Month: September 2015

cycling

Changing size over the season, a non scale victory

Sam B7 Comments

image

There are Facebook groups I’m a member of in which people are encouraged to share NSVs–non scale victories. The idea is to focus less on the number on the scale and more on what our bodies can do.

A non-scale victory is something that is going well with food and activity that’s not directly measurable in kilos. Sometimes there’s still a weight loss association (see above) but other times, it’s purely fitness related, like having more energy or being able to lift heavier weights.

koalabottle.png

Here’s a funny NSV of mine. I have big legs and when I go on long rides I want to use two water bottles on my road bike but even with the skinniest of water bottles my thighs rub on the second water bottle. That doesn’t stop me using two water bottles on long rides but on short weekday training rides, I’ll only take one. On the long rides I suffer the effects of rubbing and chafing and my legs are a little worse for wear after. I’ve written before about being a larger woman on a bike and a few people have emailed the blog to ask if there are any specific problems I’ve faced as a larger rider. This has been one of them. During the summer I convince myself that I don’t care but I notice in the fall that I’m happy when it’s tights season. Two water bottles and no nasty rubbing!

This year my legs are more muscular than usual and I’ve lost a bit of weight. It’s not a big deal on the scale, hence the non-scale victory I’m about to reveal. I can use two water bottles on my bike with no contact with my thighs. Yippie! Yay!

And to be clear, I don’t mind my larger than average legs. Cyclists celebrate their larger than average legs. It does mean I won’t ever wear boots I admire on other people but that’s a small price to pay. And it’s a calf issue, not a thigh issue, and it’s thighs we’re here to talk about.

Writes Selene Yager, “Bulging, carved quads are essentially a flashing neon sign announcing that you are a cyclist and you’ve come to kick some ass. And those diamond-cut cannons are more than just aesthetically pleasing in your spandex. The four muscles collectively called the “quads” are the primary movers when you push through the pedal stroke. So more quads also equals more watts.” Read How to get Quads Like These.

Here's Dana Feiss's amazing legs, http://www.bicycling.com/training/bicycling-training/how-get-quads-these
Here’s Dana Feiss’s amazing legs, http://www.bicycling.com/training/bicycling-training/how-get-quads-these

In my case though, it’s not just muscle and I’m happy not to be chafing my legs on water bottles.

Also in the legs department, here’s women celebrating their unphotoshopped thighs.

But still compare that without the amount of attention male rugby players get for their glorious thighs.

 

cycling

Look, look, look! It’s the Bike Rally on Google Street View!

Sam B2 Comments

Screenshot 2015-09-21 18.16.02Who is that on Google Street View? Hey, it’s me and Susan on the Friends for Life Bike Rally. Even better it’s on our matchy matchy Simon’s Cat bike jersey day. Thanks Susan!  If you look at the bike path on Google Street View through Mallorytown apparently you can see most of the bike rally riders.

Here’s a closer look at our smashing jerseys.

I did the Friends for Life Bike Rally for a second time this past summer. You can read about that here, Riding the Friends for Life Bike Rally at a friendly pace.

I rode with my good friend and guest blogger Susan. She wrote about her experiences here and here.

I’m doing it again in 2016 and you can be my first sponsor!  Click here.

Here’s a closer look at us on Street View. Thanks Google!

Screenshot 2015-09-21 18.16.32

You

Guest Post

The Viking Spirit, Part I – Waging the War (Guest Post)

Sam B

by Abby E.

Once upon a time, I was a cripple. Doing ordinary, daily activities like walking to the corner could be an Olympic challenge, and finding ways to keep active without breaking the bank or myself was tricky. However, through the miracle of modern technology, I now have a new hip and a new hobby – Viking combat.

To make a long story short(ish), I developed a fascination with Norse mythology last year, which led to some inspiration for a novel, which required research into Viking culture. I fell in love. I have no
Scandinavian roots, but after learning a bit more about daily life in the Viking Age, I realized that the
robbing, raping marauder image that is often associated with the Vikings is grossly inaccurate.

Yes, they did those things too at times, but their lives were mostly concerned with fishing, agriculture, and
trading. Their mythology is rich and nuanced; they had a strong sense of justice and mechanisms to
resolve legal disputes; and while it was by no means an egalitarian society, women were respected, and
free women could inherit land and divorce at will. Additionally, domestic abuse and sexual assault were
not readily tolerated. In Brennu-Njáls saga, Þjóstólfur discovered his foster daughter’s husband had
been abusive and severed their marriage ties with his axe.

