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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2018
Letter to the Editor
A threat to democracy
Dear Editor:
President Trump’s recent musings on
whether to interfere with the investigation
into Russian interference in our election are
nothing short of a threat to our democracy.
This is not an issue of left vs. right or
Republican vs. Democrat; this is an issue of
what system of government we’d like to have
in the future and whether we, as a country, are
comfortable with a president who is allowed
to fire those investigating the president and
the president’s family.
Donald Trump ran a campaign based on
attacking our democratic institutions and has
continued to do so throughout his 15-month
tenure in office. Nothing is sacred — elec
tions. the judiciary, and law enforcement have
all been targeted by Trump. But the most
recent attack on the Department of Justice
in general and Deputy Attorney General
Rod Rosenstein and Special Counsel Robert
Mueller in particular, attacks that are based
on his fear that the investigation will uncover
criminal behavior on behalf of himself or his
children, are the most direct attacks to our
democracy thus far.
Our nation is supposed to be a government
of laws, not of men. But by threatening to end
the investigation, Donald Trump is saying
that the law does not apply to him. No one,
not even our president, should be above the
law.
Fortunately, Congress can act as a check
on the president’s overreach. Senators Isak-
son and Perdue and Congressman Jody Hice
should show that they believe that no man is
above the law by denouncing the president’s
attempts to end the investigation and commit
ting to taking action to protect Robert Muel
ler if the president acts against him.
Currently, there is a bipartisan bill in the
Senate to protect Mueller and his investi
gation; it would behoove Senators Isakson
and Perdue to protect the rule of law in our
country by supporting that bill.
Sadly, Congressman Hice isn’t committed
to supporting such a bill in the House of
Representatives. Isakson can be reached at
770-661-0999 and Perdue at 404-865-0087.
Peggy Perkins
Winder
Random Rants in Rhyme
One Constant Thing
Seasons come, and then, the seasons go.
You know that after winter will come spring.
Then autumn with its colors all aglow
will follow after summer’s time of growing.
Sometimes, it seems that everything's the same
monotony and humdrum - just a blur
of repetitious cycles. It’s a shame
that nothing new and different can occur.
Then comes a time of startling revelation-
the image in your mirror is not the same!
And, though you may not like your situation,
the image of your youth you can’t reclaim.
You start to think of how things used to be
when you were young and everything a bore.
You look around, and finally you see
that nothing is the same now as before.
Your own face has begun to tell the tale
you once thought false, absurd and strange.
You, too, are now convinced that, without fail,
the only constant thing in life ... is change.
© 1999, cbs
Dr. CB Skelton is a retired Winder physician and author of several books.
More political cartoons
TAKING CARE OF YOUR PRIMARY ASSET
Workout protocols can vary
in so many ways. You have
innumerable systems available
to improve your physical health,
almost all having demonstrated
the ability to get you to you
desired ends.
This wide range of selections
has evolved as a result of each
individual having their own
perception of what
they are wanting to
achieve.
Once you settle
on your methodolo
gy, the next step is to
implement and stick
with it. Pretty simple,
right? As you prog
ress month to month,
you should start feel
ing the positives. As
a side note, you will
feel the changes first.
The visual changes
come later, maybe in
a couple of months, six months
or even longer, depending on
your dedication. We all want to
improve our physical capabili
ties over time. Part of the task is
finding the time. The following
is a viewpoint that could help
optimize your exercise program.
One viewpoint
Here is a concept that has
the potential to aid in evaluating
and redesigning by giving you
a different way to envision your
‘sweat equity’investment Hike
to call it the ‘DIF’ method, based
on 3 criteria:
•“D”uration: How long is the
workout
•“Intensity: How challenging
is the workout
•“F’requency: How often are
the workouts
The basic principle of “DIF’
is that if you increase one factor,
there will be a need to stand pat
or decrease one or both of the
other two. This definition fits in
with my philosophy, which has
always been to get the most out
of exercising in the least amount
of time.
Let’s apply the above three
criteria to cardio training. The
minimum standard
for getting healthier
is generally con
sidered to be three
days a week for 20
minutes. The logical
conclusion is that
increasing these time
frames will boost a
person’s fitness lev
els. The following
presentation will
help give you some
insight into the ‘less
is more’ equation.
