Learn To Laugh

Integrals, commas, and the periodic table. These are only a few of the things that I have learned in high school. Through the tedious hours of studying (not really) or through the countless hours spent in the classroom. Perhaps the biggest lesson that I have learned in high school is that we should learn to laugh, and when you do laugh, laugh hard and out loud. Like Jessica! Everyone knows that I love to laugh, and why not? After all, laughing is healthy for you!

            As teenagers, we seem to get so caught up in “who is dating who, or this happened to Jenny, or did you hear about Cameron?” We got so caught up in the miniscule things that we forget to look at the big picture. Is all of that really going to matter in five years? Ten years? Truth is, most people in high school won’t even matter to us in a few years. So, what we should be focusing on is making memorable moments happen in the here and now, and personally, I believe laughing is the best way to make those moments. The funniest moments are always the most memorable. So spend time with those you love and laugh your butts off!

            This is extremely important to us now. As we approach the end of our high school career, we find ourselves filled with anticipation. However, this emotion is probably more anxiety than anything. We have anxiety about college, leaving our closest friends, and living on our own.  We should be scared; this is the big moment for all of us. In these few last days of high school, I’d like to have fun. I mean, when will we ever be able to attend high school again?  It is much too late to go back and right all the wrongs in our life. So let’s laugh now and have things to talk about in our future.

            Personally, I’ve done some pretty stupid things, and who hasn’t? It is just a part of growing up, and if you say that you have never done anything wrong in your life, you’re a liar. What is the whole fun of growing up if you can’t have a laugh every now and then? That seems like a dull existence. 

            So the best advice I can to offer to my fellow classmates of 2013 is to not take life to seriously, laugh when you can, and laugh hard.

Spangler Danger

Out of all of the people that I have met in high school, Jesse (Jay Spangles) Spangler is a person that I will never forget. I knew Jesse through sports such as our freshman year basketball team or eight grade football. However, I only saw him as a teammate, other than that, we didn't talk much. Those were the days when Jesse was still dedicated to band and he hadn't grown into the trash talker he is today. It wasn't till our sophomore year that Jesse became part of the group.

                After that, Jesse quickly became a very good friend of mine. Outside of sports, we actually had more in common than we thought we did. We quickly bonded over a slight addiction to the game, Call of Duty Black Ops. After many hours of yelling at TV screen, Jesse and I had become friends. Jesse’s parents then became a second pair of parents for me. His father is still the only constant father figure that I have had in my life. I have only been fishing on a boat twice, and that was when Jesse’s father decided to take us out to a lake. His family has really done a lot for me and I thank them for that.

                I have spent A LOT of time at Jesse’s house. This comes from our long gaming sessions and me having to use his internet to get all of my homework done. Then last year, Jesse wanted to house a foreign exchange student. This was probably one of the very best decisions that he has ever made. That is how we came to know our Herman de Espuma, Ramon Duran. This is ironic, because Duran is also my mom’s last name.  Throughout his whole time here, Jesse and I felt as if Ramon really was our little brother. I’ll never forget the fishing trip that we all went on. That weekend, we caught so much fish that I can’t remember the exact number. The bond that Jesse, Ramon, and I had was incredible. I spent a lot of time with Ramon, even without Jesse being there.

                When Ramon left, Jesse and I were simply devastated. We basically said bye to our brother that we knew we won’t see for a long long time. The time spent with Ramon was some of best of my life. I can speak for Jesse and say that Ramon was probably one of the only things that he has genuinely cared for, other than baseball.

                After all of the stuff that we have been through together, Jay Spangles has become one of my best friends. 

Laugh For Health

What is the very best way to increase your health in every aspect? The answer is laughter. The old cliché, “Laughter is the best medicine” is actually a true statement. Laughter has been shown to affect not only physical health, but social and mental as well. Laughter is the number one most effective and enjoyable way to improve your health. Think about of the times when you have gut-busting laughter. These are times when you are surrounded by the people you love. Laughing builds connections with those around you. When you laugh, the lungs and the abs also get a great workout. Here is how laughter affects the three types of health.

Physical health-Laughing will make you feel better physically be releasing endorphins. Endorphins are the “feel-good” chemicals of the body. Laughter has also been shown to strengthen the immune system because it encourages the production of antibodies. When you laugh, you can feel your abs and lungs tighten. This is basically a workout for the lungs because of how repetitive laughter can be. When the lungs are worked, it increases overall blood flow to the heart and even the brain.

Mental Health- Laughter actually affects our mental health in a very big way. Laughter is a great way to improve your mood while relieving stress and even fear. The positive endorphins that laughter produces leads to emotional balance. This leads to not only a better mood, but better thoughts. Laughter can change perspective and make you think more optimistic. Laughter also gives a sense of safety.

Social Health- Laughing helps improve social health by strengthening relationships. Not just relationships with your crush, but with your family and friends as well. When people are laughing, it is much easier for them to express their feelings easier. This leads to stronger relationships with those around you. Strong relationships lead to a feeling of connectivity between people. This connectivity is a huge part of social health.

