Josh Hamilton was what we all dreamt of being -- a phenomenal athlete at a young age, headed for stardom and glory.

 “When he was barely 15,” a news article recounts, “Hamilton was already a North Carolina sports legend. He was that rarest of finds, a true five-tool player. Left-handed, he was so gifted that he occasionally played shortstop and even hoped to be a catcher. But coaches were too protective of his arm because when he pitched, he hit 95-96 mph. When he played the outfield, nobody ran on him. When he hit, everybody gasped at the power.”

We remember Josh Hamilton’s year comeback year with the Reds before becoming an all-star last season with the Texas Rangers. The video below details the struggles he confronted in conquering drug/alcohol addiction (keep watching, despite periods of still images; must've had to delete MLB footage):

"I haven't gotten tired of telling this story yet," Hamilton says. "It's my obligation – no, it's my privilege – to tell it to whoever wants to hear it. I realize how fortunate I am. If people can see that I'm not that different than them, maybe it can help them, too."

Savory Flavor Dishes from 'Biggest Loser' Chef

They mignt is is for fun. The video below features The Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, AZ. The owner, referred to as Dr. Jon, is Jon Basso who used to be in the fitness business. Jon got tired of helping people with their discipline, I suspect, so now he nourishes their fleshly indulgence. I understand his income has skyrocketed.

Coffee Mitigates Workout Agony, Athletes Attest

Don't work-out before coffee! That's good advice, even if your workout is someting other than first thing in the morning.

Studies have shown that athletes improve performance by drinking coffee before exercise, and a new study indicates why. University of Illinois researchers s found that caffeine works on the adenosine neuromodulatory system, which are the pain-regulators in the brain and spinal cord. College-aged, fit men who took part in the study were given either a caffeine pill or a placebo, then taken through high-intensity workouts during which pain perception was measured. Caffeine reduced the agony in both regular coffee drinkers and those who didn’t usually consume caffeine. Researchers speculated, however, regular coffee drinkers may need bigger dose to achieve the pain reduction.

I harp on this a lot, because it's worth harping.

Men's Health magazine is the latest to stir my passion.

To "ignite your fat burners," the magazine says, "spend more of your time in the weight room." According to the magazine, "low-intensity aerobic exercise burns a heck of a lot of calories....(but) when you're working out for 20 or more minutes, your body eats its way through your immediage energy sources, like fat and glycogen, and rummages for the next power supply: fat-scorching, muscle-building protein."

So, where were these bandwagon-hoppers decades ago when Ellington Darden had to defend The Nautilus Diet? Okay, I know I've explained this before.

Studies show that even one strength workout per week is much better than none. The results of two strength workouts is somewhat superior to one but three isn't much different from only two.

So, if you're not maxing out on weights at least once per week -- and an elliptical trainer alone is not sufficient -- you're aging faster than need be and living at a lower level of gusto than you could be enjoying.

And my other endless refrain was re-ignited in a conversation with my tax preparer.

In explaining why I'm not interested in meeting with a client of his who's quite successful with so-called key clubs, I had to tell him why I concentrate on exercise that provides BOTH high-tension in the muscle with low-force on the joints.

Functionally Inferior, Physiologically Foolish
A swiss ball can be helpful if other equipment is not available. It can re-directing gravity for free-weight exercises, or cushion your spine for crunches. However, because of the necessity to balance, the exercises above cannot be carried to a point of overwhelming the targeted muscles. What you "feel" from the exercise will quickly wash away -- without a physiological adaptation. You'll improve at the skill of balance while exerting submaximally, but don't confuse this for becoming stronger.
The bosu ball is another "make you balance" while exerting -- submaximally, not sufficient for building strength. A leg press and a rowing machine, respectively, would be more beneficial. You can produce greater force if your body is stabilized.
At right, I think that's called a "bridge" and it forces your "core" muscles into an isometric contraction. If your shoulders and neck are strong and injury free, this is okay -- but why? Your abs would benefit more from a crunch or leg lifts.

"A lot of people can give you one or the other. In particular, the run-of-the-mill personal trainer dishes up a lot of bounding, balancing and ballistic movements which are usually very demanding -- until you exceed the structural integrity of the joint."

Since he was nodding agreeably, I kept going.

"I went to work at Nautilus headquarters in 1985 when (founder and Nautilus inventor) Arthur Jones was flying doctors and physical therapists into his ranch almost daily to give them a one-day seminar on spine rehab so they could appreciate -- and buy -- the rehab machines he designed."

As I told my accountant, Jones demonstrated why some of the things learned in physical therapy school and exercise physiology programs are erroneous -- if not dangerous.

I told him that a lot of gym injuries are insidious -- they show up years later in the form of osteo-arthritis. I then started delineating some of the skill-building maneuvers void of physiological adaptation used by the typical personal trainer. When I got to jump squats, he had to interupt.

"I hurt myself doing jump squats," he said, indicating this was part of a personal training workout. "And now I have arthritis in my hips."

Moral of the story: don't play Russian Roulette with your joints. No bounding, bouncing, balancing or ballistic movements. Keep it slow, smooth, and demanding to the point of making movement temporarily impossible within about 90 seconds.

Kids Failing at Fitness

When I worked in marketing for an equipment manufacturer, one of our sales guys explained why he was selling to military recruiters. “They’re having trouble getting kids to pass the chin-ups test,” Bob told me. He then asked if I knew the requirement – two chin-ups; a vast majority of teen-agers interested in the military were unable to perform two chin-ups.

A study of fifth and seventh graders in Georgia shows that not only are many kids these days overweight, they’re also out of shape. Half of those tested couldn’t meet minimum guidelines for aerobic fitness and nearly a quarter weren’t fit in terms of muscle strength, flexibility and endurance. Of the kids studied for the report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30 percent were overweight, and 22 percent didn’t get the recommended hour of physical activity every day. Boys were more likely than girls to be overweight and were less likely to pass the aerobic fitness test. In all, 52 percent failed that part of the test and 23 percent didn’t meet standards on two of the four tests.

Beware: Labels Can Lie

Okay, it's too harsh to call it lying. But their accuracy requirement has a 20 percent margin. This video demonstrates:

Dr. Oz Agrees With -100-calorie-per-day Plan

Know How to Read the Label?

Brown Rice Breakfast

Bethenny Frankel, celebrity natural foods chef at Diet.com, made this dish every day for both herself and her cast mates while appearing on Martha Stewart's Apprentice: