And I Ran...

As those who know me most likely know, I'm in the midst of training for a marathon. It is fantastic, and while I'm sure it'll age my knees by about 20 years, it's certainly allowed me to keep myself active over the summer. I'm not as inspirational as Terry Fox, or as fictional as Forrest Gump, but I figured I'd write about some unusual activities that burn the calories clean off.

Jump Rope--According to this article, nearly a quarter of all kids will be obese by the year 2015. This is something even a child can do. In fact, they do it annually right across the street from my house. As always, beats are provided by Bizar Entertainment, who catered to many a bar mitzvah I attended growing up. Gotta love those massive Pixy Stix...but I digress, we're going for exercise, not useless sugar! The point is, jumping rope gets the heart pumping, which is always good. And it leads to mega-calves. Everyone loves strong calf muscles. It's just one of those facts of life.

Recommended exercise: Keep jumping as fast as you can for three straight minutes, then take a minute off. Continue with this pattern trying as many different things as you can, i.e. just jumping on the left foot, right foot, backwards, crossing, etc.

Ultimate Frisbee-- I might be a little biased since I actually play this, but this is a game that's extremely addictive and actually requires a lot of effort. You just need two people to toss it around, but try and get at least eight (ideally fourteen) for an unbelievably active match. When it boils down to it, you are really just running in circles, but it's so much fun you'll forget it.

Recommended exercise: Two teams of seven square off. Play to 15, win by 2. If you're not exhausted by the end, the teams were either horribly one-sided, or you just weren't trying.

Commercial Cardio--This is one for you lazy bums out there that like to watch TV. A lot. Well, you get to watch your TV. But during commercials, you're going to work. The average half-hour show has between seven and 12 minutes of commercials. That's a lot of time to get work done. You have a variety of options, too--pushups, leg lifts, bicycle kicks, calf raises (this guy likes to do his to the Killers)...look, there's a ton you can do. And you can do all of these without having to move too far from your chair, so you can still see the rest of your show.

Recommended exercise: 25 pushups, 25 leg lifts, 25 (each leg) bicycle kicks, 25 calf raises. And you can STILL finish all of that before the commercial break if you push yourself.

Extreme Ironing, although this entire website has great ideas--Granted, this might be a bit more of a stretch, but hey, if England can popularize it, maybe it can catch on in the States too. Combining "the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt," it theoretically would work out everything--your upper body from having to carry around an ironing board, clothes, and all that jazz, and your lower body from running, hiking, climbing, etc. Sounds like a pretty awesome trip to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some dress shirts with wrinkles.