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Archive for the ‘Aerobics’ Category

ClearEdits for Microsoft Word Helps You Write More Concisely

Posted: June 8, 2012 at 3:17 am


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By Erez Zukerman June 8, 2012 SAN FRANCISCO Microsoft Word has a built-in spelling checker with a touch of grammar smarts, but it will never highlight a big word and ask whether you can swap it for a small one, or note that a verb is weak and deserves replacing. For that kind of advice, you must turn to a dedicated product such as ClearEdits, an $80 add-in for Microsoft Word.

In pricing, ClearEdits is somewhere in the middle of the writing-advice pack: Its more expensive than Serenity Softwares Editor ($55; $75 with Word add-in), but much cheaper thanSentence Aerobics($139) andStyleWriter($190 for the Professional version). Its more tightly integrated with Word than either Editor or StyleWriteralthough both of those offerings play well with Word, they run outside the main Word window. ClearEdits, like competitor Sentence Aerobics, runs right inside Word. In fact, ClearEdits is even more tightly bound into Word than Sentence Aerobics: Instead of using its own custom pane, it simply adds comments and color-coded formatting to your document, much as a human editor would.

Of course, with a program such as this, price and interface dont matter as much as sound usage advice. In this department, ClearEdits plays it safe, forgoing ambitious pattern recognition and mainly highlighting single words or idioms and asking polite questions about them. The advice is concise and pleasantly worded: Unnecessary word? Cut if used only for emphasis; leave if reflexive pronoun is needed for meaning. Thats what I got for the word itself, which neither StyleWriter nor Sentence Aerobics flagged for consideration.

ClearEdits can also search for language patterns that it calls Vector Edits, such as the -ed suffix, which can indicate passive voice, a participle that needs to be made into a verb, or an adjective that can be simplified. This feature still leaves the user to do most of the work, because you will have to figure out which of the myriad options applies in each case, and whether the item is something that you should change. Also, since every Vector Edits category has so many matches, ClearEdits documentation suggests using Vector Edits one at a timewhich means youll need to recheck your text several times. On the plus side, because ClearEdits output consists of just highlighted words with native Word comments, it is easier to work with than either Sentence Aerobics (which is festooned with colors) or StyleWriter (which requires constant switching back to Word for making changes).

ClearEdits also offers some basic statistics about your document, such as the longest and shortest paragraphs and sentences, the average number of words in a sentence, and so on. Like StyleWriter, it employs its own usage metrics, ClearScores, which offer at-a-glance analysis of your text. While StyleWriter shows its metrics in the status bar, ClearEdits keeps the scores in a separate window, which is not as convenient to use.

The usage advice I received from StyleWriter tended to be more useful, since StyleWriter highlights particularly long sentences, checks for active voice, and more. ClearEdits advice is basic though sound, and did not contain awkward mistakes like those in the output from Sentence Aerobics.

In a perfect world, one application would combine StyleWriters or Editors lexical richness and ClearEdits perfectly integrated interface. Until such a program comes along, you will have to decide whats more important for you: ease of use, or comprehensive advice.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendors site, where you must register to download the latest version of the software.

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ClearEdits for Microsoft Word Helps You Write More Concisely

Written by simmons

June 8th, 2012 at 3:17 am

Posted in Aerobics

Ormond Beach woman’s passion for fitness leads to new career as personal trainer

Posted: June 4, 2012 at 11:17 pm


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Personal trainer Edith "E" Leclerc, front, holds a water aerobics class Tuesday at the Pelican Bay Club House in Daytona Beach. (N-J | Steven Notaras)

When body building and figure competitor Edith "E" Leclerc went to her first water aerobics class a few years ago, she wasn't expecting a challenging workout led by an 84-year-old instructor.

Leclerc, 49, however, was surprised to find that water aerobics class at Pelican Bay sent her heart rate racing as she plunged through the water's resistance. After a few months of going to the class, she lost two inches from her waistline.

Eventually, Leclerc volunteered to teach the class for free. But when the economy put a halt on her income from her real estate properties in 2007, Leclerc needed a job.

"I didn't want to hate waking up every morning," Leclerc said. "So I wrote down my passions and thought about how I could make a living doing what I love."

