Healthy Hudson Valley FEBRUARY 26, 2015
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ULSTER PUBLISHING
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HEALTHYHV.COM
Health, Sports & Fitness
New sports for young bodies
Fresh takes on the old systems The Field Goods' revolution Running in winter Vaccination worries Sloth How to stay healthy as a parent
26, 2015 2 | February Health, Sports & Fitness
Higher bounces Finding meaning in the pogo stick’s long history and local ties By Paul Smart
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he pogo stick as we know it was pretty much invented in the Ulster County community of Ellenville. It’s one of our local contributions to the world of fitness. According to most chronicles associated with the booming new extreme pogo stick world, the first parents for metal or wood contraptions tied to springs, footpads and handlebars started appearing just after the First World War. A Walker Valley-born man who settled in the artists’ colony of Cragsmoor, George Hansburg, started perfecting plans for it. More importantly, he taught New York showman Florenz Ziegfield’s dancers how to use them onstage. Truly tied to his invention, Hansburg even staged a wedding where bride and groom “bounced into wedded bliss on pogo sticks,” according to an account now publicized by the company he started that’s still based in Ulster County. Ellenville’s Irwin Arginsky eventually bought out Hansburg in 1967. In 2000, physicist Bruce Middleton suggested a new design using heavyduty rubber bands instead of steel springs. SBI Enterprises changed its name to Flybar. The device could send a rider weighing up to 250 pounds five feet off the ground, and the entire idea of the
WIKICOMMONS
New versions of the classic old pogo stick can vault hipsters their body length and more. Fitness takes on different aspects when it becomes an extreme sport! old hobby started shifting into a modern-day extreme sport, complete with Pogo Dudes, new patents (some allowing kids to bounce a dozen feet into the air), and even a Pogopalooza . “The breed of human that does this is the type that falls down and gets up,” one of that latter
event’s winners has said about extreme pogoing. It’s a whole new realm where fitness reaches towards an area some also use to define American Exceptionalism. “It’s all about pushing the limits.” “Kids must have genes in them that make them want to jump,” Hansburg’s successor Arginsky
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February 26, 2015 Health, Sports & Fitness
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in Leave your fear beh WIKICOMMONS
One of George Hansburg's many patents for a pogo stick, which served as the sport's basic model until more extreme versions started getting invented this century. said just before selling the company earlier this year. Fitness, it appears, is tied to both our nation’s sense of ingenuity and to its economy. Everyone we know is talking about fitness these days. Some folks run mountain ridge trails, some hike along our network of former rail lines, some ski and others kickbox or pick up hot new sports like archery to keep themselves in shape. Some have the genes that make them want to jump. Others think about fitness, worry about health, and shop to augment or even hide their shape. Or simply try to eat better. In putting together a special section attuned to our health needs this time of year, we’ve learned a lot about the changing nature of gyms and exercise, and about health insurance. But no, we’re not expecting you to start bouncing into the sky. Contributors this issue include... Jennifer Brizzi, who writes on food and health for newspapers, magazines and books, and does recipe development, cooking demonstrations and teaching. Her website is www.jenniferbrizzi.com. Debora Gilbert, a freelance writer and editor and a co-host of @issue on WGXC FM, as well as a contributor to the Columbia Paper. Recent transplant to the area Amanda Howard, who is on the hunt for the perfect pancake, is overwhelmed by the region’s pizza options. She worries she knows way too much trivia about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Fourteen-year-old Onteora High School student Callie Mansfield is a veteran newspaper essayist now a rising star at the Paul Green Rock Academy. Kellie McGuire, a reporter for Mid Hudson News Network, the Bluestone Press and Shawangunk Journal, is a former elementary school teacher, avid runner, and editor/owner of Peak Magazine. Annie Nocenti makes films (Disarming Falcons, Woodstock Film Festival 2013) and comics (most recently Klarion the Witchboy for DC Comics). She has taught film in Kingston and Haiti (written about in Goudou Goudou for HiLobrow. com). She lives by the lovely, ever-flooding Esopus Creek. Her work can be found at www.annienocenti.com. Chris Rowley, a reporter for the Shawangunk Journal, is the author of many science fiction and fantasy novels, most recently the Netherworld trilogy, published 2010-11. The cover image of Callie Mansfield this issue was taken by her father Phil Mansfield, who has published in The New York Times, served as staff photographer at the Culinary Institute of America, taught, run the darkroom at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, and spent years as a tour guide to locales around the globe.
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26, 2015 4 | February Health, Sports & Fitness
Join the movement
WIKICOMMONS
When it's hard to get to the gym, or even go for a walk, never forget that the central idea behind the Stairmaster is available in many places. Just watch the ankles as you get into that zone.
There are formidable laws, such as gravity and entropy, at war with us By Annie Nocenti Hibernate: 1. To pass the winter in a torpid or resting state. 2. To be or become inactive or dormant.
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n winter, the body temperature of hibernating animals drops. Metabolic activity is reduced. Plants go dormant. They stop growing to preserve energy and make it though the cold months.
Bears do it. Trees do it. Why can’t we do it? No, there’s a hook. During the long slog of the winter months, with freezing temperatures and shorter days, wouldn’t it be grand if we could simply hibernate along with the bears and the trees? In the fall, with the first frost just around the bend, there is a flurry of activity in the battening of the hatches before winter descends. All that raking of fall leaves, tying up the boats, splitting and hauling firewood, filling the kindling box. Unless you love winter sports, or have an outdoor job like running a farm, or spend your days running around after your high-energy children, or you live in a five-flight walk-up, the equivalent of an urban Stairmaster, the secret joy of the long slog of winter is an excuse for the divine state of laziness. But let’s face it. We need to move to stay healthy.
