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Not all cities are equal from a fitness standpoint. In some big cities one in three people are obese; in others it's only one in five. In some cities there is one baseball diamond for every 10,000 people; in others there are five times as many ball fields. So says this year's American Fitness Index report, published by the American College of Sports Medicine. It takes the biggest 50 metropolitan areas and ranks them by fitness levels. The top city on the list, now for three years running, is Washington, D.C. The least fit is Oklahoma City, Okla.

FORT JACKSON, S.C. — (Adapting to battlefield experience, the Army nixes 5-mile runs and bayonet drills in favor of zigzag sprints and honing core muscles. ) New soldiers are grunting through the kind of stretches and twists found in "ab blaster" classes at suburban gyms as the Army revamps its basic training regimen for the first time in three decades. Heeding the advice of Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans, commanders are dropping five-mile runs and bayonet drills in favor of zigzag sprints and exercises that hone core muscles. Battlefield sergeants say that's the kind of fitness needed to dodge across...

Biologist and runner Daniel Lieberman had a simple question: "How did people run without shoes?" The answer he got is: Much better. At least running barefoot seems better for the feet, producing far less impact stress compared to feet shod in fancy, expensive running shoes, according to a study by Lieberman in the journal Nature. The study concludes that people seem to be born to run — barefoot. The research was funded in part by a company that makes running shoes that try to mimic barefoot running. But Lieberman, who disclosed the grant, said the company...didn't influence the outcome. People...

You might catch one late at night as you devour that leftover moo shu pork with a beer, watching TV in your underwear. The P90X infomercial. It's a guilt-inducing display in which a smiling 50-year-old man and several young cohorts, all rippling muscles and enthusiasm, knock out a couple of choice moves from what appears to be a scary-hard workout. That's followed by “regular” people vouching for the effectiveness of the workout, showing off their own pale, moo shu-ravaged bodies in pictures labeled “before,” and their newly rippling abs and rocky arms under “after.”

12/17/2009 - ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England (AFNS) -- One local Boy Scout's vision, some brand new equipment locked away in a store room for more than 13 years, a passion for fitness, and love for the RAF Lakenheath community. This is the recipe for the base's new outdoor fitness stations and for a member of local Boy Scout Troop 219 being one step closer to Eagle Scout. Joshua Kent, 15, took on the project of the erecting 15 fitness stations along the base's running trail with the help of his family, a few active duty Airmen and some of...

Women who do Crossfit are amazing…and this is my favorite video of Crossfit of them…they kick @ss! Anyone can do it (there’s a program for kids and seniors…just start slowly, stick with the program, and build carefully).Video Link

Randy Hetrick had a problem. As a special ops squadron commander deploying on ships, submarines and safe houses, he needed a way to keep his team in world-class shape without having access to world-class gyms. So during a deployment in Southeast Asia, Hetrick grabbed some parachute webbing and began stitching away. He anchored the straps, and, using his body weight for resistance, started doing presses. And flys. And curls. The prototype for his TRX Suspension Trainer was born, and since hitting the market in 2005, the portable straps have recorded more than $20 million in sales. "This thing has become...

What's the best way to stay out of Obama's crappy hospitals in the future? Stay healthy! EC interviews author, patriot, dietician, and now radio host Kevin Brown. You can listen to him every Saturday on Liberty Works Radio Network at noon EDT.

Until Michelle Obama writes a mega-selling diet book — be it “First Ladies Don’t Get Fat” or “The South Lawn Diet” — two questions loom: What do the Obamas eat at home, and how do they stay so thin? snipNutrition experts, too, say Americans need a much better glimpse of what’s being dished up behind the gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. “We have no idea what their regular breakfasts, lunches and dinners are like,” said American Dietetic Association spokeswoman and D.C. nutritionist Katherine Tallmadge. “Burgers, that’s all I ever hear about. They go to burger joints because it shows they’re...

The findings, by an international team of researchers, suggest muscular strength is as important as staying slim and eating healthily when it comes to protecting the body against deadly tumours. The scientists who came up with the findings are recommending men weight train at least twice a week, exercising muscle groups in both the upper and lower body. In recent years, experts have recommended a healthy diet and lifestyle - including regular aerobic exercise such as jogging or cycling to reduce the risks of the disease. But the latest study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, suggests...

