HEALTH/EXERCISE TIP OF THE DAY
Try some intense exercise---and make it last for a minute, then rest.  Then repeat.  This piece explains:
"For years, the American Heart Association and other organizations have recommended that people complete 30 minutes or more of continuous, moderate-intensity exercise, such as a brisk walk, five times a week, for overall good health.
But millions of Americans don’t engage in that much moderate exercise, if they complete any at all. Asked why, a majority of respondents, in survey after survey, say, “I don’t have time.”
Intervals, however, require little time. They are, by definition, short. But whether most people can tolerate intervals, and whether, in turn, intervals provide the same health and fitness benefits as longer, more moderate endurance exercise are issues that haven’t been much investigated.
Several years ago, the McMasters scientists did test a punishing workout, known as high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, that involved 30 seconds of all-out effort at 100 percent of a person’s maximum heart rate. After six weeks, these lacerating HIIT sessions produced similar physiological changes in the leg muscles of young men as multiple, hour-long sessions per week of steady cycling, even though the HIIT workouts involved about 90 percent less exercise time.
Recognizing, however, that few of us willingly can or will practice such straining all-out effort, the researchers also developed a gentler but still chronologically abbreviated form of HIIT. This modified routine involved one minute of strenuous effort, at about 90 percent of a person’s maximum heart rate (which most of us can estimate, very roughly, by subtracting our age from 220), followed by one minute of easy recovery. The effort and recovery are repeated 10 times, for a total of 20 minutes.
Despite the small time commitment of this modified HIIT program, after several weeks of practicing it, both the unfit volunteers and the cardiac patients showed significant improvements in their health and fitness.
The results, published in a recent review of HIIT-related research, were especially remarkable in the cardiac patients. They showed “significant improvements” in the functioning of their blood vessels and heart, said Maureen MacDonald, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster who is leading the ongoing experiment."

THE CONTINUING NEED FOR AWARENESS DEPT
Starbucks just may have done a man who is missing part of his left arm wrong:
"A California man who was born with half of a left arm filed a complaint against Starbucks because he claims he was “blatantly” discriminated against during an interview at one of the company’s stores, 10News.com reported.

Eli Pierre says that when he mentioned his disability to a hiring manager at the San Diego location, he was told that the syrups were placed high and the interviewer needed to reach in order to pump them, hence he could not work there with one arm, ABC News reported, citing the complaint filed on Feb. 8.

"I got angry about it. I mean, I've never been told I can't do anything," Pierre said, according to 10News.com.

A former employer from Wisconsin backed up Pierre’s claim, saying he excelled as a bartender and waiter, the report said.

The report said the interviewer even made a swipe at Pierre’s former job at Victoria's Secret.

"She said to the co-interviewer, 'Oh, he can help you find a bra that fits,' which I am sure was uncomfortable for him and it was uncomfortable for me to have witnessed," Pierre said, according to the report.

The company’s district manager in the area offered Pierre another interview at a different location, the report said. And its corporate office told 10News.com that discrimination is not tolerated.

“We take this candidate's claims seriously and are currently investigating the matter to determine the appropriate course of action,” the company said, according to the report.

10News.com reported that the lawsuit could be worth millions of dollars."

The best thing about this story?  How Mr. Pierre clearly doesn't believe he can't do the job, and doesn't want to be told that he can't do something.  That's something we all need to continually take to heart.

“My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition. ”

Indira Gandhi (1917-1984);