So, according to this, laughter is the best way to increase your overall health. As seniors, we should be laughing as much as we can. We are slowly approaching that time where we will be branching off into the adult segment of our lives. That transition may not be filled with as much laughter as it could. So today, we should be laughing with one another, strengthening the bond between the people that we have grew up with. Time is short, so we should be enjoying the time we have with one another, and we can be getting healthier at the same time.   

The #1 Exercise?

What is the most cost effective, most beneficial, and one of the most over looked exercises out there? The answer is the pushup. Pushups aren’t just for body builders or athletes, pushups can have a huge role in overall health. Yet, for many people, pushups are seen as a struggle and tend to lean away from them. The question is, can you do a pushup? If so, you’ll actually learn a few things about the pushup today. If not, don’t worry, maybe after today you can begin working your way to doing pushups with ease.

Firstly, most of us know that pushups actively work the chest. However, did you know that they also work the rear deltoid (back of the shoulder) and even the rotator cuff? Pushups also build the scalene muscles and the muscles of the upper traps. Those muscles are missed when the bench press is the main form of chest exercise. Doing pushups with proper form also engage the muscles of the core, which aren’t just the abs, the core also involves the muscles of the lower back and the hip stabilizers.

So what does this mean? This means that pushups are great for creating muscular balance in the upper body, which is crucial for everyday health. So what do you do if you can’t do a pushup? First, don’t worry. The pushup has so many variations and modifications that there is a pushup out there for any fitness level. Most people would want to begin with a “girl” pushup. However, a “girl” pushup doesn’t allow the core and hips to be engaged as much as they should be. I would recommend that you begin with wall pushups. These are fairly simple and allow you to get the feel for how a pushup should feel. To begin, place your hands on wall, slightly outside the width of your shoulders, and at shoulder level. Next, extend your arms out and reposition your feet to that you are parallel to the wall. At this point, you want to pull your hips in and engage the abs. This will prevent your back from arching and doing you more bad than good. Then, by bending the elbows, allow yourself to slowly fall into the wall. You should stop just before your chest touches the wall, hold, and then push back into the original position. I recommend doing this for three sets of eight to twelve reps (3x8-12). You can vary each set by putting hands by spreading them farther apart or bringing them closer together, or by rotating your hands. Try doing this 4 times a week with a day of rest in between. Do these for two weeks then attempt doing floor pushups with the same form.

Not only are pushups good at developing muscular strength and endurance, they can also be an effective cardiovascular exercise. It all depends on how they are done. For example, I’ve done pushups in this manner 12, 12, 15, 12, 18, with about a minute of rest in between. Not only were the final two sets a struggle, but I could feel the blood pumping and my heart racing.

Pushups, in my opinion, are extremely helpful in maintaining muscular strength and balance, they are for everyone, and should be done by everyone.

               

The Diamond Muscle

You're lifting those cereal boxes to the top self, you throw backpack on to your bed, or maybe you’re a lifter doing some hang cleans. In any of these movements the trapezius muscle is highly engaged. The trapezius is the muscle mostly referred to as the “upper back.” The name trapezius comes from trapezoid, you know, a diamond shaped quadrilateral. Also, the trapezius maybe larger than you think it is. It covers the entire area from the top of our necks all the way down the middle of your back, extending out the ends of our shoulders.

This muscle is most commonly referred to as the “traps.” Raise your shoulders up and down, squeeze your shoulder blades together and raise your arms above your head. By doing this, you be able to feel most of the range that your traps have. The traps are extremely important in most daily movements. Without a trapezius, wouldn’t be able to hold our heads up! The traps are extremely important in maintaining posture and stabilizing the torso.  However, the name “traps” usually only refers to the upper trapezius, which are visible from the front. The traps are actually divided into three different sections, (in anatomical terms) superior, intermediate, and inferior; or the upper, middle, lower sections of the trapezius. These sections work in tandem with one another in order to control our arms. Yes, the traps actually have a major part in moving our arms. They do this by contracting and pulling your shoulder blade in. From there, it allows for rotation as the arm begins to move.

The traps work closely with the deltoid, or the shoulder muscle, to allow us to throw.

However, because the traps are so highly engaged with our arms, having weak traps can lead to some serious problems. Like I said earlier, the traps are what allow us to keep our heads up. Having weak traps will generally result in neck pain. When we have are holding something heavy above our heads, the traps are actually bearing most of the weight. Doing this for an extended period of time will eventually fatigue the traps. When that happens, the other muscles of the neck and the much deeper back muscles have to actively engage in order to make up for that weakness. If the traps are weak for a long time, those deeper muscles will be continually flexed, leading to muscle pain and soreness.

This concept can actually be applied to most muscle pains. For example, this is why we get shin splints. Most people that have anything to do with running have dealt with shin splints before. Shin splints are a result of over working the calves. When the calves become tired, the muscle of the shin (tibialis anterior) has to make up for that weakness. This is similar to my problems. Through physical therapy, I’ve learned that I have extremely weak hip muscles. In order to make up for that weakness, my feet and lower back have been taking much of the strain.