Leclerc's passion for health led her to become a certified personal trainer in 2007. She now teaches four water aerobics classes a week at Pelican Bay. She also started Water Boot Camp -- an intense cardio water workout that combines swimming, weights and relay races. The average age of participants for boot camp is 30 to 40 years old, Leclerc said. This month, she will begin teaching boot camp classes at MG on the Halifax in Holly Hill, which will be open to the public.

"We do 30 to 50 reps of each exercise super fast," she said. "It exhausts the muscles and is a lot of cardio."

When she was 25, Leclerc moved to the area from Canada's province of Quebec. Unlike most young women, Leclerc had trouble gaining weight and began working out with a friend who was training for a body building competition. She soon decided to enter one herself. She competed in two body building competitions before she switched to figure competitions. In 2008, the mother of two placed third in the Debbie Kruck Classic figure competition in Daytona Beach.

"It requires a lot of self-discipline and I find that I go through some of the same struggles as my clients when it comes to nutrition," she said. "But as a personal trainer, I need to be an example for others."

Three days a week Leclerc, who now resides in Ormond, leads a group of women who reside in Pelican Bay through an hour-long senior water aerobics class that combines weights and strength and cardio exercises. She's been leading the same core group of women -- many of them in their 70s and 80s -- for the past six years.

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Ormond Beach woman's passion for fitness leads to new career as personal trainer

Written by simmons

June 4th, 2012 at 11:17 pm

Posted in Aerobics

Though Sound on Fundamentals, Sentence Aerobics Struggles to Parse Idioms Correctly

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Clarity matters in business writing. Business documents are not always fascinating, and if your writing is oblique or cumbersome, you risk losing your readers midway through your text. VanWrite Sentence Aerobics is a $159 (free Web demo) add-in for Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010 that tries to analyze your text and offer constructive criticism, so you can revise the wording for clarity and brevity.

"Tries" is the operative word here, really: Before Sentence Aerobics can recommend changes, it must correctly parse the original language--but it didn't succeed at that preliminary task when dealing with the simple paragraph that I fed it. The paragraph read, in part:

"What could possibly go wrong? As it turns out, quite a bit. [...] Spanning Backup ($3 per month for regular Google accounts users) is a cloud backup service [...]"

The advice in Sentence Aerobics stresses sound writing principles such as using strong verbs; unfortunately, 'accounts' isn't a verb in the sample text.Sentence Aerobics circled the word accounts above in green, applauding me for using such a "Strong Verb"--but the word is used as part of a compound noun here. (A clearer formulation of the parenthetical phrase would be "$3 per month for users of regular Google accounts"; unless, of course, the intended meaning is "$3 per month for regular users of Google accounts." Admittedly, expecting a program to figure out that level of nested ambiguity is asking a lot of it.) The program also approved of the word turns in the phrase "As it turns out," failing to parse it as an idiom. Meanwhile, Sentence Aerobics asserted that the word could in "What could possibly go wrong?" was a "Weak Verb" in need of revision, rather than a necessary conditional auxiliary to the verb go in what amounts to a common catch-phrase.

In short, Sentence Aerobics' parsing is limited and error-prone, especially in dealing with idioms. Competing product StyleWriter Professional is less susceptible to such errors: It let the same exact paragraph slide with no recommendations, other than noting that one line has a high "glue word" count.

Once Sentence Aerobics finishes parsing your text, it offers recommendations. For the most part, its advice is sensible: Sentence Aerobics favors short, active sentences, and tries to trim prepositional phrases from the text. But since its parsing is often faulty, you end up with many recommendations that you can't implement. For instance, when I started a line with "It turns out this is not a bug," Sentence Aerobics told me that starting a sentence with the word it is not a good idea, since the reader may have trouble figuring what it refers to. But this generally sound advice again misses the mark due to poor parsing.

Sentence Aerobics integrates well with Microsoft Word 2010. Immediately after installing it, I had some trouble finding it in the interface, so I methodically clicked through the tabs until I found it as a button in the Review tab--a sensible spot. When you click the Sentence Aerobics button, a pane opens on the right side of the window. The upper portion of the pane shows the text that the software is currently analyzed, and the lower portion shows recommendations. You can change the font size if you like.

