Projo Fitness Blog

The Hunt River in North Kingstown: a scenic spot for family hiking and paddling

Just feet away from one of the busiest highways in southern Rhode Island, the Hunt River meanders through a picturesque marsh filled with wildlife and wonder.

Winter sunsets are especially beautiful here, says Scott Ruhren, conservation director of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island which owns the Davis Memorial Wildlife Refuge, off Route 4 in North Kingstown.

The Davis refuge has trails for hiking and nature observation, and a launching area for kayaks or canoes.

From the parking area on Devil's Foot Road, a paddler can go upstream for about two miles, observing many specias of birds and mammals throughout the year, and rare butterflies during the summer, Scott says. During the winter, beavers are active on the river.

If you're walking, it's important to stay on the trails, because the refuge is surrounded by private property.

The out-and-back trail is easy to follow without blazing, and the footing is generally solid, although it is inaccessible to wheelchairs and strollers.

The Davis refuge is a popular place for family hiking.

To get there:

Via Route 1 (Post Road) North and South -
Turn left from Route 1 North or right from Route 1 South onto Devils Foot Road in North Kingstown. Stay on Devils Foot Road approximately 1.5 miles to the merge with Davisville Road. Continue to the right (west) for another 0.3 miles on Davisville Road to the Davis Memorial WR parking area and refuge entrance on the left.

Via Route 4 - Take either Exit 7 (from Route 4 North) or 7B (from Route 4 South) for "Quonset/Route 403 East." (NOTE: These are new exits and road patterns.) Continue on Route 403 East to West Davisville Road (Exit is marked.) At the top of the ramp turn left for Devils Foot Road. At the next stop sign turn left onto Devils Foot Road and travel approximately 1 mile to the Davis Memorial WR (Devils Foot merges with Davisville Road). The parking area and refuge entrance with Audubon sign are on the left, approximately 0.3 miles after the merge with Davisville Road.

TIVERTON, R.I. -- Rudy Pauls, second-place finisher in the last season of "The Biggest Loser," visited Tiverton Middle School on Monday to talk about his experiences on the reality TV show.

He got a warm reception from hundreds of cheering students and from his No. 1 fan -- teacher Louann Pauls, his mother. She arranged the visit.

"Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!" the children chanted while waiting for him to appear.

"I know a lot of you watched 'The Biggest Loser,' " Louann Pauls said while introducing her son. But before that, she said, "He was huge. In all honesty, I was embarrassed to say he was my son."

Then a curtain on the auditorium stage opened and there stood Rudy, with three boys holding in place his old clothes draped around him -- the size 56 pants and 6X "Biggest Loser" T-shirt.

Pauls said he has gained back only 20 pounds, exactly what he had had expected to after the final weigh-in and as he had been advised to do after losing so much weight so fast at the end of the show.

"I'm about 230 right now," he said -- not quite half of the 442 pounds he weighed when the show began.

Pauls, 31, who grew up in Little Compton and now lives in Brooklyn, Conn, has returned to his job at NextEra Energy Resources. He plans to run the Boston Marathon in April.

He urged the children to eat healthfully and stay active.

(This entry was first posted in the Projo 7 to 7 News Blog at 3:27 p.m.)

We've all heard of osteoporosis -- the loss of bone density that can lead to hip fractures and other health issues, but I hadn't yet learned of osteopenia -- until a friend of mine starting asking questions about it.

KRT photo This composite photograph shows (via X-ray) where pins have been inserted to help the femur of Julie Grimm heal after a fracture. She broke the leg while training for a marathon and doctors diagnosed osteopenia, a precursor to osteoporosis, if left untreated.

According to Web MD, "Osteopenia refers to bone mineral density (BMD) that is lower than normal peak BMD but not low enough to be classified as osteoporosis."

Risk factors for the problem include: being thin, white or, to a lesser degree, Asian, a family history of osteoporosis, long-term use of corticosteroids, eating disorders or diseases that affect the absorption of nutrients from food, being inactive or bedridden for a long period of time, smoking, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, and having a diet low in calcium or vitamin D.

Lucikly, exercising can help. Here's a list of workouts recommended by the site Osteopenia3.com to prevent or combat this issue:

1. Aerobics, step aerobics.
2. Cycling (if you can increase the resistance -- as some gym machines allow.) It is best to use a recumbent bike so your spine is supported.
3. Dancing -- especially contra dancing, tap dancing, polka and other folk dances that involve stomping, hopping etc.
4. Gardening
5. Gymnastics
6. Jogging
7. Jumping rope or doing jumping jacks
8. Race walking
9. Tennis
10. Going down stairs
11. Walking
12. Weight lifting

Because weight/resistance training is so important to bone health, we're highlighting that here.

According to Suite 101.com, people with osteopenia should use a heavy weight that can be performed for six to eight repetitions.

But, start with lighter weights for higher reps before performing with heavier weights. "Injury can occur if one does not progress appropriately to the more beneficial bone building heavier weights and low repetitions," the site notes.

Free weights are recommended over machines, because they "tax the muscles of the legs and spine and places the spine in a position where it must stabilize while performing each exercise." But, you can "think of most machine exercises as a way to build your base of conditioning prior to performing bone building free weight routines."

