MEN HAPPIER THAN WOMAN 9-28-07

He’s Happier, She’s Less So

Last year, a team of researchers added a novel twist to something known as a time-use survey. Instead of simply asking people what they had done over the course of their day, as pollsters have been doing since the 1960s, the researchers also asked how people felt during each activity. Were they happy? Interested? Tired? Stressed?

Why do you think men now appear to be happier than women?

Not surprisingly, men and women often gave similar answers about what they liked to do (hanging out with friends) and didn’t like (paying bills). But there were also a number of activities that produced very different reactions from the two sexes — and one of them really stands out: Men apparently enjoy being with their parents, while women find time with their mom and dad to be slightly less pleasant than doing laundry.

Alan Krueger, a Princeton economist working with four psychologists on the time-use research team, figures that there is a simple explanation for the difference. For a woman, time with her parents often resembles work, whether it’s helping them pay bills or plan a family gathering. “For men, it tends to be sitting on the sofa and watching football with their dad,” said Mr. Krueger, who, when not crunching data, enjoys watching the New York Giants with his father.
This intriguing — if unsettling — finding is part of a larger story: there appears to be a growing happiness gap between men and women.

Two new research papers, using very different methods, have both come to this conclusion. Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, economists at the University of Pennsylvania (and a couple), have looked at the traditional happiness data, in which people are simply asked how satisfied they are with their overall lives. In the early 1970s, women reported being slightly happier than men. Today, the two have switched places.

Mr. Krueger, analyzing time-use studies over the last four decades, has found an even starker pattern. Since the 1960s, men have gradually cut back on activities they find unpleasant. They now work less and relax more.

Over the same span, women have replaced housework with paid work — and, as a result, are spending almost as much time doing things they don’t enjoy as in the past. Forty years ago, a typical woman spent about 23 hours a week in an activity considered unpleasant, or 40 more minutes than a typical man. Today, with men working less, the gap is 90 minutes.
These trends are reminiscent of the idea of “the second shift,” the name of a 1989 book by the sociologist Arlie Hochschild, arguing that modern women effectively had to hold down two jobs. The first shift was at the office, and the second at home.

But researchers who have looked at time-use data say the second-shift theory misses an important detail. Women are not actually working more than they were 30 or 40 years ago. They are instead doing different kinds of work. They’re spending more time on paid work and less on cleaning and cooking.

What has changed — and what seems to be the most likely explanation for the happiness trends — is that women now have a much longer to-do list than they once did (including helping their aging parents). They can’t possibly get it all done, and many end up feeling as if they are somehow falling short.

Mr. Krueger’s data, for instance, shows that the average time devoted to dusting has fallen significantly in recent decades. There haven’t been any dust-related technological breakthroughs, so houses are probably just dirtier than they used to be. I imagine that the new American dustiness affects women’s happiness more than men’s.

Ms. Stevenson was recently having drinks with a business school graduate who came up with a nice way of summarizing the problem. Her mother’s goals in life, the student said, were to have a beautiful garden, a well-kept house and well-adjusted children who did well in school. “I sort of want all those things, too,” the student said, as Ms. Stevenson recalled, “but I also want to have a great career and have an impact on the broader world.”

It’s telling that there is also a happiness gap between boys and girls in high school. As life has generally gotten better over the last generation — less crime, longer-living grandparents and much cooler gadgets — male high school seniors have gotten happier. About 25 percent say they are very satisfied with their lives, up from 16 percent in 1976. Roughly 22 percent of senior girls now give that answer, unchanged from the 1970s.

When Ms. Stevenson and I were talking last week about possible explanations, she mentioned her “hottie theory.” It’s based on an April article in this newspaper by Sara Rimer, about a group of incredibly impressive teenage girls in Newton, Mass. The girls were getting better grades than the boys, playing varsity sports, helping to run the student government and doing community service. Yet one girl who had gotten a perfect 2,400 on her college entrance exams noted that she and her friends still felt pressure to be “effortlessly hot.”

As Ms. Stevenson, who’s 36, said: “When I was in high school, it was clear being a hottie was the most important thing, and it’s not that it’s any less important today. It’s that other things have become more important. And, frankly, people spent a lot of time trying to be a hottie when I was in high school. So I don’t know where they find the time today.”

The two new papers — Mr. Krueger’s will be published in the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity and the Stevenson-Wolfers one is still in draft form — are part of a burst of happiness research in recent years. There is no question that the research has its limitations. Happiness, of course, is highly subjective

A big reason that women reported being happier three decades ago — despite far more discrimination — is probably that they had narrower ambitions, Ms. Stevenson says. Many compared themselves only to other women, rather than to men as well. This doesn’t mean they were better off back then.

But it does show just how incomplete the gender revolution has been. Although women have flooded into the work force, American society hasn’t fully come to grips with the change. The United States still doesn’t have universal preschool, and, in contrast to other industrialized countries, there is no guaranteed paid leave for new parents.

Government policy isn’t the only problem, either. Inside of families, men still haven’t figured out how to shoulder their fair share of the household burden. Instead, we’re spending more time on the phone and in front of the television.

This weekend, I think I may volunteer to do a little dusting.

WIERD WORLD RECORDS 9-28-07

LONDON (Reuters) - Australian John Allwood smashed 40 watermelons with his head in just one minute.