Mind you some of the main sources of information, including the mythology and sagas, were largely
recorded by Christian scholars decades or even centuries after the end of the Viking Age. Additional
historical findings may help confirm or even verify various stories or theories about the Vikings, but for
now, these works are considered to be reasonably accurate representations of Viking lifestyle and
culture. And there is a lot to learn.

In the course of looking up fascinating facts online, I discovered Hurstwic, an American organization that
teaches Viking combat, but they did not have a chapter in Toronto and I certainly did not have the skills, knowledge, or drive to start one. (I have however, ordered their training videos, which should arrive next month.)

But I was certain there had to be similar organizations here. With another Google search, I quickly discovered Torvik, which recently offered its first public training session of the fall season. I was incredibly excited to participate – and incredibly nervous. It had been only a few months since my surgery, and I was still working on strengthening a number of badly atrophied muscles around my hip. I could walk long distances without the cane, but the muscles often became fatigued and sore. Sometimes I lurched a bit to compensate.

With help from my physiotherapist, I had been working to very literally get up to speed as soon as possible. I had told him that I wanted to get involved in Viking combat, which was the first he had ever heard of such a thing. He cautioned me that he couldn’t professionally condone my participation in this kind of sport, which is only fair since I have a permanently elevated risk of dislocating my hip and if I ever broke my right femur around the prosthetic, the injury would be difficult to repair.

However, he smiled and said it was really cool. So he’s been preparing me for the challenge with the hardest exercises he can give me, and on my last visit in early September, he raised the victory flag for my smooth gait and gave me some agility exercises.

I can do these exercises easily enough at home, but I realized I still had some serious mental barriers. Recently, while I was walking just outside my apartment, I thought about taking a few jogging steps,
which I’d done before without terribly serious consequences. This time, however, a little voice stopped me. No, it said. Too risky.

After sixteen years of crippledom, my brain has been trained to expect pain and injury.

So, four months and one day post-surgery, I headed out to try out Viking combat with these thoughts
haunting me. What if I still wasn’t strong enough to do this?

As is so often the case, I just needed to tell that little voice to shut the fuck up.

It's all about that axe!
It’s all about that axe!

Abby E. is a Toronto-based freelance editor who loves science, philosophy, and speculative fiction. She is
not a crazy cat lady, just a crazy lady who has cats.

body image

Let’s label all the body bits and have fun with it!

Sam B8 Comments

First there was the thigh gap and now there’s the thigh brow.

What the heck is the thigh brow?

The latest trend for people who have a body is the #thighbrow. According to the Daily Dot, “A #thighbrow refers to the crescent-shaped fold of flesh that happens between the thigh and torso when the leg is bent forward at the hip joint, appearing in photographs to look like eyebrows.” Kylie Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, Amber Rose, Nicki, Bey, Rihanna, etc. are all #thighbrow-havers, as several publications have pointed out. Is it body positive? Is it body negative?

Do I care about the thigh brow? Not really.

But it seems we love the label the bits of women’s bodies, especially the unruly parts, from muffin top to camel toe, from cankles to batwings.

Mostly, as a feminist, I think we ought to stop giving names to all the things, to the ways in which women’s bodies can go wrong. Inevitably it seems we identify bits of women’s bodies, give them names,  and then specify one standard by which we’re all judged. There’s no room for variety in the human form or any understanding or appreciation of the ways in which our bodies vary.

When I wrote about bingo wings, I said, “As with “camel toe” and “muffin top,” I have a radical suggestion. Can we put our collective wit to work elsewhere? I’m pretty sure the source of these names is women’s own shame and self-deprecation. To be honest, I don’t think straight men are much given to witty arm-shaming. So let’s stop with the jokes about women’s bodies.Oh, and that doesn’t mean we get to start joking about men’s bodies either. I have two sons and I’m not keen to see them share,  any more than they already do, in the culture of naming and shaming body bits. Maybe we could take our sharp tongues and aim our wit and our shame to the doorsteps of politicians. Just a thought.”

But language is playful and fun and getting people to stop saying funny things makes feminists seem humorless and bossy. And in an ideal world, we could name different bits without also thinking there was one good way for women’s bodies to look.