Fact of the
matter
A study in Japan set out to test
that theory by evaluating two dif
ferent approaches using station
ary bikes for five days a week
over a six-week period. The first
group pedaled for 60 minutes at
a steady pace while the second
group applied intervals, pedal
ing all out for 20 seconds and
slowing down for 10 seconds
for a total of four minutes (eight
intervals). Allowing four to five
minutes each for a warm up and
a cool down, the total time for
this interval method was under
15 minutes.
This high-intensity method,
called Tabata training, was dis
covered by Japanese scientist
Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of
researchers from the National
Institute of Fitness and Sports
Making the
in Tokyo. The punch line is that
the V02 Max (oxygen exchange
efficiency) for the first group
improved by 9 percent while
the second group improved by
15 percent.
Less is more
The second group had a
66-percent better improvement
in 75 percent less time. Higher
intensity (I) with less duration
(D) and no increase in frequency
(F).
A far greater improvement in
one’s overall fitness levels while,
at the same moment, not spend
ing as much time in the gym.
The more intense the work
out the higher you set the chal
lenge point for the body, so as
long as you are diligent in your
training, your body will be con
tinually shooting for a superior
level each and every time. I will
inteiject that the level of ordeal
presented by the Tabata modus
operandi is a little much for my
blood and definitely not indorsed
for the baby boomer generation
as their first option. Following
are some rules of the road I
would counsel for intervals.
Word of caution
In order to start at these more
intense levels, you must first
condition your body. I would
recommend:
‘DIF’erence
•Not trying any of this interval
style for at least a month until
you get a baseline of cardio pro
ficiency
•The 20 second/10 second
cycle is not “optimal.” While
the research shows that shorter
bursts of very high intensity will
get the best results, these levels
are for very fit individuals. You
might start out with (after you
have warmed up) one minute
at a somewhat faster pace, then
two to three minutes at your
normal pace
•Slowly introduce a 0.1-0.2
mph increase in speed, depend
ing on how you felt from the last
workout — judge how quickly
you want to push by listening to
what your body says to you the
next day
•Try different ratios — 1:1 or
1:2 or 1:3 using different time
frames — and pick what feels
reasonable to you
•While you may fall in love
with the interval concept you
don’t absolutely have to do
intervals every time — you may
want to mix things up with a nice
steady jog or bike ride — and
don’t discount a round of tennis,
a pickup game of basketball or
even mowing your lawn (with a
push mower please). Consisten
cy is the key
Another factor
When it comes to us Baby
Boomers (and older), an addi
tional consideration to add to the
mix should be recovery time.
While we may be able to per
form to a level close to what we
did 10 years ago, your body will
let you know you should proba
bly give itself some extra recu
perative time before continuing.
Remember, our body’s ability
to recover increases with each
succeeding decade. Ironically
that can actually be turned into
an advantage.
‘Pumping Iron’
intervals
Just look at strength training
from an interval viewpoint. You
are “pumping iron” for a finite
time then resting until you go
to your next resistance move,
going from high intensity to vir
tually no force then back to high
intensity. The more you test your
body with heavier weights, the
more stress you are introducing
to your body, resulting in more
time needed to recuperate.
In my own case, over the
preceding years, I have made
two distinct modifications to
my strength regimen. (1) I went
from a twice weekly full body
resistance program to once every
seven to 10 days and (2) made
the decision to not lift anything
heavier going forward. My
intensity is continuing to be chal
lenged (pushing close to failure),
my duration is equivalent but my
frequency has been decreased.
Going forward
Reevaluate your exercise plat
form. Could applying the ‘DIF’
approach save you time and up
your game? From the perspec
tive of this soon-to-be 70-year-
old, this strategy has served me
very well. Stay tuned.
Good luck and good health!
Rick Almond can train you out
of Anytime Fitness (Winder and
Auburn locations) or in the. priva
cy of your home. He can be con
tacted at404-312-9206orRick@
UltinmeBest.net. His website is
BabyBoomersSurvivalGuide.net.
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