerInstance = jwplayer(el);
loadIrisPlugin(playerInstance, playerInstance.getConfig().plugins[“https://ovp.iris.tv/plugins/jwplayer/v2/iris-jwplayer8.adaptive.min.js”])
}).on(‘play’, (e) => {
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var vHash = “ami” + decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” );
var jwInfo = jwplayer(el).getPlaylistItem(jwplayer(el).getPlaylistIndex());
// skip if the video was paused and trying to resume
if (jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘idle’ && jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘complete’) {
return;
}
window.permutive.track(“VideoPlay”, {
play_id: el, //this will stay constant for all of the events emitted during the same video play
video: {
duration: jwInfo.duration, // in seconds
name: jwInfo.title,
video_id: decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” ),
description: jwInfo.description,
published_at: new Date(jwInfo.pubdate).toISOString()
},
enriched_data:{
tvchannel: decodeURIComponent( “Men%26%23039%3Bs%20Journal” ), //tv channel name
language:”English”, //language of the content
type: “video”,
keywords: jwInfo.tags.split(“,”), //keywords for the page
}
});
console.log(“Permutive video play”);
}).on(‘complete’, (e) => {
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var vHash = “ami” + decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” );
var jwInfo = jwplayer(el).getPlaylistItem(jwplayer(el).getPlaylistIndex());
// skip if the video was paused and trying to resume
if (jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘idle’ && jwplayer(el).getState() !== ‘complete’) {
return;
}
window.permutive.track(“VideoComplete”, {
play_id: el, //this will stay constant for all of the events emitted during the same video play
video: {
duration: jwInfo.duration, // in seconds
name: jwInfo.title,
video_id: decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” ),
description: jwInfo.description,
published_at: new Date(jwInfo.pubdate).toISOString()
},
enriched_data:{
tvchannel: decodeURIComponent( “Men%26%23039%3Bs%20Journal” ), //tv channel name
language: “English”, //language of the content
type: “video”,
keywords: jwInfo.tags.split(“,”), //keywords for the page
}
});
console.log(“Permutive video event:”, e);
window.lock_25 = false;
window.lock_50 = false;
window.lock_75 = false;
window.lock_100 = false;
}).on(‘time’, (e) => {
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var vHash = “ami” + decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” );
var jwInfo = jwplayer(el).getPlaylistItem(jwplayer(el).getPlaylistIndex());
var progress = (e.currentTime/e.duration).toFixed(2);
if (
(0.25 === progress && false === window.lock_25) ||
(0.5 === progress && false === window.lock_50) ||
(0.75 === progress && false === window.lock_75) ||
(100 === progress && false === window.lock_100)
) {
window.permutive.track(“VideoProgress”, {
play_id: el, //this will stay constant for all of the events emitted during the same video play
progress: Number(progress),
video: {
duration: jwInfo.duration, // in seconds
name: jwInfo.title,
video_id: decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” ),
description: jwInfo.description,
published_at: new Date(jwInfo.pubdate).toISOString()
},
enriched_data:{
tvchannel: decodeURIComponent( “Men%26%23039%3Bs%20Journal” ), //tv channel name
language: “English”, //language of the content
type: “video”,
keywords: jwInfo.tags.split(“,”), //keywords for the page
}
});
if ( 0.25 === progress ) {
window.lock_25 = true;
}
if ( 0.5 === progress ) {
window.lock_50 = true;
}
if ( 0.75 === progress ) {
window.lock_75 = true;
}
if ( 1 === progress ) {
window.lock_100 = true;
}
console.log(“Permutive video play progress ” + progress);
}
}).on(‘mute’, (e) => {
var el = decodeURIComponent( “jwplayer_FZjRfVro_eEkK759I_div” );
var vHash = “ami” + decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” );
var jwInfo = jwplayer(el).getPlaylistItem(jwplayer(el).getPlaylistIndex());
window.permutive.track(“VideoEvent”, {
play_id: el, //this will stay constant for all of the events emitted during the same video play
event: (e.mute) ? “sound off” : “sound on”,
video: {
duration: jwInfo.duration, // in seconds
name: jwInfo.title,
video_id: decodeURIComponent( “FZjRfVro” ),
description: jwInfo.description,
published_at: new Date(jwInfo.pubdate).toISOString()
},
enriched_data:{
tvchannel: decodeURIComponent( “Men%26%23039%3Bs%20Journal” ), //tv channel name
language: “English”, //language of the content
type: “video”,
keywords: jwInfo.tags.split(“,”), //keywords for the page
}
});
console.log(“Permutive video event:”, e);
}).on(‘fullscreen’, (e) => {
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So your best friend wrote a novel during quarantine? Big deal—you’re getting in the best shape of your life from the comfort of home with this bevy of fitness apps.