If our metabolic rate or body temperature were to drop like those of a hibernating snake, we’d die. The Mayo Clinic and many other health organizations have been issuing warnings of late about the dangers of sitting. Sitting at a desk, sitting behind the wheel of a car, sitting while talking on the phone, watching TV, any form of sitting apparently does terrible things to your body. To read these warnings about how too much sitting can lead to heart disease or spinal collapse is like reading about some newly discovered kind of harmageddon. A personal body apocalypse. The Internet has brought in a slew of new jobs, but they are desk jobs. And the reality of virtual life is that there are wonderful rabbit holes you can fall down in cyberspace, be it researching something, searching for a new recipe, playing games or binge-watching TV shows. Are not the rabbit
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February 26, 2015 Health, Sports & Fitness holes of the Internet a new form of idleness? Idleness: A model farm where the devil experiments with seeds of new sins and promotes the growth of staple vices. -- From “The Devil’s Dictionary� by Ambrose Bierce, 1906
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he general wisdom these days is to get up and just move, even if all you do is stretch and stroll, every 20 minutes. There are all sorts of recommendations: Get a standing desk. Get a treadmill desk. Get a program for you computer to ring an alarm every 20 minutes. Get wearable tech that tracks your heart rate and zaps you if you stop moving. There are even motivational sites where, if you don’t attain your weight loss goal, you must give money to charity. That brings us to a grand question: To join or not join a gym? There is the expense to consider, but if you actually go with any regularity there is most likely some algorithm conceived by a clever statistical person which proves how expending that energy and expense gives you a higher energy return. You must give to get, the saying goes. And then there are the benefits of community. Striking up a conversation with the person on the exercise bike next to you, even if something as simple as what books-on-tape keep you spinning the longest? Or, conversely, putting in those earbuds and stepping onto that treadmill gives you some alone time with the community of yourself. Stopping all the noise of life. Enjoying your own company (another tough notion.) It’s not easy. There are formidable laws, such as gravity and entropy, at war with us, battling to keep us down. Gravity literally is a force that compels us to sit down or lie down. Fighting gravity is not easy. Entropy, the thermodynamic tendency of all things to break down, is another tough opponent. It’s nice to frame the argument of exercise in such lofty terms. If you move, you are battling huge forces. If you move, you win. Heroic win. Another formidable foe is habit. If you are not in the habit of going to a gym, chances are you won’t go. Rivers spend centuries happily going down the same old rut. It requires an enormous amount of energy to jump a riverbank, to break a habit, to re-program your mind to jump the usual pathways it’s been cutting for decades. And then there are those things called goals. The best way to achieve a goal is to set an attainable one. If you come out of winter with no weight gain, you won. If you walk to the gym, even if you turn around and don’t go into the gym, you took a walk; therefore you won. If you do gain weight over the winter but made a new friend at the gym, you won. If you lose a few pounds because of some great motivator such as having a date, or needing to put on a bathing suit, even if the date is bad or you never get to the pool, you won. Birds and other migratory creatures fly south. The human variety of the snowbird goes to Florida for the winter. But most of us are stuck in here in the winter, wishing we could hibernate or migrate. Sloth: 1. Aversion to work or exertion; laziness; indolence. 2. Any of various slow-moving arboreal mammals. 3. One of the seven deadly sins.
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he interesting thing about sloths is that they aren’t actually lazy. They move slowly in order to conserve energy. Which brings us back to the happy delusion of winter as
a great excuse to slow down. Bears do it. Trees do it. Why can’t we do it? The black humor of Ambrose Bierce’s definition of idleness aside, there’s a new definition of the idler running about town, one that elevates the quality of the idle to an art, like the purr of a fine engine. For those that want to perfect this high art of idling, I recommend The Idler’s Glossary by Joshua Glenn and Mark Kingwell, a humorous glossary of variations on sloth, from avoidance to vagabond, including definitions of sluggard, lag-
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gard, limpsy, loaf, catnap, chillax, dosser, ennui, flazy, futz, and slugabed, to name a few. In other words, more words for high-level hedonism than you’re too lazy to shake a stick at, along with asides about famous literary loafers such as Ivan Goncharov’s 1989 Oblomov and the Slacker of Rick Linklater’s cinema. The book contains a delightful justification for doing, well, a higher quality of nothing. And by the way, this new kind of idling can be done, sad to inform you, on a treadmill.
WIKICOMMONS
There’s really no excuse
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ven when some gyms close, others come to life. Sometimes seismic changes in the gym universe take a while to notice. Like the closing of a longfavored health club like Summit Hill outside Catskill, which not only served a number of Greene County residents in its decades running classes and maintaining equipment to match changing trends (even getting rid of its old resort pool at one point to accommodate the popularity of large elliptical machines over the previously fine-for-all Nautilus muscle builders). The place was a social club of sorts for the region’s seniors and blue-collar sorts looking to catch up on community gossip. What happened there seems a common occurrence. Fitness centers feel the same economic pressures as other businesses, albeit with loyal customers’ region sense of healthiness oft caught in the balance. What’s left for those without access to our well-funded colleges or a smattering of high-end private clubs and spas? Mac Fitness in Kingston, with Uptown and 9W locations, keeps on keeping their clientele fit, as does the huge Planet Fitness (also in Hudson and Poughkeepsie) and standby YMCA in Midtown. IXL Health & Fitness serves the Saugerties area (as well as Northern Dutchess via a Rhinebeck outlet). The southern Dutchess and Ulster areas are amply served by Mike Arteaga’s massive complexes in Poughkeepsie and Highland, the Gold’s Gyms of Newburgh and Poughkeepsie, and Competitive Fitness and East Coast Gym outside Poughkeepsie. New Paltz, filled with the sorts of specialty wellness activities popping up all over the region (from Woodstock and Hudson’s multiple yoga studios to Kingston’s Breathe Fitness and Excel Gymnastics outside Saugerties) boasts Ignite Fitness, the Inner Wall and the Total Immersion swim program. For women, Curves is still pushing its very specific exercise program in centers around the area, while Pilates holds its own as well. And in Catskill, all those exercising souls left lost when Summit Hill closed are now moving over to Snap Fitness, part of another national chain that’s housed in a deconsecrated local church. Many local high schools are offering hours on their gym equipment on a regular basis for those not in the regular school community. And new sites seem to be popping up daily. In other words, our excuses are diminishing, even while one wonders about the effects of exercise and long drives.
