My favorite as far as user-friendliness!

by Ann Votaw, CHES, MA

When New Year’s resolutions go from daily three-mile walks to marathon Facebooking, pedometers get you back on task. But which one to choose?

In my February 29 post – “Calibrating tiny leaps and bounds” – I vowed to measure pedometer accuracy by walking from ticket booth to alter (a distance of about 150 steps) at St. John Divine, the largest cathedral in the world.

Using four contenders — the Omron Gosmart, Weight Watchers PointsPlus, Fit Solutions SW-200 Yamax Digiwalker Pedometer, Omron Walking Style – I paced and clicked my way through the cathedral. Results ranked the Omron Gosmart as the easiest, most accurate and affordable ($19.99 on Amazon.com) of all four models.

While I like the Omron Walking Style’s high tech look and price $23.30, I had to visit Radio Shack in order to change the battery; the back cover is fastened with the tiniest screw known to man.

I experimented with a group of senior walkers who complained that the Omron Gosmart was too difficult to wear because the clip did not attach to clothing. While some liked the Weight Wathers PointsPlus ($39.89) model because the numbers are large and right-side-up when clipped on the hip, others wanted a plain, no-nonsense pedometer that simply reported steps and reset to zero: the SW-200 ($19.50).

In my opinion, the Weight Watchers PointsPlus, provides the most useful features: seven days of step memory and an accessible battery chamber. The downside was that it was off by 3-4 steps and veers into the $40 range. But if I had to choose pedometers for a walking program, I would choose the SW-200 for simplicity and cost.

Still, all four worked better than the average health fair freebie. All four can serve as excellent biofeedback, joining the ranks of heart rate monitors in responding to the way you work out. Think of them as caring coaches rather than sarcastic school marms.

Numbers don’t lie.

by Ann Votaw, CHES, MA

While researching pedometers for a corporate walking program, I’ve determined three factors: (1) cheap translates into useless landfill plastic (often branded with your company logo), (2) batteries must be easy to change, meaning the chamber must open with a regular-sized screwdriver, not a watchmaker’s tool, and (3) reset buttons must do their job within this century and with minimal effort.

A $12 New Balance pedometer, purchased last year at Target, exhibits all three annoying qualities of flimsy construction, poor access to battery chamber, and a reset button I must stab with a pen using diamond-forming pressure. I imagine how well this bad boy would hold up in a work-site wellness challenge, participants constantly asking for instructions or replacements.

So far, my favorites include the Weight Watchers PointsPlus Pedometer and the Omron HJ-113, both which match nearly every footfall and reset at midnight. (Unfortunately, I needed battery-changing assistance for the Omron at my neighborhood Radioshack because the screw was so tiny.) The PointsPlus is not as accurate but is the most convenient in that the battery chamber opens with a coin, the reset button does its job, and the numbers appear upside down — allowing the user to see steps right side up.

In the days that follow, expect a table depicting my suggestions. On-line searches reveal the Omron brand as a customer favorite as well as Fit Solutions SW-200 Yamax Digiwalker Pedometer, which I purchased on Amazon for $19.50.

Easy battery change is crucial as most die within three months. To my surprise, many health fair pedometers offer no way to get inside, likening them to carnival goldfish — enjoy them while they last.

Most free on-line walking programs range from six- to eight- weeks. My goal is to find the most accurate, inexpensive, and user-friendly step counters. I want participants to work out with well-functioning equipment, anywhere from eight weeks to eight years after the challenge.

Counting paces through St. John Divine's Council of Pronghorn by artists Terry Tempest Williams, Ben Roth, and Felicia Resor.

by Ann Votaw, CHES, MA

I celebrate Leap Day with steps rather than jumps, 151 to be more precise.

Here’s the story: While testing pedometers for individuals in a work-site wellness program, I paced from one end of a New York landmark to another, first verbally counting my steps and then checking my work with two different pedometers, handy tools for measuring accumulated daily physical activity. (Exercise professionals recommend 10,000 steps per day to maintain health.)

I chose beautiful St. John the Divine Cathedral in Manhattan, the largest cathedral in the world, depending on whom you ask. A tour guide assured me once that the cathedral is the world’s largest in volume, the amount of space within walls and ceiling. At any rate, it is a place of elegant statistics and changing (and challenging) visual art work.

Current exhibits center around water as a precious resource. Thus, my stroll from the ticket booth to alter took me through an eerie circle of pronghorn skulls, representing dehydrated animal life. My walk back to the ticket booth was 150 steps, but two subsequent tests — conducted in the side aisles with fewer obstructions like people or sculptures – counted out to 151.

I tried my same paths with an inexpensive New Balance pedometer (pictures to follow in subsequent posts), and I logged 100 steps, making the New Balance pedometer off by 51 paces. When I tried Omron’s Walking Style, I collected 150 steps, making it pretty darn accurate and easy to use. The New Balance version features hard-to-push buttons.

