Weighing Perfect Performance

Many consider it a big fitness performance boon to be as light as possible—less drag on bikes, less weight to carry while running or less opponent to go up against in wrestling. But a new book is confirming what some athletes have been privy to for years: skinniest is not always best.

When you weigh less, you do reduce gravitational pull. In fact, researchers at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut found that each one percent drop in weight corresponds to a one percent improvement in athletic performance. However, dropping the pounds seems to only improve your exercise output up to a certain point. After you lose too many el-bees your body starts almost “eating” your muscle tissue for energy. This makes recovery much more difficult, plus the muscles are not nearly as efficient because they cannot take in as much oxygen as they can at their optimal performance level.

Interestingly, this acme is different for everyone. A certain percentage of body fat or weight to height ratio cannot predict at which weight each person will be most athletically capable. Even professional athletes must withstand trial and error, the book “Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance,” reports.

For the average person seeking health, it probably matters little at which weight you perform your absolute best. Anyways, feeling positive about your body’s abilities (even if you’re not Usain Bolt or Lance Armstrong) is more important than setting world records, right?

(Image from Clker.com)

Plastic Surgery Surprise

Before reading on, take a second and guess which elective surgery showed the highest rate of growth in the past year…Perhaps nose jobs? Breast implants? The combo platter?

It turns out that male breast reduction surgery is tops when it comes to the fastest growing plastic surgery procedures. Why are men worried so much about the “moobs” as some call them? Scientists from the British Association of Plastic Surgery, who have been researching this surgical phenomenon, believe men’s magazines and media images may be to blame.

While the large majority (about 90 percent) of plastic surgeries performed by members of the Association were for women, the amount of male breast reduction surgeries surged by 80 percent compared to the previous year. It seems that these procedures seem to be recession-proof.

I understand that this could be an embarrassing situation that some men struggle with, but I would much rather consistently knock out push ups than deal with the recovery pain—not to mention the hospital bill!

What do you think is the cause for the surge in male breast reduction surgeries? How much pain would you be willing to endure to feel comfortable in your own skin?

Not just for the ladies…

(Image from The Los Angeles Times)

Water cooler conversation starter: A nine-year-old girl (yes NINE, so young Associated Press style says I need to spell it out!) gave birth to a healthy baby boy in China late last month. This baby gave birth to a baby on the same day as abstinence-only sex education programs came under fire due to an increase in teen pregnancies. But another report, released days later, found that abstinence-only programs do successfully decrease sexual activity.

Your thoughts on this touchy subject?