I made my first visit to the workout gym in over a year the other day.  As most of my readers know I like to perform my fitness regimen in my garage where it is private, easily accessible…and most important — free!  I happened to be out of town and could not fit my garage in my suitcase, so I decided to make a visit to the local gym for some climate-controlled exercise.  Who knew exercising in an air-conditioned room could be so nice.
You can go to a lot of places over time and see many changes that have taken place over the years; but typically a workout gym is going to have many of the same pieces of equipment that were around 30 years ago.  Take the dumbbell for example — not much can change with hunk of steel that you hold in one hand.  There were a few new pieces of equipment that caught my eye, but the basic movements are pretty much the same.  The body only stretches in so many ways, right?
It was quite interesting to see what people were doing inside the gym.  Many were performing a combination of various jumps, stretches, and crunches…one guy was even hanging upside down — and another was beating the pulp out of a medicine ball — all in an effort to make the better body.  Heck, as my father-in-law says, “I’m just trying to stay alive”.
For years people have been trying to find and/or discover that special exercise movement that does it all.  Wouldn’t it be nice to stumble on that “fountain of youth” idea or pill that keeps us healthy forever?  But look around, today everything is better, bigger and more improved over what is was just a few months ago.  Just how much better can my laundry detergent get?  Maybe if someone could design a detergent that would miraculously wash, dry and fold my clothes all at the same time – then I would be impressed.
It’s no doubt that our cars, phones, computers and all the things that we use on a daily basis are constantly being improved.  There’s also been a surge in totally new inventions and ideas.  Take for example the YOLO board and SUP.  YOLO is the acronym for “You Only Live Once”, and the name of the company that started marketing its own brand of paddle board in 2005.  SUP is the acronym for “Stand Up Paddle-boarding” which has been around for ages.  Stand up paddle-boarding is derived from its Polynesian roots. The Hawaiian translation is Ku Hoe He'e Nalu; to stand, to paddle, to surf, a wave.
I had my first SUP experience just the other day.  Pretty cool…but I need more practice.  I’m better on my knees than I am standing.  Richmond Hill has a new group of SUP enthusiasts who call themselves “SUP IT & SEA”.  Meg Ireland and Cindy Taylor offer SUP adventures and tours of the waterways in our beautiful little neck of the woods.  If you are looking for something different and fun, you have to check them out.  You can reach them at:  http://www.supitandsea.com/#Guides
So who coined the phrase, “You only live once”?  It was none other than Mae West, of course.  The second part of that quote reads…”but if you do it right, once is enough”.  
Stay healthy my friends.

Rich DeLong is the Executive Director of The Suites at Station Exchange.
Contact him at 912-531-7867 or visit him on the web at www.thesuitesatstationexchange.com