Using only one hand, Germany's Thomas Vogel unfastened 56 bras in 60 seconds.

When it comes to the world's weirdest achievers, nothing beats the ultimate accolade -- a place in Guinness World Records for demonstrating bizarre skills.

Nothing is too wacky.

Can you catch 77 grapes in your mouth in under a minute, keep nine yo-yo's spinning at the same time, hold your breath for more than 14 minutes or throw a washing machine?

Then Guinness has a spot for you.

The annual compendium, whose latest edition is published on Friday, even has a section entitled Trivial Pursuits.

Few would argue with the title as Guinness lists the globe's finest practitioners at putting the cover on a duvet, kicking yourself in the head and throwing paper aircraft into a bucket.

Italian Michele Santana wins an entry for typing 57 books backwards.

Indian yoga instructor G.P Vijayakumar snorted eight fish up through his mouth and out of his nostrils in a minute.

American Jackie Bibby shared his bath with 75 live western diamondback rattlesnakes.

The latest edition also has a four-page pullout of the world's grossest records.

China's Wei Shengchu gains notoriety for most acupuncture needles in the head and face.

Frenchman Michel Lotito claimed the weirdest diet -- over the years he consumed 128 bicycles and 15 supermarket trolleys which he washed down with six chandeliers, two beds and a pair of skis.

Natasha Veruschka won Guinness immortality by swallowing 13 swords at the Third Annual Sideshow Gathering and Sword Swallowers Convention in Pennsylvania.

Few could equal the bizarre feat of China's Dong Changsheng -- he pulled a 1.5 tonne car using ropes hooked onto his lower eyelids.

In the mass participation category, 3,541 Philippine women in Manila shared the record for the most women ever to have breastfed their babies simultaneously.

The top prize for survival has to go to American park ranger Roy C.Sullivan -- he was struck by lightning seven times.

Each strike took its toll -- he lost eyebrows and a toe nail as well as suffering singed hair and chest burns.

He died in 1993 -- not killed by lightning but by his own hand after reportedly being rejected in love.

METEORITE CRASH 9-28-07

'Meteorite' Crash Breeds Mass Hysteria

On what started as a normal Saturday night one week ago, residents of a small, remote Peruvian town saw a bright light streak across the sky, heard a resounding bang and suddenly found themselves at the center of a media frenzy.

Initial suspicions of an airplane crash quickly spiraled into widespread reports that a meteorite had plummeted to Earth and left a smoking, boiling crater whose supposedly noxious fumes were reported to have sickened curious locals who went to peer at the hole.

Despite doubts expressed by geologists that the crater was actually caused by a meteorite and firm explanations that a meteorite would not even emit fumes and that the "sickness" was likely a case of mass hysteria, numerous onlookers far and wide were fascinated by the idea that this event could be some real-life "Andromeda Strain" (the 1969 novel by Michael Crichton), where a mysterious rock falling to Earth from outerspace made anyone who went near it ill.

So what is it about things falling from the sky that fills us with such fear that we can make ourselves sick with panic?

Mass hysteria

Media reports of the number of locals afflicted by a "mysterious disease"--with symptoms such as nausea, headaches and sore throats--after visiting the crater figured in every news article about the Aug. 15 event, with some reporting that as many as 600 people had fallen ill.

But doctors who visited the site told the Associated Press they found no evidence that the crater had actually sickened such a large number of people.

If noxious fumes did emanate from the crater, they were most likely the result of a hydrothermal explosion that could have actually formed the crater, or were released from the ground when the meteorite struck, if in fact one did, according to many geologists.

Arsenic is found in the subsoil in that area of Peru and often contaminates the drinking water there, according to Peruvian geologists quoted on Sept. 21 by National Geographic News. Arsenic fumes released from the crater could have sickened locals who went to look, said one geologist who examined the site.

Some health officials suggest that the symptoms described by the locals, the large number of people reporting symptoms, and the apparently rapid spread have all the hallmarks of a case of mass hysteria.

"Those who say they are affected are the product of a collective psychosis," Jorge Lopez Tejada, health department chief in Puno, the nearest city, told the Los Angeles Times.

This psychosis could have begun as a result of fear of the meteorite and the mysterious "disease" on the part of the residents and spread as official and media reports seemed to confirm it and give it credence.

"The Peruvian event seems to be a rare case where we may be witnessing collective anxiety that is approaching near hysteria," said Benny Peiser, a social anthropologist at John Moores University in England. "The major[ity] of the affected Peruvian town hinted that some of the mass anxiety is due to fear of imminent impacts and psychological stress which is not surprising given the premature speculation and media hype."

Fear of outer space

Fear of a meteorite impact is nothing new--humans have long looked to the heavens with a wary eye.

"The fear of cosmic disaster, in particular cometary impacts, has existed in all cultures for millennia," Peiser told SPACE.com

But the space age revealed just how many dangers, including comets, meteors, asteroids, and cosmic rays, await us in the final frontier.

"Only since the late 20th century, humankind has become aware of the risk posed by asteroids and comets," Peiser said. "Unfortunately, this risk has been wildly exaggerated by popular culture."

Our curiosity and fear of impact events has increased their coverage by the world media, Peiser says, which in turn has increased the number of meteorite impact reports, even when the evidence doesn't point that way.

