Get fit while buying beer

[kmwest]

This was in yesterday's Chicago Tribune. I can't believe they actually try to convince people that this shit works.

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Push your groceries-- and yourself

By Devin Rose
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 26, 2004

Q is on a roll with the exercise. Last fall we helped create a couch-potato workout readers could do in front of their TVs. Now we're getting behind a shopping-cart workout.

We were inspired by news of the Trim Trolley, a 10-speed shopping cart being tested in Britain. The cart provides adjustable resistance as shoppers roll it along, as well as a panel that monitors heart rate and calories burned. The carts aren't heading to the U.S. anytime soon (if at all), so we turned to Walter Pukala, aquatic coordinator and personal trainer at Galter LifeCenter in Chicago. Pukala's also the co-creator of our couch-potato workout.

Together we strolled the aisles of a local supermarket and dreamed up our own shopping-cart workout. You squeeze the grapefruit; heck, you squeeze the Charmin--why not squeeze in a workout at the same time?

First things first. You don't want to leap into any workout, even one with Twinkies and Butterball turkeys by your side. Pukala suggested parking at the end of the store's parking lot and warming up with the short walk to the store. "My wife and I do this all the time just out of habit now," he said.

Once you get in the store and grab your cart, roam a bit before grabbing products for a little added warmup. (Pukala suggested wandering from aisle to aisle looking for sales. We feared that would lead us into big-time impulse buying, but decide for yourself.)

As for the Trim Trolley's adjustable resistance, who needs it? You'll create your own resistance simply by adding products. Stick a kid in the cart's seat and you've got, what, an added 50 pounds right there.

Besides the cart-pushing, your workout can be composed of whatever moves you do to grab stuff and get it into the cart.

"The trick, though, is not to just flail around," Pukala said. "Take your time, use precise movements, and balance them out by doing them on each side."

Here are some ideas:

- Grab a couple of bottles of water. Do alternating biceps curls. Straighten your arms overhead, bend at the elbow and do a series of triceps extensions. Then stick the bottles in your cart--we run on the premise "you lift it, you buy it."

- Need canned corn? Stand perpendicular to the shelf, then twist and reach across your body for a can. Switch sides and do the same.

- Work your calves by peering at products on upper shelves. Come up on your toes, hold for a beat, then lower heels to the floor. Touch lightly, then go back up on your toes. Repeat several times, or until people start looking at you funny.

- If you're warmed up and you don't have back problems, dead-lift a case of sodas or beer. Keeping your shoulders square and your knees soft, bend and grab the case and pull it in close as you stand. Maintaining your posture, set the case down. Repeat a few times. Remember, you're now buying this product. We don't want to lug home products other people have been pressing against themselves.

- While you're standing in the checkout line is a good time to get in a little subtle stretching. Flex your feet against the cart's lower rungs for a good calf stretch. Hold on to the upper edges and lean or bend forward. If you're feeling unself-conscious, use the cart for balance while you do quad stretches--bend one leg at a time and grab your foot with your corresponding hand.

- Now that we've done the initial legwork, you can come up with your own moves while grocery shopping. (Sorry, wrestling with your conscience between ice cream or yogurt doesn't count.)

A few final tips from Pukala: "Don't shop when you're hungry; you tend to buy more junk than you need. And take the kids along--they'll learn by example and develop better eating habits. Make grocery shopping fun, not a chore."

[leefdaddy]

wow, sounds really intense, lol