 So the traps are actually very important to everyday movement. So if you suffer from neck pain or other forms of upper back pain, you may need to exercise your traps. This can be done in the forms shrugs, cleans, or any type of overhead press.

The Bubbly Truth.

By popping open the tab or twisting the lid; you could be making a poor health choice when it comes to drinking soda. Most people enjoy soda, what is there not to enjoy about a fizzy flavorful drink? Think of all the different types of soda: Mountain Dew, Crush, Mug Root Beer, Pepsi, etc. Then come the “diet” drinks, which in reality, are absolutely no better for you than regular soda. The thing about diet soda is that it uses artificial sweeteners, usually meaning a sugar substitute such as sucralose. Our bodies can taste the sweetness, but registers no calories. That means that diet soda doesn’t satisfy the bodies craving for sugar. Diet soda drinkers have been shown be at an increased risk of heart attack or stroke. This may be shocking because soda has become such a part of our society that most people would have a tough time saying bye to it. In addition to heart attacks, soda could cause a myriad of other health complications.

First of all, soda is highly acidic, most people know that. Having to much of that acid in our bodies is not very good for our digestive system. The acid in soda also begins to erode the enamel, which is the pretty white covering, of our teeth. I recently learned that it is extremely harmful to brush your teeth within an hour of drinking soda or any another acidic drink. This is because as the soda is eroding your teeth, you begin to brush that acid around your mouth. Also, because your enamel is weakened, when you start brushing your teeth you are basically scrubbing away your tooth enamel. This leads to quicker tooth decay and more dental bills.

 Weight gain and drinking soda are also very closely correlated. This could be a major part of the problem with obesity in the states. When you drink a can or bottle of soda, you are basically drinking about 200 calories of sugar. Another problem with soda is the caffeine and sodium content. Too much caffeine in the body can cause a very wide range health defects. Sodium (salt) in a sedentary lifestyle will generally lead to weight gain.

 These negative side effects have been fairly reasonable. However, I find this to be the most shocking side effect, osteoporosis. This is the technical term for bone loss or loss of bone density. Most sodas contain phosphoric acid. This acid has been to shown to decrease the amount of calcium in the bloodstream. Our bones then release their calcium stores in order to maintain the calcium level in the blood, which leads to a decreased bone density. Having poor bone density will make you more prone to broken bones.

 These are only a few of the health complications that can occur from over consumption of soda.

 So what does this mean? Hopefully, I didn’t scare you enough to never drink soda again. However, after reading this you should be more aware of what you are drinking. There is nothing wrong with an occasional soda. It is when you drink soda every single day, as some do, that you could develop some of these problems. Switch out soda with some of my personal favorites, milk or water.

That Special Stuff

We take showers in it, our bodies are made up of sixty percent of it, and we don’t drink enough of it. Adequate water intake is vital to our lives. Generally speaking, we all know that we need to drink water. Water is another one of these things that a vital to leading a healthy lifestyle. Yet, most people complain about the taste of water. So we tend to use these flavor enhancers such as Mio. Though it does make water taste better, all you are actually doing is adding sugar and sodium to your water.

In my personal opinion, there is nothing healthier for you than drinking plain, cold water. I choose cold water because your body actually has to heat up (burn calories) in order to heat the water to make it usable to for our bodies. Also, as soon as you wake up, you should drink two full cups water, which is equivalent to a full bottle of water. This is actually very difficult, believe me I’ve been doing this. You almost have to train yourself to be able to take in the whole amount. The reasoning behind this is the fact that you have been sleeping, and not consuming any source of water. Similar to breakfast, drinking a fair amount of water in the morning is breaking the fast of eight hours that you went through while you were sleeping.

There are two main reasons for adequate water intake, to replenish lost fluids, and to keep bodily functions working at their peak. We lose water in a variety of ways, through urination, sweat, and even breathing! We are constantly losing water, so those fluids need to be replenished. There is an extremely simple way to tell when you need to up your water intake. Whenever you get that “thirsty” feeling, it means that you are low on fluids. Have a water bottle around to quench that thirst.

Water can also be effective in curbing appetite. For those trying to lose weight or simply cutting down on calories, drinking a cup or two of water before eating will make you eat less. Also, eating foods with high water content will make you feel satisfied much faster. Some examples of these foods are: fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, soups, and beans.

Drinking water is also the number one method in cleansing our bodies. The main toxin in our bodies is blood urea nitrogen. Our kidneys are extremely good at removing harmful toxins through our urine. Our urine color is also a huge indicator as to tell if we are getting enough fluids or not. Urine that is generally dark in color and has odor means that you aren’t getting enough water intake.

Adequate water intake is just a part of being healthy. There is no set amount as to how much water we should be drinking every day. The amount depends on our individual needs. So increase your water intake, and you will be able to feel the difference.