East Coast Alliance

It’s that time of year again, folks. East Coast Alliance is descending upon the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. (For those of you who don’t know, ECA is a fitness organization that runs conferences which feature classes from big name instructors around the world.)

I’m not attending any of the sessions this year, but I will probably make a quick appearance at the trade show. For $10, anyone can peruse the booths which sell everything from music to energy bars to clothing to workout equipment. (Note: the clothing is mostly geared toward women.)

Keep in mind that fitness people are nuts. Even if you don’t find anything to buy, there’s still plenty of people watching that will keep you entertained.

Naked bodies

The exhibit is a collection of actual human cadavers, dissected, opened, sliced, dissolved, and turned inside out in such a way as to reveal different aspects of the human body. Each system of the body (skeletal, muscular, nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and reproductive) got its own room. There was also some attention paid to ailments like strokes, emphysema, heart attacks, obesity, and birth defects, to name a few.

Throughout the hall, interesting facts about the human body were posted on the walls. (For example, did you know that in your lifetime, you’ll urinate enough to fill a small swimming pool? I got that lovely tidbit right outside the restroom.) What had the most profound effect on me, however, was the realization that these were not models I was looking at. These bodies used to belong to living human beings. I was, for the first time in my life, looking not at a plastic imitation of a deltoid muscle but at the deltoid muscle itself.

From a fitness standpoint, the value of this exhibit is clear. If you want to gain a greater understanding in what it is that you’re working out during a fitness class, “Bodies” is an absolute must.

Listen Up, Ladies….

Women have less muscle mass than men. They are also less structurally stable. Since muscles are what hold bones in place, women should accordingly take special care to keep the smaller amount of muscle that they do have in tip-top shape.

The idea, therefore, that the weight room is just for the guys couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, it’s more important for females to weight train that it is for men. Furthermore, women shouldn’t shy away from using free weights, which require the use of stabilizer muscles much more than weight machines do.

Many women are intimidated by the weight room setting, but thankfully the aerobics room provides a less threatening alternative. Keep in mind that some kind of muscle conditioning two to three times a week, whether in the weight room or in a conditioning class, is just as important as cardio training.

And keep it safe, but please… if you don’t want me to yell at you, stay away from those teeny tiny weights.