Staying healthy means a quality life that lasts longer, review finds! Getting in shape really does help you live longer, new research says. People with high levels of physical fitness, called cardiorespiratory fitness, have a lower risk of dying from all causes of death, including coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease, than people with low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness. Researchers analyzed data from 33 previous studies that included 102,980 participants and 6,910 deaths from a variety of causes and 84,323 people with coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease and 4,485 deaths caused by those conditions. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was estimated...

Larry Armstrong has been volunteering with his local Boy Scout branch for years, chaperoning trips, serving on the council committee, even becoming certified in archery instruction for a day camp. But Armstrong, at 6-foot, 2-inches tall and about 370 pounds, may no longer qualify for some scout outings because he's overweight, part of a new push by the national organization to ensure the scouts and their volunteers are healthy. A new mandatory weight requirement by the national Boy Scouts of America that will take effect next January has some longtime volunteers concerned they will be left out of trips they've...

A New Pro Al-Qaeda Magazine for Extremists is Offering Fitness Tips to JihadistsA new pro al-Qaeda magazine for extremists is offering fitness tips to jihadists planning attacks against Americans in countries such as Afghanistan. The first edition out this month offers workout tips to get buff with the aim "to train as hard as possible in order to damage the enemies of Allah as much as possible." The English language e-zine, Jihad Recollections, is about 70 pages long and is thought to be produced by an American living in North Carolina. It claims to have articles written by Osama bin...

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2009 – Bathed in the light of a bright, winter moon, just outside of a small village in Afghanistan’s Wardak province, Army Spc. David Helton sits on the edge of a black metal bench. Army Spc. David Helton, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, lifts weights on the single bench that serves as the gymnasium at Combat Outpost Apache in Wardak province, Afghanistan. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. It is spattered with red mud, and duct tape holds most of the padded seat in place. The display...

President-Elect Barack Obama’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Tom Daschle is reportedly eying Japan as a possible model for a US national health care system. “I don’t blame people for being queasy about the national health care systems in Canada or the UK,” Daschle said. “There have been enough horror stories about inadequate facilities, long waits, and indifferent medical personnel. But Japan has a sterling reputation for quality and efficiency. Look what they’ve done to our auto industry.” The key, according to Daschle, is Japan’s devotion to preventive care. “If all we do is...

Today marks an important milestone for me and the fact that I'm here writing this blog entry on this dreary afternoon is the proof. On December 27th, 2003 I was diagnosed with tacchycardia-induced cardiomyopathy which caused severe damage to the left side of my heart and a 35% loss of cardiac function. On that day, the odds of me being here to tell this story stood at less than 50/50. So... it's time for a little history. I've never been in really good shape. In even my high-school days when I played baseball and ran track, I would often cross...

As late as 2007 Biden said that the man who was involved in the fatal crash that killed his wife and daughter was a “guy who allegedly … drank his lunch”… This drunk driving accusation, though, is simply a Biden creation and every time this claim is uttered it pains the family of the poor, maligned man involved in the tragic accident with Biden’s family…In truth, there was no finding of alcohol being involved in this tragic incident. In fact, some investigators thought at the time that the accident was caused by Biden’s wife pulling out into the intersection not...

Put down that bag of chips, maggot, and give me 50! Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, didn't say those exact words when he issued a shape-up-or-ship-out message to all Marines, but he might as well have. The nation's top Marine has created a rigorous fitness test to gauge combat readiness and has ordered strict enforcement of body-fat standards that he said have become lax in recent years. “Tendencies toward increased weight have become a dangerous trend over the last decade in our American society. But Marines are different,” Conway wrote in an Aug. 8 message. About 100...

I want to lose some weight and have been working-out on an "Elliptical" trainer (I think it is called) for a couple months. I do 3.5 miles in 30 minutes per day, and I work up a good sweat. I burn 300 - 350 calories. My diet is crappy. I eat when I can and when I reduce intake I feel nutrionally starved. I then go for fats and carbs. Thus the following questions to those that are willing to answer: How much do you exercise per day (or week)? What type of diet (eating style, foods, calorie intake) do...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who want to live a long and healthy life might want to take up running. A study published on Monday shows middle-aged members of a runner's club were half as likely to die over a 20-year period as people who did not run. Running reduced the risk not only of heart disease, but of cancer and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, researchers at Stanford University in California found. "At 19 years, 15 percent of runners had died compared with 34 percent of controls," Dr. Eliza Chakravarty and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Any...