Gatorade scientist Melissa Tippet helps New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning into a BodPod for a body composition analysis at the Gatorade Performance Lab set up on the Super Bowl site in Miami.

If you're a football fan, you don't have to be Eli Manning in a biopod (at right) to determine your body mass is likely to be a little greater after Sunday. Why? Experts say Super Bowl Sunday is the second-biggest eating day of the year (after Thanksgiving.)

All the high-calorie foods, grazing at parties, drinking, not to mention sitting around to watch the marathon telecast can contribute to hurting your efforts to stay fit.

Last year, when my beloved Steelers were on the approach of winning their sixth Super Bowl, I posted this effort to help all fans get through the day: Are you ready for your Super Bowl XLIII warm-up?. A little pre-game exercise can go a long way -- even if your team (and I know you Patriots fans are hurting this year, too) isn't in taking to the field Sunday.

This year, I'm rooting for the underdog Saints. (Like many Pats fans, I don't like the Colts and Eli's brother, Peyton, very much.) Also, I'm going to do my best to try not to eat on the scale of Thanksgiving.

Have fun everyone.

Shape Up RI launches its spring 2010 campaign Saturday at Rhode Island College. The program has helped 35,000 participants to shed thousands of pounds and to adopt a healthy way of living, according to Rajiv Kumar, Shape Up RI's founder, pictured at right.

"The teamwork, group support, and atmosphere of friendly competition have been the hallmarks of our success," he said.

Participants can form teams or join existing teams with friends, co-workers or family members. Existing teams also accept new members through the forum on the program's website.

Each participant pays a $20 registration fee. Team members receive a reminder wristband, digital pedometer, logbook and access to the program's online Team Tracker system. The site allows participants to chart their progress.

Some teams walk together at regularly scheduled times, and others have members who walk alone or in pairs and communicate by e-mail, said Pam Thomas, a volunteer.

The idea is for each participant to log 10,000 steps a day or to increase physical activity in other ways. Last spring, several teams recorded more than a million steps during the 12-week program.

There are three competition divisions: weight loss, exercise hours, and pedometer steps.

Saturday's kick-off will include gifts, music and motivation. It is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. in Rhode Island College's Roberts Hall Auditorium.

Healthbeat, the e-newsletter from Harvard Medical School, offers ten really easy steps to protect your heart:

1. Take a 10-minute walk. If you don't exercise at all, a brief walk is a great way to start. If you do, it's a good way to add more exercise to your day.

2. Give yourself a lift. Lifting a hardcover book or a two-pound weight a few times a day can help tone your arm muscles. When that becomes a breeze, move on to heavier items or join a gym.

3. Eat one extra fruit or vegetable a day. Fruits and vegetables are inexpensive, taste good, and are good for everything from your brain to your bowels.

4. Make breakfast count. Start the day with some fruit and a serving of whole grains, like oatmeal, bran flakes, or whole-wheat toast.

5. Stop drinking your calories. Cutting out just one sugar-sweetened soda or calorie-laden latte can easily save you 100 or more calories a day. Over a year, that can translate into a 10-pound weight loss.

6. Have a handful of nuts. Walnuts, almonds, peanuts, and other nuts are good for your heart. Try grabbing some instead of chips or cookies when you need a snack, adding them to salads for a healthful and tasty crunch, or using them in place of meat in pasta and other dishes.

7. Sample the fruits of the sea. Eat fish or other types of seafood instead of red meat once a week. It's good for the heart, the brain, and the waistline.

8. Breathe deeply. Try breathing slowly and deeply for a few minutes a day. It can help you relax. Slow, deep breathing may also help lower blood pressure.

9. Wash your hands often. Scrubbing up with soap and water often during the day is a great way to protect your heart and health. The flu, pneumonia, and other infections can be very hard on the heart.

10. Count your blessings. Taking a moment each day to acknowledge the blessings in your life is one way to start tapping into other positive emotions. These have been linked with better health, longer life, and greater well-being, just as their opposites -- chronic anger, worry, and hostility -- contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease.

Back pain is a problem that plagues many people. And there is a growing movement in the fitness world that subscribes to the theory that abdominal workouts -- crunches, sit-ups and most Pilates exercises that concentrate on strengthening core muscles -- are bad for your back.

Dr. Stuart M. McGill, a Canadian spine researcher, has been dubbed "The man who wants to kill crunches," for his efforts to push a new way to exercise those core muscles.

McGill notes that core workouts are relatively new, and therefore, experimental to science. He argues that disc damage can result from compressions formed in sit-ups. In a recent New York Times article, he illustrates it this way:

"Think of the spine as a fishing rod supported by muscular guy wires. If all of the wires are tensed equally, the rod stays straight. 'If you pull the wires closer to the spine' McGill says, as you do when you pull in your stomach while trying to isolate the transversus abdominis, 'what happens?" The rod buckles.' So, too, he said, can your spine if you overly focus on the deep abdominal muscles."

Among the alternatives to sit-ups McGill and others advocate is various forms of yoga's "plank pose," and something he calls "stir the pot," which is demonstrated in this video:

More alternative core exercises