So maybe instead we should just give in to this impulse to name and have fun with it. Maybe, as with thigh brow, we can name bits of bodies not associated with normative thinness. Maybe our names can be playful and loving and fun and funny.

Any favourite body parts that you think need a name? Any loving, fun, body positive names you’ve been keeping to yourself?

 

 

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Supporting the sharks: Boston Sharkfest 2015
Weekends with Womack

Supporting the sharks: Boston Sharkfest 2015

catherine w2 Comments

Last week I posted about what an unexpectedly excellent active summer I’ve had. Fall is hard upon our heels in the northern hemisphere (google says it starts Sept 23), but I’m wringing out the last drops of summer nectar, with the weather, friends, and opportunities fully cooperating.

Yesterday my friends Janet and Steph and I got up very very very early (5:45am, which for me is like the middle of the night), to head to downtown Boston to help provide kayak support for the Boston Sharkfest open harbor swim event. It’s a 1500-meter open water swim across Boston harbor, and hundreds of swimmers do this, some in wetsuits and some in bathing suits. The cool (and necessary thing) about this event is that the shipping channel is closed during the event, so you get this illicit and delicious feeling of being let loose somewhere you would not otherwise get to explore. Here’s the map of the swim route:

map

I think this is one of the coolest feelings ever. When they close Storrow Drive in Boston on July 4 and you can walk down the highway, or when they close the Verrazano bridge for the Five Boro Bike Ride in New York City, it is a thrilling feeling to be where you normally cannot. Here’s what I was able to see from my kayak:

boston

Holding big events like open water swims and the swim part of triathlons requires a lot of support help in order to keep swimmers on track and safe. We joined a group of kayakers, paddle boarders and one surfer lifeguard (who paddled with his hands back and forth, covering at least 4 miles) to station ourselves along the route to basically herd the swimmers along the course. We were also keeping a sharp eye out for anyone in distress who needed a breather or some encouragement, and also for anyone with a medical emergency.

Honestly, I would have been scared to death to be in that open water without the security of my boat and paddle. Here’s where they were:

swimmer in process

In fact we joked with the swimmers when they stopped or looked a little discouraged, telling them how awesome they were and how funny it was that we needed boats to cross the area that they were swimming.

There was a huge range of finishing times, and the cutoff was 50 minutes; they had to reopen the channel to boats, so were constrained. I was accompanying a few of the last swimmers, who were tiring but continuing on.

almost

We could see the finish line. They had to swim to the dock, touch the electronic pad to get their time, and then swim around to the ladder.

finish line

This swimmer I talked to later had not only successfully done this one-mile swim after having ankle surgery to fuse her ankle, but she had done a 4-mile swim event in Vermont. Brrrrr.

swim-surfer

I was happy to celebrate with what I thought of as my swimmers at the finish line. I never got your names, but hey y’all—you are awe-inspiring athletes!

happy swimmers

Next week I want to talk more about athletic identity; it’s strange that none of the swimmers I talked to thought of themselves as athletes. But of course they are. What’s that about? But for now, let’s all enjoy their triumph.

Sat with Nat · training

Plotting a new course.

natalieh (she/her)4 Comments

Monday after my attempted Olympic triathlon I had a follow-up doctor appointment. The great news was that my blood pressure, while on a medication I can’t pronounce, is sitting nicely at 115/75. The doctor chatted about my blood tests from last year and that my pap was up to date. He then offered that I’d be on blood pressure medication for the rest of my life unless…

I looked him square in the eye and said “Lost 100 lbs.” He awkwardly looked away and said nothing. I know. I’ve looked at the charts. While I’m down 40 lbs from last year the reality is, if I want off this medication, I have a very long road ahead of me. It wasn’t lost on me that all of the women attempting the Olympic distance were more compact than me. I hadn’t trained enough over the past six months and I so I didn’t get the fitness results.

So I’ve decided to register for a fall 5 km running race, revisit my food choices and eliminate alcohol for the next while, I just can’t afford the empty calories. 41 is coming next month as well as the 20th anniversary of being with my beloved. We are planning something ridiculously cute and fitness centered. I can’t wait to tell you all.

the face of determination

 

fitness · Guest Post

Getting my fit on my way (Guest post)

marthafitat5511 Comments

I had that moment this week; the one where a stranger comes up to you at the gym and you are in that immediate post workout state – sweaty, tired, groping for keys, and wondering if you even have the strength to get up from the chair – and they say “I’ve been watching you, and I see how hard you work.”

