Pure Barre, Dig Yoga, BODYPUMP, Jar Bar, Philadelphia Runner ... and so many more!
 Ladies, there are not enough exclamation points in the universe to describe how ridiculously excited we are about next week’s Be Well Boot Camp. If you haven’t gotten your tickets already, you’ll want to do so right this very second. Why? Because you don’t want to miss out on all the amazing things we have in store.
Just look at who’ll be there with us on June 9th at the Drexel Recreation Center:
• Jessica Norman teaching Les Mills BODYPUMP
• Manicures compliments of AME Salon and Spa
• Dig Yoga’s Mariel Freeman leading Hatha yoga
• Crozer neurologist and sleep physician Kelly Brown offering all kinds of sleep tips
• Noelle Zane getting you long and lean with Pure Barre
• Boot camp with Sweat Fitness’s Holly Waters, Best of Philly 2010 winner for best trainer
• Einstein sports medicine doc Brett Sweitzer with advice and know-how on improving your athletic performance (the ticket to your new marathon PR, perhaps??)
• Christine Gallagher with her only-in-Philly Red Hot Dance Fitness workout
• Snacks from Jar Bar, KIND Bar, Pangaea Juice and other vendors
And oh so much more!
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The Hollywood health and fitness gossip we're buzzing about this week
Justin Bieber Trains with Mike Tyson, Gets into Altercation with Photographer. And we thought Canadians were supposed to be nice. Last week boxer Mike Tyson tweeted photos of Bieber swinging by his place to “hit the bag.” Bieber’s exposure to all that extra masculinity (Tyson’s testosterone levels have to got be through the roof) must have sparked a bit of aggression. A few days later Beiber was accused of getting in a fight with a paparazzo attempting to snap a photo of him and GF Selena Gomez. According to TMZ, witnesses on the scene (Beliebers) said that Bieber did not incite anything. [Huffington Post]
Beyonce Loses 60 Pounds of Baby Weight, Gets “Chocolate Wasted.” Since the birth of Blue Ivy in January, new mom Beyonce Knowles has dropped 60 pounds. In case you’re keeping score, that’s 12 pounds a month, folks. Even with her self-proclaimed lettuce-and-treadmill regimen, I’m not sure how this is possible. I’ll admit I began to question her humanity, but after hearing her plans to get “chocolate wasted,” I got distracted. I’m not entirely sure what such an activity entails but it sounds like a good time. Beyonce, let’s be friends. [Us Weekly]
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An amazing new public fitness facility that recently opened in San Francisco could come to Philly—if we want it enough.
“Stop the car!” I shrieked from the back seat as friends and I drove along the lovely waterfront Marina Green in San Francisco on Saturday. I’d gone out west for the long weekend (didja miss me?) and nearly dove out of the car when I caught sight of the city’s shiny new Fitness Court. It was around 10 a.m., so the thing was packed (I snapped the picture above later that day when the crowds had left), as runners, cyclists and friends out for a stroll stopped to do a quick circuit.
My friend, a local who happens to live in the neighborhood, told me the Court was relatively new, just a few months old. She said trainers go out there on weekends and run classes and boot camps, but it’s open all the time and anyone can hop on for a workout whenever they’d like. “It’s like an adult jungle gym,” she explained.
Of course, I was immediately jealous. Why don’t we have anything like this in Philly? Why does the West Coast get everything awesome, like Bradley Cooper (we want him back, by the way) and zero-humidity weather? I could think of thousands of Be Wellers who’d kill to have something like that available in Philly.
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That weird smell? It's not coming from Grandma.
 • My dear friend, Gretchen, who works with the elderly, would be first to point out that old people don’t smell—despite what popular opinion holds. And she’s right: A new study found that, while older, middle-aged, and younger people smell different from each other, old people don’t, in fact, smell the worst. That award goes to middle-age men. Surprised? Researchers, which included some here in Philly, came to the conclusion after having subjects rate the intensity and unpleasantness of scent samples from younger, middle-age, and elderly men and women. Women, no matter their age, gave off neutral smells with mild intensity. Both elderly men and women gave off the same neutral/mild odors. But men during their younger and middle age years gave off scents rated more intense and unpleasant, with the odors getting progressively worse through middle age. Says study author Johan Lundstrom to NPR: “If you look at the guys, they’re getting stinky and even more stinky from young to middle age.”
• Headline: “Michigan OK’s medical marijuana for 44 children” Wait, whaaa?
• Say what you will about President Obama and his politics, but his family is absolutely heartwarming to me. That’s mainly due to Michelle Obama, who, by all accounts, is just about the best Mom/Wife Role Model a country could ask for. NPR recently posted a story which delved into the Obamas’ dinner-eating habits. It reported that Michelle mandates family dinners as often as her husband’s schedule allows, she loads her family’s plates up with lots of veggies, and she isn’t afraid to let them indulge in treats (burgers, fries, ice cream) every now and then. Gosh, I love that woman.
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DJ'd yoga in the KOP rotunda and sunset spin on the crosswalk? We're in!
 Lululemon in King of Prussia is celebrating it’s first birthday this weekend, and staffers have planned the ultimate fit birthday bash to commemorate year one. The day begins at 9 a.m. in the store with some toning and burning courtesy of Noelle Zane, owner of Pure Barre Main Line. Next, grab some brunch and shop around until 2 p.m., when you can get your DJ yoga on with a class in the Nordstrom rotunda hosted by Angela Travaglini of Sol Yoga. The day will round out at 7 p.m. with a sunset spin and bootcamp circuit at the crosswalk in between the Plaza and Court at the King of Prussia Mall. There will be refreshments and a DJ dance party all day in the store—this sounds like our kind of party! Find more info here.