Color plays an important part in Sentence Aerobics: Strong action verbs are circled in green, subjects and verbs are highlighted in pink, prepositional phrases are written in gray, and some have yellow highlighting. This makes it easier to visually parse revisions, but the colors cannot be customized. Being color blind, I had to use Colorblind Assistant to figure out that the pink highlighting was indeed pink and not gray.

Sentence Aerobics bases its recommendations on writing guide called Target Editing, written by VanWrite founder Linda Vanderwold. An abridged 75-page PDF edition of the book, offered as a free extra with Sentence Aerobics, provides language-editing tips and concepts that you can use apart from a dedicated software application.

Sentence Aerobics is based on solid usage advice, and it integrates with Word 2010 better than StyleWriter does. But despite these bright points, the program's spotty language-parsing capabilities prevent it from being a truly useful language-editing tool for natural business writing.

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Though Sound on Fundamentals, Sentence Aerobics Struggles to Parse Idioms Correctly

Written by simmons

June 4th, 2012 at 11:17 pm

Posted in Aerobics

Valley church adds huge sports complex

Posted: June 2, 2012 at 7:14 pm


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GRAND CHUTE (AP) - Appleton Alliance Church will use aerobics classes, weight lifting and other physical fitness activities to connect the community with God when it opens its new sports and recreation complex in June.

Dubbed Xcel Sports, the facility is part of a $22 million, 120,000-square-foot expansion project called Finishing the Work. The expansion, scheduled for completion in summer 2013, will nearly triple the church's size from 60,000 square feet to about 160,000 square feet and is the largest non-governmental project in Wisconsin, said Marty Myse, the Christian church's building chairman.

The sports complex, which opens June 11, will feature a gymnasium and fitness center offering activities such as women's aerobics and spinning classes as well as recreational opportunities for families, children and the church's youth ministries.

The Rev. Dennis Episcopo, the church's senior pastor, said Alliance began building a sports ministry in 2006 - years before deciding to construct a sports facility. The church already boasts soccer fields and a basketball court that hosts a large outdoor basketball league every Sunday night.

Youth basketball camps attract more than 400 children to the church each summer.

"We wanted to have sports and rec as a way to connect people to God," Episcopo said. "They may not come to a church service, but no problem."

That church has run camps, leagues and special events for the past six years. "We have about 2,000 participants per year, with about 80 percent of those people being from outside Appleton Alliance," said Ryan Borowicz, head of the sports ministry program at Alliance. "The sportsplex really broadens the number and type of activities we can offer, as well as being a great resource for the other ministries of the church, particularly the children and the youth."

The sports ministry - an outreach to the community for those who may not know Jesus, but would like to - is keeping with the church's vision of connecting people with God and one another, Myse said.

"It's an opportunity to reach them through a sporting event, basketball or whatever," he said.

Plenty of people attend services at Appleton Alliance each week, and the expansion will add much-needed space to the overflowing church. Appleton Alliance ministers to more than 3,000 people during its four Sunday services, and attendance is growing.

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Valley church adds huge sports complex

Written by simmons

June 2nd, 2012 at 7:14 pm

Posted in Aerobics

Lift Weights or do Aerobics? Age old question aswered

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DALLAS

For years the common rule of thumb in the fitness world is that you don't weight weights or aerobics on the same day, they say it's bad for one or the other--but now new research finds that you can actually have your cake and eat it too.

Harrison Oldham doesn't eat much cake but he does exercise a lot and was one of those that lifted weights on one day and did cardio the next.

It's just the way it was done because most thought you benefitted more by doing one type of exercise a day.

Including Harrison Oldham.

"I played sports and that's how coaches always explained it to us, Harrison said. You know, you go and focus on one thing a day and that's just how you do it, you break up your week."

But Canadian and Swedish researchers say not so fast.

Both had men ride stationary bikes then do various leg exercises on the same day.

Before and after each session the men's legs were biopsied and researchers found that one exercise did not interfere with the benefits of the other.

Tyler Nicholson is personal trainer at Cross Fit 214 in Dallas, Texas.

