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Fitness Lessons from Scranton!

May 15, 2013/1 Comment/in Health & Fitness /by TheJerd

The Office Jim Halpert Fitness WWJHD Dunder-Mifflin fitness tips? What sort of crazy talk is this!?!

Cool your jets aspiring Jerdlets and hear me out!

So tomorrow night marks the end of an era for a lot of people… NBC’s juggernaut T.V. series “The Office” will finally came to a close; a fact that is giving me a serious case of the feels. So before I get all choked up saying goodbye to all my friends in Scranton I wanted to look at the series through the eyes of a motivational fitness blogger and pull some lessons out for you all. Because that’s just how I roll.

For the last 9 years I freaking LOVED “The Office“.

Something about it spoke to me and I was on-board since its humble beginnings, through its stellar run of mid-series seasons, all the way to its unfortunate stumbles towards the end. A show about the doldrums of everyday life but that was hilarious? A show with characters and situations I could relate to even though I had never worked in a north-eastern Pennsylvania based regional paper company?

Pure brilliance as far as I am concerned!

It has become that warm mental blanket of comfort that I will let stream in the background on Netflix as I am folding laundry or while I am laying on the couch if not feeling well; it is the show I can quote from memory without a second thought. What’s not to love about it?

I know what you are thinking. “Okay Mr Mighty Jerd sir, I am happy you found a show you liked… What does this have to do with fitness?”

Calm down Slappy, I’m getting to it!

You see, as the show progressed I came to realize, in my opinion, that Jim Halpert (played by the affable John Krasinski) is one of the all time greats as far as TV characters go. Funny, smart and charismatic without coming across as bigger than life.

Looking back, I realize that his relationship with Pam and his rivalry with Dwight have fueled more laughs with people, and provided more potential bonding moments with friends, than any other cultural phenomenon in a long time (I avoided “Lost” like the plague, so I dodged that water-cooler chat bullet)!

Recounting his antics on the show week to week has become something of a tradition for me. He is the character everyone loves, the one that everyone wants to know in real life, and the one that everyone wishes they could be as cool as. To me that is the sign of a masterfully written character!

Well, guess what? Today is the day that I help you embrace your inner Halpert! I going to teach you how to get fit by infusing your life with a little ‘Scrantonicity’! Read more →

The Keys to Running: Running Accessories

May 8, 2013/3 Comments/in Keys to Running, Product Reviews /by TheJerd

“Where does he get those wonderful toys?”

Let’s face it… geeks ~~like~~ love toys! From gadgets to video games, when a geek immerses himself in a hobby it is usually accompanied by a plethora of cool and cutting edge accessories. So here are all the running accessories I use when running. It might seem like a lot for someone who advocates “just get out and run!!!” but the setup is trivial, and nothing here is intrusive or distracting from the joy of putting feet to pavement.

Toys for Tracking Workouts

Nike+ Sportband – The Nike+ Sportband is a very functional, lightweight wristband/watch that communicates with the Nike+ sensor, and tracks distance, calories, and pace, and you can save that data to the Nike+ web site, which will track each and every workout. I love this thing because it has everything I need without getting in the way. It’s a nice first step into the world of running technology as its functions are simple, and starting and stopping are as easy as holding the button down!

The obvious omission from something like this is the lack of GPS functionality. As I have relatively few routes that I know well, the added benefits of GPS don’t help a whole lot for me. I generally don’t map my runs, and the few that I do have interest in I can create manually. It would be a great nice-to-have feature, but not something I need at the moment.

(Check them out here on Amazon.com)

Reader Mail Bag #1

May 1, 2013/2 Comments/in Healthy Recipes, Nerd-Core Fitness, Reader Mail Bag /by TheJerd

I think it is high time to introduce a new series of articles to the site.

*cue drumroll please*

*dramatic pause*

The Reader Mail Bag!

That whole lead-up, drumroll, dramatic pause thing really doesn’t work when you write it out does it? Oh well, let us not allow that fizzled intro to detract from the point of this post; answering some reader mail!

Today we have two great questions from some loyal readers, so let’s see what they want to know and if I have any advice for them.

“So, some girl friends of mine at work are all talking about eating healthier and being more active. We are each making small adjustments in our lifestyles. One of the topics we were debating on were supplements, is there a need to take supplements? If so which kinds? With all of the fads going on…I think the latest I heard was raspberry ketone???…is it something I should look into?
I love reading your articles, I find them very helpful and have recommended your page to my friends.” – Tammy

Thanks so much for the feedback Tammy! I’m both glad that you are trying to get healthier and that you are finding the advice here helpful!