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26, 2015 6 | February Health, Sports & Fitness
We evolved to do this! A runner’s introduction to his world By Chris Rowley
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he facts are in. This is a runner’s world, and indeed for humans it always was been. Of course, many are satisfied with walking and have no intention of changing their ways. They’ve made that bed. But, generation by generation that attitude is falling away, and the numbers tell the tale clearly. Before the 20th century, very few people could adopt the sedentary lifestyle so common today. Most people were farmers or manual workers. Food was relatively expensive and working hours were long. Obesity was a rare complaint. Distance running wasn’t common, either. The sport of cross-country running actually began in the English “public schools” (fee-paying schools for the elite). Known as “Fox and Hounds,” it started out as a game in which the “foxes” -- a couple of boys with scraps of torn paper in a satchel, left their trail of paper across field and heath. An hour later, the “hounds”, the main body of the school, were released in pursuit. Thomas Hughes described this sport well in “Tom Brown’s Schooldays” set at Rugby School in the 1840s. Other schools had been “Hunting the Fox” since the days of Queen Elizabeth I, around 1600. From those obscure beginnings, running has grown into a widespread attribute of modern culture. From the Tokyo Marathon to the Great Swedish Mud Race, people all over the world are running. The numbers are impressive. Take marathon finishers for instance. In 1976 there were around 25,000 folks who finished a marathon in the US. In 2011 that number hit 518,000! And women have been taking over! In 1980 just ten percent of marathoners were women. By 2005 women were up to 41 per cent of marathon finishers, and in the half-marathon 59 percent. There’s been a boom in endurance running. In just the last few years in the US, participation in non-traditional events has swelled from around 100,000 or so in 2009 to four million in 2013. There’s been explosive growth in mass participation “adventure” running, the “Tough Mudders” and the “Spartan” series, for instance. These events include obstacle courses and team-building aspects. They have drawn in people who aren’t hyper-competitive, but want to enjoy a pretty long, demanding run, with interesting additions, including lots of mud! Extreme endurance runs have proliferated. In our region the Shawangunk Ridge 74-mile and 32-mile run/hike is the latest contender. This event traverses the length of the ridge, starting down at High Point State Park in New Jersey and carrying on right up to Rosendale.
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Running on the growing network of trails our region offers is a great group pastime, be it among friends or with family; the more out there, the better the pace!
KELLIE MCGUIRE
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hy do we run? What do runners get out of all that exertion? A great deal. First, there’s the “runner’s high”, a feelgood sensation that comes from the release of endocannabinoids, chemicals related to those in marijuana/cannabis that the body produces naturally to cope with the stress of strenuous exercise. It all comes down to us being “cursorial” hunters, ready to chase prey for long distances. There’s no question that a five mile run leaves you with a powerful sense of physical well-being and alertness. Others point to the way the mind can shift into a “flow state” during a run, sparking creativity and problem-solving. Marcus Guiliano, chef proprietor of Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville and wellknown in Ulster County running circles, says, “For me it’s the clarity that comes to my mind. I’m away from all the phone calls and problems, and I find I can just think things through remarkably easily.” Margaret Hillriegel, a land surveyor in Shawangunk, deals wither problems. “I find it clears my mind when I’m running,” she says. “I can concentrate on a problem, perhaps something that I’ve been dwelling on at work, and I get a really good focus on it.”
KELLIE MCGUIRE
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February 26, 2015 Health, Sports & Fitness
Walk training All kinds of advice are available for this simplest and most instinctive form of exercise By Kellie McGuire
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hether speed walking, power walking, aerobic walking, race walking, or just plain old walking it’s a great form of exercise, and easier than running according to Amy Zegers, a physical therapist and walking advocate. “It uses all the muscles in the lower body and engages the core muscles, the stomach and the back,” Zegers said. “You just have to do a little bit and then build up.” It doesn’t require expensive equipment. As long as walking doesn’t hurt, keep on doing it, Zegers recommends. Walking increases bone density and is good for arthritis, because it optimizes nutrition to the joints by moving fluid into the cartilage. The activity is “awesome” for dealing with osteoporosis. Anthony Covello, owner of the Ridge Gym in Stone Ridge and the 28 West Gym in Woodstock, explains. “Walking is very powerful in building bone density,” he said. “It’s the impact of the foot that builds the bone density.” A certified personal trainer, Covello stresses the importance of posture and interval training in walking. “Chest out, shoulders back, and chin up,” Covello said. “Find the pace you would call the base pace. On the treadmill that would be about three miles per hour. Then use an interval training technique. Walk for three minutes at the base pace and then one minute at a faster pace or on an incline. Then slow back down to base pace for three minutes and repeat.” Stretching is also an important part of a walking training plan. “Walk slowly for about five minutes, then stretch,” Covello suggested. “Calf stretches, runner’s stretches. Then continue on the walk. Stretch warm muscles, not cold.” Covello suggested trying to get in 45 minutes of long, slow walking four times a week. And do not carry weights. According to him, it is better to do 15 reps with heavier weights at the end of a walk to than to carry weights while walking. Everybody’s walking styles differ. There is no right way to walk or swing your arms, according to Covello. “Do whatever your body feels comfortable doing,” he said. With the exception of wildly swinging arms or slamming your feet down. The most important thing is to keep track of what you’re doing. Whatever way you walk, get out there and just do it. That sounds almost like a slogan for a shoe maker, doesn’t it? The other thing about the flow-state is that time and distance seem to go away. It’s as though one is so engrossed in thinking something through that one doesn’t even notice running four, or even fourteen, miles. Eric Cafaro, a developer who operates in Sullivan and Ulster counties, lists three primary reasons for his love of running. “First, I love to get outdoors and enjoy the beauty of the country around here, and running is never finite, you can always choose a different trail. Then, two, there’s the cardio-vascular health aspects, and three, there’s the camaraderie, the bonding with running friends.” Considering the benefits to physical and mental health from running, it’s clearly been advantageous to our kind for a long time. Basically, we’re the running ape. Clear evidence for this lies in the Nuchal ligament, which connects neck vertebrae and the back of the skull. It’s essential to hold the head steady while running. We have this, and our ancestors on the homo lineage had it too, but the earlier Australopithecine apes didn’t, and nor do chimps, our closest surviving relatives.
