“Men who start exercising when they are 50 can extend their life span by more than two years, Swedish researchers say. Their study found that exercising has the same beneficial effect on length of life as quitting smoking in middle age. Nonetheless, almost half of middle-age men don’t exercise, the researchers said. But Dr. Karl Michaëlsson, a senior lecturer in the Department of Surgical Sciences at Uppsala University and the study’s lead author, said the study offers more proof that “it’s not too late for a man after the age of 50 years to invest in health and longevity by becoming more physically active. ‘Men who reported an increase in physical activity to a high level at age 60 years had, after an induction period of approximately 10 years, the same mortality risk as those who continued to have a high physical activity from age 50 to age 60 years,’ he said. ‘The magnitude of the reduction in mortality risk with increased physical activity corresponded to that of smoking cessation.’ The report was published in the March 6 online edition of BMJ. For the study, Michaëlsson’s team collected data on 2,205 men who were 50 years old and then surveyed them again when they were 60, 70, 77 and 82. Each time, they were questioned about their level of physical activity as well as their weight, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, smoking habits and alcohol use. After adjusting the data for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that men who led sedentary lives were most likely to die during the follow-up period, and those who had the highest level of physical activity were least likely to die during that time. In fact, men who exercised the most when they were 50 lived, on average, 2.3 years longer, and men who did moderate exercise lived 1.1 years longer than men who reported the lowest levels of exercise. It might take five to 10 years to see, but men who exercise in middle-age live longer, the researchers noted. And compared with smoking cessation, ‘the reductions in mortality risk were found to be equal,’ Michaëlsson said. ‘Everyone knows that smoking is hazardous for health and increases mortality risk, but it is not generally known that low physical activity has a similar impact on mortality risk as smoking.’ Whether women might reap the same benefits remains a bit unclear. Michaëlsson said he was not aware of a similar study involving older women so, ‘if you are strict, our results cannot be extrapolated to women.’ But, he added, ‘I cannot see a biological reason why there should be gender differences in effect.’ Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, also noted the comparable benefits. ‘When formerly sedentary middle-aged men adopted physical activity, they caught up to the benefits seen by men who had exercised all their lives after a delay of several years,’ Katz said. ‘This is a clear message that it’s never too late to initiate healthful behaviors and derive a benefit,’ he said. ‘I recommend the early initiation of routine physical activity for benefit across the life span that includes not just added years to life, but also added life to years,’ Katz said. ‘But if you haven’t started yet, the science shows that any time is a good time.’”

Steve is out of the hospital and healing!  Thank you again for your prayers! His intestine was not kinked but they believe there was an obstruction because of the scaring from when he was shot.

 If you are celebrating … be safe, be responsible and DONT Drive!

Mark O’Sullivan

Hey  Everyone,

I just wanted to ask for your prayers, many of you all know my best friend, training partner Steve Zaracki. 

Steve was taken by ambulence to UMC Sunday afternoon when he it became difficult for him to breathe and what became a the worst pain he has ever experienced!  If you know Steve You know he is can take alot of pain.  His stomach was bloated with a Stabbing pain.   They Still do  not know what is wrong this morning now 730am..  They have done two cat scan’s to see if there is an obstruction in his stomach, maybe his intestine is kinked, twisted or possibly scar tissue from when he was shot 7 times in 1997!  Dang..

So prayers for Steve please..  He is in room 64472 if you would like to send him a card..  I will get down to see him later today and let you know the latest!

Good Morning everyone!! It is a great day to be alive, and be thankful for all of God’s Blessings to you!

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Our chief want in life is to find someone who will encourage us to be what we know we could be.” When we embrace the truth that the spirits of all men and women are infinitely upgradeable, we will grasp the importance of practicing the power of encouragement. Cor is the Latin root for courage; it means “heart.” When we give others encouragement, we give them “heart.” Human beings were created and designed to live with heart; without heart we have no confidence to achieve greatness.

When you withhold encouragement to others you risk crippling their future ….. and yours too!

There are men and women who are truly brilliant all around us, just waiting for someone to encourage and empower them to be what they know they could be.

There is no other power that truly leverages the human spirit like the power of encouragement. Take time to discover what people want to accomplish in their lives and proceed to tirelessly and sincerely encourage them to fulfill their dreams. Enthusiastically encourage others to reach their highest and best; never berate and discourage others to the point where they sink to their lowest and least esteem.

Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday of March, which is March 8 and ends on the first Sunday of November, that is November 1. So daylight saving time starts tomorrow, adjust your clock forward 1 hour at 2.00 AM on Sunday.

Here is an explanation from Wikipedia.

“Daylight saving time is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn. One of the many effects of this adjustment is that it shifts the start of the day closer to sunrise.

The practice is controversial.Adding daylight to afternoons benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but causes problems for farming, entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun. Traffic fatalities are reduced when there is extra afternoon daylight; its effect on health and crime is less clear.”