portfolio
Selected works.
features
dueling the devil
Thomas Moore couldn’t move. More importantly, he couldn’t breathe.
issues
Disease pays the fees
Dr. Stephen Schimpff calls it the paradox of American medicine. “We have really well-trained, well-educated providers. … But the paradox is on the other hand we have a terribly dysfunctional health-care delivery system.”
SCIENCE
sugar and diabetes: myths and misleadings
“Is there a possibility that various substances that we consume might have effects separate from their calories?”
business
leases: lost in space?
Two affiliates. Both grew too big too fast. One downsized and one got even bigger. Today, both are thriving.
lifestyle
how sami mansfield fights cancer with fitness
Increasing evidence suggests that physical activity allays symptoms of the disease and side effects of its treatment, and that training might reduce chances of recurrence.
HOW TO HAVE A COMPARISON-FREE SUMMER
Summer is an especially difficult time for comparisons; just think of the Instagrams: beach vacations, rooftop parties, skimpy outfits, summer Fridays, secret flings. It’s easy to think of your friends out there enjoying their fabulous lives, while you’re stuck at work with nothing but growing inbox to keep you company. Comparison leaves you feeling dull and jealous — it’s toxic!
So how do we quit?
events
MASTERS 60+ ATHLETE SAVES DROWNING COMPETITOR
Robert Caslin was about 100 meters away from the shore at Lake Monona when he heard a sputtering scream about 20 meters behind him. “Help! Help! I’m drowning!”
Bridge Over Troubles’ Slaughters
Neither boy noticed the car’s approach until four masked men erupted from within. The vehicle was unmarked.“That’s when we realized we couldn’t really run,” Porter recalled.
Soda, death and taxes
“No city contemplating a soda tax is too small or too poor to be the target of a massive and lavishly funded counteroffensive.”
cancer, carbs and controversy
What if we’ve only been studying a piece of the puzzle for all these years? What if cancer is just as much about what we put into our bodies as the genes we were born with?
retention: the unbroken circle
It’s not so hard to get people in the door. The world is sick, and many people are eager to make a change in their lives. It’s keeping them in the gym—retention—that’s the tough part.
snatches over suicide
“You just take it all, go to sleep. Someone finds you in the morning and it’ll be over.”
4 Ways to Stop Relying on External ValidatioN
You probably know excessive scrolling is bad for your mental health. It’s well documented that heavy social-media use leads to depression and anxiety — especially in teenagers and children. Although most of us understand that social media encourages unhealthy comparisons of ourselves to others, we continue to crave “likes” like candy. That’s because what we’re really seeking is external validation, and though social media is the latest — and perhaps most pervasive — expression of this reliance, it’s by no means limited to the device in your pocket.
First-place fraser
Mat Fraser hates second place. “Fuck second place,” he said in “Fittest On Earth,” a CrossFit documentary about the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games, directed by Heber Cannon, Marston Sawyers and Ian Wittenber. “You’re the fucking winner of losers.”
Pride and push-ups
“‘Well, we’re pretty sure Adam’s gay, so it doesn’t matter anyway.’ … Which is essentially saying, ‘We’re pretty sure Adam’s gay, so he liked it, so it wasn’t actually abuse,’ even though there was an age disparity between (us).”
sickly sweet
It’s in our homes; it’s in our universities. It lurks in the corners of our children’s schools, and it won our loyalty with its pocketbook and a mountain of sugar. It’s Big Soda, and it’s got us right where it wants us: addicted.
rest when you’re dead
Athletes who cease activity when injured are often punished several times: Rest does little for the injury, flexibility is reduced, strength and conditioning are lost, and overall fitness and health suffer.
sign here, squat there?
When deciding, affiliate owners must consider a litany of issues. Is the gym financially viable enough to operate without guaranteed income?
dancing with (dis)ability
“I have no experience and I have no education; I didn’t go to school for this, but talking with them … People with Down syndrome are no different.”
HOW TO DEAL WITH CONTROLLING PEOPLE
The trouble with controlling relationships is that they seem normal at first. Maybe that restaurant really is better or that route really is faster.
But when the corrections come at every turn, when your friend, partner, or even your supervisor questions every decision you make and dictates every action you take, you might be dealing with a controlling person.
central east update: day 1
Fifth Third Arena is big. But not big enough to hide the elephant in the room: For the first time since 2010, only three men will qualify for the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games out of the Central East Regional.