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he benefits from running? Research continues to produce more and more evidence of them. Recently, for instance, it was announced that GERALD BERLINER running -- and other aerobic ex- One of the great spots for runners is Sam's Point outside of ercise -- causes the body’s cells Ellenville. to increase the number of mitochondria. These are the little organelles in our stress them, they tend to get weaker. While any cells that create adenosine triphosphate, the priaerobic exercise is good for you, running is parmary source of chemical energy that keeps us goticularly good for bones, because it increases the ing. This sets up a beneficial spiral. Exercise and force that muscles exert on the bones and the reyour cells gear up with more mitochondria, which sponse by the body is to strengthen them. in turn makes it easier to exercise. And now we have research indicating that reguAnother benefit is found in your bones. As we lar running stimulates areas of the brain to grow age, our bones lose their density, they become new brain cells. These areas are associated with brittle. Bones are dynamic tissues. If you don’t memory recall, and are crucial for learning and
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other cognitive tasks. So, we’re running more and more, but are we doing it right? Some say no and point out that while we take lessons for golf, tennis, swimming, we assume we know how to run the proper way. That may not be quite true. Marcus Guiliano says, “First off, it’s crucial to have the proper equipment and clothing. A water pack, the right shoes. I always recommend going to a professional shoe fitter. It doesn’t cost that much more than the shoes, and it’s just getting someone to look at your foot, how long and tall is your arch, how tall is your foot overall? There may be certain shoe brands that you will never fit into, and others that you will always fit into. Shoes are mass-produced, but your feet are unique.” Like many active runners, Guiliano goes for a minimalist “zero-drop” shoe with as little support as possible. “I don’t do stretching, and I really focus on proper stride and form. I’m really big on the fundamentals of proper running. The minimalist shoe forces you to run right. If you do that, you avoid injuries later on.” He also promotes the use of a fruit smoothie, with turmeric to help the body recover from the oxidation effects of running. Eric Cafaro has also worked on his running technique. “I use minimalist shoes. Once I concentrated on how my foot strikes the ground everything improved. I recommend the books by Scott Jurek and Martin Rowe.” Guiliano shops at Frank’s Shoefitting in Middletown, and also recommends New Jersey Road Runner. Cafaro says that Rock & Snow in New Paltz has a good selection of running shoes. Once spring is here and the trails are free of ice and snow, the local runners will be outdoors again and on the trails. Coming up, the next big event will be the Mohonk 50 Miles, a.k.a. “Rock the Ridge,” on May 2. Hillriegel, currently nursing a leg injury due to a pothole, is determined to get fit for that one. Guiliano is thinking about it, too. The big runs and the smaller ones are just one aspect of running. It’s really more about feeling good, being strong, setting personal goals and achieving them. Guiliano sets himself marks for the year. In 2014, he ran 2000 miles. Okay, that’s more ambitious than most of us would try for. This writer, who runs two to three times a week, aims at 45 miles a month, with a day or two between runs, when exercise is about yardwork, lawnmowing, gardening and other activities. For me, the proof in the pudding is to be found in my improved mood, my keeping strong bones as I age, and growing all those new brain cells just in time for me to learn several new languages before age 70. Okay, just kidding about the languages.
Foot pain is complicated
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eady to start running, or maybe just walking on some of these great local trails? Who should you go to for basic injuries? Here are a few suggestions how to avoid big ouchies? According to running magazines, medical websites and our region’s leading podiatrists, the key thing to look out for Plantar Fasciitis, a sharp, stabbing pain at the bottom of your foot tied to a special bottom-of-the-foot tendon and tied to overuse, improper running shoes, or even tight or weak calf muscles. Watch for stress fractures based on bone issues or small fractures and fissures (these tend to be slow-building with sudden deteriorations. Extensor Tendonitis, related to calves, shows up in one’s toes, and is caused as much by bad shoes as tight calves. Adductor and Abductor Hallucis, which is like Plantar Fasciitis but concentrated on the top of the foot and, comes from poor support in one’s footwear or from bunions. Hear all that talk of proper footwear? Do your research, and be sure and do stretches and massages to make sure your feet get the proper care when running or walking often. Even more important? When you get bad pain, don’t ignore it. Check out a foor specialist like Advanced Podiatry Associates of the Hudson Valley 227-6947 or www.atyourfeetfootcare.com) or others recommended by your primary-care doctors. Don’t ignore your injury until it becomes a real problem. Be careful!
26, 2015 8 | February Health, Sports & Fitness
Expand your horizons S
PHOTOS BY PHIL MANSFIELD
Author Cally Mansfield found that the Hunger Games phenomenon has made archery cool with youngsters now, and not just a sport for aging deer hunters.
Archery helps one find one’s inner warrior By Cally Mansfield
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didn’t feel any breeze in the forest. I saw a few deer grazing in the grass. One looked straight at me. This deer had to be the sassiest deer I have ever seen this side of the river. She was provoking me. She has to go down. I draw my bow, and my mind is sharp as a tack as I aim for the deer’s vitals. The arrow lands just south of her heart. Sweet.
I go to collect my arrows and feel an urgent need to get back to the base. The enemy is drawing nearer. I think I hear the distant whine of another deer. “Cally, it’s my turn!” Oh, wait, that’s no animal. It’s my friend Fenner telling me it’s her turn on TechnoHunt to shoot. That’s how much fun it is to do TechnoHunt and archery. I dragged Fenner along (we didn’t think it was going to be this much fun) to help me research the booming trend that is archery. TechnoHunt is a virtual hunting game that shows many different scenes of all sorts of animals that you must shoot with arrows. Fenner was disappointed to find that she was particularly good at striking the vitals of endangered animals.
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hawn Johnson is Kenco’s archery events coordinator and archer extraordinaire. Many girls come to Kenco’s indoor shooting range looking for the “Katniss experience,” he said. Katniss is the bow-slinging hero from the Hunger Games trilogy. Do get that experience here. The folks at Kenco will set you up with your own bow, finger glove, and arm guard. In ten minutes you’re ready to shoot to your heart’s content. People want to shoot to get a feeling of what hunting is like, the concentration that you need, and even something as simple as how a bow feels in your hands. When I first walked into the archery section of Kenco, I expected to run into a bunch of trigger-happy hunters discussing their latest kill. Nothing like that. I was soon comfortable. The place was so not scary. It felt kind of like where Katniss might go for back-to-school shopping. It was awesome. There was everything from vanillascented deer lure to a target bow that cost three times as much as my electric bass. The first thing I noticed was Shawn’s immense passion for helping people such as myself who were ignorant about archery and hunting. Shawn says that hunting is necessary because the deer population is too large. There’s not enough “natural selection,” he says. He feels that safe and legal hunting help nudge that evolutionary process along. My experience at Kenco turned out different than I had expected. I experienced a side of myself that I never knew was there: my inner warrior. I was eight years old the first time I did archery. It was at a camp. I managed to hit the target of the person next to me. After that, archery wasn’t high on the list of my mother’s look-what-Cally-cando brags. Maybe if I had to hunt my food like the humans of a bajillion years ago I would have improved my skills sooner. TechnoHunt really got me back in the game. Even though humankind has used archery for hunting since the caveman, we didn’t start doing it for recreation until the seventeenth century. One of the first recorded recreational archery groups were the Finsbury Archers, started in 1688. Nowadays there are many archery competitions like ones sponsored by the International Bowhunting Organization (IBO), World Archers, and International Archery Federation.
