Why exercise? The latest updates.

Feb 4, VO₂ Max: What It Is. Why It Matters. How to Test It

Wed, 4 Feb 2026 03:57:53 -0500

VO₂ max explained: what it measures, why it predicts long-term health, and how to estimate your fitness using validated walk and run tests.

Jan 18, How to Measure VO₂ Max: Rockport, Cooper, or Your Watch?

Sun, 18 Jan 2026 04:40:04 -0500

Compare smartwatch VO₂ max estimates with Rockport and Cooper field tests. Learn which method best fits your routine and goals.

Feb 20, Grip strength: A proven health indicator. Test & train for low risks!

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 19:30:54 -0500

Grip strength: Compare yourself to age-group averages and healthy standards. Get stronger using minimal equipment.

Apr 5, Walking speed for seniors: This is a lifesaver!

Wed, 5 Apr 2023 02:31:52 -0400

Walking speed for seniors: Seniors who walk faster live longer! Build strength, improve your balance reactions for a better walking pace.

Feb 11, Body mass index (BMI): Find your healthy weight -Why I exercise

Sat, 11 Feb 2023 18:24:30 -0500

Body mass index (BMI): Learn the new science and set meaningful goals for your health and quality of life.

Jan 28, Aging and exercise: Have we been aging too quickly?

Sat, 28 Jan 2023 23:57:20 -0500

Aging and exercise: In-depth scientific analysis of the aging process. Inspiring examples of healthy aging & exercise.

Jun 28, 10 life changing lessons in a week of intense stress!

Wed, 28 Jun 2017 14:02:29 -0400

You know those weeks when life hits hard and won’t let up, when people may have let you down, things you were counting on fall through and your work and personal responsibilities collide? How do you hang on to your sanity and sense of well being when over and over, you’re faced with tough, on-the-fly decisions under pressure? These are the 10 lessons I learned in a week of intense stress:

#1: Be concerned with unfairness, not disrespect.
#2: Know your limits. Stop working when it’s time to rest.
#3: Annoying mistakes happen under pressure. Own them & keep moving forward.
#4: Reconsider what you think is truly stressful.
#5: Deal with your stress and your symptoms may just go away!
#6: Discipline brings peace. Get your work done so you can truly relax.
#7: Make room for cardio exercise. It’s great stress relief & healthy for your brain.
#8: Recognize when you must confront and even express anger.
#9: Trust your decisions. Reflect to improve for next time, not to worry & second guess yourself.
#10: Stress reveals tendencies that can improve with practice and some help.

Stress seems to have such a big impact on the personal choices that affect our health. I hope this video will help you think about the ways you can grow stronger through life’s surprises and challenges.

Jan 4, Exercise with kids

Mon, 4 Jan 2016 21:14:02 -0500

I was far from my usual exercise routine as I visited my family over the holidays. But I had no problem keeping myself moving with my niece and 4 nephews, ages 3-15. We played basketball and football, ping pong, wrestled inside and outside of the house, ran / walked with the dog, and went hiking. We were doing handstands, cartwheels and even some acroyoga. And when rain made the yard wet and a little muddy, that didn’t stop us. We took our shoes off for tag. By the end of the week we reached the point where they’d wake me up in the morning just to chase them around the house (which seemed to be the 3 year old’s favorite). Video games and movies were in the mix too, but not without enough movement for everyone, myself included. I didn't track it, but I'm sure we were getting well over 45 minutes of exercise per day, and everyone had a great time. If you have kids around, exercise is fun. You can get it done! For your reference, these articles compare calories burned and give you more exercise ideas for your family.

Calories burned during exercise
Cardiovascular exercises
Metabolic equivalent

Sep 16, Reviews of Progressive Core Strengthening

Tue, 16 Sep 2014 20:09:52 -0400

"This is a great book. Since starting the program my lower back pain is gone. I highly recommend it!" -J. Pitoukkas

"This is an amazing book! As a Pilates teacher, I've found (it) to be so helpful for me & my clients." -R. Pelayo

"I'm training for Ironman Chattanooga and have incorporated his workouts into my training plan over the past several weeks...Huge benefits! Especially on the long bike rides and long swim sessions." -R. Ziglar

"It's an excellent ebook! It's doing wonders for my mum who's been recovering from a hip injury and lost a lot of strength, She's been following this book for 5 weeks and she's doing great." -T. Blackman

Reviews like these make the time and effort of creating a book worth it for me. I'm very happy to see the wide range of applications for Progressive Core Strengthening.