Best Fitness Apps and Streaming Platforms to Get Fit From Home
1. FlexIt
Your muscles don’t have to atrophy like your social life, folks. Hook up with virtual personal trainers from 3,000 gyms across the country, including Blink, Gold’s, Physique 57, and more. (You don’t need to be a member of any studio to use the platform.) You’ll train with a trainer over video in a customized workout tailored to your goals. Take the Trainer Matching Quiz and get on the road to better health, whether you’re looking to improve flexibility, rehab an injury, lose weight, or improve overall fitness.
Take classes from pro boxers and NASM-certified trainers with on-demand workouts like Full Body Boxing and Full Body Kicking. There’s even a versus mode so you can challenge yourself or others from prior workouts to beat your personal record. To get set up you’ll need the FightCamp Personal or FightCamp Tribe package, which comprises a bag, quick wraps, mat, pair of gloves, and punch trackers that measure your speed, strength, and stamina throughout each cathartic jab and hook. FYI: The free-standing bag is 67 inches tall and 24 inches at its widest once assembled, so make sure you’ve got adequate space.
[From $430-$1,219 for equipment plus $39/month membership fee; joinfightcamp.com]
A diverse group of instructors guide you through a carefully curated collection of on-demand yoga, fitness, and mindfulness classes (try a sound bath if you’re in a slump or yoga nidra for restorative sleep) located in studio or naturals settings (we like Alo in the Wild Hawaii). With thousands of classes to choose from, use the handy filter to search by class duration, intensity, style, and more. Or, heed our sage counsel and treat your weary limbs to Yoga for Hikers with the talented Nicole Tsong or Quick HIIT if your quarantine sweats are getting tight.
If one-on-one virtual personal training is for you, join the Future Fit program, which pairs you with a fitness coach who creates custom training plans each week based on goals, available equipment, and time constraints, communicating via text message and video. To keep you accountable, Future sends you an Apple Watch so you and your coach can keep tabs on your progress. For a sample of the fun that’s in store, a recent week for one user consisted of Push Focus (three-position isometric hold pushups, lunge knee drives, scissors, T pushups, triceps dips, squat jumps, high plank, etc.) on Monday and Pull Focus (feet elevated pushups, hip lifts, pendulum legs, high side plank, pushups, etc.) on Wednesday.
This virtual reality fitness program is otherworldly (okay, not really, but man do Machu Picchu and Iceland boast some serious views) and makes torching calories fun, all the while tailoring your sessions to your ability level and desired intensity. It’s available exclusively on the Oculus Quest and Quest 2 headsets, with a mobile Companion App for iPhone and Android to track your progress. Explore the workouts library, connect with others, and pair with an optional heart-rate monitor. Workouts run the gamut but our two favorites are Quick Hits, which last two-to-three songs in length and can be completed in under 10 minutes, and the Meditation/Stretching options for a release at the end of a tough day.
They had us at LIMITLESS, a three-week program with Andrew Mariani, where all you need is dumbbells and a willingness to break a sweat. These days, after winter gluttony, we’re also fans of The Biggest Loser’s Bob Harper’s Weight Loss Starter Pack and kids’ workouts to keep the little ones entertained. Overall, NEOU lets you choose from live-streaming and on-demand classes from 100+ studios and instructors in categories like bootcamp, yoga, cycling, and nutrition. With something for all fitness levels, this is a great choice if you share your digs with a couch potato or triathlete, and need a service that caters to you both.
There’s no low-impact workout quite like rowing. Easy on your hips, knees, and low back, while delivering superb cardiovascular benefits, BYO rowing machine and get to work on building your endurance and muscles from wherever you are. Bonus: When lockdowns are behind us and your group books a lake house, you’ll be MVP for lakefront activities.
NordicTrack iFit Global Workout Mt FujiCourtesy Image
8. iFit
Suffering from waning motivation and workout monotony? You’d be amazed what some dog sled action in Alaska or a spin around Bermuda can do for your spirit, even if you’re only staring at them on an HD flat screen in your basement. Explore a sprawling library of instructor-led studio classes and global training videos shot on location in 50+ countries (we’re talking hikes on Mt. Kilimanjaro, cycling the Swiss Alps, or rowing the Zambezi river) with iFit’s immersive, interactive app. It powers NordicTrack, ProForm, and Freemotion bikes, treadmills, and more cardio equipment. Even better, iFit-enabled machines can automatically adjust incline, resistance, and more, allowing you to focus on your burning calves instead of futzing with manual adjustments. When you want to mix things up, don’t miss the collection of off-equipment workout categories like bootcamp, boxing, HIIT, yoga, Pilates, and mindfulness. P.S. If you don’t have IFit-enabled equipment, but seek a globetrotter’s escape, prop your phone or tablet on your own equipment and follow along. Glacier National Park Climb Series we’re coming for ya.