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Lift Weights or do Aerobics? Age old question aswered

Written by simmons

June 2nd, 2012 at 7:14 pm

Posted in Aerobics

Get moving today at National Senior Health & Fitness Day

Posted: May 31, 2012 at 4:25 pm


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National Senior Health & Fitness Day kicks off at 8 a.m. today at the Purrysburg Fitness Center.

The schedule includes:

Giant Aerobics Class: 89:30 a.m. in front of the Purrysburg Fitness Center.

Get your heart pumping during the Gigantic Aerobics Class. If it rains, the class will be held at the pavilion. Enter the raffle to win a free T-shirt. There will also be chair instruction for beginners.

Aerobics instructors are Chamoni from 88:30 a.m., Lee from 8:309 a.m. and then Lois from 99:30 a.m.

Free Fitness Testing: 89:30 a.m., Purrysburg Fitness Center Aerobics Room.

This is a great way to compare fitness levels from year to year. You are welcome to come and go between the aerobics class and the fitness testing. The fitness testing will be done on a first-come, first-serve basis. Plus a T-shirt raffle.

Four fitness tests are available: Chair stand test testing lower body strength (30 seconds); back scratch test testing upper body flexibility (1 minute); 8foot up and go test agility test; and step in place test measures aerobic fitness (2 minutes).

The Health Fair is from 10 a.m.1 p.m. in Pinckney Hall.

More than 70 health and wellness companies will be on hand. Health care providers will offer informational handouts, free screenings, demonstrations, tests and health screenings including: Blood pressure, oral cancer, skin cancer, ABI, diabetes, foot pressure mapping and much more. They will also have lots of free goodies.

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Get moving today at National Senior Health & Fitness Day

Written by simmons

May 31st, 2012 at 4:25 pm

Posted in Aerobics

Naomi Campbell: The model bikini babe fits in some aerobics on holiday

Posted: May 29, 2012 at 8:14 am


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By Andrea Magrath

PUBLISHED: 08:12 EST, 28 May 2012 | UPDATED: 01:30 EST, 29 May 2012

Few supermodels achieve their figures through simple good genes.

And Naomi Campbell proved that she works hard for her amazing appearance when she was spotted getting in a little exercise during her holiday in Ibiza this week.

At 42, Naomi looked incredible in her skimpy black two-piece that displayed her long toned legs and flat stomach.

Fabulous after 40! Naomi Campbell shows off an impressive toned figure as she enjoys the sand, sun and sea in Ibiza

Miss Campbell fit some exercise into her otherwise relaxing day, doing some light water aerobics in the sea.

Her boyfriend Vladislav Doronin looked on as his beautiful girlfriend worked out.

Naomi showed off as much skin as possible in her brief bikini, but the Russian billionaire covered up in a T-shirt even in the water.

Splashing in the surf: Naomi is holidaying with boyfriend Vladislav Doronin

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Naomi Campbell: The model bikini babe fits in some aerobics on holiday

Written by simmons

May 29th, 2012 at 8:14 am

Posted in Aerobics

Oldest female bodybuilder loves pumping iron

Posted: May 28, 2012 at 1:21 pm


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NEW YORK (Reuters) - As an active 77 year old, Edith Wilma Connor enjoys doing step aerobics with her great-granddaughter. But pumping iron is the real passion of the oldest female competitive bodybuilder.

"When I'm getting ready for competition, I go as heavy as I can," said Connor, who was awarded the title by Guinness World Records. "To me it's fun to add another 25 pounds (11.3 kilograms) and do it."

Connor, who is based in Denver, Colorado, is a late bloomer who began to pursue fitness in her 60s, to counterbalance the sedentary work the data entry company she owned with her husband demanded.

"It was something I could do by myself, for myself," Connor explained. "It was a tension releaser. I sit at a computer all day, so it was one way for me to take it out on the weights instead of the employees."

On her 65th birthday she entered her first competition, the Grand Masters in Las Vegas, and won first place.

"At that point, I was hooked," said Connor who went on to become a certified personal trainer specializing in the mature body.

Her day starts with an aerobic or other warm up exercise followed by weight training. Typically for bodybuilders, all body parts are not trained during each session.

She works out at least three times a week and does not diet, preferring to follow the nutritional guidelines she developed over time for her body type.