"In recent years, there have been numerous cases where alleged meteorite falls were linked to mysterious explosions on the ground--only to be proven wrong," Peiser said. "One of the main reasons for the significant increase of such claims is almost certainly due to the growing media interest in the cosmic impact risk. It is part of human nature-- and extremely tempting for the news media--to hype any event that initially looks mysterious."

While this fear is normal and understandable, it's been blown out of proportion so that the public thinks that impact risks are higher than they are, Peiser argues.

"Most people are simply not aware that we are making enormous progress in finding and identifying the population of Near Earth Objects and that the impact risk is thus diminishing year by year," Peiser said.

And when meteorites have struck, they have never carried any hint of some mysterious space disease.

"I don't know of any known record of a meteorite landing that emitted odors so noxious that people got sick from it," said geologist Larry Grossman of the University of Chicago.

So much for the Andromeda Strain.

MICHAEL VICK TEST POSITIVE 9-28-07

Falcons QB Michael Vick tests positive for marijuana; judge imposes new restrictions

By HANK KURZ Jr., Associated Press Writer September 27, 2007 RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Michael Vick is now likely one misstep from jail. The disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback tested positive for marijuana earlier this month, a violation of the conditions of his release as he awaits sentencing in federal court on a dogfighting charge that already jeopardizes his freedom and career. Now, he's incurred the ire of the judge who could sentence him to up to five years in prison in the dogfighting case. On the day of Vick's guilty plea, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson warned that he wouldn't be amused by any additional trouble. Hudson, who will sentence Vick on Dec. 10, on Wednesday ordered him confined to his Virginia home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. with electronic monitoring. He also must submit to random drug testing. If Vick fails another drug test, he likely will wind up like co-defendant Quanis Phillips -- incarcerated since his Aug. 17 plea hearing. Phillips failed a drug test when he had the electronic monitoring and random drug testing requirements. Vick's positive urine sample was submitted Sept. 13, according to a document by a federal probation officer that was filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. Because Vick violated the conditions of his release, Hudson could take that into consideration during sentencing, said Linda Malone, a criminal procedure expert and Marshall-Wythe Foundation professor of law at the College of William and Mary. "Every judge considers pretty seriously if they feel that the defendant has flaunted the conditions for release," she said. "It's certainly not a smart thing to do." Especially not when his behavior is being watched so closely, not only by the court that allowed him to remain free, but by the public whose forgiveness he's seeking. In Atlanta, Vick's one-time teammates tried to distances themselves from his latest troubles. "That's the last thing I'm worried about," linebacker Keith Brooking said at the Falcons' suburban practice facility. "We're 0-3. We're trying to get a win." Safety Lawyer Milloy agreed. "I just want to play ball," he said. "I'm so tired of talking about everything else, stuff we can't control that has nothing to do with us." The failed drug test is just the latest legal trouble for the 27-year-old Vick. On Tuesday, Vick was indicted on state charges of beating or killing or causing dogs to fight other dogs and engaging in or promoting dogfighting. Each felony is punishable by up to five years in prison. His arraignment on that is set for Oct. 3. The former Virginia Tech star was placed under pretrial release supervision by U.S. Magistrate Dennis Dohnal in July. The restrictions included refraining from use or unlawful possession of narcotic drugs or other controlled substances. The random drug testing ordered Wednesday could include urine testing, the wearing of a sweat patch, a remote alcohol testing system or any form of prohibited substance screening or testing. Hudson's order also requires Vick to participate in inpatient or outpatient substance therapy and mental health counseling if the pretrial services officer or supervising officer deem it appropriate. Vick must pay for the treatment. Vick's attorney, Billy Martin, also is representing Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who pleaded guilty in an airport sex sting. During a press conference about Craig, Martin was asked to comment on Vick. He deflected the question, saying only, "I'm sure that in the future we'll have something to say regarding Mr. Vick, but not now." In January, Vick was cleared by police of any wrongdoing after his water bottle was seized by security at Miami International Airport. Police said it smelled of marijuana and had a hidden compartment that contained a "small amount of dark particulate." Lab tests found no evidence of drugs, and Vick explained that he used the secret compartment to carry jewelry. The federal dogfighting case began in late April when authorities conducting a drug investigation of Vick's cousin raided the property Vick owns in Surry County and seized dozens of dogs, most of them pit bulls, and equipment associated with dogfighting. Vick initially denied any knowledge of the enterprise, then pledged after he was charged that he would fight to clear his name. After Phillips and two other co-defendants pleaded guilty, Vick followed suit and admitted in a written plea to bankrolling the enterprise and helping to kill eight dogs that performed poorly. Vick was the only defendant not placed on electronic monitoring at the arraignments because he was the only one with no criminal record, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Associated Press Writer Kristen Gelineau in Richmond contributed to this report

MEN'S HEALTH 9-28-07

Just as most men believe they possess a keen sense of humor, most men assume they are reasonably strong. Their muscle mass — the aggregate of muscle tissue they have built over a lifetime, enabling them to support their bones, fill the legs of their jeans, and lift the heavy end of a sofa — is at least adequate, relative to other men their age. Before my meeting with Gianni Maddalozzo, PhD, an exercise physiologist at Oregon State University, I was one of those men. After our meeting, I still think I have a pretty good sense of humor.