I know it’s hard work, as I often feel my body struggle with making one more split squat, with pulling one more set of body rows, with adding 20 more seconds on the climbing ladder.

It never occurred to me that I would be an inspiration to someone given that I don’t fit society’s view of what fit should be. But the fitness process I’m in has offered many discoveries, and I find myself doing things I didn’t think were possible and enjoying it.

I am especially grateful for discovering that post 50, my body can still work hard, even when I desperately want to hit the bench where I can collapse with my water bottle.

I wasn’t always unfit. But I can’t really say I was properly fit either. I was just young enough and active enough at the time until I stopped running and rowing when my work schedule finally took over and my connection to organized fitness crumbled.

Two years ago though, I had that conversation with my doctor. I wasn’t ignoring her, or all the stuff I had absorbed after ten years in health promotion and public health, but I wasn’t really paying attention either. After all, I ate well, avoided salt and high fatty foods, walked three times a week most of the year, had never smoked a cigarette, and looked after my mental well-being.

Not long after that chat, I was on a long-planned family trip when I found myself running for a flight and wondering if I was going to make it to the gate, never mind the plane, without collapsing.

I didn’t though, and when I came back, I did some research and hired a trainer. I laugh when I think about my first fitness assessment. I wince when I remember how stiff and sore I was after each session for those first four months.

But I can’t help smiling when I think about my first series of goblet squats, or when I finished a conditioning set without hitting the wall, literally and figuratively, or when I had to use chalk for the first time.

When that nice person at the gym gave me that compliment, she reminded me of all the tiny steps I had taken to get to the place where I am now. Where lifting heavy things and putting them down again was (and still is) something fun, where developing a consistent approach to eating, sleeping and working out actually does make a difference not in size but in the physiological markers that matter, where connecting with others who are getting their fit on in whatever way that works for them is a good place to be.

These days, every session at the gym brings me another step closer to where being fit at 55 is not a dream anymore, but a definite reality.

martha

Martha is a consultant who writes, teaches and lives in Newfoundland. She is incredibly disappointed that a year of flinging weight around has not added a single inch to her height or her reach.

fitness

Air India Is Wrong to Ground Flight Attendants for BMI: Let Us Count the Ways

Tracy I11 Comments

Did you hear about the latest misuse of BMI? Air India decided to ground 130 flight attendants for being “too fat to fly.” According to this article, 600 crew members were given notice 6 months ago that they were on probation and had to lower their BMIs to fall into the range of 18-22 for the women, 18-25 for the men.

Here’s the official Air India version:

“About 130 of them failed the reassessment,” an Air India official told The Telegraph in Calcutta. “We are now declaring them permanently unfit for their job as flight attendants.”

“People who are fitter can respond quicker and more efficiently in case of any untoward situation.”

I hate to get all judgey, but that’s just plain wrong in so many ways. First of all, BMI is not a good indicator of fitness. See Sam’s post “Fit, Fat, and What’s Wrong with BMI” where she says:

Lots of thin people are falsely reassured by their BMI, while lots of people with BMIs  in the overweight/obese categories might be worrying with no good reason. Fit and fat are linked but not in the ways most people think. I worry that lots of fat people don’t exercise because they worry what people will think especially if you exercise and don’t get any smaller. Yet fat and fit people can be very healthy.

Not only that, BMI was never even meant to be a measure for individuals. It was meant to offer a way of thinking about populations. According to “Top 10 Reasons Why the BMI Is Bogus”:

The BMI was introduced in the early 19th century by a Belgian named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. He was a mathematician, not a physician. He produced the formula to give a quick and easy way to measure the degree of obesity of the general population to assist the government in allocating resources. In other words, it is a 200-year-old hack.

If you question whether someone physically fit could have a BMI measure that’s outside of the normal range, think about this, from Sam’s post:

Marc Perry notes in Get Lean that according to BMI most American football players count as obese. So too do many Olympic athletes. There is list here of all of the Gold medal athletes from the 2004 Olympics in Athens who count as overweight or obese according to BMI.

