In chess, checkmate occurs when a player’s king is under attack and has no safe place to go. The king is threatened and every possible escape route is blocked. Such an existential condition, an allegorical “no exit,” is known as checkmate. In life, a person may be similarly threatened by a serious

Wouldn't it be great if your body came with an owner's manual? You'd probably begin reading it around the age of seven or eight, and right away you would be able to start taking better care of your precious body. You would learn how you can use your body efficiently and effectively. By learning how to

High serum glucose. High cholesterol. High blood pressure. This is a trifecta you definitely don't want to have. This combination of laboratory findings is known as metabolic syndrome, a new medical term that has been in existence for less than ten years. It's well-known that there is an epidemic of

Everyone wants to grow their bank account. We know our financial health is usually estimated by the level of our resources. The more money in the bank, figuratively speaking, the more secure we feel. If our resources include stocks, bonds, and property, we are even more secure. We can use such fiscal

What does the future hold in store? None of us can know with certainty, although some predictions are possible. Stock market indexes will rise. Then they'll fall. Then everyone will hope that the indexes will rise again. Hemlines will fall. Then they'll rise. Then in two or three years they'll fall again. The

In general most people pay close attention to auto maintenance. Whether the concern is tires, brakes, transmission, or windshield status, people make sure that their cars do what they need them to do. People count on their cars to perform effectively. No one wants a surprise, especially in a critical

Driving fast is not necessarily a good thing. We want to get where we're going as quickly as possible, but we also want to arrive safely. If we drive too fast, we may encounter all sorts of problems. If we drive too slow, we're wasting time and may be causing traffic problems behind us. These competing

We all know someone who has suffered a serious driving-related injury that had nothing to do with being involved in a motor vehicle accident. For example, turning your head suddenly and swiftly for a last minute check of your "blind spot" before changing lanes on the interstate could result in a painful

Even experienced exercisers sometimes find it difficult to know how much to do. For the beginner this uncertainty represents a significant stumbling block. Fortunately well-established guidelines and protocols exist to provide assistance to all exercisers, regardless of your skill level. In general,

All of us who’ve experienced a back injury of one sort or another have been told at some point to “avoid heavy lifting.” That type of advice appears to be a no-brainer or at least redundant, as no one whose back is hurting is going to try to pick up an air conditioner or even a 100-foot reel of

Everyone knows what he or she "should" do to obtain good health. But the mere knowledge of what we should be doing is never enough. If we've not been in good shape for some time, if we can't remember the last time we did any meaningful exercise on a consistent basis, and if we've added more pounds over

Simon and Garfunkel [and later, The Bangles] had it right. Winter light is hazy - it's more diffuse. The sun is lower in the sky and the sun's rays reach the Earth at an angle, losing much of their power. And of course, there's less sunlight during each 24-hour day of winter than during the rest of the

It seems that at least once a month, some sort of senior fitness competition is featured on the sports page of local and national newspapers. The Senior Olympics was the forerunner of these types of events, and the designation quickly morphed into the National Senior Games. Soon localities and municipalities

As springtime approaches, weather warms up and leaves turn green, many people will spend more time outside planting bulbs, mowing the lawn and pulling weeds. Gardening can provide a great workout, but with all the bending, twisting, reaching and pulling, your body may not be ready for exercise of the

Let’s say you’ve been taking some time off from the gym. Maybe you reached the end of your 12-week training cycle and you’re taking a week off. It’s possible that one week turns into two or even three or four weeks. Life happens, you need to attend to some pressing matters, and going to the gym

As we get older, rotator cuff injuries become more common, a result of the natural aging process. A similar mechanism operates in the discs separating the vertebras in your lower back. These cartilaginous structures lose water over time, becoming less flexible and more brittle as the decades roll by.