Maddalozzo's research focuses on the study of osteoporosis and muscle strength in adults ages 40 to 80. Most of his subjects suffer from advanced sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass that occurs naturally — and inevitably — with age. Sarcopenia, in other words, is the scientific term for a phenomenon that Shakespeare identifies with the sixth age of man: the gray, traditionally enfeebled years of the "shrunk shank."

Compared with sarcopenia, other sneaky scourges of the middle years, such as arterial plaque buildup and prostate enlargement, announce their presence with a fanfare of symptoms. But sarcopenia creeps by in imperceptible increments, stealing a fifth of a pound of muscle a year, from ages 25 to 50, and then it picks up a dreadful, yet still mostly silent, velocity. The condition subsequently bleeds a man of up to a pound of muscle a year, a loss he is unlikely to notice until it's too late. "You haven't gotten any thinner, because the pounds of muscle are typically replaced by pounds of fat," explains Maddalozzo. "But sarcopenia is progressing all the time. One day you trip and fall and suffer a fracture of your hip. Then, when you try to rehab after hip-replacement surgery, you discover that you have virtually no muscle mass to build on."

While listening to the professor, I reflexively probe my thigh, sounding the depth and texture of my quadriceps muscle. By serving up a hypothetical untrained victim, I tell myself, Maddalozzo has provided a worst-case scenario. I, by contrast, have trained plenty in my lifetime: For the past 35 years, since my college football and lacrosse days, I may not have darkened a weight-room door, but I run 20 miles a week, and my body weight remains under control, as does my total cholesterol, blood pressure, and resting pulse rate. I had smugly assumed that my skinny butt was covered when it came to exercise. But now I know that I had only been drifting in a state of muscle-mass denial. These midlife realizations brought me to the Bone Research Lab at the university's campus in Corvallis, where Maddalozzo has offered to assess my state of muscular fitness and prescribe an anti-sarcopenia strength-training regimen.

Despite (or perhaps because of) its universal, inexorable nature, sarcopenia, until recently, did not get much respect. Indeed, until 1988, the condition lacked its own scientific name. "Historically, the scientific community has taken muscle for granted," concedes William Kraemer, PhD, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut. Perhaps more tellingly, sarcopenia's proven antidote — resistance training — will never make a dime for a pharmaceutical company. Scientists such as Kraemer, Maddalozzo, and a cadre of others are at the forefront of a movement that is redefining the importance of muscle mass in terms of overall health, not simply performance or vanity.

Recent research shows that diminished muscle strength and mass are empirically linked to declines in the immune system and the onset of heart disease and diabetes, not to mention weaker bones, stiffer joints, and slumping postures. Muscle mass has also been shown to play a central role in protein metabolism, which is particularly important in the response to stress, and decreased muscle mass correlates with a decline in overall metabolic rate (muscle mass burns more calories at rest than fat does). Further research is expected to show measureable links between diminished muscle mass and cancer mortality. The thinking about muscles and resistance training, in short, is reaching critical mass, and a major shift in the American fitness paradigm is under way. Along with this increasing emphasis on resistance training, there is an increasing awareness about the nutritional factors that can complement muscle growth, namely increasing daily intake of protein.

"In the last 20 years, we have come full circle," says Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, PhD, a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. "We used to discourage older adults from lifting heavy weights. Now we're telling them they can't maintain overall health without it. After age 50, you can't get by just doing aerobic exercise." Although it's not explicit yet in the government's overall health guidelines, agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommend a couple of rounds of resistance training a week. "Muscle function can improve — sometimes robustly — with resistance training, even after the onset of sarcopenia," says Robert Wolfe, PhD, a professor of geriatrics at the University of Arkansas. "But it is far more effective to begin resistance training before the process gains momentum. Intervention in the middle years is necessary."

The muscles of most men reach maximum size (or, strictly speaking, attain the maximum number of fibers per muscle) at age 25. From that lamentably early peak, a long, gradual decline ensues. Over the next 25 years, the muscles lose approximately 10 percent of their fibers. Then, starting around age 50, things go to hell. The body's production of testosterone, human growth hormone, and DHEA ebbs, and the motor cells of your nervous system, which spider out from the spinal cord to control the contraction of muscle fibers during physical activity, deteriorate rapidly. As the motor cells die, so do the fibers to which they're attached, especially type II or "fast-twitch" fibers, the ones employed for short bursts of anaerobic power. For instance, if your biceps consist of 90 fibers when you're 50 years old, by age 80, that number will be closer to 50 fibers, most of them feeble type "slow-twitch" fibers.

It's through the study of sarcopenia that a greater appreciation of muscle mass is evolving. Two seminal works, "Starvation in Man," an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1970, and Hunger Disease: Studies by the Jewish Physicians in the Warsaw Ghetto, a book published in 1979, show that the depletion of muscle mass is the cause of death in human starvation. This is because essential organs and tissues such as the brain, heart, and liver rely on a steady supply of amino acids to synthesize new proteins and maintain function. Normally, dietary protein supplies these amino acids. Under duress, however, these organs maintain homeostasis by drawing protein from the muscles. Our skeletal muscle mass, besides powering all of our movements, also serves as a reservoir for our vital organs. And like all reservoirs, this one can run low — or, in the case of starvation, run dry.

