On The Ball

I took a “Core and More” hour-long exercise class at my health club last night. I never knew you could do so many things with one of those large balls. I’ve only used one to do abdominal work and I usually feel a belly ache the next day. The instructor started with us standing and stretching alongside the ball on the floor. This was easy. Then, we held it in front of us and pushed it up and down and over to the side for awhile. Next, we held onto the wall and put it behind us rolling one straight leg over it while the other went into a kneeling lunge, then switched sides. These were killers to the butt and the legs. One exercise consisted of rolling, stomach on top of the ball, with outstretched hands like a push-up. These seemed to produce the most vocal grunts and groans by my classmates. We also balanced and squeezed the ball between our legs while on the floor in about four different positions. One part of the class, we didn’t use the ball, but we laid on our stomachs to use a flat nylon Frisbee “glider” to push our hands and arms around on the floor making stroke movements similar to swimming. We used some stretchy bands to work our shoulders and arms and used a few weights for our biceps and triceps. It was a good all-around workout and I’m not too sore (yet). I think it’s good to try something different and get out of your comfort zone, so I’ll probably go back next week.

Happy Birthday WWW

The WWW just turned 20 today and we couldn’t imagine life without it. I’m talking about the World Wide Web developed by Tim Berners-Lee and other European scientists so they could exchange their research information around the world. I wonder if they ever imagined how pervasive it would become. I mean if we want to know the weather forecast, we don’t wait to hear it on the radio or TV news. If we want to learn more about a health symptom, we no longer have to wait to see the doctor. If we want to communicate with our hometown family and friends, we don’t have to make several long-distance telephone calls. If we want a special recipe for unusual banana bread, we don’t have to personally ask a lot of people and then write it down. If we want to learn how to make a beautiful flower arrangement, we don’t have to take a six-week course. If we want to read an excerpt from a book, we don’t have to go to the library or bookstore. If we want to send photos of our children to our families, we don’t have to wait to have the pictures printed first. If we want to renew our driver’s license, we don’t have to go to the DMV. If we want to check our bank account balance, we don’t have to go to the bank or make phone call. If we want to go shopping, we don’t have to go to the mall. If we want to know what to do on our next vacation, we don’t have to hire a travel agent. If we want to meet other people, we don’t have to go outside of our homes. If we want our thoughts and ideas to be known, we don’t have to hire a PR firm. (So I could go on and on with this blog, but I won’t.)
If you want to do any of these things I’ve mentioned, you can accomplish them on the World Wide Web.