Go to the article and scroll to the bottom to see more reviews from Facebook.

Aug 19, Back stretching exercises update

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 07:00:00 -0400

The back stretching exercises article has been updated with more detailed illustrations and stretching instructions! You also have the option to order and download exercise cards to help you practice your stretches more consistently.

May 20, Facebook, Instagram and social media

Tue, 20 May 2014 19:24:16 -0400

The wheels are beginning to turn for social media on whyiexercise.com. The social media hub will be the Facebook fan page. The feed on Facebook will have many of the latest videos, pictures and info. From here you'll see direct links to Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and the YouTube channel so you can check out anything you might have missed.

May 20, Progressive Core Strengthening

Tue, 20 May 2014 18:10:35 -0400

Have you seen the new e-book? If you are looking for expert instruction to take your core strength to the next level, look no further than Progressive Core Strengthening. This book will teach you to perfect your form and protect your back as you work your way through 6 levels of exercise, intro to advanced! Also check the store for other titles, including an updated version of Correct Posture and introductory guides to stretching and core strengthening.

Oct 7, Recent links and mentions

Mon, 7 Oct 2013 11:41:18 -0400

Every so often I check the links to whyiexercise.com so I can learn more about my readers. I wanted to share what I discovered last week from referring sites.

In her article, Ten Excellent Knee Rehab Websites, Dr. Sheila Strover, Clinical Editor of Kneeguru.co.uk referred to whyiexercise.com as a leading resource for knee exercise, even among websites dedicated to knee rehab. "…a site for anyone wanting to build up their knee strength. …it is very clear and has excellent illustrations." Dr. Strover linked to these articles for her readers: knee exercises, knee strengthening exercises See Dr. Strover's article through the link at the end of this post. whyiexercise.com is listed at #9. Progressive Chiropractic, a Victoria, BC clinic with cutting edge diagnostics, also uses whyiexercise.com as a reference. Dr. Mark Smith's office has linked to back strengthening exercises as a resource for their patients. Kimberly Garrison, Daily News personal fitness columnist at philly.com, referred to whyiexercise.com in her 9/25 article on calorie counting. "…the website whyiexercise.com has calorie expenditures for lots of activities at a range of weights" See the articles on metabolic equivalent and calories burned during exercise. It's great to see that whyiexercise.com has been a helpful resource for knee care, back care and calorie counting!

Oct 3, Learning new exercises at Muscle Beach

Thu, 3 Oct 2013 12:10:40 -0400

A couple weeks ago a friend was telling me about one of the toughest exercise moves he's seen. The human flag is a difficult exercise because you are suspending your body straight out from a post or pole. But my friend was talking about doing the exercise on a climbing rope! I tried it that day and it seemed really tough. The next week I went back to Muscle Beach and met a guy who could climb a 25' rope and do the Flag at the top! He gave me some tips for holding the rope, and after a little practicing, I could do it! (Not at the top of the rope, though.) Also in this video is my workout buddy, Ken, doing his first muscle up. We've been training together for months, and I felt like he had the strength to do a muscle up, so 3 weeks ago I had him start trying. He didn't pull it off in the first couple weeks because he was having trouble with the timing of the movement. Then, spontaneously, he decided to run to the bar to try the move. It worked out perfectly as you'll see in the video.

Did you hear us cheering each other on? I was pretty excited after Ken's muscle up! This type of workout is so much fun for our group, and that keeps us coming back every week to get in better shape. See the link below to read more about exercise motivation.

Sep 30, Whyiexercise.com Pinterest update

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 12:17:44 -0400

Last week I discovered that illustrations from whyiexercise.com have been pinned on Pinterest quite a bit more over the past several months. Great to see that readers are enjoying the pictures!

To help make pinning easier, I tagged the most popular illustrations to make them more visible. You can see the tags in these articles:

knee strengthening exercises
back strengthening exercises
cooper test
back stretching exercises

I also started a Pinterest board for whyiexercise.com. There are 7 pin boards with 56 illustrations, including workout routines, exercise instructions, exercise charts and fitness charts. Follow me on Pinterest to see the updates.