Less dramatic maladies also demonstrate a deep relationship with sarcopenia. "Not surprisingly," observes Wolfe, "individuals with limited reserves of muscle mass respond poorly to stress." A 2000 study in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science examining lung-cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, for instance, showed that the recurrence of cancer was predicted by levels of body protein. In 2004, a study in the Annals of Medicine demonstrated a clear link between diminished muscle mass and cardiac failure. And a 2006 study in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons found that survival from severe burns was lowest among individuals with reduced muscle mass.

In 2005, results from the Mediterranean Intensive Oxidant Study, which examined the causes of osteoporosis in men, found that bone density and mineral content had a direct correlation to skeletal muscle mass. "The stronger and thicker your muscle tissue, the more force that tissue exerts on the bone," explains Maddalozzo. "And increased force, both during exercise and normal daily functioning, results in the bones growing stronger and denser. That significantly retards osteoporosis and, as a man ages, the rate of hip fractures." A man with a full reservoir of muscle mass enjoys dual protection: stronger bones combined with enhanced strength and agility.

Muscle mass has also proved to play a key role in more common, but no less deadly, conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. A study of scientific literature published in Circulation in 2006 cites articles showing that sarcopenia has been linked to insulin resistance (the main factor in adult-onset, or type 2, diabetes), elevated lipid levels in the blood, and increased body fat, especially "visceral adipose tissue," which gathers around the heart and other vital organs and is a primary risk factor of heart disease. In fact, researchers concluded that long-term adaptation to resistance training lowers cortical response to acute stress; increases total energy expenditure; relieves anxiety, depression, and insomnia; and demonstrates beneficial effects on bone density, arthritis, hypertension, lipid profiles, and exercise tolerance in coronary artery disease. "As the dates on these studies indicate, we are just seeing the tip of the research iceberg," says Wolfe. "In the years ahead, we are likely to see the proof of even closer relationships between muscle mass and disease states."

The case against overreliance on cardiovascular fitness — a case striking close to my heart — was made best in a study conducted at East Tennessee State University more than a decade ago. Researchers studied 43 healthy individuals who were 55 or older. Twenty-three of the subjects worked out three times a week for 30 minutes per session, confining their exercise to the treadmill, stair machine, and stationary bike. The other 20 subjects performed 15 minutes of aerobic exercise and devoted the rest of their sessions to training their major muscle groups on weight machines. After four months, bone density and lean muscle mass increased significantly in the group combining aerobic and strength training, but it did not improve for the group confined to aerobic activity.

Maddalozzo and I leave the Bone Lab and stroll across campus. He nods hello to students, whose endocrine systems sluice with testosterone and growth hormone, the juices goosing youthful muscle development. From a modest distance, Maddalozzo, at age 52, might pass as one of them. He carries a well-toned 150 pounds on a 5-foot-9-inch frame, with just 10 percent body fat.

Despite the sunshine, the professor's hospitality, and the presence of so many attractive young people, my mood continues to darken. I experience a moment of classic middle-aged angst, as if I were approaching a sigmoidoscopy or a periodontal exam. I worry, in short, that I've seen the light too late. My "muscle intervention" threatens to be as penitential as it sounds. According to Wolfe, Kraemer, Chodzko-Zajko, and other experts, resistance training must be conducted at a high intensity, at 70 percent or more of the maximum perceived effort, in order to produce the cellular and metabolic changes that yield stronger, thicker muscles and the resultant health benefits. "A little bit of training — swinging a five-pound dumbbell around — just won't cut it," says Kraemer. "That's not enough to catalyze growth and engage the systems."

The premise of all strength training is the concept of overload and recovery. Muscle fibers are made up of long strands of protein, and overloading the muscles to the point of failure during weight training causes microtears in myofibrils, the tiny proteins that force the muscle cells to contract. This activates satellite cells located on the outside of the muscle fibers to accumulate at the point where the damage occurs (much in the way that white blood cells gather at the site of skin lacerations). In effect, resistance training triggers an alarm that the muscle is falling apart, and the substance the body uses to fix it — the glue, as it were — is protein.

That's why scientists such as Maddalozzo also emphasize a muscle-friendly diet that will complement — and, to a certain degree, compensate for — the bare-bones, let's-get-through-this strength-training programs that most people are likely to follow. "Unless you eat the right diet, you won't get the best benefit from strength training," says Fred Hahn, a trainer in New York City. "You absolutely must have an adequate intake of protein for your body to adapt to the stress." In Wolfe's 2006 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "The Underappreciated Role of Muscle in Health and Disease," he argues that the present recommended daily allowance of protein, 0.36 grams per pound of body weight, was established using obsolete data and is woefully inadequate for an individual doing resistance training. He, along with many others, recommends an amount between 0.8 and 1 gram per pound of body weight.

Strength training conforms to all the puritanical dictates that I, along with countless other men my age, spent our youths repudiating: You have to keep track, you have to keep improving, and it hurts. The weight room occupies the basement of a nearby classroom building. The room is clean and airy, with neat rows of machines and free weights, just a few small mirrors, and at this hour, to my relief, no students. Still, my heart sinks. I have never liked gyms of any description. They all seem like places of confinement, regimentation, and pain. Despite the dawning of a new age of muscle awareness, this still seems true.

