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.)

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."

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.

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

Physical exercise benefits the brains of older folks, according to a group of German scientists.

Following a study of 3,903 subjects older than 55, their findings were reported in Jan. 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The German researchers conducted the study in 2001 and 2003 and followed the subjects for two more years.

The subjects were divided in three groups: inactive; moderately active, exercising less than three times a week; and highly active, exercising more than three times a week.

In the beginning, 418 people had some cognitive impairment. Two years later, 207 more subjects developed cognitive impairments.

The researchers' data revealed a significantly reduced risk of cognitive impairment after two years for participants with moderate or high physical activity.

Polly Campbell, a nurse and director of the Maine's SAFE Program, was kind enough to send us an e-mail with a link to the cool "Pink Glove Dance" video above.

Ann Somers tells how it came about:

"Our daughter-in-law, Emily (MacInnes) Somers, created, directed and choreographed this in Portland, Oregon last week for her Medline glove division as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness.

"I don't know how she got so many employees, doctors and patients to participate, but it started to really catch on and they all had a lot of fun doing it.

"When the video gets 1 million hits, Medline will be making a huge contribution to the hospital, as well as offering free mammograms for the community. Please check it out. It's an easy and great way to donate to a wonderful cause, and who hasn't been touched by breast cancer?"

"

According to the article posted Jan. 20 out of London, "Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for prolonged periods -- even if you also exercise regularly -- could be bad for your health. And it doesn't matter where the sitting takes place -- at the office, at school, in the car or before a computer or TV - just the overall number of hours it occurs."

Holy crap! That means we're all in trouble? How many of us spend hours in the car each day -- commuting, driving our kids to school and other activities? How many of us go home at night, plop in front of the TV or computer and don't get up until our eyelids and bladders can't take it anymore?

"After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals," Elin Ekblom-Bak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, says in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. She explained that genes regulating the amount of glucose and fat in the body start to shut down.

And get this: "Even for people who exercise, spending long stretches of time sitting at a desk is still harmful. Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization, said people who exercise every day -- but still spend a lot of time sitting -- might get more benefit if that exercise were spread across the day, rather than in a single bout."

The story notes that data from a "U.S. survey in 2003-2004 found Americans spend more than half their time sitting, from working at their desks to sitting in cars." What are those numbers today?

So, what are we to do? Since I read the article I've become much more conscious of how long I sit. My job requires a lot of sitting at a computer, but I force myself to take more breaks and I still try to exercise at lunchtime.

At home, I force myself to do chores in between stints watching TV or using my laptop. I run up and down the steps getting laundry, chasing children or pets, or whatever. As for driving, luckily I can I says I don't do that four hours at a time. But, there's always, "Yoga in the Car:"

Saturday's walks will range from less than a quarter mile to more than a mile, depending on the abilities of each group, said Ed Rizy, a member of the park committee. "It's for people who like the outdoors, who aren't aware of what we have at Melville. Even in Portsmouth, there are people who don't know what's there."

The Navy gave the 153-acre tract to Portsmouth in 1978.

Since then, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and volunteers have removed rubbish, created and blazed trails and installed picnic tables in some of the most picturesque sites. Some overnight camping is allowed in a white-pine grove where a full-sized reproduction of Native American teepee stands, said JoAnne Emerson, another member of the park committee. The site is open to Scout groups only with special permission from the town. The town also owns a fully developed 30-acre campground on the site.

In the 1940s, the federal government built two large reservoirs, connected by several small ponds, to provide water to the Navy.

Today, the state Division of Fish and Wildlife stocks the two large ponds with trout. The smaller ponds between the reservoirs are filled with watercress and other aquatic plants and animals. The land around them is home to a variety of mammals such as deer, coyotes and several others, possibly even bears.

Melville Park has five marked trails, numerous side trails and walking access to the Bay, all totaling over 4.5 miles. A trail map is available online and on the bulletin board at the park's entrance.

"The walk will be held Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m.," said Joanne Emerson, a hiker who walks the trails there several times a week. "We'll have hot chocolate, coffee and a fire."

Walks will start near the bulletin board at the intersection of Smith Road and Bayview Terrace, off West Main Road.

Time for something new?

