Your Brain: Getting better in time

This blog’s for all my folks who have finished undergraduate and aren’t quite aboard the graduate school express. This is especially for you if you aren’t quite in your desired career field or just generally bored. Have you ever felt like you were just losing brain cells? Just think about it, in college your mind was consistently challenged in class, you were required to regularly use critical thinking, and who can forget all the research papers (wasn’t that just a blast)? Then you enter the workforce and unless you skipped up the ranks, you likely have done a host of administrative work. Don’t get me wrong; administrative assistants of the world—stand up! Companies wouldn’t have success without you. But you must admit that it’s not always the most interesting or mind-bending and chances are, you aren’t using the same part of your brain that you did in college.

There is good news though. You’re not getting dumber over time! Watching my local news this morning, I learned that the brain itself stays sharp in some areas. According the a report from English newspaper The Telegraph, long-term memory, vocabulary, emotional intelligence and social skills stay intact or might actually show improvement. This probably explains why we can look at past events that at the time seemed monumental and view them as just “little things.”

With all good things, there is always a flip side. As you get older, aspects such as short-term memory, learning skills, and the ability to reason decrease. Now you understand why it’s sometimes harder for senior citizens to remember recent events, pick up new skills like technology (I’m in my 20’s and I still need help), or be rational. Be patient! This is likely going to be you when you are their age.

All in all, you MUST engage your brain to stay sharp. You can only fight biology through effort! Reading books and newspapers (yes they still exist) and doing puzzles like crosswords, Sudoku, or even math problems (yep, I really said math) are excellent ways to challenge your mind in a simple, easy manner. You could always study for grad exams like I did, too. Borders, Barnes & Nobles, etc are our friends!

Feeling bored? Do a puzzle! You will be so glad you did in about 30 years!

Reference article: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpps/news/study-aging-brains-retain-knowledge-dpgoh-20100628-fc_8368690

The DESK step to office success

(Getty images)

So, we've all been there right? Tired, stiff limbs, stressed out; if you work (or have ever worked) in an office, you know what I'm talking about.

It’s a well-known fact that sitting too long is never a good thing. It induces sleepiness, lack of motivation, and worst of all: negative effects on your health. From bad posture to weight gain to depression, the threat is real. Most of the time we can avoid prolonged sitting due to ease of mobility. What about the times when you can’t avoid it? If you work in an office or cubicle regularly, then you likely fall into the category of unavoidable.

However, all is not lost! In addition to taking breaks to stretch or go for a walk (make sure those breaks aren’t TOO long), companies are taking a new approach to helping employees be limber. How, you ask? The treadmill workstation (or desk treadmill)! This unique workstation combines the ability to maintain productivity while letting you move.
(photos courtesy of Amazon.com)I saw a feature on my local Fox news affiliate and saw a woman who typically spends 10 hours a day around her desk as a customer service representative. It was interesting to see her still take calls, get a workout, and not miss a beat. Of course, the treadmill doesn’t move fast but wouldn’t it solve people’s main complaint? I know personally I miss the days of college where I walked all over campus and sat in seats no more than 2 hours at a time. Imagine the culture shock to basically be expected to be desk-bound for the majority of an 8-hour day. Most offices do allow employee breaks and are certainly open-minded about stretching, etc but it does something to your mental state to be deskbound for more than a couple of hours.

I personally think it would be interesting to have something like this in my office. I probably would not want to walk and work all day but it would be nice to rotate from sitting to walking occasionally. Within the last year, I developed upper back pain and I knew it was from prolonged sitting. Work breaks are only but so long, as is lunch and taking long walks or hitting up the gym is not always possible. Other than granting us siesta periods to be used for leisure or shortening the average work day/week, employers are on the right track. Another idea that many companies have explored is inner-office yoga and Zumba.  I am a Zumba enthusiast, so I would be all for it.  As for the treadmill, it will be interesting to see if more companies adopt this technology and if people will actually use it. 

So what do you think? Would you use the desk treadmill? Do you have other suggestions on how to get fitness into the workplace while still maintaining efficiency? Leave a comment and let me know!


Check out the concept:



MyFoxAtlanta news report





Other great sites on this topic:

http://last10pounds.org/blog/2008/09/27/lose-weight-using-a-treadmill-workstation-desk/
http://livehealthy.southernliving.com/2008/10/putting-work-in.html
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/22/desk.job.bad.health/

FIFA Fever—Let’s get ready to VUVUZELA!

World Cup 2010 has taken center stage in the world. Whether you have been watching the games or not, interested in the games or not, chances are your facebook feed is full of spirited statuses, your twitter timeline is flooded, or you’ve been seeing team jerseys and flags on the street or in your favorite bar. If you still don’t know what I’m talking about—um tell me what rock you hide under so I can escape there too.

