The Blog of Norm
Weighing in on George’s Gym, New Bedford’s anonymous landmark
These days it’s pretty easy to find a place to grab a workout. Gyms are everywhere and exercise equipment is infinitely available. But it wasn’t always like this. Much of recreational exercise, strength training in particular, was counterculture. Weightlifting was...
Fantasy Hockey GM’s Should Draft Swedes
Most athletes know the feeling of returning to their sports after taking time off. Sometimes it’s another spoiled millionaire holding out for more money; other times it’s coming off injury; and now we’re about to see what it looks like to come back from...
Lessons from Our Canine Friends
After a long-standing streak of living a petless existence, I recently joined the ranks of the dog people. I had always favored a carefree life, without dependents, over that of unconditional love. Now I’m a proud dog owner with many of the behaviors that I used to...
Sometimes Yin but Other Times Yang
I was having lunch a couple of summers ago with noted double threat Helen Wan, novelist/lawyer, and as I complained about writer’s block and misrepresented my world-class procrastination, she recommended a book called Daily Rituals. I picked up a copy soon after and...
Baby Steps Can Begin a Life-Changing Climb
My dad had a pretty set routine throughout my childhood. He would come home after a hard day’s work, fix himself a dry martini, proceed to the den with a newspaper tucked under his arm, turn on the television to the local news, and resign to his familiar spot on the...
Walk This Weight
Growing up during my formative years, I was never a teacher’s pet or anyone’s favorite in any capacity. Oh, how I resented the privileged few and their enabler supervisorial suck-ups who fawned over them. I vowed that I would never operate that way if ever in a...
Functional Fitness: Lumberjacks don’t need to work core strength
Originally published in South Coast Today. BECAUSE OF THE JOB'S ACTIVITIES, A LUMBERJACK BUILDS CORE STRENGTH WITHOUT THE NEED OF A FITNESS REGIMEN DESIGNED AT THE GYM. Core strength has become quite the buzzword these days at the local fitness center. Sure, it’s...
Stay-at-Home Exercise for the Creative
I can remember when I was a kid, running up the down escalator in a department store at the local mall. It seemed like a good idea at the time but, judging by all the yelling, my mother and the store manager were not on board. Years later, some entrepreneur gets a...
‘We have met the enemy, and he is us’ — Pogo
Originally published in South Coast Today. Calorie has become quite the pejorative word. We try to avoid them and get rid of them. A calorie is neither good nor bad; it’s merely a unit of energy. So why do they enjoy such a bad reputation unlike a joule or an electron...
Burn, Baby, burn; it’s an adipose inferno
Originally published in South Coast Today In my last article we took a very basic look at energy balance, focusing primarily on caloric intake. People bemoan the suggestion of body-weight management being a calorie equation. It’s an often-lopsided balancing act with...
Isolationism is a politically contentious doctrine and a bad way to strength train
Originally published on South Coast Today. I can remember watching the last presidential election and taking notice of then-candidate Donald Trump advocating isolationism and thinking: This guy knows nothing about functional exercise. I was on a mission to write an...
Lazy is as lazy doesn’t
Originally published in South Coast Today. We’re smack dab in the throes of the lazy days of summer. The unrelenting heat and humidity is enough to sap anyone’s energy and motivation. To be frank, I don’t even feel like writing a fitness column this month, and you...