Dan Barker On Having A Purpose-Filled Life.

A little positivity for you guys, on this, the first day of spring, with new hope and a warm summer to follow!

Do you want a purpose-filled life? Find a problem to solve... Purpose is mainly about finding solutions. If you are trying to eliminate a threat to survival or to enhance the opportunities for a quality life, you have purpose. Find something you hate and work against it. Find something you love and work for it. Hunger, natural disasters, inequality, oppression, unfairness, predation, disease, invasions, aggression, racism, sexism, cruelty to animals, pollution, endangered species, political corruption, corporate greed, unsafe working conditions, exploitation- these are all worth fighting. The toil to gain scientific and historical knowledge; or the exercise of creating beauty, art, music, literature, theater, and architecture; or the efforts put into sports, entertainment, cooking and gardening- all these are worthwhile, useful and purpose-filled activities, and you can probably think of more. (Barker, The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God, pp. 36-7, 2011)

Barker D. (2011). The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God. Berkley, California. ULYSSES Press. pp. 36-7.

A Note To All You Silly (And Dangerous) Anti-Vaccination People Out There.

There is a lot of scare tactic nonsense going on at the moment about the SV40 vaccine (see here to see what the CDC has to say on that), and vaccines in general. Generally spread by purveyors of pseudoscience based on shoddy research, bad science and conspiracy theory nonsense. Vaccinations save lives and are, on the whole, considered safe. Here are the conclusions of a report done on the safety and effectiveness of certain vaccines.

The committee was not charged with making recommendations, and it did not pinpoint any particular areas for continued research. Much research already occurs to determine the safety of vaccines for the populations for whom they are recommended (emphasis added). However, there is much to learn about the human immune system, autoimmunity, and the effects of genetic variation, all of which may influence how people respond to vaccines.
Vaccines offer the promise of protection against a variety of infectious diseases. Despite much media attention and strong opinions from many quarters, vaccines remain one of the greatest tools in the public health arsenal (emphasis added). Certainly, some vaccines result in adverse effects that must be acknowledged. But the latest evidence shows that few adverse effects are caused by the vaccines reviewed in this report.

 Reference
(2011). Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality. The Institute of Medicine. Retrieved 29/08/2011. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Adverse-Effects-of-Vaccines-Evidence-and-Causality/Report-Brief.aspx?page=2

The Conditioning Research Blog On Sitting In A Chair All Day.

This is for all my clients who spend all day at the computer!

"Our bodies were not built for life in a chair and it is no surprise that research has highlighted the danger that so much sitting poses to health. Scientists have found that time spent sitting was associated with increased risk of mortality. Those who sat “most of the time” were more likely to die during the following 12 years than those who “almost never” sat, even after controlling for age, smoking, body weight and physical activity[2]. Even if they exercised, people who sat for over 6 hours per day had a higher risk of death than those who sat for under 3 hours per day[3]. Sitting watching television for an average of 6 hours a day could shorten life-expectancy by almost 5 years[4]." (Conditioning Research blog, 2011)

See the full article here, complete with other studies.


Reference
Conditioning Research. (2011). Sitting and Health. Retrieved 22/08/2011. http://conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/2011/08/sitting-and-health.html

Alwyn Cosgrove On Aerobic Training.

 Check out this article for the full details

"These researchers found that aerobic exercise doesn’t work at all — the weight loss after six months to a year is less than 4lbs. I’d say that it still does That takes us 2 weeks at Results Fitness.

There are several other studies showing no effect of aerobic exercise on weight loss when compared to dieting alone. There are a ton of benefits to low intensity aerobic exercise, but time and time again, research and the real world have shown that it’s not an effective tool for fat loss training or really an effective use of your time if that’s your goal. 

As far as exercise for fat loss goes – Strength training is number one. Metabolic circuits and interval training are number two. But they all fall a long way short of a solid nutrition plan.

14 studies on weight loss and aerobic exercise with 1847 participants have failed to show any meaningful results. Isn’t it time we faced the truth that it just isn’t a fat loss tool?" (Cosgrove 2011)

Reference
Cosgrove A., (2011). Aerobic Exercise and Weight Loss Research.