Health Nut
Shake It Up
Savant's comment: The shaking you are describing happens when you push your muscles beyond their limits. This usually happens when a person starts doing an exercise that they have never really done before, or when they try and do an exercise that is beyond their ability. Let's look at some of the reasons in detail.
Muscles have a finite limit as to what they can do. I'm a burly guy, and I'll casually toss a 50 pound bag of garden mulch on my shoulder with little effort. However, as the weight increases, my body will start to shake since I am pushing my muscles beyond their capability. The shaking is basically my body fighting with the muscles. The muscle is trying to relax saying "this is too hard" and the brain is saying "keep doing it." So the muscle will relax for a fraction of a second before the brain tells it to keep going. This kind of shake is basically the body's way of trying to protect the muscles from injury.
Another kind of shake can happen when you try and use a muscle in a way that you have never used it before. Let's use the 'Spock hand pose' as an example. (look at this picture if you don't know what I mean.) Many people find this hard to do, mainly because the muscles that are used to put your fingers in that pose have never been used in that way. If you have trouble doing this, your hand will likely shake a bit as you struggle. So it's not necessarily about doing something that needs extra strength, since a hand pose requires no real strength. It's more about muscles that have never been used in that way.
Other possible reasons include fatigue. Think of a muscle like a rechargeable battery. It can only do so much before it needs to rest and recharge. Also, stimulants like caffeine can cause the shakes as well.
My first suggestion would be to make sure you are warming up before you exercise. Warm ups and stretches before exercising are essential to help the body get ready for exercise. I would also suggest you try doing easier versions of the ab crunches until you build up your muscles. Trying to go "all the way" doesn't make the exercise any more beneficial if your body is pushed to the limit. You can also try out different exercises that work the same mucle group. For details about specific exercises and such, head over to our Fitness Farm page and ask Anne for advice.
In The News...
Teen depression blamed on 'affluenza' (CANWEST) - "When people have everything in a material sense, they may have perfectionistic expectations and unrealistic goals," said B.C. Children's Hospital psychiatrist Jane Garland in an interview, following her presentation to delegates at a session on mental health problems in children and youth. "Children keep hearing the message that they can 'do anything,' but if they are constantly given everything, they may not know how to achieve their goals and when they fail, they may have poor coping skills, and an intolerance for discomfort," she said. (Read more)
Book looks at what's happening to Australia's girls (THE AGE) - The peek-a-boo Pole Dancing Kit came with a chrome pole, instructive DVD and sexy garter. It promised to "unleash the sex kitten within". So why was it being sold as a toy for four and five year olds on the website of a major British retailer? That's the question posed by NSW writer and social trends researcher Maggie Hamilton in her new book What's Happening To Our Girls? Subtitled Too Much Too Soon, the book looks at how a whole future generation of women is being "overstimulated, oversold and oversexed". (Read more)
Consent: When does a child have the right to choose? (CBC) - The issue of the age of consent for medical treatment has been in the Canadian media a lot recently, with reports about an 11-year-old Ontario boy who chose to forgo potentially life-saving chemotherapy. The story raised a great deal of discussion in Canada, particularly because the survival of the child is in no way guaranteed, and because the consequences of chemotherapy can be very significant. An adult who chose not to pursue treatment would, almost certainly, have had his wishes respected. Yet the courts decided that this not-quite-adolescent and his parents have no choice; therapy will proceed. (Read more)
How Motivation Plays A Role In Getting Healthy (SCIENCE DAILY) - People fall into a pattern. They start out with the best intentions and do well for a little while … but then fall back into old habits. It’s a classic health trap: two steps forward, three steps back. People end up feeling bad about themselves. Moreover, the two-steps-forward-three-steps-back dance ends up increasing the health problems the behavioral changes were supposed to address in the first place. ... Motivation expert Michael Vallis say most people fall into a pattern. They start out with the best intentions and do well for a little while … but then fall back into old habits. It’s a classic health trap: two steps forward, three steps back. (Read more)
Principal stands by ‘pregnancy pact’ claim (MSNBC) - The principal of a Massachusetts high school who said a group of students intentionally got pregnant stood by his comments Thursday, saying his information “was and is accurate.” In his first public statement since the controversy erupted earlier this month, Gloucester High School principal Joseph Sullivan said he does not specifically remember using the word “pact” but does not dispute it. He said a reporter from Time magazine asked him whether access to birth control through the school’s health center would have prevented the spike in pregnancies — 17 last year, compared with the typical four. (Read more)
Fill Up on Flavor (TIME) - Every diet begins with good intentions. You swear to eat your veggies, lay off the chocolate cake and exercise every day. This works fine, at first. But then one day you stroll by a Cinnabon shop and are seduced by the sugary-sweet aroma. Or you're at a dinner party and can't say no to that heaping helping of lasagna. Soon, you're back at square one — and hating yourself. Why do we all give in so easily to rich, heavily flavored foods? Here's an answer that won't exactly come as a bulletin: they taste good. (Read more)
Video/Audio & Pictorials
Flip Flops and Your Feet (ABC NEWS) - How does this style of comfy, open-toed footwear affect your feet? (Watch video)
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Did School Give Them Cancer? (ABC NEWS) - Former students and teachers claim middle school made them sick. (Watch video)
Ganga’s Day (MSNBC) - A day in the life of a 14 year-old girl forced into labor at a silk factory in India. (Watch video)
10 ways to cut 100 calories (MSNBC) - Ten simple ways to cut calories from your daily routine. (View pictorial)
Don’t let the bugs bite (MSNBC) - TODAY consumer correspondent Janice Lieberman reports on ways to get rid of summer pests; Jon Conlon, from the Mosquito Control Association, shows off some bug-repelling products. (Watch video)
An Urban Adventure (TIME) - Part gymnastics, part tai chi, parkour brings thrills and discipline to enthusiasts. (View pictorial)
News Briefs
We're Not Making This Up...
Teen paralysed after ridicule on reality show (TIMES INDIA) - She is Shinjini Sengupta, a 16-year-old grade 11 student of a reputed Kolkata school, who can now neither speak nor move. She wasn't like this even a month ago. She was a good dancer and acted in tele-serials and had even appeared in a Bengali film. Participating in a dance competition on a Bengali TV channel recently, Shinjini was rebuked by the judges of the show during the shooting on May 19. The teenager never recovered from the shock of being publicly chided. She slipped into depression and then lost her speech and finally even the use of her limbs. (Read more)
Couple's pact to impregnate daughter (THEAGE) - A north Brisbane couple made a pregnancy pact to inseminate their 15-year-old daughter after bearing two biological children with congenital diseases, a court has heard. The girl's 39-year-old mother and 35-year-old stepfather, who cannot be identified under Queensland law, penned a handwritten "contract" with the girl, before the man began having daily sex with her over two-and-a-half months in late 2006. The couple also tried to inject her with the man's sperm in a bid to conceive, Brisbane's District Court heard today. The pair are awaiting sentencing later this afternoon after both pleaded guilty to one count each of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child. (Read more)
Men in tights (SMH) - Savant's note: Yeah this isn't really health related, but it's just too damn weird to pass up. What is it about fashion that produces things that you will never see people wear? Page 4 is just plain wrong. (View pictorial)
Health Tip For The Week
Going barefoot is one of the simple pleasures of summer, but some who doff their shoes and socks suffer injuries such as cuts and puncture wounds. In some cases, those injuries develop infections that require surgery. If you do go barefoot, check out these safety tips from the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons:
(HEALTH DAY)