Value of Water continues through March 25 at St. John Divine. During this exhibit, I will test a few more pedometers and rate them according to accuracy, cost, and convenience.

I'm in the first row on the purple mat, ready for Lisa's famous thigh-burning lunge series.

by Ann Votaw, CHES, MA, Inwood Resident

As a former Bread and Yoga teacher and current Holy Trinity Inwood paritioner, I watched worlds collide Saturday morning in Lisa Benner’s 9 a.m. Vinyasa class.

The back of the church, now a temporary yoga studio, comfortably seated 20 yogis and their mats. Candles and Saturday’s snowstorm added ambiance.

Marcela Xavier thanked participants for supporting her studio after the January 3 fire destroyed her business on 207th Street and Broadway. She explained that Holy Trinity also had its share of hardships and that Bread and Yoga is willing to help with painting projects and possibly a new floor.

The 1929 Stock Market Crash thwarted Holy Trinity’s improvements, which would have included a rectory and a second story to the sanctuary. Today, the charming A-frame church has about 50 members who climb stairs to reach the property’s Parish House and surrounding rose and vegetable gardens.

Climbing those steps transports me to a small town, where Chloe the cat greets me by rubbing against my ankles.

Taking yoga in this church feels more Norman Rockwell than Empire State, something most people can’t imagine of life in Manhattan.

Author E.B. White wrote in This is New York, “I have an idea that people from villages and small towns, people accustomed to the convenience and the friendliness of neighborhood over-the-fence living, are unaware that life in New York follows the neighborhood pattern. The city is literally a composite of tens of thousands of tiny neighborhood units.”

For at least six months, you too can experience Warrior I under the proud stain glass windows of a tiny hilltop church. Go to www.breadandyoga.com for the most up-to-date schedule.

Just one of a pair of really awesome running shoes, the Saucony pro grid, Ride 4, in the brightest colors I could find!

by Ann Votaw, CHES, MA, Inwood Resident

I have a confession. I am a forefoot striker, something I learned yesterday at Jack Rabbit Sports.

After watching me run twice on one of the store’s treadmills, my salesperson/angel (whom I will call Brad) said, “Interesting. Most people are heel strikers, which means they land on their heels first. You run on your toes.”

Brad re-played the video in slow motion. Embarrassed, I admitted that I point my toes and roll toe-ball-no heel. In essence, my running style is a series of mini jetes or leaps, carry-over from my years as a dancer.

Kindly, Brad explained that I should concentrate on a shorter stride in order to articulate through other parts my feet. In other words, don’t be Baryshinikov!

Brad, who was just super nice, asked if I had running goals this year. I pretended he was my un-paid therapist, disclosing that I am a later-in-life athlete who as a teen performed in The Nutcracker (as a giant mouse), covered her face when confronted with softballs, but who competed in karate championships in her early 30s.

In short, I am late bloomer who has yet to hit her stride. I would love to run a 10K and some silly races involving costumes, like the New York Road Runners’ Coogan’s Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks.

“Running without a costume is really boring,” I explained, “but running in a hat really gets me going.”

Brad sweetly hooked me up with the brightest pair of shoes we could find that provided lots of cushion in the instep. He also procured Beginner I and II class information without making me feel like my gawky pre-teen self, the one who trudged through PE in a retainer and a regulation blue jumper, purchased from the now defunct Family Fleecewear Section of Belmonts, in my Indiana hometown.

 
by Ann Votaw, CHES, MA, Inwood Resident

After Tuesday night’s three-alarm fire, the building on 4945 Broadway, at the corner of West 207th Street and Broadway, is slated for demolition. Meanwhile, neighboring stores on the block are already noticing less foot traffic, even though they will remain open.

“Not too many people are walking around,” said Jeff Mansour, manager of Alejandro Furniture. “There’s already less foot traffic.”

Today was unseasonably warm with a high of 58 degrees. Despite the sunny weather, Mansour said that fewer customers were looking at the furniture displayed outside, probably deterred by scaffolding.

“This is usually much busier,” Mansour said. “A lot of people didn’t even know there was a fire.”

Customers leaving K & R Florists – which will not be torn down – said, “Well, I’m glad they’re still here,” even though the shop is beside the demolition site and surrounded by barriers.

Participants in last night’s Inwood Community meeting listened from every available place at Holy Trinity Church Inwood, in response to Tuesday’s fire at 207th Street and Broadway.

by Ann Votaw, C.H.E.S., M.A. in Health Education

Social media has played a major role in mobilizing Northern Manhattan residents in regards to Tuesday’s three-alarm fire on the block of 207^th Street and Broadway.

At Friday’s Inwood Community meeting at Holy Trinity Church Inwood, one speaker asked the crowd: How many learned about the gathering through social media? Several people raised their hands.

Later, at the fundraising event at Le Cheile Bar & Restaurant, revelers sent frequent Tweets, using the hashtag #Inwood to report up-to-the minute information.