To steel myself, I recall some of strength training's well-documented, no-nonsense health benefits: bone density... resting energy expenditure... protein metabolism... blood lipids. The promises we heard about running in the 1970s and '80s we now hear about weight training. In fact, some experts, such as Greg Anderson, an elite trainer in Seattle, maintain that weights and diet are all you need; you don't have to do traditional cardio at all.

Of course, I'm not the only former countercultural desperado who has to be dragged off the running trail and into the weight room. Recognizing that resistance training is less convenient and, by and large, requires more concentration than aerobic training (you can't linger over erotic fantasies as you do while laying down the miles at lunchtime under a canopy of Douglas fir), various researchers are trying to determine rock-bottom minimum workouts for muscle-mass maintenance.

Maddalozzo's strength-training program, which he teaches others and practices himself, is one of these new programs: It is two 30-minute sessions a week, comprising one set of eight full-body, multijoint exercises. Each exercise consists of eight to 15 reps, at 60 to 80 percent of "maximum perceived effort," with the final rep performed to the point of voluntary failure. "I work 60 hours a week, and I have two kids at home," says Maddalozzo. "I don't have the time or interest to spend hours in a gym."

"We'll start with the squat," he says, leading me across the floor to a bare barbell. "That's the fundamental lower-body exercise. You need basic leg strength for your running and also for general functioning, for movements such as getting in and out of a chair."

Getting in and out of a chair? "How much weight?" I ask coolly.

Maddalozzo hesitates. "Before we talk about weight," he says, "let's see a squat with no resistance." I reach for the barbell, but he stops me. "We don't even need that for now. Let's just see you do a squat."

I squat, or at least I give my version of a squat. I begin by pushing out my knees, and then I bend from the waist with my shoulders curled forward. "Not like that," says Maddalozzo. "You need to keep your back flat and your shoulders square, and drop your buttocks." He demonstrates the proper form with striking ease and fluidity.

I try to copy the motion, but I am dealing with decades of scar tissue from a torn ACL, compensating behavior, avoidance, and, I admit, increasingly active sarcopenia. My shanks have undeniably shrunk.

I try a third time, imagining myself as a baseball catcher crouching behind a batter.

Maddalozzo brightens. "Good," he says. "That's perfect."

It hardly feels perfect. Bands of pain shoot through the decimated muscle fibers of my tight, weak hamstrings. I force myself to squat lower, and in so doing, I briefly lose my balance. I touch the mat to right myself. My quads begin to tremble. A cool breeze combs the room, but I start to sweat. With some gruesome noises from my knee joint, and another bolt of pain, I stand, a lean and sneakered pantaloon, summoning as much dignity as possible.

"I guess I should begin with a pretty modest weight."

Maddalozzo gives an encouraging smile. "Just by repeating the proper motion a couple of times, you're starting to redirect your neural pathways," he says. "You're on your way. Let's go try some lunges."

DO NOT TRASH DOCUMENTS 9-28-07

With some important documents, there's nothing like the original. Life will be easier if you keep these safe in your files.

Few documents are truly irreplaceable.

As I wrote in "Purge your financial paperwork," you can get new copies of birth, death and marriage certificates. Your insurers have copies of your policies. Banks, brokerages and credit card companies can send you reprints of your statements for at least the past six years, which is as long as you're likely to need them.

But sometimes there's nothing like the real thing, baby.

While most other documents can be scanned and discarded, you should hang on to the originals of the following:

The new-car sticker

Also known as the "Monroney label," after the U.S. senator who advocated its creation in 1958, the window sticker on a new car is full of valuable data that can help you with:

• Insurance claims

• Recalls and

• Enhancing the vehicle's future sale or trade-in value

With a Monroney label, there's no question about the car's features -- they're all listed. You can show a potential buyer or your insurer exactly what came with the car, according to veteran auto writer Jim Mateja, from the type of engine to whether it has side-impact airbags.

The Monroney label also includes the car's serial number and where it was manufactured, which can help you track down whether any factory recalls affect your car, said Mateja, a Chicago Tribune auto reporter who writes for Cars.com's Kicking Tires blog. The sticker also can help establish the vehicle's value for insurance purposes, since all of its original features are listed.

"It's like the birth certificate for your car," Mateja said. "If someone asks, 'Does it have antilock brakes or side curtain airbags,' or 'Which engine does it have,' all the questions can be answered within seconds . . . you have proof."

Original documentation (along with repair receipts) helps establish you as a meticulous owner, one whose used car will fetch a higher price in a private sale. And if you were to hold onto the car long enough for it to become a collectible, the original Monroney in the glove box could help establish the vehicle's authenticity and add thousands to its value.

If you can show all the upgrades a car has, Mateja said, "you're justified in asking a higher price than someone who can't."

Your tax returns -- all of them

You can ditch all the supporting documentation after seven years, but the tax returns themselves should stay with you for life.

The IRS and state income tax agencies typically are limited in how long they can audit your returns -- unless they decide you didn't file for a certain year.

IRS failure-to-file audits aren't that common, but tax expert Eva Rosenberg has had several clients scrutinized by state tax agencies insisting that returns from previous decades were missing.