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hawn taught me about two types of bows. A hunting bow is compact and usually printed with a camouflage pattern. A target bow is longer and heavier, and can be made from materials ranging from wood to metal and vary in color. Katniss used a target bow, so of course I had to try that kind. Shawn’s own bows are named “Tangerine” and “Blue Bertha.” He recommends the Matthews brand at Flying Arrow Sports in East Greenbush. But there are lots of other good places to get custom bows in upstate New York. In Woodstock you can buy beautiful bows at Catskill Mountain Traditional Archery. Not only can you buy awesome-looking bows at Bold Archery Design in Jeffersonville, but you can also get outdoor archery instruction and even foraging classes. There are tons of camps in our area where the whole family can do archery together, like Frost Valley in Claryville. At Kenco, they also have an outdoor 3D archery course where groups can go out into the forest and shoot foam targets of bears, dinosaurs and such. If you’re like me, not exactly the outdoorsy type, I highly recommend Kenco’s indoor range. But that is coming from someone who once actually stayed in her room for an entire day looking at photos of sloths. Would sloths like TechnoHunt? I wasn’t sure I would get much exercise from archery. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that after a good session of shooting my arm was super-tired and worn out. According to Shawn, archery really sharpens your mind, too. It helps with stamina, focus, and keeping quiet for longer periods of time than I can. When Shawn was five, he said, he got a bow and arrow because he couldn’t afford a BB gun. He told
February 26, 2015 Health, Sports & Fitness
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Shawn Johnson, the archery events coordinator at Kenco Sports in Kingston, makes certain that those he teaches learn the fitness aspects of archery, as well as its deepseated primal elements of fun. me that if he had had the money to afford that gun he would be a different person than he is today. He’s been an archer for 39 years now, and he seems like a well-rounded person to me. If you are nervous to try archery, or think it might be dangerous, or think your aim is terrible, or think that hunting is just for people who like killing animals, you’re like I was. But, like Shawn said, “What do you have do lose? Come try a bow.” I not only found my inner warrior, but I also found some bragging rights for my mom, and a story for the sloth under my bed.
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t used to be that archery was something you tried out while scouting or at summer camp. Then it morphed into hunting season, and the realm of high-powered crossbows. Ever since Katniss Everdeen caught teenagers’ and then their parents’ attention in the Hunger Games books and movies, the age-old practice has caught fire as the cool sport for anyone with a young spirit and wish to get those arms and pecs in top gear, not to forget that tummy and one’s entire sense of aim and tautness. Along with the shift in archery’s hipness quotient has come a change in where one goes for its various component equipment and stuff. Sure, old-style old-Catskills and Hudson Valley hunting providers still carry the basics, but not always the great new classes such as that covered here, which took place at Kenco Work & Play Outfitters just outside Kingston on Route 28. Try them at 340-0552, at www.atkenco.com, or on Facebook. Other great places to try include Northern Dutchess Archery in Red Hook, reachable through 758-3651 or www.ndarchery.com. You can check up on its classes on Facebook. There’s also the one-of-a-kind Bold Archery Design in the Sullivan County community of Jeffersonville, where owner Joseph Frye makes his own bows from natural elements, and teaches archery courses that start with history and include mythology as well as the usual safety and marksmanship elements. “My equipment is made to put you in touch with the excitement I feel when I go into the woods, creeks, lakes or swamps for whatever is in season or even just to go out stump shooting or to traditional archery shoots with friends,” Frye says. “Fiberglass, poxy, composites, aluminum and graphite those are not part of nature.” Join nature again and take the challenge, feel the rush. Call 482-2173 or visit www.boldarcherydesign.com.
26, 2015 10 | February Health, Sports & Fitness
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26, 2015 14 | February Health, Sports & Fitness
The bumpy road to change The complex new healthcare terrain offers consumers both problems and opportunities By Debora Gilbert
H
as Obamacare changed our lives? When the national Affordable Care Act came online late in 2013, those of us who do not receive healthcare through our jobs rushed to find a plan and register for it before the deadline. I felt like a gambler as I considered the different plans. What kind of year should I expect in regard to my health? I added up monthly premium costs and maximum out-of pocket-expenses. I made a spreadsheet of deductibles, co-pays, emergency room, physical therapy and specialist costs for different plans. Most of the policies I looked at offered protection against catastrophic medical costs beyond a maximum liability exposure of $8000 to $10,000, which I calculated by adding the policy’s deductible to my maximum out-of-pocket expense. Of the plans I looked at, those with higher monthly premiums came with lower deductibles and lower overall liability. Those who are healthy and don’t use much medical care might do best with a lower premium plan. They may never need their insurance to protect their finances against the burden of catastrophic medical costs. I checked to see whether my primary-care physician accepted the insurance I was considering. I attended a seminar offered for small business people by the my county chamber of commerce, and I spoke with healthcare navigators both there and at the Columbia Health Care Consortium. Then I agonized. Finally ready, I couldn’t reach a navigator by phone. The overloaded New York State of Health website was not responding. I feared I might miss the deadline. I kept trying. I was finally able to register by nine o’clock on the Saturday evening before the deadline (which by then had been moved into the future). Later I renewed the dental and eye insurance I had through the chamber of commerce. That was last year. This year the process was less stressful. I remained with the same insurance provider and registered with them over the phone. Some policies require the individual to pay off a $2000 to $3000 deductible in medical expenses before their coverage begins. The good news is that many policies with high deductibles include health maintenance coverage at no extra cost for regular checkups and tests. What if you need a specialist? Dr. Marc Ginsburg, a foot specialist and single practitioner at Capital Region Foot Care in Albany, said that the ACA was nightmare for him. “Patients come in with high deductibles and we have to call an 800 number to see if they have covered the deductible,” he said. “If they haven’t, I have to say I can’t help them.” Ginsburg said there were also unfunded mandates, federal requirements for data and records connected with ACA. “It cost me over $100,000 to get the hardware and software to be able to stay in compliance,” he complained. “That doesn’t include the extra staff time. The audits and the threats of reimbursement reductions if compliancy is not kept up have raised costs and taken time away from patient interaction.” andy Rissman, a Woodstock-based family practitioner, left private practice last year and joined HealthQuest, the Poughkeepsie-based healthcare system. He is part of the not-for-profit group at the Northern Dutchess Hospital. “The future is in bigger groups,” Rissman said. “They can negotiate better fees. I now just take care of patients.” Although he doesn’t hear much about insurance in his work, Rissman expressed concern that some groups are dropping certain insurance companies, preferring to work with only the better-paying
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ones. He called that situation “upsetting and confusing to patients.” The ACA has not contained costs -– especially pharmaceutical costs -– as well as it could have had it switched to a single-payer system, Rissman said. Using private insurance to distribute care adds 15% to 20% to the total cost, he said. “High deductibles should be illegal. They keep patients from getting necessary care.” Rissman noted that the rate at which medical costs are rising has decreased under ACA. “Every other country has universal health care,” he said.
ible,” suggested Nevins, “look for one that offers the chance to use copays for essential services including primary care, urgent care, and ER.” In Albany a recent disagreement between the doctors’ group New York Oncology and Hematology (NYOH) and the insurance company CDPHP occurred after CDPHP asked NYOH to take a smaller percentage of compensation for injectable drugs purchased and stored in-house. NYOH patients expressed their fear that their therapy might be interrupted. This January the companies announced a settlement. This kind of fracas may crop
WIKICOMMONS
What better shill for a vaccine than our President? No matter the politics, the basic idea behind innoculations has to do with community health.