Here are a bunch of other reasons that BMI is a bad way to measure fitness and even fatness.

Not only that, even if it were a way of thinking about individual health and fitness, the fact is, their range is rather on the low side anyway. The Huffington Post’s report on this story points out:

In the U.S., the National Institutes of Health considers individuals with a BMI under 18.5 to be underweight. People with BMIs of 18.5-24.9 re considered to be of normal weight. Those who have BMIs between 25 and 29.9 are overweight, while a BMI of 30 or greater puts people into the obese category.

Having established that BMI is not a good indicator of an individuals fatness, let alone fitness, what can we conclude about Air India’s decision? It’s fair to say that it’s just downright discriminatory and, since it’s had a disproportionate impact on women, it’s sexist. Here’s what one aviation industry consultant had to say:

“This move to impose a certain BMI, ignoring experience and other performance parameters, is immature, misogynistic and shockingly sexist,” said Mark Martin, an aviation industry consultant, in an interview with The Telegraph. “We seem to have lost the plot on what is needed from flight attendants.”

I myself have felt heartened lately while flying (not in general, just on this specific point) because the North American carriers that I tend to frequent are employing people with a range of body types and sizes. That’s a big difference from years ago when all flight attendants were tall and slim. I like the change.

Air India needs to get with the times. It’s just not true that BMI is a good indicator of anything useful, and it’s not okay to fire people because of their weight or size.

But most people disagree with me. When I did the Telegraph‘s on-line vote on the question “should flight attendants be judged by their BMIs?” and voted “no” only 29% agreed with me. 71% thought it was quite alright. I found that astonishing. What do you think?

cycling · running · sports nutrition

Maple syrup for cyclists: A one word review. Yum!

Sam B1 Comment

And cross country skiers, distance runners etc.

I tried it on the chilly, wet, windy Gran Fondo I did the other day. And I liked it. Sweet, but not sickening, no chemical flavour, and a better texture than the usual toothpaste like goos and gels. I’ll buy more. (And no, I didn’t get free samples! They were a birthday gift.) You can buy yours here.

Here’s the blurb about them:

Endurance Tap is an easy to digest, super tasty, high-performance energy gel made with a few simple natural ingredients: Canadian maple syrup, sea salt, and ginger.  With everything you need and nothing you don’t, Endurance Tap fits with your goals of both maximum athletic performance and having a healthy diet.

Endurance Tap was founded in early 2014 by Matt and Pat, old friends who are passionate about endurance sports and nutrition.  After becoming frustrated with many of the “natural” products on the market, and the hard to pronounce mystery ingredients, Matt and Pat decided that they could do better.  As good Canadian boys, Matt and Pat turned to the country’s number one export, and the sticky engine behind the Canadian economy – maple syrup.

 

 

See Maple Syrup as Fuel for Athletes.

cycling

Bike commuting just got better, thanks Western!

Sam B5 Comments

This is exciting news for me: Workplace showers!

It’s not an issue during the summer months, oddly enough, mostly because if I’m at work after riding I’m there alone. I’m not teaching and have lots of comfy, casual clothes and flip flops to wear about my office.

The teaching year is a different matter. I like to dress up a bit for teaching. I wear dresses and nice shoes. And I get that fans of European style commuting would just wear those clothes for the ride in. And some days, like today, I do just that. I wear a nice dress with bike shorts underneath and then spd sandals for riding. It worked well for today. It was about 20 C.

samb1 samb2

The problem with autumn in Ontario is that you get some really hot and sticky days. Last Monday one of us just about got heatstroke on our Port Stanley ride. So while it’s fall in terms of teaching, it still feels like beach weather lots of days.

So I’m excited about the following news!

For those faculty, staff, and postdocs who commute to campus on a bicycle, or like to get out at lunch for a jog, Living Well @ Western has arranged for day use lockers and showers to be available in the Thames Hall men’s and women’s locker rooms.

  • Locker room are located in the basement of Thames Hall
  • Doors to the locker rooms are generally open, but it is advised that those interested in using the locker rooms on a regular basis arrange to be granted key card access
    • To arrange key card access, email livingwell@uwo.ca and provide your staff ID number (required to grant access)
  • Day use lockers are marked with stickers
    • Women’s: Lockers 101 to 156
    • Men’s: Lockers 305 to 348

For more information, contact: livingwell@uwo.ca