"Some idiot state will come up and say you never filed for (a certain) year," said Rosenberg, an enrolled agent who runs TaxMama.com." At least keep the tax return and anything that proves you paid a tax bill or got a return for that year."

As with all other important documents, you'd be smart to scan copies of your tax return into your computer and make back-ups that are kept in a safe place.

"Scan them in PDF form but keep the originals," Rosenberg said. "You never know when the media will change." (Remember floppy disks?)

Another reason to hang onto tax returns: Social Security screw-ups.

Five years ago, Christina Miller of Seal Beach, Calif., noticed that her annual earnings from Social Security contained a mistake.

"For the year 1978, Social Security has incorrectly stated my income as $1,299," Miller wrote, "instead of $12,299."

Trying to get the record fixed, though, has become "a five-year nightmare." Social Security told her to write to the IRS, which told her it's up to Social Security to fix the error, adding that the IRS doesn't provide copies of tax returns that old. Miller, 56, even contacted her former employer, who "also does not keep records going back this far."

Social Security bases a worker's benefit on her 35 highest-earning years. Fortunately for Miller, 1978 wasn't one of those years. But she wonders how others fix serious errors that are more than a few years old without documents.

"What do (people) do who have had a house fire or other disaster and have lost their records?" Miller asked." I am surprised that there is no recourse."

Home-improvement receipts

If your home has gained more than $250,000 in value (or $500,000 for a couple), you'll want to look for ways to reduce your taxable profit when you sell. Receipts for home improvements can help you do that.

The cost of improvements can be added to your tax basis -- essentially, the price you originally paid for your home. That, in turn, can reduce your taxable profit.

(For those who need to know all the gory details: Under current tax code, your tax basis is subtracted from the home's selling price, minus commissions and other selling costs, to determine potentially taxable profit. The first $250,000 of profit per owner is exempt from taxes, but profit beyond that is typically subject to capital gains taxes. The top federal capital gains rate is currently 15%.)

Improvements, according to IRS Publication 523, "Selling Your Home," are defined as changes that "add to the value of your home, prolong its useful life, or adapt it to new uses." Some examples:

• Additions

• Interior remodeling

• Landscaping and fences

• Upgrades to home systems such as heating and air conditioning

• New roof, windows or doors

• Insulation

Improvements do not include maintenance or repairs, such as "repainting your house inside or outside, fixing your gutters or floors, repairing leaks or plastering, and replacing broken window panes," unless those projects are part of an extensive renovation or remodeling job.

Also, you can't count any improvement you later rip out. If, for example, you install wall-to-wall carpeting and then remove it in favor of hardwood floors, you can't add the cost of the carpeting to your tax basis.

You'll want to keep receipts detailing the work that was done, or the cost of supplies if you did the work yourself. (A credit-card statement showing a Home Depot charge probably won't be sufficient proof, which is why you want to hang on to the receipts.)

And since you're likely to own your home for years, if not decades, it's smart to keep the original receipts as well as backups since storage technology can change over time (see above).

Final account statements

Collection agencies have found a new growth industry: people who have already paid their bills.

As I wrote in "Sleazy new debt-collector tactics," a host of collectors now specialize in buying up old (and often poorly documented) debts. Even when the collectors can't prove the debt is legitimate, some debtors will pay up rather than risk damage to their credit histories.

• Video: Social Security deposits garnisheed by debt collectors

Fred was one of them. When a collector contacted him about owing $194 for a cell phone account he'd closed in 2001, he didn't recall owing the debt. But rather than risk his credit scores, he paid up.

Later he came across an old statement showing he had, indeed, paid the original bill in full. Unfortunately, paying the bogus bill didn't save his scores -- far from it. The collectors reported the account anyway, sending Fred's scores to the basement.

Any time you make a final payment on a bill or a debt, keep the paperwork showing you've paid what you owed. Some examples include when you:

• Switch cell-phone, land-line or long-distance providers

• Cancel a health-club membership

• Shut down utilities (such as when you move)

• Close a credit card account

• Pay off a loan

• Complete a debt-management or debt-settlement plan

Making sure you get that last statement showing a "zero" balance and a closed account can also help you avoid getting sent to collections for ridiculously small debts. One woman contacted me after she saw a collections account for 63 cents on her credit reports. It turns out that she'd transposed two figures in her last check to a credit card company (she paid $13.18 instead of the $13.81 she owed), and subsequent bills weren't forwarded to her new address.

Bankruptcy petition and discharge

Another lively category of collections efforts is debt that's already been erased in bankruptcy court.

The legal obligation to pay a debt ends when it's discharged in bankruptcy, and collectors are supposed to cease dunning you for the bill. But as noted above, many debts are sold and re-sold many times among collection agencies, and documentation for the bills is often lost in the process. Some of the collectors don't realize they're trying to collect on discharged debt, while others know but don't care.

The best defense against such collection efforts is often to send the collector a copy of your bankruptcy petition and discharge, showing the debt in question has been erased, said John Ventura, a collections law expert and co-author of the book "Managing Debt for Dummies." The copies should be sent certified mail, return receipt requested, to establish a paper trail.

"If they still try to collect, (you) should contact (your) bankruptcy attorney because this is a violation of the discharge order and the attorney can file an action in bankruptcy court to stop the collector," Ventura said. If you can provide proof you've notified the collector of the bankruptcy, he said, "the bankruptcy court . . . would most likely make (the collector) pay the consumer's attorney's fees and any damages."