[$15/month for individual plan, $39/month for up to five users on family plan, or $396/year; ifit.com]
Choose from 1,000+ live-streaming classes a week, running the gamut from cardio to yoga. (Not to be missed: Life Time’s CEO Bahram Akradi, frequently teaches cycle classes). For something more personalized, you can also take virtual 1:1 training. Got an Apple Watch? The app also features Apple Fitness+ programs. Our top class picks: Upper RX and XTREME. We’ll spare you the grueling details, so you don’t chicken out.
The newly launched Centr Fusion program from Chris Hemsworth’s fitness app merges high-octane workouts with mindful components to give your training a more holistic touch. The six-week progressive program has five unique 25- to 30-minute workouts that get harder week after week to help you grow stronger. Each week comprises three workout styles: BoxHIIT, Strength, and Power Flow. You don’t need a fancy home gym either—just a mat and dumbbells. This is great if you struggle with meditating, as it encourages you to take a moment post-workout to recalibrate and, yes, center yourself.
Got a pool? Don’t limit yourself strictly to floating and sipping beer; try this waterproof headset and accompanying app of on-demand water-based workouts. Billed as “The Peloton of the Pool,” there are 100 on-demand workouts paired with music; you can also stream your own tunes, podcasts, and audiobooks Some classes that piqued our interest include the 20-Minute Arm Intervals (a.k.a. “Angry Arms”) and Recovery Swims. For serious swimmers, live coaching is a separate capability that can be utilized by, say, a coach or personal trainer by working as a walkie-talkie. P.S. Yep, the headset works in a lake or ocean, too. Simply rinse off the headset after swimming in salt water.
Fans of the wall-mounted Tonal home gym can now take that experience when they’re away from home with its Mobile Workouts beta, available for Apple’s iOs (including the Apple Watch) or Android. Tonal members who have completed a digital weight assessment can access all off-Tonal Guided Workouts ranging from Core Strength and Recovery to Mobility and Kickboxing, and more. For type-As who can’t bear to see their 100-day workout streak ruined, rest assured all workouts get logged to your profile. Got 18 minutes? Six-Pack Attack, here we come.
[$3,740 plus $49/month for membership with unlimited membership accounts; tonal.com]
Embrace your childhood dream of being a firefighter with this stellar strength-and-conditioning system founded by CEO and Iraq War Veteran Sarah Apgar. It was originally designed for the fire service and centered on the patent-pending Steelhose free weights and an accompanying iOS app for Apple devices. Made in America from real firehose and steel shot, the accessory works as a dumbbell, kettlebell, sandbag, med ball, and sledgehammer—all in one. Pick either from an on-demand library of workouts or tune in for live-streamed workouts. A portion of FitFighter profits go to the Stephen Siller Tunnels to Towers Foundation, which honors firefighter Stephen Siller who died saving others on September 11, 2001.
[$150 for the Steelhose and a year of training or $65 for 5lb or 15lb set, $85 for 25lb set, and $10 a month or $100 a year for training; 30-day free trial available; fitfighter.com]
Yes, UA as in that UA. Hone your body’s greatest asset, your brain, with Under Armour’s digital hub. You’ll discover mental strength training knowledge, exercises, and tools used by the world’s top athletes; take audio and/or visual programming across Visualizing Success, Building Optimism, and Calming Your Mind. Rooted in scientific research, this program is inspired by world champions and elite athletes so you, too, can enhance your mental fortitude and wellness on and off the proverbial court.
We’ve all got pent-up steam to blow off these days. With Academy of Self Defense’s program, hone your skills at Krav Maga, the military self-defense and fighting method developed for the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli security forces virtually. Or, try Muay Thai, bootcamp classes, and combo/all-around fighter fitness options. All classes are taught by professional trainers who will have you feeling like you can star in your own martial arts flick in no time.
[$19/month for a specific class subscription or $39/month for extensive, on-demand access; two-week free trial available; academyselfdefense.com]
If you’re looking for something geared toward supporting your well-being, we’re all for these yoga classes coupled with purposefully curated wellness programs. They make use of research-based techniques with a therapeutic focus led by celebrated yogi Tiffany Cruikshank and other talented instructors. Two classes we keep coming back to—Strength & Resilience: Whole-Body and Lung Capacity& Longevity.
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For guys who need that muscle-swelling fix you can only get from pumping iron, building up your own home gym became a necessity over the lockdown. The pandemic shut down gyms pretty much all across the country (with some states still mandating closures), forcing fitness fanatics to get serious about maximizing their home gym space. That need fits in perfectly with Bowflex’s SelectTech line, which offers lots of options and weight selection in a compact form tailor-made for tight home workout rooms. Bowflex’s first foray into the space-saving fitness gear came with its dumbbells, which provide 5 to 52.5 pounds of weight in a shoebox-size footprint per dumbbell. Next came some super-cool kettlebells. And now, its latest innovation is the SelectTech 2080 Barbell with Curl Bar, which ups the compact, total gym gear-fest for your home.
