Sports/Fitness/Health



Do Yoga at Your Desk
Horse pose: Move your desk chair out of the way. Spread legs apart and squat at the desk, bending your legs until knees are directly over the ankles. Feet should point out to the sides at a 45-degree angle. Back is straight—sit up tall like you're riding a horse. You can also bounce a bit as you type. This opens the hips and relieves the lower back.
—Nadia Abramson, Certified Yoga Instructor

Stop a Charlie horse in your foot
Pull up on your big toe. Works every time.

Lose Weight
1. Cut the white stuff. Stop eating processed starches—white bread, cookies, white rice, pasta, twinkies, Oreo cream filling, etc. Replace with whole grains.
2. Quit boozing. Replace alcohol with water and green tea.
3. Schedule your eating. Instead of breakfast, snack on fruit until 12 p.m., make lunch your biggest meal and don’t eat anything after 7 p.m.
4. Don’t forget to weight train. Cardio is great and necessary (30 min., 3 to 4 times a week), but bigger muscles mean you burn more calories while you’re doing nothing. Ladies, don’t worry that you’ll get bulky from working muscles: This is a myth.
—Nicola Kerr, certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor

Get Smarter
Like almost any bodily improvement, "use it or lose it" generally applies. But it depends on what you mean by "smarter." There's much debate about whether there is any such thing as a general form of intelligence; some argue that multiple intelligences exist, with none of us incredibly high in all of them. Either way, there's little substitute for practice, which is why a lot of psychologists recommend that retirees do crossword puzzles to counteract the reduction in gray matter practice. However, if the "multiple intelligences" theory is correct, that will only enhance verbal intelligence and perhaps not the other forms.
—Chad J. Marsolek, professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience, University of Minnesota

Make a Backyard Ice Rink
Use a heavy-duty hose that won’t crack and that has enough hose length and girth to reach far and wide. For the pond hockey tournament Red Bull Open Ice, I use a 50-foot-long, two-inch diameter hose for a 150-foot x 75-foot rink, where play is four on four. The best temperature to flood is between 10 and 20 degrees.
—Charlie Wasley, former U of M hockey player and organizer of the Red Bull Open Ice hockey tournament

Strengthen Your Memory
Various mnemonics exist for simple list learning [see "Spot Poison Ivy" at right], but they don't improve general, everyday memory. Unfortunately, there's no magical formula for that. But research indicates that practicing retrieving memories (testing yourself by trying to recall everything you learned about someone after a first date, for example) can be more useful for long-term retention than repeated studying. But alas, learning new things has adverse effects on retaining related or "overlapping" old memories. In other words, if you want to remember everything about that first date, you may have to avoid going on a first date with anyone else.
—Chad J. Marsolek, professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience, University of Minnesota

Shoot a Slap Shot
Get your hands comfortable. Place your strong hand halfway down the stick, opposite hand gripping the knob. Square up like you’re going to hit a golf ball. Bend your legs. Wind up but don’t go crazy. Raise stick to hip, then quickly bring it down and strike the puck. The speed of the stick determines the speed of the shot. Don’t whiff.
—Nick Schultz, Minnesota Wild defenseman

Get Sexy Abs
Work three different areas of the core with three different exercises.
The V-crunch: This targets the low abs. Lying on your back, lift legs and spread ’em like a V, sit up and reach arms between legs to crunch.
Running arms: This works your abs laterally, tightening up your sides. Starting in a situp position, lift your back and your feet off the ground. Then pump arms like you’re running, twisting side to side.
Wonder woman: This move is known as hyperextension. It strengthens your core from the back. Start on your stomach. Reach arms overhead and lift them, while also lifting legs off the floor.
—Nicola Kerr, certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor

Live Longer
Follow the "Power9," as developed by Dan Buettner, Minneapolis-based author of The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest (National Geographic, 2008).

1. Move. Find ways to move mindlessly; make moving unavoidable.
2. Plan de Vida. Know your purpose in life.
3. Down-shift. Work less, slow down, rest, take vacation.
4. The 80% Rule. Stop eating when you're 80 percent full.
5. Plant-power. Eat more veggies. Eat less protein and processed foods.
6. Red wine. Drink it with consistency and moderation.
7. Belong. Create a healthy social network.
8. Beliefs. Spiritual or religious participation.
9. Your tribe. Make family a priority.