FREE, Saturday June 2, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., King of Prussia Mall, 160 North Gulph Road Suite 2361, King of Prussia.
>> Have a health or fitness event you’d like to share with Be Well Philly readers? Email eleaman@phillymag.com with details.
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Have a green thumb? The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has a contest for you.
Gardening is not my forte. Actually, strike that. I can garden with the best of ‘em. It’s keeping the plants alive that eludes me.
If your thumb’s greener than mine, you might want to enter the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s City Gardens Contest, which celebrates ground tilling efforts in an urban environment. There are a ton of categories you can enter in, including flower garden, vegetable garden, container garden (cute!), greenest block in town, and urban farm. You can enter your individual gardening efforts at your home, or your efforts at a community garden. Entries are due by June 10th. Winners get to attend a reception in the fall, where photos of their work will be on display.
If you’ve got a critical eye, the contest is also searching for garden judges. These folks must be available to visit between six and eight gardens on a designated day. Prior gardening experience is, obviously, helpful.
Get all the contest details over here.
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Have trouble sitting still and calming your mind? You're not alone! Health coach Maura Manzo offers an easy plan to help you learn how to meditate.
 Dear Maura, I keep hearing tons of good things about meditation. Since you’re a yoga teacher, I was hoping you could speak about this. I’ve tried it a couple of times but I just can’t sit still! Do you have any tips on how to develop a regular practice? ~ Stephanie S.
…………….
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks for writing in, and being willing to give meditation another try. You’re right—sitting still is not easy. I’ve got a ton of energy and a ton of things to do, so I find it really challenging. That said, meditation has increasingly become an important part of my regular practice. (I also incorporate meditation into every yoga class I teach: yoga postures were traditionally practiced to prepare the body to be able to sit for longer periods of time, more comfortably in meditation, so it’s the perfect time/place to practice.) So, I’ll answer this question in two pieces. The first piece will provide information on benefits of meditations, for those readers new to the concept; and the second piece will lay out a simple 10-minute meditation for readers to try at home.
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It's true: Athletes cope with pain better than the rest of us.
• If there was a Defining Olympic Moment of My Childhood, it was watching gymnast Kerri Strug (immortalized in this Visa ad) take a second run at the vault with a badly injured ankle. Watching the landing still makes me wince, even 16 years later. Now I’ll take retroactive comfort in the fact that Strug was probably wired to deal with pain better than wimpy ol’ me. (I would have passed out on the sidelines after vault #1, for the record.) A new study found that athletes have a higher pain tolerance than us regular folks. The study, which appeared in the journal Pain (where else?), was really an analysis of several previous studies that involved adult men and women, including 568 athletes and 331 normally active control participants. It also looked at a range of athletes in different sports, from endurance to game to strength sports, reports the Atlantic. They found that athletes—particularly those involved in game sports—had a higher pain tolerance than the controls. But their pain threshold (that is, the amount of stimulus required before being perceived as pain) didn’t vary much between athletes and controls—meaning that athletes feel pain at the same levels as we do, they just cope with it better. Case in point: Kerri Strug and her now infamous vault.
• “You’re never fully dressed without a smile …” Those orphan kids in Annie were on to something: A new study found that the more optimistic and extroverted you are, the longer you live. MSNBC has more.
• Aspirin: protection against skin cancer? A new study is promising.
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Lululemon is hosting free Om sessions outdoors in Center City.
 Who needs Hot Yoga when it’s 90 degrees outside? Lululemon Philadelphia will be hosting outdoor Urban Yoga all summer long at 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays at the Plaza at the Comcast Center (17th and JFK). The complimentary class is all-levels, so don’t be shy if you’re a newbie like me. Bring your mat, friends and coworkers and stay for food and drink after class at Table 31. Check out the Facebook page for updates and information.
FREE (bring cash for food and drinks), Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. through August 30, the Plaza at the Comcast Center, 17th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
>> Have a health or fitness event you’d like to share with Be Well Philly readers? Email eleaman@phillymag.com with details.
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Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz caught an arterial blockage before it was too late. Now he's blogging about his recovery.
 Fellow meteorologist Dave Warren visited Schwartz at his home last week // Photo via Twitter NBC10′s Glenn ‘Hurricane’ Schwartz, the city’s beloved bow-tied meteorologist, is in good spirits a month after his double bypass surgery. Schwartz, who recalled his journey of emergency heart surgery on his blog, noted that even a healthy lifestyle doesn’t make a person immune to cardiac complications.
By all accounts, the guy seemed in pretty good shape: he never smoked, ate “decently” (his word), exercised regularly and was a competitive racquetball player. Still, he was put on medication for high blood pressure a few years ago. There were no further complications until a recent vacation to Florida when Schwartz felt pressure in his chest while swimming laps and experienced shortness of breath during a short walk on the beach.
When Schwartz returned home from vacation, he went to a scheduled appointment at Lankenau Hospital for an allergy shot and brought up the incidents to his physician. According to his blog, the doctors immediately whisked him away to do some tests (he admits he might get special treatment for being on TV) and found a 99 percent blockage in the main artery and 80 percent blockage in another artery. The next day, cardiac surgeon Francis Sutter successfully completed what Schwartz fondly referred to as “the old fashioned ‘zipper job’” of cracking his chest open, a double bypass surgery.
Schwartz says he’s exercising once again in cardiac rehab and is seeing improvements, which is keeping him motivated. He hopes to be back on the air soon.
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