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The Social View with Christina D Wagner Results Health and Fitness - Video

Over the last twenty years many Czechs have drastically changed their lifestyles, eating healthier foods and taking up new sports. Every weekend, cyclists and rollerblade-users hit local parks in Prague from Vtkov Hill to Stromovka. Fitness clubs which emerged over the same period are also going strong, drawing regular-goers to work-out in the gym, cycle indoors, or attend aerobics classes. Martin Nehasil is the programme director at Solarium Fitness BBC a popular fitness chain in the Czech capital. When I met with him at the clubs flagship gym on Vinohradsk Street, he explained there are constant innovations in the approach to fitness, ideal for anyone looking to improve their health.

Fitness BBC's Martin Nehasil Whether were speaking of new clients or seasoned sportsmen and women, more people are realising they want to be fit. It can be someone new who joins or it can be someone who has been bodybuilding for years but realises, with experience, they need to include other types of exercise as well, such as yoga, Pilates, and stretching. There are more options than ever before, such as zumba classes to help people get fit, and more people now have a better understanding and are taking advantage.

The popular fitness centre recently opened a club within a club at its Vinohradsk address, one specifically tailored to Pilates the widely-popular fitness system developed in the first half of the 20th century, now recognised worldwide. The system focuses on flexibility and endurance and the building of so-called long muscles for a lean, well-balanced and agile physique, as opposed to bunched up muscles common, for example, among hardcore bodybuilders. Trainer Anna Hrachov has taught Pilates for seven years:

In the Czech Republic it has long been common to practice Pilates on mats but less so on machines. There are some studios of course that have them but the new one that we opened recently is the largest so far, with 20 re-firmer machines and other equipment.

According to Ms Hrachov, the emphasis in the 55-minute long lessons is on the body as a whole; in short, the approach is holistic:

Photo: Fitness BBC It belongs among body-and-mind exercises: it is a combination of strength exercises and stretching, done without music and without choreography. And it focuses on the deep stabilisation system that some will know if theyve ever had physical rehab.

In what way do the machines help?

If you are a beginner they help you achieve proper posture and toning of the right muscles and when you are advanced they help create more variation and difficulty in exercises.

By now, by curiosity has been peaked, so I ask the charming trainer if shell allow me to try one of machines. Heres how things went:

Lie down on your back with your head on the headrest and your feet on the foot bar. Because you are holding the mic we will do a leg exercise. There should be a space between your shoulder blocks...

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Popular fitness club opens new Pilates centre

One big change in the last 15 years is hardly a surprise: Americans face more economic uncertainty and financial challenges.

Many more households are struggling to make ends meet than in 1997, when consumer confidence was high and unemployment was low, says a survey released Monday by the Consumer Federation of America and Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. Today the economy is in a far different place, and Americans are worried about their financial future, says Kevin Keller, CEO of the CFP's Board.

And now they have to decide how to use their limited resources to save for retirement and fund their children's college education, while maintaining an emergency fund and keeping out of debt.

Although attitudes have changed and concerns have risen over time, there is one constant. People who have a financial plan feel more confident about their financial future and report more success managing money, saving and investing, Keller says.

And when low-income families have a financial plan, they are more likely to pay their credit card bills in full and avoid debt, the survey found.

Yet only 31 percent of Americans have put together a financial plan, whether on their own or with a financial adviser, the survey says. And that was the same percentage as in 1997, when a similar survey was conducted. Among other findings:

38 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, vs. 31 percent in 1997.

48 percent of families with college-bound children are saving for their education, down from 56 percent in 1997.

55 percent are worried about losing money if they invest it, compared with 45 percent in 1997.

About half of Americans are behind in retirement savings, compared with 38 percent in 1997.

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Retirement readiness continues to plummet

If you've always had a bank account, it's hard to imagine life without writing a check, hitting the ATM or swiping a debit card at the grocery store.

