In this newsletter . . .

The Deck of Cards butt kicker

Calling all supplement users

The Deck of Cards butt kicker

But for those ready to test themselves, do the following:

Get a deck of playing cards. Assign an exercise to each suit. I assigned them as follows:

• Hearts —Dumbbells Clean & Press (don’t go too heavy or you’ll never make it through).
• Clubs — Pushups.
• Spades — Body-weight Squats.
• Diamonds —Mt. Climbers.

Shuffle the deck several times. Place the deck face down. Start your stopwatch or timer.

Turn over the first card. Let’s say it’s a seven of hearts. Clean & Press your dumbbells seven times.

Turn the next card. Suppose it’s a nine of spades. Do nine body-weight squats.

With each card, do the same number of reps as the number on the card. The face cards are considered tens. Aces are eleven. Remove the jokers or keep them and assign them any number you want to. (I remove the jokers.)

Keep going through the entire deck. Then check your stopwatch. Write down the time for your record.

The idea is to go through the deck as fast as you can. If you do it that way, it’s a test—and butt kicker. Of course, the workout is not so difficult if you casually go through the deck.

In shape athletes do the workout in less than 30 minutes. The training is supposed to be popular with Japanese wrestlers and judo competitors. But they often confine it to two exercises, such as squats and pushups. I like to do it with four.

How did I do, personally? The first time I tried it took me 27 minutes. Then when I tested in 2003, I did it in 20:53.79. However, I used a different exercise mix, which may or may not have been less taxing. I tested twice in 2004, finishing once in 21:27.75 and once in 22:22.25.

Though the exercise mix was slightly different each time (meaning there is some degree of “comparing apples with oranges”), there is no denying that I’d lost a step or two. Age happens. But I was still under 30 minutes.

I’ve since done the deck of cards routine as a workout. But it’s been 11 years since I used a stopwatch and gave it everything I had.

This is not a recommended test for beginners.

Calling all supplement users

Are we getting our money’s worth?

Not everyone thinks so. Here’s one source: According to the SCAN Health Plan, an HMO with a Medicare contract, several studies showed results that are troubling, to say the least. Consider the following:

• A majority of supplements studied didn’t have any of the ingredients they claimed to have. Did you hear that? A majority of them didn't have any of the claimed ingredients, according to SCAN. Instead, they were made of powdered rice, soy, or wheat.

• Some vitamins and supplements had the ingredients stated, but in smaller amounts. Vitamins that claimed to provide your recommended dose of vitamins and minerals had less than half of that.

• One herbal supplement contained a weed that causes rashes and nausea. Some other supplements contained plants that weren’t on the ingredients list.

Full disclosure: I don’t personally know who tested the supplements. And not all studies we read about are valid and unbiased. However, I can say that I have found the SCAN Health Plan people highly reputable. Disseminating findings that haven't been checked out would be out of character.

I subscribe to ConsumerLab, an independent laboratory that tests a wide variety of supplements. Some products, though not a majority, fail their testing for not having the claimed ingredients; and some fail because they contain foreign—and sometimes dangerous—substances. ConsumerLab gives the names of those that pass or fail and why.

Since there is scant oversight of the supplement business, I don’t how you and I can truly know what we’re buying, unless an independent laboratory tests the products and reports their findings. And I stress the word independent when talking about laboratory testing.

My further thoughts about supplements are here.

Your comments and questions are always appreciated. Simply click on the "Reply" bottom.

Sincerely,

Logan Franklin
The Gray Iron Fitness Newsletter
www.senior-exercise-central.com