Sep 3, Why I Exercise

Tue, 3 Sep 2013 02:52:59 -0400

Why I Exercise gives you tools to get the health benefits you need from the lifestyle you enjoy!

Mar 12, The best shape of my life!

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:06:09 -0400

A little over 3 years ago my wife learned she was pregnant. Faced with becoming a father, I realized that I needed to make some changes. I was pushing

Oct 13, 1.5 mile run charts in a Reddit.com debate!

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 19:32:54 -0400

1.5 mile run charts from whyiexercise.com were the subject of quite a humorous exchange on reddit.com. See the charts in this article

Jul 24, Testimonials for whyiexercise.com

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:34:20 -0400

See the latest reviews of whyiexercise.com

May 18, New e-book, Correct Posture, featured on whyiexercise.com!

Fri, 18 May 2012 01:33:15 -0400

Created by the author of whyiexercise.com, Correct Posture for Your Back shows you how to relieve muscular fatigue, stress and tension in your back, build core strength safely, improve your first impressions, and most importantly, how to prevent serious back problems. This user friendly book includes over 120 detailed illustrations.

May 18, Atlanta weight loss clinic recommends whyiexercise.com

Fri, 18 May 2012 01:33:15 -0400

A medical group in Atlanta recommends whyiexercise.com as a health and fitness resource. As stated on their site: "This free website features links to free online exercise videos, exercise illustrations, home exercise programs and physical fitness tests to help you gauge your current strength and endurance levels against others your age."

May 18, Whyiexercise.com is on Pinterest!

Fri, 18 May 2012 01:33:15 -0400

Exercise routines and charts from whyiexercise.com are becoming popular on Pinterest! Some of the favorites are the routine of knee strengthening exercises, the push up chart for ladies, and the routine of body weight exercises.

May 18, New exercise video update

Fri, 18 May 2012 01:33:15 -0400

Scroll to the bottom of this article to see the latest body weight / gymnastics exercises I've been working on, including a transition from a seated L position to a handstand, slow muscle ups (a pull up followed by a dip) on gymnastics rings, and rope climbing with a full overhead reach. The ongoing challenge of this routine gives me great motivation to exercise!

Nov 21, Motivation to exercise

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:50:31 -0500

Motivation to exercise: Stories to keep you moving forward!

Nov 17, Poor heart health scores found in children

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:05:39 -0500

The CDC studied 7 markers of cardiovascular health in teens including diet, body mass index, smoking, cholesterol, physical activity and blood sugar. Amazingly, not 1 child out of over 4000 studied met the criteria for a healthy diet, and physical activity scores were less than ideal for over 50% of teens.

Nov 17, Obesity and overweight trends projected to worsen in U. S.

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:05:39 -0500

I was stunned to learn that 72 percent of men and 63 percent of women are currently overweight or obese. Based on this, it's not surprising to see that Northwestern Univ. projects 83 percent of men and 72 percent of women to be overweight or obese by 2020. They are also saying that by 2020, 77 percent of men and 53 percent of women will have dysglycemia (pre-diabetes).

Aug 1, Home cardio exercises

Mon, 1 Aug 2011 16:22:44 -0400

Home cardio exercises with no equipment required!

Jul 24, Metabolic syndrome x

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 01:01:08 -0400

Metabolic syndrome x links obesity to diabetes and heart disease

Jun 15, Study on life expectancy shows need for exercise and healthy diet

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:28:15 -0400

The color-coded map from this study shows the areas with the lowest life expectancy in the US South, the same place where obesity and diabetes are the highest. Obviously, more exercise and a healthier diet will reverse the trend. It will improve quality of life and longevity much more effectively than advanced medical technology. I wrote an article on this issue here: https://www.whyiexercise.com/reasons-to-exercise.html

Jun 15, Only 51% of americans exercise more than 90 minutes per week

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:28:15 -0400

Assuming Gallup's numbers for frequent exercisers are on target, it's no wonder we have so many chronic health issues in the US! 3 hours of moderate to vigorous exercise per week are necessary for health maintenance, but many types of physical activity can work. See many of the possibilities (and the estimated calories burned) here: https://www.whyiexercise.com/metabolic-equivalent.html

Mar 22, Reasons to exercise: real life examples, illustrations, statistics

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 01:22:06 -0400

Reasons to exercise: Build your health, prevent disease and disability and lower your medical costs.