Ah, vaccinations
I
t’s not every year the idea of inoculations makes front page news, or enters into political discourse. We won’t get into the various sides here. Just what’s recommended by the Center for Disease Control. For children age six and under, the measles, mumps, rubella vaccination (MMR) is best given between twelve and 15 months. Hepatitis B shots are in the first two months, as well as between six and 18 months, when polio shots and a kid’s first flu shots are suggested. The Hib vaccine which protects against meningitis, the varicella vaccine for chickenpox, and the PCV vaccine against pneumococcus (which can also lead to meningitis), are given between twelve and 15 months. The DTap vaccine against tetanus occurs between 15 and 18 months; Hepatitis A shots take place in the second year. For children ages seven through 18, vaccines recommended for all include tetanus, diptheria, pertussis (Tdap) shots, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, MCV4 does against meningitus and yearly flu shots, the first three during one’s eleventh and twelfth years and the latter on an annual basis, plus catch-up shots for those who missed vaccines when younger. Finally, for adults, the CDC suggests annual flu shots and Tdap boosters every ten years to hold off tetanus, diptheria and pertussis problems, shingles shots for anyone over the age of 60, and PCV13 and PPSV23 vaccines for those over 65 to hold pneumonia at bay. There are also a host of specific recommendations dependent upon varying health conditions and an overall warning to get one’s basic childhood vaccinations if never received when young. Seems like a lot? These are all recommendations from health professionals, with full descriptions of what they prevent, and how (as well as why) to be found at www.cdc.gov/vaccines or in literature available at most local doctors’ offices. As for the big arguments, ask yourself what many of our doctors ask us: Do you travel? Could you come in contact with any of these diseases? “When you look at what they spend per individual, it’s half what we spend. And we are not healthier. We still have uninsured people showing up at the emergency room, so it’s worth saying that people need to take responsibility for their health just like they do when they get car insurance.” “Make sure your doctors are in your plan’s network,” stressed Rissman. he cost of insurance has skyrocketed,” said Erin Nevins of the Nevins Insurance Agency in Albany. “Nothing has been done to change the cost of care which drives the insurance.” While some believe the mandatory drug coverage has been a boon for the insurance companies and agencies, many won’t use it. It’s a struggle to pay 85 cents of every dollar on claims and to have to stretch out the remaining 15 cents to cover taxes, utilities, overhead, accounting and every other non-claim expense, Nevins said. “If you must choose a policy with a high deduct-
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up more often as insurance companies and doctors struggle over revenue. one of the three hospitals contacted -Westchester Medical Center, Columbia Memorial Hospital, and Albany Medical Center -- responded to repeated requests for an interview. It may be too early even for them to know whether Obamacare is helping or hurting hospitals. In 2011 Columbia Memorial Hospital, which many in the northern portion of our readership area use, spent $9 million on care for the uninsured. The prices charged these patients are much higher than the negotiated prices paid by the insured. Some of the 7300 people in Columbia County between the ages of 19 and 64 who had no health insurance received that care. The Medicaid costs that had been funded directly by the federal government will be taken over by New York State this year. During the current Albany budget process, the legislature will have to vote on a new tax proposed by governor Andrew
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February 26, 2015 Health, Sports & Fitness
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o you’ve done your basic checklist and gotten your insurance in place, started activating wellness savings, and figured out how to not only eat more regularly, but regulate the prescription medicines you take. What about the teeth? Two things to remember these days. First, new laws require some form of dental coverage has to be provided all children up to age 19. In New York State, Child Health Plus tends to cover this. Most private coverage offers plans to make sure you’re not breaking any laws, or allowing your kids’ teeth to end up, well, looking like your own or your parents’ or grandparents’. But what does this mean in terms of costs and coverage? Costs, even when one is relying on dental insurance plans alone, tend to top out around $50 a month, and are way less when packaged with other insurance. The benefits, and what our young ones get, includes regular exams, cleanings, sealants, X-rays, minor restorative services such as fillings, and major restorative services such as crowns. What needs to be worked out are deductibles and, most importantly, what counts as preventative care. As for those not kids, or living and providing dental insurance for same, places like Tischler Dental in Woodstock offer special services for seniors’ teeth and gums. Dr. Bruce Kurek’s at the Center for Advanced Dentistry in Highland offers these specialties.. The key to what makes for great dentistry is for the patient to alleviate past fears, take into account new advances and understandings regarding materials, and always take into consideration the whole health aspects of what they do. Talk about big changes. New horizons for the integration of our insurance systems to handle all our health needs under one big umbrella are eventually coming.
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while everyone who got added to the Medicaid rolls got coverage for free.�  ose Pannuto, an insurance broker with Mid Hudson VIP, agreed that a larger than anticipated number of people had turned out to be eligible for Medicare. She praised the ACA for making pediatric dental and eye care mandatory. She also pointed out the huge gap between groups that get insurance through their employers and individual plans. Individuals get strippeddown networks and lower reimbursement levels. In the Hudson Valley, Pannuto said, individual plans do not allow patients to go out of network or to go downstate for care. Nor are preferred provider organization (PPO) plans available to individuals. While we may have friends who travel to New York
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Cuomo to fund the state’s health insurance market. Cuomo has proposed adding a surcharge of $25 to all monthly premiums. Navigators with whom I spoke during the enrollment period sounded thrilled to be helping so many people who thought they could not afford insurance. An individual who earns just under $16,000 qualifies for Medicaid, while a family of four can earn up to $33,000 and still qualify. To qualify for a subsidy, one must estimate income for the coming year. The 2014 tax season will be the first time that those who received a subsidy will find out whether their estimate of last year’s income was on the mark. If they estimated too little and received a subsidy, they may have to return some money. Steven Brill, writing in Time magazine, discussed subsidies: “What Obamacare really is [is] a massive new government income redistribution program providing health insurance through subsidies and the expansion of Medicaid to millions of people. Across the country, 87% of all those who bought insurance on the exchanges got subsidies,
City for medical care, those of us with individual policies will not be going to Sloan Kettering if we get a cancer diagnosis. “Start the process early and do your homework,� advised Pannuto. Common sense suggests that the newly insured will receive the kind of medical attention that may prevent more serious and expensive health consequences down the road. We are only in the second year of this national experiment with health care, of course, and at this point it’s too early to know definitively whether Obamacare is actually bringing down costs -- or even whether it will survive in its present form for another year. Now in control of both houses of Congress, the Republicans have been drafting an alternative healthcare plan. If it passes, the president is likely to veto it. It’s a good bet that we will be re-enrolling in ACA or a similar program less than a year from now.
photo by Matt Calardo
Don’t forget the teeth!
| 15
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26, 2015 16 | February Health, Sports & Fitness
COURTESY OF FIELD GOODS
Based in Greene County, Field Goods' wellness crusade, bringing local farmers' wares to willing customers, now reaches up and down the entire Hudson Valley.