Quick explanation for those who don’t get how it works: As of today’s blog, we are already within the round of 16, also known as the knockout stage. If a team loses from now on, they’re out of the tournament. How did we get to the 16? Stay with me. There were 32 teams divided in 8 groups (4 teams per group). When the World Cup games began on Friday, June 11th, there were many games going on as each group played each other. Let’s look at Group C that was comprised of England, Slovenia, Algeria and the beloved United States. In the group stage, the USA played England, then the USA played Slovenia (controversy abounds), and finally the USA played Algeria. The top 2 teams advanced based on number of points. A win=3 pts, draw=1 pt, and a loss=0 pts. USA’s run consisted of 2 draws and a win or 5 points. Our cousins across the pond also had the same result making us the top 2 teams.

Here’s who advanced (go to espn.go.com to see all 32 teams):

Group A: Uruguay and Mexico

Group B: Argentina and South Korea

Group C: United States and England

Group D: Germany and Ghana

Group E: Netherlands and Japan

Group F: Paraguay and Slovakia

Group G: Brazil and Portugal

Group H: Spain and Chile

Knockout stage: As I mentioned before, if you lose you’re out. Winners are listed and the remaining schedule is posted for games not played yet. It goes like this, 1st place of Group A plays 2nd place of Group B and 1st place of Group B plays 2nd place of Group A. Think of it as A vs. B, C vs. D, etc following that format.

This gets us to our final 8 (think of March madness college hoops: Sweet 16 down to the Elite 8). Winners are italicized

Uruguay v. South Korea

Argentina v. Mexico

United States v. Ghana

Germany v. England

Netherlands v. Slovakia

Brazil v. Chile

Paraguay v. Japan

Spain v. Portugal

We already know some of the upcoming matchups: Uruguay v. Ghana and Argentina v. Germany (that’s going to be a major one—prepare for status updates, tweets, etc). Based on the play I’ve seen so far, Germany looks unstoppable, while Argentina is polished (hence it’s a great match-up). Brazil and the winner of Spain/Portugal will likely also be threats for the crown.

Controversy: There are many things discussion-worthy this World Cup including the rise of the underdogs, demise of Team France and the early exit of reigning champs Italy. However, the thing that has taken center stage beyond everything else is the calls (or often no-calls of the referees). Most egregious:

-Disallowed goal for the USA v. Slovenia during the Group Stage; result=ended in a draw with the USA on the brink of elimination had they not beaten Algeria (mind you there was a disallowed goal in the very next game against USA). The referee who has in essence been fired offered no explanation and appeared to only see an imaginary infraction against USA players while NOT seeing the multiple fouls being committed by Slovenia players against USA. Andy Roddick said it best…

-Disallowed goal for England v. Germany during the knockout stage: To the surprise of probably no one, Germany went up 2-0 early in the first half. However, England fought right back to tie—or not? Again after blatantly not seeing a goal, half-time came and the score was 2-1. Needless to say, the Brits never recovered and honestly while the lack of goal was egregious, seriously Germany would’ve had the same result. 4-1 was the final score, just saying…

-Allowing a goal while clearly being offsides (an illegal move in soccer) for Argentina v. Mexico during the knockout stage: Hmm, now this clearly changed the tempo of the game. While Argentina did win 3-1, had the score only been 1-0 at the half, Mexico probably would’ve felt optimistic. It can be demoralizing to go down 2-0 before halftime. It makes the hill that much higher. But then again, we wouldn’t get Germany v. Argentina if Mexico had won.

-2nd yellow card for Brazil’s Kaka after a fake injury: This actually happened a lot where players received yellow cards for over-exaggerated non-injuries. I’ve isolated Kaka’s incident because he ended up missing the next match (2 yellow cards=missing the next match) when it was so clear that Ivory Coast’s Abdel-Kader Keïta was pretending. You got elbowed in the chest dude yet you grab your face on the way down while making sure the refs see you. Hey, can’t blame a player for trying. Blame it on the refs!

Why were USA fans so hyped this year? Because we were in it! As I’m sure you’re aware, soccer isn’t the primary sport here—football, baseball, and basketball are! Team USA had a great chance to go far in the tournament. But as fate has it, we got knocked out during the group of 16 to Ghana. This was very sad because people were finally tuning in and showing love to the States. All isn’t lost though, there’s a newfound interest and revival in soccer that hopefully the MLS (Major League Soccer) will capitalize on. One of the Cup’s biggest heroes was Landon Donovan and he plays for the LA Galaxy (alongside David Beckham!) Almost every major city has a team, support yours!

Lastly, what is all this talk about a vuvuzela? It’s an instrument native to South Africa (where the World Cup is being hosted) used for celebrations. Clearly there is no bigger celebration than the World Cup being hosted for the first time in your continent, let alone in your country! It has somewhat of a low hum sound and when there are multiple, it sounds similar to a swarm of bees. Many fans around the world and players and coaches have complained BUT hey futbol nation is in their country, let the people celebrate. If you’re really paying attention to the games, you don’t even notice it (unless it’s boring but blame that on the teams!). Hope you’re a little bit clear on how this wonderful game is played! The World Cup only takes place every 4 years so don’t wait until it’s over to see why people get so amped!