Drive a Zamboni
1. Pull onto the ice.
2. Lower the conditioner.
3. Set the cutting depth of the blade.
4. Turn on the augers.
5. Turn on the wash water.
6. Turn on the ice water.
7. Constantly adjust the ice water according to your speed so it's all even.
8. Follow a set pattern on the ice to make it even.
—Travis Larson, Zamboni driver at Xcel Energy Center

Deal with Pressure
The trick, according to Vikings field-goal kicker Ryan Longwell, is to treat high-pressure situations the same as low-pressure situations by focusing on the task rather than the pressure itself. "I try to keep everything the same and focus on the rhythm and routine rather than the situation," he says. "I try to keep it just like that first-quarter kick so they're all the same."

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Outdoors/

Gut a Fish
1. Scale the fish (spoons work well).
2. Cut the middle of the belly from head to fin.
3. Remove the stomach and guts.
4.Fillet from head to fin on both sides of backbone.
5. Remove fillets and freeze or eat.
—Dell Lossow, avid Minnesota fisherman

Spot Poison Ivy
“Leaves of three, let them be” is the motto to go by.

Look for:

• A plant with leaves that are made up of three leaflets—two shorter ones on each side of a long center leaflet.
• Leaflets with pointed tips, round bases and toothed edges.
• Stalks that are reddish in color.
• Usually green leaves, but if it's autumn, they will be red.

—David Taylor, Eagle Scout

Catch a Musky (a.k.a. "The Fish of 10,000 Casts")
I filmed a show this year where we caught nine muskies in two-and-a-half days and missed a few more. Ten thousand casts to catch one is absurd! You can pattern them like any other fish. Start with a black bucktail with silver blades and work different kinds of structures: points, inside turns, sunken islands, rock piles, steep tapers, gradual tapers, etc., until you spot your first fish. Next, focus on that type of area, working different kinds of baits until you get bit. Cover the lake looking for similar areas with a similar approach. Fish as many as you can in a short time. Big-bladed bucktails have been really hot the last couple of years!
—Babe Winkelman, host of Babe Winkelman's Good Fishing and Babe Winkelman's Outdoor Secrets (winkelman.com)

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Tomfoolery/

Win at Scrabble
Memorize the two-letter words, especially those containing Q, Z, J or X. (QI is the single most important word). Score multiple words by playing connecting words at right angles or using the two-letter words. Above all, stay optimistic. You’ll find that seven-letter word if you keep looking.
—Jim Kramer, National Scrabble Champion

Bet on a Horse
Use the "Daily Racing Form" or the track program to find a horse with speed, a reliable jockey and a good trainer. Don't be afraid to bet long shots. Go to the teller window, bet your horse to win and then head trackside and cheer like crazy.
—Jeff Maday, manager of media relations and player development, Canterbury Park

Pop a Wheelie
1) Put your weight over the center of the bottom pedal with your weaker leg fully extended and your stronger leg bent forward.
2) In one motion, pedal with your stronger leg while pulling your arms straight toward your chest.
3) Balance on the seat while still pedaling to sustain the wheelie, with your arms fully extended and your center of gravity directly over the rear wheel.
—Caleb Durenberger, former member of the University of Minnesota’s competitive cycling team

Win a Hotdog-eating Contest
1. Prepare ahead of time and find out what you like to dip your dog in. This is purely for taste. i'm a fan of fruit punch. 2. Eat the dogs two at a time and the buns after. Dunk it all. 3. Use both sides of your mouth to chew. 4. Stay relaxed. 5. When you hit a wall, push through. It's all mental.
—Pat Bertoletti, world champion competitive eater

Whip a Donut 
For rear-wheel drive: In a large area free of obstacles drive your car into the center, going at least 10 m.p.h. Turn your front wheels sharply to one side and hit the gas. Front wheel drive variation: Enter area quickly, turn steering wheel hard and hit your emergency brake simultaneously, then hang on!
—Brian Denny, Props on Wheels, propsonwheels.com

Bet on a Horse
Use the "Daily Racing Form" or the track program to find a horse with speed, a reliable jockey and a good trainer. Don't be afraid to bet long shots. Go to the teller window, bet your horse to win and then head trackside and cheer like crazy.
—Jeff Maday, manager of media relations and player development, Canterbury Park

Tell a Joke
Deliver the punchline with authority—there's a reason they call it a "punch" line. Pretend you are literally smacking your audience across the face with the joke. Don't ask them if they think it's funny. Know without a doubt that it is and expect the laugh.
—John Conroy, 2009 winner, Funniest Person in the Twin Cities contest