Distributing local food Field Goods pursues a model that includes farmers, employers and subscribers By Amanda Howard
F
ield Goods delivers fresh local fruits and veggies to scores of companies and community centers in the Albany and Hudson Valley regions. Subscribers receive around seven different seasonal items each week, from donut peaches to watermelon radishes. Since what is delivered comes from local farms, Field Goods boasts that its food is fresher than what can be found at any grocery store. Some companies have embraced the model so thoroughly that they’re offering wellness points and health insurance discounts to staff members. “Our goal is to get insurance companies to treat our program like a gym membership,” founder Donna Williams said. Field Goods appeals to corporate HR departments and wellness committees, and the product appeals to employees who want options for themselves and their families. Individual subscribers take their bags of groceries home after they’ve been delivered to the workplace. “It’s low-cost and convenient,” Williams said. “It can be hard to find local produce, and people are interested in the option.” Albany Law School has been a Field Goods customer for about three years. Human resources director Sherri Donnelly says it’s been a hit with employees. “We’re very pleased with the service. It’s so simple, and Field Goods is easy to work with. They provide the marketing materials, the website. They
have direct contact with the participants …. It’s convenient and healthy for employees.” Field Goods’ Williams saw a niche that could be filled. Farms depend on a lot of community support, and the co-op model works well for them, with members who buy in and help share the risks and the rewards of farming. Smaller farms, however, often need more of a boost, especially if their co-op membership is small. For growers, selling to farmers’ markets and local restaurants is always a good business practice. But Williams, who has a background in consumer health, was looking for a more scalable business model. She saw a way small local farmers could be helped to add to their support system. She went looking for companies looking for ways to improve the health and culture of their businesses.
W
illiams’ background with MediMedia Consumer Health Companies, a healthcare marketing firm, helped her see how her new business could encompass farmers, employers and subscribers. She honed Field Goods’ strategic plan. A supportive and food-savvy family helped the process; Williams’ husband was the long-time owner and chef of the Stewart House in Athens. It’s a win-win system for everybody, Williams maintained. “It builds a happier, healthier workforce for companies,” she said. “If you learn to eat differently, it has a powerful impact on your health. Plus it supports the local food movement.” A diet study and survey conducted by The Sage Colleges in Troy has backed this idea. Dr. Rayane AbuSabha, a professor of nutrition science, found that after three months about 40% of Field Goods subscribers reported eating healthier. Weekly subscribers reported that the total servings of vegetables they ate increased ten percent to 55 servings of
vegetables per week. A Harvard Nurses Health Study showed that people who averaged 56 or more servings a week of fruits and vegetables were 30% less likely to have had a heart attack or stroke. Individuals who ate more than 35 servings of fruits and vegetables per week had roughly a 20% lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.
T
o combat what Williams calls “barriers to healthy eating,” Field Goods is launching Beet Camp, a program that offers a trial period of employers subsidizing employee subscriptions. “We’re hoping this will be a great motivator,” Williams said. “We want people who wouldn’t necessarily sign up to see how easy it is to eat healthy, and to continue on that path.” Employers can sign up for the ten-week program and “create a culture of wellness and environmental responsibility.” A 15-person sign-up with the Beet Camp also provides participating companies information about sustainable farming, copies of the Field Goods newsletter, and an employee Q&A session with a dietitian. It’s a pretty basic concept, according to Williams. Eating well makes a difference. “It’s a powerful behavioural change. Customers not only get to eat better,” she said. “They get to experiment with new products.” It’s a model that is succeeding around the country, with similar delivery services in San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C., Arizona, North Carolina, and many other places. When is the last time you bought dandelion greens? Cooked with escarole? Heard of purslane? Field Goods is working to broaden Hudson Valley healthfood horizons by providing local produce, recipes and educational materials. No offense to the dependable carrot, but there are a lot more options out there.