Richard Van Le, who started Facebook’s Inwood Community Group, said that he had hoped for 50 members to join his group. As of this morning, the group has 451 members, myself included, an amazing feat considering the fire was Tuesday night!

Trevor Riggen, Senior Director of Disaster Services for the American Red Cross, said in a Facebook video panel that social media is the 3^rd most popular way, after television and radio, to obtain information during a crisis like Tropical Storm Irene. In a Red Cross online and telephone survey conducted by ORC International, nearly a fourth of the general population and a third of the online population would use social media to let loved ones know they are safe.

This statistic shows how our world is changing! In the case of the Inwood fire, social media has organized a “small town” in a big city.

The Inwood community met Friday night at Holy Trinity Church Inwood to discuss rebuilding the block of businesses, 4945 Broadway, detroyed by fire Tuesday night.

by Ann Votaw, C.H.E.S., M.A. in Health Education

At tonight’s community meeting – regarding Tuesday’s three-alarm fire on 207^th Street and Broadway – I found home.  After nine years of living in New York City within seven apartments from Queens to Hells Kitchen, I met true neighbors who crowded Holy Trinity Church Inwood and offered everything from construction services to meeting space.

The blaze destroyed the second story of a block of unique businesses, 4945 Broadway, that included a dentist office and my beloved Bread and Yoga, where I was once an employee and enthusiastic student. Representatives from Faceboook’s Inwood Community Group guessed that 200 to 400 attended, some listening from the garden outside or as toddlers in strollers.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” said Fr. Sam Smith, Interim Priest at Holy Trinity Church, which housed the event in its Pied Piper Children’s Theatre Auditorium. “What I keep thinking is, ‘What’s the passion? What does that say about what people are looking for?’ I’m stunned.”

Had the fire damaged large chain stores like Walgreens, I believe turnout might have been less impressive. One speaker mentioned Walgreens and earned applause when she said, “It’s a shame that the mom and pop shops are being pushed out; we’re not going to look like the Upper West Side. Nooooo!”

Fr. Smith echoed that thought, adding that much of the crowd seemed young, brought together through social media and a drive to serve.

Neighbor Richard Van Le, an organizer of tonight’s event, started the Inwood Community Facebook group after following Twitter for information about the fire. He said he wanted to create a community board and hoped to get 50 fans. At press time, the group has attracted 428 “former strangers,” Van Le said, myself included.

At first, organizers wanted the event to be at the Indian Road Café, but as interest picked up on Facebook, Van Le and others opted for Holy Trinity and its larger space. Michael Cudney, church treasurer and an Inwood resident since 1982, had said, “If you need a place, Friday is the one night where nothing is going on.”

To provide space for yoga, Cudney said he is willing to move pews in the sanctuary.

“The fire was ugly, but this is beautiful,” said Chris Travis from Everyday Church, who pledged $2,000 for rebuilding efforts.

Other speakers included the manager of the Piper’s Kilt, which faced the fire, real estate agents, and Fr. Robert Abbatiello from Good Shepherd Church on Isham and Broadway.

“We’re certainly with you in prayer and continue to offer our support,” said Fr. Robert who offered the church’s balcony and stage. “We’re your neighbors.”

Carol McKenny, manager of the Piper’s Kilt, said that his beer distributers were willing to donate drinks for a neighborhood talent show/fundraiser that would attract Inwood’s sizeable theater and arts community. “You name it in the business, and we’re here. Jump on the stage and chew bubble gum!”

One speaker offered to create bilingual print materials, so that Spanish-speaking neighbors, without computers, can learn how to help. Others suggested fundraising fleamarkets, a finance committee, and a watch dog group.

Eva El-Fayed Hernandez, Youth Program Director at Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Center, asked that rebuilding efforts involve teenagers in Inwood and Washington Heights. “For them, they need to understand the business ramifications of when something like this happens, with landlords and such,” she said. “They want to get involved. They don’t want to sit on Facebook all day long.”

Nancy Preston, a neighbor and fellow Bread and Yoga teacher, spoke earlier in the evening. When she looked into the audience, she said she couldn’t believe the turnout. “It was truly amazing,” she said. “Such a feeling of support and love and people felt like want to get their hands dirty and help.”

I’ll be talking to Preston more this year. Turns out, like so many others I met tonight, we’re neighbors.

Already a strict sport, as far as personal workouts and diet, bodybuilding now has vegan fans. Read this interesting article in the New York Times and watch the accompanying video linked on the left side. The above video came from YouTube and is also interesting.

One of the story’s featured bodybuilders gets up at 4 a.m. to work out and create his menus of tofu, fresh greens, and plant-based powder.

My favorite part is the mention of mankinis, bodybuilders’ competitive outfits.

Bread and Yoga, 207th Street and Broadway, experienced a terrible fire last night. My heart breaks. Happy to be of any service!

by Ann Votaw, C.H.E.S., M.A. in Health Education

Here's the room where I enjoyed so many classes, both as a teacher and student!