But for more than a million Californians, life without a bank account is the norm. They're known as the "unbanked": those who don't own a traditional bank account, either checking or savings.

Instead, they typically stash their cash at home and often rely on high-cost services that provide payday loans or check-cashing.

For the past several years, the state's "Bank on California" program has been working to change that, offering free or low-cost checking accounts at banks and credit unions to those who normally wouldn't qualify. Recently, Golden 1, the state's largest credit union, launched a similar program to aid the unbanked.

"Without a bank account, everything is more difficult: paying rent, your utilities " said Alana Golden, spokeswoman for the state Department of Financial Institutions, which oversees the Bank on California program.

Since December 2008, more than 214,000 free or low-cost "Bank On" accounts have been opened in California. In addition, the program conducted more than 2,000 financial education workshops for low- and moderate-income families.

"The hope is they'll open a checking account to pay their bills, but also to start saving," Golden added. "It's an important step in becoming financially independent."

Estimates vary, but in a 2009 study, the FDIC said more than 1 million California households are unbanked. Nationally, it pegged about 9 million households with 17.1 million adults as unbanked. Statistically, they are younger, less educated and lower-income families.

Since first launched as a pilot project in San Francisco in 2006, the Bank on California program has grown to eight communities statewide. More than 30 banks participate, including Bank of America, Bank of the West, Wells Fargo, and SAFE and Schools Financial credit unions.

Golden said the Department of Financial Institutions is actively looking for more financial partners in rural areas, as well as major metropolitan regions like San Diego. Each of the eight programs has a coalition of financial partners, nonprofits and local government agencies that offer the starter bank accounts, as well as financial education workshops.

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Personal Finance: New help for the 'unbanked'

Preview of a corporate sales training seminar about sales mentality, presented by Dave Hibbard, the Founder & CEO of Dialexis, inc. The SOAR (Surge of Accelerating Revenue) program not only teaches sales people proven tactics for cold calling success, but also about the necessary mindset. With the avalanche of bad news about the economy coming down on everyone's heads, it's easy for sales people to succumb to negativity and defeatist thinking. But contrary to the prevalent outlook, the sky isn't falling. Even with the economic downturn, sales people can still drive revenue, given the right mechanics and mindset. The SOAR program leads sales people into a motivated mindset, then demonstrates to them tested techniques that yield 90% entry rates with decision makers on first time calls. With sales training from Dialexis, the sky's the limit. To learn more, please visit http://www.dialexis.com

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Corporate Sales Training Seminar Preview from Dialexis on Sales Mentality

Want to know how to sell more? It's no business secret that sales demands skill and motivation. But when the pressure is on, it's only natural that mistakes will get made. Unfortunately some of the mistakes that are made time and again are not minor slip ups, they can actually prove fatal to future sales. In this business TV show, the first of a four part series, we hear from sales experts Bill Caskey, Founder of Caskey Training, Nigel Edelshain, CEO of Sales 2.0, and Clayton Shold, Co-founder of Salesopedia. See this show now to find out what these fatal mistakes are -- and how you can ensure you don't make them!Watch this show right now, or see hundreds more shows packed with expert advice at http://www.yourbusinesschannel.com Hear about the very latest show releases, as well as other yourBusinessChannel news by visiting our blog at http

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Sales Training tips on how to sell more - Fatal mistakes that kill

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Annette Totten, Oregon Health & Science University assistant research professor, is taking an eight-week Health Policy course from the bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel online. Mail Tribune / Jamie LuschJamie Lusch

July 29, 2012

Without leaving Ashland and her post as an assistant research professor at Oregon Health & Science University, Annette Totten is taking an eight-week Health Policy course from prestigious bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel and it's free.

She's doing it by "sitting" in a class of 40,000 students and streaming the course online via Coursera, a new animal on the stage of higher learning that offers 111 courses, most taught by authors and professors from tier-one research universities.