"Tribal Energy Cardio," a contemporary workout, combines African-style dances and rhythms with a full-body cardio workout.

San Diego-based Suzanne Forbes-Vierling (left), a Ph.D. who has a background in performing, choreographing, and fitness instruction, created the workout incorporating traditional African dances and music.

"After teaching African-style dance for eight years, I found that most of my students enjoyed the cardio aspect of the class rather than the challenge level of the dance routines," she said. "Since then, I have focused on making the steps easy-to-learn, enabling students to lock-in on the dance moves in order to focus on the cardio side of the workout."

The DVD is billed as an easy routine, so I thought I'd give it a try. I enjoyed the 30-minute warm-up portion. The drum beats make you want to move and are great incentive to dance your way fit, but I found the 45 minutes of routines tougher -- even after several attempts to pick up the moves.

In the above YouTube video taken from a San Diego television show's live demonstration of Tribal Energy Cardio, the newest of Forbes-Vierling's students said it took her a while to put both hand and leg motions together to do the workout.

So, maybe I just need to give it more time.

Please comment below if you've tried Tribal Energy Cardio, and let us know what you think.

Proceeds from the 2010 R.I. VeloSprints series will help the U.S. Cycling Foundation and other bicycle advocacy groups promote good health through cycling, writes Chet Lasell. The foundation delivers Cycle-for-Health and other wellness activities through cycling programs in Rhode Island. Proceeds also benefit the Providence Bike Coalition and the East Coast Greenway Alliance.

The indoor sprints run Mondays from 6 to 10 p.m. at McFadden's, 52 Pine Street in Providence.

Fees for the 10-week series are $25 for an individual or $75 for a team. A one-night registration costs $5.

Racing is open to everyone including non-cyclists, hipsters, and spinners. No matter how serious a racer you may be, you probably don't want to wear Spandex in a saloon.

She is 49 years old.

Van Deren began running in her late 20s when she began to be affected by epilepsy. Running kept the seizures at bay. So she ran and ran and ran.

Twelve years ago, surgeons removed part of her brain to completely relieve the epilepsy.

But Van Deren kept running.

In an inspiring piece in the New York Times, John Branch writes about Van Deren winning the 300-mile Yukon Arctic Ultra two years ago, pulling a sled through the depths of winter. She was the first woman to complete the 430-mile version last year.

This week, she is off to South America to climb Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere. After her descent, she plans to go back up to set a speed record.

It's a great story.

Dr. Enette Larson-Meyer directed 36 overweight (not obese) adults to participate in one of three programs during a six-month intervention: diet alone, diet plus exercise, or a weight-maintenance program (control group). The diet-only and weight maintenance groups were instructed not to change their physical activity regimens during the six-month period.

Although both the diet and diet-plus-exercise groups lost weight during the course of the study - around 10 percent of total body weight -- only the exercising individuals improved their internal fitness in addition to their waistlines.

"We saw marked improvements in cardiovascular fitness, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity and cholesterol levels in the individuals who regularly exercised," Larson-Meyer said.

The study's findings closely align with ACSM's Exercise is Medicine program, which calls on health care providers to include physical activity as a standard part of health care. Doing so, Larson-Meyer says, will yield a far greater return than simply dropping a jean size.

"Weight loss was a nice 'side effect' for these patients -- but it's the internal health improvements that will be most important to exercisers in the long run."

Participants in the exercise group performed structured aerobic exercise - such as walking, running or stationary cycling - five days per week for around 50 minutes each session. These exercise prescriptions match ACSM's Position Stand "Appropriate Physical Activity Intervention Strategies for Weight Loss and Prevention of Weight Regain for Adults," which recommends at least 250 minutes per week of physical activity for weight loss.

Men in the study burned around 500 calories each exercise session and women burned around 400 -- approximately 12.5 percent of their daily caloric needs. Participants were allowed to choose their own exercise type and intensity according to what activities they enjoyed, as long as the intensity level fell between 65 and 90 percent of their maximal heart rate, as recommended by ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription.

Larson-Meyer says this self-selection was important, as "some (study participants) preferred a higher heart rate and enjoyed shorter exercise sessions, while others liked a more leisurely pace - even knowing they would have to exercise longer."

Bob Thayer photo