The key to this is total, exhausting effort in short bursts. You can’t just speed up, you must go full tilt to the point where you cannot continue for more than 20-30 seconds. That’s one the reasons running may not be suited to this as they don’t know the effect of the pounding on your feet that this kind of sprinting might have.

I don’t do enough aerobic activity. I walk 2-3 miles every day, as much to clear my head as for exercise, and I have a resistance routine at the gym. I’m going to try this interval method in the pool.

If this works no one has any excuse for not getting in shape. None of us want to have the health problems we see in seniors who didn’t take care of themselves when they were our age- it’s a quality of life issue.

If you try it let me know how it works for you.

During my six hours I sat on a gurney in a hallway, had two blood tests, an x-ray and an EKG. I ate a bad sandwich. I had to stay though the doctors did not think anything was seriously wrong, however they have to verify with two blood tests six hours apart.

A few weeks later I received the bill for services. I have health insurance so I only owed around $50. Without it the bill would have been over $3000. This is for very minimal but required services.

Healthcare is not a business, it is a right

In most cases those of us who pay health insurance premiums are paying for those who cannot afford to pay for services which they need- healthcare is not and should not be viewed as a business (with the exception of optional treatments like cosmetic surgery). The fact that we have a private insurance industry with extremely highly paid executives is simply wrong. My local health insurer has over 15 executives whose compensation packages are over $1 million/year. This is for a region with a population of around 1.2 million. Technically they are a not for profit organization unless you happen to be management- in which case it is very profitable.

Pharma companies, medical equipment companies and others who profit from Americans being sick or injured have fought every effort to create a national health system, AKA ’single payer’. They own the US Congress on both sides of the aisle. There is not even a discussion of single payer going on amongst the lawmakers.

Private health insurance may actually increase the likelihood of disease

Ever wonder why insurers don’t cover more preventive care programs? They don’t because they know the average person in their system will stay with them for only eighteen months because of job and plan changes. As a result there is no incentive whatsoever to prevent diseases that won’t appear within that eighteen month window. Perversely this situation means our private healthcare system may actually increase our likelihood of getting diseases and chronic conditions as we age- because we don’t have access to preventive care.

This subject needs to be brought up every time you have an opportunity to approach your congresspersons. It is simply unacceptable that this prosperous country has one of the worst and most costly healthcare systems in the western world. The only reason for this is outright corporate greed.