Exercises

Ever find yourself wandering into the gym only then trying to decide what workout to do? You feel the eyes of others scanning you in a judgmental way and allow their imagined opinions to seep into your mind. At that point, a cloud of self-doubt begins to form. You may end up hiding out on the cardio machine or in a remote corner of the gym. Or you might just turn around and say, “No one I know saw me…I’ll just go home.”

We have all become hypersensitized to the effects of the things around us, the activities we do, and the food we put into our bodies. If each activity has a negative and positive effect, can we score them? Here is my effort to create the “Stone Aging Impact Score” with each activity having a negative or positive effect on a scale of minus 10 to plus 10.

Life has turned inward. The smartphone, the personal computer, streaming TV, even our counseling sessions have turned our view inward. But if you really want to see what’s inside, get outside.

The abs have it. If you could focus on only one part of your body to change and strengthen, consider spending the rest of this year on your abdominal muscles. Here is why you should—and a simple exercise for getting the abs you deserve.

Exercise for fun, or for training, or both. Exercise wisely, in ways that help you in sports or your daily life. But don’t do exercises that are useless, or potentially injury-generating. Here are a few doozies that should not be on your list:

Stand up straight, like your mother told you to. Bad posture is a cause of multiple musculoskeletal problems. Here is what you can do.

Live long and let your joints prosper. Well-managed exercise—even running—can have real benefits for those with arthritic knee pain or joint replacement.

Many elements contribute to top athletic performance. Some are obvious—like diet and training—but another factor is more subtle.

Gone are the days when knee replacement surgery was almost as bad as the arthritis itself. The past year has brought vastly improved procedures, creating bionic patients in an outpatient surgery setting.

Bicycling is a terrific activity on many levels—but it’s not the perfect exercise. An obsessive focus on biking, in fact, can work against total fitness.

For Runners, a tragic side-effect of knee arthritis or injury is sometimes the end of their running career. But take heart—there are some very good alternatives.

When an orthopedic surgeon gets a taste of his own medicine, lessons are learned. After a successful partial knee replacement surgery, Dr. Kevin Stone recounts his personal journey down the road to recovery.

“Bend ze knees!” he shouted, “pretend like you are making love, ja!” Those were the memorable instructions I heard years ago from the Austrian ski instructor behind me on the Alps. They hold true today for all sports.

Of all my patients, regardless of age, those who are happiest seem to share one activity secret. They each add a new sport or activity every six months

As you marvel the ability of ultra-fit athletes at the pinnacle of their sport, take some time to check out their butts.