Every Monday, the new lecture for the week is posted, along with homework and test questions, which pop up onscreen and pause the lecture, forcing students to research and write their answers before proceeding, says Totten.

Drawbacks of the system are the lack of college credit though credit is starting to be offered at the University of Washington and huge class size, which forms an obstacle to authenticating who is doing the coursework and also makes it hard to grade individual students, says Hart Wilson, distance education support specialist for Southern Oregon University.

"The difference between MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) and the online courses offered here is the question of scale," says Wilson. "MOOC sounds like most of the interaction is between students, not with the professor. Our online courses have 20 to 30 students and a great deal more quality interaction."

While MOOC classes are scattered across the whole country, interaction does happen, says Totten, with five fellow students evaluating short essay responses, 200 to 300 words each, of any one student, checking off main points that should be there.

MOOC, sometimes called "Mob Open Online Courses," welcomes anyone of any age, student or not, with or without credentials, and has the advantage of connecting students with the most accomplished, creative and credible figures in their field.

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Online courses open another window to education

Yoga is more than a relaxation technique it physically helps stroke patients after rehab, according to a new study.

Researchers tested the benefits of yoga for patients who had survived a stroke six months earlier. They found that group yoga improved balance. Stroke patients often have trouble with balance, leaving them more vulnerable to falls. Survivors who took yoga also showed greater independence and an improved quality of life.

The 47 participants in the study were divided into group who had twice-weekly yoga sessions plus three relaxation sessions; twice-weekly yoga sessions with no relaxation sessions; and no treatment at all. (Post-stroke rehab typically stops after six month to a year following the stroke, so the yoga classes represented another step in treatment.) The exercises became more difficult as the eight-week program continued.

The AHA said in a statement that Yoga may be more therapeutic than traditional exercise because the combination of postures, breathing and meditation may produce different effects.

But lead researcher, Arlene Schmid, Ph.D., O.T.R., a rehabilitation research scientist at Roudebush Veterans Administration-Medical Center and Indiana University, cautioned that it was essential for prospective students to find a qualified yoga therapist.

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Yoga and Stroke Patients

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Prudential Financial Inc. said today that it will be the exclusive sponsor of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston Colleges National Retirement Risk Index.

The index measures the percentage of working-age Americans at risk of failing to maintain their standard of living in retirement, Prudential, a New Jersey-based financial services company, said in a press release. As index sponsor, Prudential said it will underwrite a number of studies conducted by the Center for Retirement Research related to the index.

According to the index, the percentage of households at risk of not being able to maintain their standard of living in retirement has risen from 30 percent in 1989 to 51 percent in 2009.

In a statement, the centers director, Alicia Munnell, said, Retirement needs are increasing due to longer life spans and rising health care costs, while retirement resources are shrinking due to declining Social Security replacement rates and insufficient savings in 401(k)s.

Prudentials product offerings include life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services.

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Prudential to sponsor the retirement risk index from Boston College center

The big attraction of traditional pensions is their promise of security. They're designed to provide to a steady stream of checks in retirement to last the rest of your life. Unlike a 401k or other workplace contribution plan, what you get from a defined benefit pension doesn't depend on how much or how well you invest.

"Even during a downturn, (retirees receiving pensions) know how much they're getting on a monthly basis," said Karen Friedman, the executive vice president and policy director of the Pension Rights Center. "They know how much they can spend."

Increasingly, though, that promise of security is being broken. Lousy investment returns, changing company policies and taxpayer concerns about public retirement benefits are putting many pensions at risk. Consider:

Liz Weston

"These are the folks who thought they were totally protected, and then the company lays this on them," Friedman said. GM's move may give other companies the "green light" to consider similar actions, she said.

Traditional pensions are on the wane, but plenty of people still have them. Private plans cover nearly 44 million people, according to the PBGC, and public plans cover about 23 million (15 million active members and 8 million annuity recipients), according to the Census Bureau.

If you're one of them, here's what you need to know:

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Retirement protection: Is your pension safe?