About Town: Sharing the Secret of the Most Effective Fitness Move

It’s Monday – time to exercise and start the diet – again! So what’s the world’s best exercise?

A friend who is a personal trainer says that’s the most common question he gets. We all want shortcuts. We want the single exercise that will help us lose the most fat and sculpt our body into movie star proportions overnight or at least in three days.

The short answer to the question is the best exercise is the one that is most complex. Dave The Trainer used the example of a leg workout. A leg extension machine, while great for your quads, doesn’t do much for any other portion of your anatomy. He said it also doesn’t burn a lot of calories. (Those muscles you build doing the leg extensions do increase your calorie burn because muscles require more energy to maintain.)

 The trick is to turn those leg exercises into multi-tasking. Instead of leg extensions – do lunges because they engage more muscles in the process. Or do a combination of the two.

Of course that’s not the whole answer.  The world’s best exercise for getting into shape is simpler than lunges or leg extensions. It’s actually two exercises – one is getting up from the table before you eat that second helping. And when it comes to movement – the very best exercise answer is easy. It is the one that you will do repeatedly and happily – be it walking, running, biking or swimming.

Things I Didn’t Know I Needed: Virtual shopping can be so rewarding. I just enjoyed an excursion to the Bellevue Collection. Mentally I bought a few things and scrolled through downtown stores without spending any money. In case you haven’t been paying attention, the Bellevue Collection is the umbrella name for Bellevue Square, Lincoln Square, the Westin and the Hyatt Regency conglomerate of shops, offices, condos and restaurants.

The Bellevue Collection has a cool website and blog written by an imaginary shopper called “Belle.” She shops and finds all kinds of fun things to share. My favorites weren’t even all that expensive.  

Why use one of those utilitarian cardboard sleeves on your hot beverage from your favorite espresso stand? Instead carry something called a Handi-Dandi Sleeve from The Container Store. It looks like hard foam or plastic and slips over the cup – providing a handle and a chic way to identify your cup if you set it down somewhere.

Socks Appeal has boot trimmers – socks with a faux fur band at the top to pull down over the top of your boots. Turn a plain boot into a fashion statement.

The most amusing was something called Shoe Clips. You clip them onto your flats or heels. Just add a pair of bows, sparkling bobbles or sequined flowers and dress them up. Voila – fancy shoes without adding another pair to your closet. That’s taking an old idea and making money out of it – my friends and I used to do the same thing years ago. We borrowed our mothers’ clip on earrings to do the same thing. Guess in these days of pierced ears, there aren’t enough clip on earrings left around to add to our shoes.

Of course that’s what roaming on Belle’s Blog is. It’s a way to do another old-fashioned thing – window shopping. Only now you don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home.

Check it out at: http://www.bellevuecollection.com/belles_vue

One Last Grin: In the dark on Interstate 405 Sunday evening in was hard to see if the interior of the green car was red. It should have been. After all, the license read: H20MELN. Sweet!

P. S. I didn’t get the But I did pull out one pair of shoes I haven’t worn in two years (no, clip-on earrings wouldn’t help these), three vases and four tablecloths. My husband put three books into the box for charity pick-up. Hey! It’s a start.