February 26, 2015 Health, Sports & Fitness ULSTER PUBLISHING’S REASON
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26, 2015 18 | February Health, Sports & Fitness
Fit fam? My kids are both active and do what they enjoy By Jennifer Brizzi
S
ome families keep fit together. They jog on the beach together, play touch football in the back yard together, go on week-long backpacking treks together. Mine is not that family. The three of us have very different fitness interests, for one thing. It’s not that we’re complete couch potatoes, really. But all of us, from the fittest to the least, log in too many sedentary hours watching TV or Netflix, playing phone games and working at the computer. Wholesome family activities all together like in the ads, not so much. I’ve given up getting them to come hiking with me. They’d rather get cavities filled. When they were younger, they got their exercise at recess. Mom snuck in walks while they were having piano or guitar lessons. All I could fit in were a dance video or two or when they were at school or asleep, or an occasional trip to the gym. Off and on I’d lob tennis balls with the kids at the town park, or take my bike out for a spin, with or without them. As they got older and more independent and wanted to do stuff with me less, my bike rides and walks got a bit longer. A couple of years ago I even took up running for a couple of months, collected the proper sweat-wicking clothing, loving the flying-like feeling even when it rained (downhill, anyway). I even wrote a blog about my enthusiasm for running. But when it got too cold I just gave it up. Throughout the kids’ childhoods I signed them up for fun stuff to round out recess fun and backyard softball. They did karate for a couple of years until they tired of it. Ditto recreational soccer, tennis lessons, swimming lessons, gymnastics and dance classes (my son was the only boy). They did a bit of this, a bit of that, to see what would stick. As they have turned into young teenagers, their aptitudes have developed and their activities more distinct. Other than a fair amount of Clash of Clans on the iPhone and anime on the Kindle, they are active kids doing things they enjoy. One is a team player all the way, soccer and basketball his favorites, being part of a team, weathering losses and celebrating victories with his gang. My other child, after doing rec soccer from age five or so, decided she doesn’t like team sports but loves gymnastics, longboarding, kickboxing -- physically demanding sports you can do with friends or practice alone. The key is to do something you enjoy. If you’re forced by your parents or your own ephemeral resolutions, the activity becomes drudgery. I won’t do it or stick to it if it doesn’t feel good. Neither will the kids. Just as we grownups are encouraged to find activities we love, whether bike riding, swimming or lifting free weights, while we eschew the ones we don’t, the same goes for kids as they grow. Offer them a myriad of activities and let them drop the ones they want to. Let them see you enjoying being active. If they won’t join you, encourage them to find what moves them to move. In the Hudson Valley there are lots of opportunities for kids to get fit and have fun while they’re at it. I’ll share with you a few things my own kids have enjoyed. My son has thrown and attended many a birthday party at Mac Fitness in Kingston, and has had soccer practices there during inclement weather. Their MacFitKids program, tagline “inspiring kids to be more active,” offers fun stuff year round. The 20,000-square-foot indoor park has three turf fields, a six-lane track for sprinting and inflatable slides. They offer sports-focused programs, summer camps and athletic training. The After School Activity Program is for kindergarten through seventh graders and includes use of the bounce house, kickball, dodgeball, healthy snacks and homework help from state-certified teachers. My son has played soccer for years, first rec then
JENNIFER BRIZZI
One of the keys to a successful workout is ready gear, kept in a place where one can not only grab it easily, but be forever reminded of one's need to stay fit. travel for a championship team. There was a season of baseball, too, with long, frequent practices to sit through and long cold games, but when I asked him — crossing my fingers behind my back — whether he wanted to continue the next year, fortunately (for me) he said no. His favorite thing these days is basketball and he is in his school’s modified team as well as a CYO league. So he’s always playing. In the little spare time he has after all these practices and games he bounces his basketball around the living room and looks for places he can shoot hoops with friends, like the Kingston Y or the Bard College gym. Unfortunately my arguments in favor of his eating more vegetables so he can grow taller and make more baskets go unheeded. The Stevenson Gymnasium at Bard in Annan-
dale has a $10 drop-in rate, but call ahead for hours. They also have a variety of popular swimming programs for kids and youth. My kids have enjoyed their summer sports camps, too. The Kingston YMCA also has swimming programs, a youth middle school health club and facilities for playing basketball, lacrosse and pickleball. Another recent favorite spot for my son and his buddies is Bounce! in Poughkeepsie, just off Route 9 next to Crunch. “Jumping on a trampoline is proven to improve muscle development and coordination and balance,” claim the Bounce folks. Friday nights my son and his friends cajole one parent to do drop off and another to pick up, and they jump to their hearts’ content for a few hours. The huge space is made up of interconnect-
Trampolines are the latest rage ...
T
he secret’s out. Jumping on a trampoline can burn up to 1000 calories per hour. The phenomenon has finally escaped the confines of top-secret NASA astronaut training schools, macho football practice fields and safety-netted backyards. The trampoline has become the all-ages equivalent of giant blow-up indoor-bounce-house extravaganzas. All around the nation, indoor trampoline parks are becoming the rage, the perfect antidote to the inertia of the passing winter season. Here in the Hudson Valley, the big new entity in this field is Bounce in Poughkeepsie, Sky Zone in Albany, and the Flight Trampoline Park in Colonie. The tagline to remember? “So much fun, they’ll never know it’s exercise!” The whole idea is similar to the indoor bouncy house with more than kids in mind. The facilities are large, with times and spaces allotted for different age group needs, from basketball and senior bouncing to the Dodgeball antics boys love, and more Princess-conducive gymnastics for girls. Everyone signs waivers. There’s lots of staff around to assist. An hour or two bouncing tends to go by real quick, unless you’re watching toddlers try to imitate the older bouncers. According to various health-focused websites addressing the trampoline park’s home-bound cousin, rebounding (involving those mini-trampolines one can fit into a bedroom), the practice was pegged by NASA as better for one’s weight loss and overall wellness than a treadmill. It’s also key for increased lymphocyte activity, helps a body’s detox and immune system restoration systems, benefits the entire skeletal system, and increases overall cell activity. Talk about covering a lot with a little bit of G-force! For more on the region’s major new trampoline parks, call Bounce, located at 2 Neptune Drive off Route 9 just north of the Galleria in Poughkeepsie, at 206-4555 or visit www.bounceonit.com. Try Flight at 518952-0433 or www.flighttrampolinepark.com. Visit Sky Zone at 518-417-3838 or www.skyzone.www/albany if in the northern part of our readership area.
February 26, 2015 Health, Sports & Fitness
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ed trampolines that make up five “jumping courts” where you can go beyond boing boing and bounce off the walls, too. You can do flips and twists, forwards and backwards, spring from trampoline to foam pits and play slam-dunk basketball and dodgeball on the trampolines, too. And there is a Bounce Jr. area for ages two to five. Speaking of bouncing around, a favorite of my daughter’s for parties, classes and camp is Excel Gymnastics on Route 9W in Saugerties. I’m probably biased but I think she is a natural. While she no longer does gymnastics, I feel like the early training had an impact on her strength, grace and overall fitness. The skills a young gymnast learns develop agility, flexibility and balance. Another fun way to blow off steam is skating, both ice and roller, and something my kids have enjoyed a lot, too, for parties, classes or just fun with friends. (I have been known to join them on the rink a time or two). My daughter has taken classes at the Kiwanis Ice Arena in Saugerties, open from the middle of August to the first week of April. Both kids have enjoyed lots of fun times at Roller Magic on Route 9 in Hyde Park, which has great owners, staff and music to skate by, as well as roller derby for adults and kids. If you spend some time there you may be lucky enough to see a couple of über-talented skaters dancing the light fantastic. Once after a party my son left a bag there with his DS device and toothbrush and the owners returned my phone call at 11 p.m. to let me know they’d found it. My daughter is a frequent longboarder. I imagine she is good at it, although I’m afraid to watch her zip around the hills and curves of Rhinecliff, where she does it. For one too-short month this past December she was kickboxing (at her request) at the MMA Collective in Red Hook. She amazed me with her energy and enthusiasm for this new sport. She absolutely loved it. Unfortunately the collective is in now on hiatus, in search of a new space. I hope it resumes soon, because I’ve seen little else that made my strong girl so happy. These days I’m not shooting baskets or kickboxing big lugs like my kids. But I hope once the weather warms a bit I will be out there walking and biking again. And that they will come with me.
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