"I allow myself a few pounds, until my clothes don't fit right, then it's got to come off," Connor said. "It's a mindset."

She lost her husband of 57 years two weeks after her last competition, in 2011.

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Oldest female bodybuilder loves pumping iron

Written by simmons

May 28th, 2012 at 1:21 pm

Posted in Aerobics

Fitness calendar

Posted: May 22, 2012 at 11:15 am


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Aerobics

CARDIO BASICS: 5:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday; CARDIO CROSS TRAINING: 5:15 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, Daytona State College, Building 320, Room 018, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach. $18-$30 for six-week session. 386-506-3830.

CARDIO REBOUNDING: 45-minute low-impact workout to music using mini trampolines, The Pilates Spot, 1730 Dunlawton Ave., No. 2, Port Orange. Six classes, $144. 386-322-4050; ThePilatesSpot.com

GET ACTIVE! GROUP ACTIVE!: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Gold's Gym, 333 W. Granada Blvd., Suite 200, Ormond Beach. $10 per session, first class free. 386-677-4949.

JAZZERCISE: low and high impact options, 9:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Port Orange Gymnasium, 4655 City Center Circle, Port Orange; 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Atlantic High School, Dance Room, 1250 Reed Canal Road, Port Orange. $40-$45 monthly; $10 walk-in; first class free. 386-767-9505; jazzercise.com

JAZZERCISE: 9:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday; 4:45 p.m., 5:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. Monday-Thursday, SWV Jazzercise Center, 3063 Enterprise Road, #24, DeBary. Prices begin at $20.12 month; $25 joining fee. 386-848-3446; jazzercise.com

JAZZERCISE LITE ORMOND BEACH: low impact, all ages and fitness levels, 9 a.m. Monday-Saturday and 5:45 p.m. Thursday, Nova Community Center, 440 N. Nova Road, Ormond Beach and 5:45 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, South Ormond Neighborhood Center, 176 Division Ave., Ormond Beach. New students $44 mo. unlimited; $10 walk-ins. 386-451-8753; jazzercise.com

Aqua Classes

AMERICAN RED CROSS SWIMMING LESSONS: for all ages. S.S. & Company Water Fitness. Call 386-986-5655 for times and locations.

DYNOSWIM MASTERS' SWIMMING TEAM: for ages 18 and older, meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Frieda Zamba pool, Palm Coast. Fees apply. 386-586-3437.

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Fitness calendar

Written by simmons

May 22nd, 2012 at 11:15 am

Posted in Aerobics

Quevedo, Dolar rule PNG aerobics

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By Marc Anthony Reyes Philippine Daily Inquirer

CHRISTOPHER Quevedo needed little time to shake off his rust while Charmaine Dolar delivered as expected as they ruled the senior aerobics events of gymnastics in the POC-PSC National Games yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Quevedo only had a fews days to practice as he was busy finishing his education degree at Philippine Normal University, but he still proved worthy of the gold medal after amassing 18 points.

The 21-year-old Quevedo, from Tandag, Surigao del Sur, beat former teammate Lester Go, who tallied 17.3 points, while John Boy Amangas of Marikina City wound up third with 16.8 points.

Dolar, a senior education student at University of the East, was hardly threatened as she wowed the judges with her routine moves. She also ruled the recent Suzuki Cup world sports aerobics championships in Tokyo.

She piled up 23.15 points to repeat as champion after topping the event last year in Bacolod.

Dolars teammate Lynette Moreno (20.65) and Jhennylo Gacula (20.6) settled for the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

The gymnastics events were being held at the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines gym inside the RMSC ahead of the PNG which fires off May 25 in Dumaguete, Laguna and Metro Manila.

Former national pool member Jan Freddielu Betita, 17, grabbed the boys group 2 gold (16.8) while newcomer Austin Domingo lorded it over the boys age-group 1 bracket. (9.5 points).

Jasmin Yu of Calamba City (15.3) and Kelly Dionisio-See of Pasay City (15.65) snared the golds in the girls age-group 2 and age-group 1, respectively.

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Quevedo, Dolar rule PNG aerobics

Written by simmons

May 22nd, 2012 at 11:15 am

Posted in Aerobics


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