Primary Listings
Activity Calorie Calculator (Interactive)
Reader's Digest provides a simple calculator to find out how many calories a person burns doing fun activities - including cooking, fishing, gardening, playing the piano, or walking at a slow pace. Put in your weight and length of time in minutes. Activities for all seasons including baseball, football, bicycling, skiing (water and snow), raking the leaves, washing the car ... the list goes on
Fitness, Nutrition, Prevention (HealthierUS.Gov )
Federal government helps you get tips on physical activity, better diet, screenings and more
Low Back Pain Exercise Guide
Prepared by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Easy to follow, with simple colorful drawings of exercises
Partnership for Prevention - Obesity, Activity and Nutrition
See description of four communities that implemented active aging programs - Nashville, TN, Sacramento, CA, Wheeling, West Virginia, and Largo, FL. Web site (prevent.org) has numerous resources
President's Challenge Physical Activity and Fitness Awards
This fitness program - tailored to kids, teens, adults and seniors - enables participants to earn awards while getting in better shape. ConsumerHealthRatings.com decided to sign up and win patches and medals for getting in better shape. We achieved the President's Champion - Gold award in 2009. Exercise, log your activity online and track your progress for free. Come join the movement!
Sample Worksite Policies to Promote Health (pdf)
One page list of links to sample policies from a variety of states (UT, CA, CO, MN, NC, MI) and CDC, that promote physical activity, better nutrition and healthy foods at meetings, and smoke-free workplaces. Assembled by Wisconsin
Shape Up America! Fitness Center
Shape Up America! is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization founded in 1994, and committed to raising awareness of obesity as a health issue and to providing responsible information on healthy weight management. See their page on 10,000 steps a day
Sports Fitness (MedlinePlus)
Stretching, strength training, athletic shoes, sports medicine, sports pressure, carbo-loading, sports nutrition, performance-enhancing drugs and anabolic steroids, (pre-participation) sports physicals for kids
Stretching: Focus on flexibility - MayoClinic.com
Learn four benefits of stretching and how to do it properly, from the Mayo Clinic. Updated 2009
Other Helpful Listings
Fit-Friendly Hospitals, Health Plans, Health Systems
The American Heart Association's Start! 2009 list of Fit-Friendly Companies shows more than 40 hospitals and health systems at the top Platinum level, with many more at the Gold level. These organizations promote exercise, good nutrition and a wellness culture in the workplace. Some received Fitness Innovation Awards. Open to any company with 25 employees
Fitness Centers: 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award Winners
Medical Fitness Association's 2007 awards for Distinguished Achievement were granted to selected Medical Health and Fitness Centers. Announced January 2008
Lifestyle Improvements vs. Metformin to Prevent Diabetes - Which is better?
The national Diabetes Prevention Program clinical trial found that lifestyle interventions of diet (less fat, fewer calories), exercise (150 minutes a week), and behavior modification to lose 7% of their body weight, reduced risk of developing diabetes by 58%. People on the 850 mg of Metformin (Glucophage) twice a day reduced their risk only by 31%. Both groups were less likely to develop diabetes than the placebo group, where about 11% of the group developed diabetes each year. Federal government NIH publication updated October 2008
Medical Fitness Association: Find an MFA Facility
The Medical Fitness Association (MFA) is a non-profit organization that tracks, supports and promotes the industry of medical fitness centers. It estimated that about 950 fitness centers were operating in 2008
Personal Trainers - Find an ACE-certified Professional
Find a personal trainer or other exercise professional certified by ACE - the American Council on Exercise, a large non-profit fitness certification and education provider
Prediabetes - Definition and Management Guidelines (ACE 2008)
Consensus statement from the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) for managing pre-diabetes. More than twice the number of current diabetics, are those estimated to have prediabetes. Intensive lifestyle changes are outlined. Published in Endocrine Practice October 2008
Trends in Medical Fitness
The Medical Fitness Association, a nonprofit association representing hospital- or physician-sponsored medical fitness centers, has prepared a brief compilation of trends in the medical fitness industry. List from January, 2006