SportsGeezer

Waltzing To Fitness

It is hard, Geezer admits, to imagine Lawrence Welk as a fitness guru, but as this L.A. Times piece on the health benefits of waltzing points out, Welk's  famous "and a one, and a two, and a three" may have improved the cadio health of many millions of people. The Times directs our attention to a study, presented at a recent meeting of the American Heart Association, that indicates that dancing the waltz three times a week for eight weeks was just as effective in improving cardiopulmonary function as exercising on a treadmill or bicycle for the same period. The piece quotes Jeff Allen, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing," who explains that in the American-style waltz, there are 30 to 36 bars per minute, so you're doing 90 weight changes per minute or more.
Read more from CBS News about the health benefits of waltzing.

Music Improves Athletic Performance

Forget the drugs; turn up the volume.  According to this L.A. Times story written by Jeannine Stein, music can improve the performance, reduce the pain, and sharpen the focus of athetes. Stein tells us that the way music affects athletic performance begins with the eighth nerve from the ear, which has two direct tracks: one that involves hearing, and another that goes straight to the vestibular system, that part of the cerebellum that manages balance and some motor functions. The same kinds of messages from the cerebellum that enable us to concentrate also encourage maximum performance.  And then there are the studies; Stein points to two. One, done two years ago at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, found that women who listened to music ran a minute or two longer than those who didn't. They also adjusted their strides to run more efficiently, and had lower perceived exertion. Another study, done at Southwestern University in Texas, found that men cycling at a high intensity were able to exercise longer while listening to fast-paced music, and even longer while listening to music they liked. Rock on. Read more.