Since collection efforts can persist for years or even decades after the debt was incurred, you'd be smart to hang on to these documents indefinitely.

PLASTIC SURGERY 9-18-07

Have you or someone you know ever had plastic surgery or thought about having plastic surgery? Back in the day and even now we always see pics of celebs with their before and after shots on the cover of many magazines showing what they looked like before and after surgery. Many celebs deny ever having anything done, but pictures do not lie.

With the many advancements in technology plastic surgery has become more common ground and is no longer just for celebs. Not only is plastic surgery safer, it is cheeper as well.

In a ever growing overweight society, tummy tucks seem to be one of the most popular plastic surgeries being done today in addition to liposculpture and breast augmentation. There are thousands of places you can go to get these procedures done. If you live in or around Beverly Hills, California you are in luck cuase procedures like these known as nip/tuck moves to Rodeo Drive.

Tummy Tucks will help get rid of excessive skin that many people experience after weight loss or pregnancy and the results are unbelivable. Breast augmentation and liposculpture have incredible results just as well. These procedures are assumend to be done only on women but both the men and women population have had these procedures done.

If you have thought about getting plastic surgery done and just haven't done it because it is too expensive there are special plastic surgery financing programs available.

Even better yet, if you know someone who has thought about having plastic surgery done and just cant offorred it. Why not surprise them with a early christmas present?

So, if you have thought about having plastic surgery done or would like more information about the beverly hills liposculpture procedure, or even the beverly hills breast augmentation procedure be sure to check out the website at http://bhplasticsurgeon.blogspot.com/ and see all the great services they offer.

PLASTIC SURGERY / TUMMY TUCK 9-18-07

Have you or someone you know ever had plastic surgery or thought about having plastic surgery? Back in the day and even now we always see pics of celebs with their before and after shots on the cover of many magazines showing what they looked like before and after surgery. Many celebs deny ever having anything done, but pictures do not lie.

With the many advancements in technology plastic surgery has become more common ground and is no longer just for celebs. Not only is plastic surgery safer, it is cheeper as well.

In a ever growing overweight society, tummy tucks seem to be one of the most popular plastic surgeries being done today. There are thousands of places you can go to get a tummy tuck. However, one of the best and highly recommended places to go and get this procedure done is Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery located in Beverly Hills, California.

Tummy Tucks will help get rid of excessive skin that many people experience after weight loss or pregnancy and the results are unbelivable.

If you have thought about getting plastic surgery done and just haven't done it because it is too expensive Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery offers a special plastic surgery financing program.

Even better yet, if you know someone who has thought about having plastic surgery done and just cant offorred it. Why not surprise them with a early Christmas present ?

Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery offers more than just Tummy Tucks. They also offer many procedures such as Facelifts, Breast Augmentation, Liposuction and even Botox.

So, if you have thought about getting a Tummy Tuck or would like more information about the beverly hills tummy tuck procedure, be sure to check out the website at http://www.rodeodriveplasticsurgery.com/ and see all the great services they offer.

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NEW INDIANA JONES TITLE 9-12-07

The latest Indiana Jones movie gets a title. The battle to name the new Indiana Jones film is over, and the winner is "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

Forget about "Indiana Jones and the City of Gods" or even "Indiana Jones and the Destroyer of Worlds," two of the potential names registered by producers Lucasfilm Ltd. The next movie featuring the two-fisted adventurer will be called "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
Actor Shia LaBeouf, who has been cast to play Jones' son in the film, blurted out the title on stage at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards -- only to have the news overshadowed by two former husbands of Pamela Anderson scuffling with each other and Britney Spears dancing barely clothed on stage.
But Lucasfilm, which is producing the fourth Harrison Ford-starring installment of the Indiana Jones series, was quick to confirm the new title on Monday.
The film is to be directed by Steven Spielberg and is slated for release in May 2008.
LaBeouf's revelation ends months of speculation as to what the new film will be called.

UNIQUE KIDS BEDDING 9-12-07

"Unique Kids Bedding"

Is your Teen tired of their bedding? Do they think its boring? Looking for something unique, different and original? Having trouble finding that perfect bedding? If you answered yes to any of these then checkout Vision Bedding today for the coolest bedding for teenagers.

Vision Bedding offers unique Photographic bedding with many designs to choose from. Vision Bedding has a huge selection of Bedspreads and Duvet Covers, Throw Pillows and Pillow Shams, Blankets and Wall Murals. Teen Bedding is one of the hardest things to shop for. But, Vision Bedding makes it easy for you by offering huge selections and unique products that cant be found at a department store. Vision Bedding is the perfect bedding for teens, but it is also the perfect bedding for kids and children of all ages. If your teen or younger child wants his or her favorite cartoon character, superhero, sports star, animal or anything on there bedding it can be found at Vision Bedding. No matter the hobby, style or personality, Vision Bedding offers a wide variety of designs that will fit anyones needs.

Stop shopping at your local bedding superstores like Bed Bath & Beyond that only offer a limited selection of bedding. Check out Vision Bedding today for unique Photographic Bedding with many designs, style and themes perfect for Children, Kids, Teens, and even Adults! These bedding designs can't be found anywhere else.