Role models, a little rant, and a new workout

A real hodge-podge of goodies to share today. I haven’t had much blog time, so I kept storing things up for one big link-fest.

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First things first: Tony Hawk, skateboard god for most of his 52 years on earth, pulls off a 720 (two full airborne rotations) through sheer determination… and no small amount of fitness. Seriously amazing.

Then watch this incredible video of 51-year old Peter Mel taking one of the biggest and best waves ever to hit Mavericks, during the contest last month. That video gives me chills.

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I’ll confess… I haven’t thought of Billy Blanks (or pulled out the old Tae-Bo VHS tapes!) for a very long time. Then he turned up in a Geico commercial, age 65 and looking like he’s still doing his thing (albeit without that very special leotard he used to wear). Turns out, he has been offering free quarantine workouts on his YouTube channel during this last wretched year. And he kicked off 2021 with hip replacement surgery, from which he is recovering spectacularly.

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Heart disease is STILL the number one killer in the United States, folks, and it is STILL the number one killer of women. For some maddening reasons that point to continued healthcare inequities and longstanding misconceptions about heart disease, women are less likely to survive a heart attack, and tend to have more advanced heart disease when they finally do seek care. We’ve known this for at least 20 years, but it’s still the case. Look out for yourself.

Speaking of misconceptions… I have long known that women are underrepresented in medical research, and especially in clinical trials, leading to the kinds of diagnosis and treatment biases that make heart disease so especially deadly for women. But I didn’t know that – for those same reasons – women are more likely to suffer adverse reactions to approved medications. It’s crazy that we still have to say this: we need more female subjects in clinical trials!  Here’s a chance to change the paradigm.

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This workout looks preposterous. I’m going to try it.

More soon. Stay warm.