May 8, 2005
Don't Wear or Carry Weights When You Exercise
Wearing ankle weights will not help you to run faster or
longer, or jump higher. Training is specific. To run faster in
competition, you have to run fast in practice. Ankle weights slow
you down because they interfere with your coordination and
make you work much harder to raise your knees. To train your
muscles so you will be able to run longer, you have to run faster
or for a longer time. The heavy weights will tire you earlier so you
will not be able to run as fast or as far.
Using ankle weights won't help you to jump higher,
either. To jump higher, you have to strengthen your leg muscles
in the same way that you would use them to jump. When you
wear ankle weights, you strengthen your leg muscles for lifting
weights off the ground with your feet. When you jump, you raise
your body off the ground. To help you to jump higher, you have
to raise your body up against resistance. You do this by doing leg
presses or squats with heavy weights on your shoulders.
Ankle weights can also increase your chances of being
injured. Since they force you to lift a much heavier weight when
you raise your knees, they strengthen the quadriceps muscles in
the front of your upper leg without strengthening the hamstrings
in the back equally. This can make your quad muscle
proportionately so much stronger than your hamstrings that you
are prone to injury. The same principles apply to carrying
weights when you walk or run, or wearing weighted belts or other
devices. Strength training should be done using weights with
proper form in specific exercises, and should be kept separate
from your aerobic activities.
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Reports from DrMirkin.com
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Dear Dr. Mirkin: I'm always tired after I exercise. Would
potassium supplements help me?
Tiredness and cramps in athletes can have many
causes, but lack of potassium in their diets is not one of them.
Many years ago, Dave Costill of Ball State University tried to
create potassium deficiency in runners. He couldn't do it because
potassium is found in all foods except refined sugar, and his
athletes would not stay on a diet that consisted only of hard
candy.
The kidneys and sweat glands conserve potassium so
well that you don't lose much. If an athlete develops potassium
deficiency, it's caused by drugs, such as diuretics or
corticosteroids, or by diarrhea or repeated vomiting. Some
people try to control their weight by making themselves vomit
after eating. This is called bulimia, and the person almost always
denies vomiting. Their physicians can prove that they are
vomiting by ordering blood and urine tests. If blood levels of
potassium are low and urine levels are high, vomiting is the likely
cause. Bulimia is a life-threatening practice, a message that
needs more attention in the media.
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Dear Dr. Mirkin: Can eye exercises improve my vision enough
that I will be able to get rid of my glasses?
Eye exercises do not correct vision in people who are
near-sighted or far-sighted, despite the advertising claims we
hear every day. In 1891, a New York physician named William
Horatio Bates developed a series of eye exercises to cure near-
sightedness. He believed that the lens never changes shape and
that most eye defects are caused by stress, which tightens eye
muscles. He claimed that his exercises could cure near-
sightedness, far-sightedness, cataracts, and glaucoma. He
advised patients to cover their eyes with the palms of their
hands, to look at different objects continually instead of staring at
one thing, and to read under difficult conditions such as in dim
light. He also recommended staring directly at the sun, which is
terrible advice because it can damage your eyes.
Now we know that most vision problems are caused by
the improper bending of light rays by the lens of the eye. The
lens normally changes shape to bend light at an angle that will
strike the retina and bring objects into focus. Once the lens loses
its ability to change shape, you become near- or far-sighted. In
near-sightedness, light rays that enter the eye fall short of the
retina, causing the patient to see nearby objects only. In far-
sightedness, the opposite happens. Light rays go beyond the
retina, putting far objects in focus. Eye exercises are useless for
near-sightedness, far-sightedness, glaucoma or cataracts. They
may help people with weak eye muscles that cause eye
coordination or focus problems, double vision, or even crossed,
turned or lazy eyes. Before you spend money on programs that
claim exercises will improve your vision, get a diagnosis from a
qualified optometrist or ophthalmologist to see if you have any of
these conditions.
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Recipe of the Week
Hearty soups aren’t just for cold weather; here’s one that is
refreshing and quick to make:
Lemony Quinoa Soup
List of Diana's Healthful Recipes
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