(Note that these were released in October 2020, but with the pandemic’s ongoing stranglehold on supplies and shipping, they are just now coming in stock, and even then they can be hard to find or are backordered for months.)
Building off of the solid and user-friendly designs of Bowflex’s previous adjustable weight sets, the 2080 gives you 20 to 80 pounds in 10-pound increments with the choice of using a standard straight bar or a curl (or EZ) bar. The curl bar, with its W-shaped design, is meant to help relieve pressure on your wrists when doing exercises like standing curls, seated preacher curls, and lying triceps extensions. The weight plates sit at an angle in the plastic holders and have three small hooks that latch into each other, which allow them to be joined or separated by turning the smooth dial at either end of the bars—one plate is permanently attached to the bars for your lowest weight of 20 pounds.
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Setup is a little more involved than with the Bowflex kettlebells or dumbbells, which are basically ready to be swung and curled the instant they come out of the box. For the barbells, you’ll need to assemble the base, consisting of a metal frame and two plastic buckets that hold the weights. It takes a little finagling to get the distance between the plastic holders precise enough to allow for easy adjustment of the dial and proper hook-up of the weights, but that takes just a few minutes of tightening and loosening the bolts holding the trays to the frame. Once you get it dialed in, the system works perfectly, allowing for easy selection of weight and quick transitions between the curl bar and the straight bar.
For those who don’t want to lift the barbells off of the floor every time they work out or decide to change weights, Bowflex offers a Media Stand that brings the weights up off of the ground to a height of 2.5 feet and includes a slanted slab where you can place a tablet or smartphone for workout inspiration or training videos. And Bowflex gives you access to 14 free vids that provide basic instructions on standard barbell exercises like bent rows, curls, overhead presses, dead lifts, and triceps extensions.
Admittedly 80 pounds is not a lot of weight for doing maximally effective squats for most guys, or for really testing your strength in other moves, but Bowflex also offers an upgrade of 40 more pounds for $149, making for a max weight of 120 pounds. Also not heavy iron, but enough to challenge you in your home for arm exercises and single-leg exercises like lunges and deadlifts.
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Why We Like It
The option of both bars is a great choice to have included and, once you get it set up properly, it works well when you want to pick a new weight. The adjustment knob is smooth and easy to turn, and has a plus or minus on either side of the clear window which shows the weight in kilos and pounds. The bars have deep knurling just like on the gym-grade bars at your usual spot, and feel solid and strong, just like the bars that you’re most familiar with.
Though the system is not going to really challenge the hardcore gym rats who got shut out of their favorite pain palace, it is robust enough to offer most everyone enough weight (especially with the upgrade) to build muscle, maintain some mass, and get a good swole on, all in the comfort of your home. And at less than 5 feet long and about a foot wide and high, while giving you the equivalent of 14 barbells (with fixed weights), it’s the perfect addition to your growing home gym.
Nitpick
All is not perfect with the 2080 SelectTech system. Traditional barbells that are standalone and can be loaded up with all manner of weight plates utilizing collars that hold the weights on a ball-bearings. This allows the weights to move with the momentum of you lifting and thrusting and pushing the weights around, making for a more pleasant and less stressful (on the hands and wrists) workout. This mostly comes into play with swinging exercises like curls and extensions.
With barbells that have fixed weights, and the Bowflex 2080s, you don’t get that relief and ease of movement. And since the Bowflex barbells used almost square plates, which can feel ungainly, some movements can feel awkward and frustrating, especially if you like to use a looser grip. It’s definitely not a deal-breaker, and you’ll quickly get used to the oddness of swinging the barbells, knowing when and how to adjust your grip to make movements as smooth as possible.
Researchers from the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, both in England, found obese people over the age of 60 are able to lose weight at the same rate as younger people by only using lifestyle changes (changing diets, exercising more, etc.)
“Age should be no barrier to lifestyle management of obesity,” Barber said. “Rather than putting up barriers to older people accessing weight loss programs, we should be proactively facilitating that process. To do otherwise would risk further and unnecessary neglect of older people through societal ageist misconceptions.”
Researchers looked at the weight loss journey of 242 patients at a weight loss clinic and split them into two groups—one with people under 60 and one with people ages 60 to 78. The older group actually had a bigger average decrease in body weight, 7.3 percent, compared to the younger group, 6.9 percent. Both groups spent a similar amount of time at the weight loss clinic.
The program only used lifestyle-based changes for the weight loss, meaning no surgery was performed to help patients shed weight.
As we’ve written in the past, obese patients who lose weight have shown signs of reversing conditions like diabetes, cancer, and even depression. This new study shows that weight loss can and should be an option for older people who want to improve their quality of life.
Celebrity Trainer (@rocshabazz)
