Cheerleading coach fired for forcing students into splits. Also fired from previous job for exact same activity.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A Colorado cheerleading coach seen in a viral video forcing a girl into an extended split as she screamed in agony was fired from a previous job for the same thing. 

The 13-year-old cheerleader was shown crying and begging her coach, Ozell Williams, to stop as he pushed her to the ground during an exercise at a camp in June, reported KUSA-TV. 

The teen, Ally Wakefield, told the TV station she tore a ligament in the exercise, known as “breaking,” and her parents sent video of the incident to school administrators shortly after the cheerleading camp began. 

Williams, who oversaw the camp, was suspended Wednesday by East High School in Denver, Colorado. 

KUSA also reported that Williams had been fired from his paid consulting job last year after parents at Boulder High School complained about the forced splits.

There is a video of this but I refuse to post it here because it is too disturbing.  (If you want to see it just click the Raw Story link.)

I spent twenty years training in martial arts, and was also a gymnast as well as a coach, but only once did I ever see this barbaric training method.

It was in a dojo in Anchorage, and the sensei literally stood on my legs, which were in the split position, while giving instruction to the other students.

Fortunately for me I could already do the splits to there was no injury, just some mild foot shaped bruising on my thighs.  (That guy really hated me.)

As a coach myself I NEVER engaged in this type of forced stretching because I knew it to be harmful, which is something that is actually touched upon during your training to be a coach.

Sports are fun, and they should be taught with the idea of keeping them fun.

(Yes I know I have diverged from the usual topics covered here on IM, but damn this thing really bothered me. Don't worry back to politics after this. )

Donald Trump believes that exercising uses up the body's finite energy. Well that explains a lot. Update!

Courtesy of WaPo: 

President Trump reportedly eschews exercise because he believes it drains the body’s “finite” energy resources, but experts say this argument is flawed because the human body actually becomes stronger with exercise. 

Trump’s views on exercise were mentioned in a New Yorker article this month and in “Trump Revealed,” The Washington Post’s 2016 biography of the president, which noted that Trump mostly gave up athletics after college because he “believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted.”

Okay well I am sure that I do not have to explain how wrong Trump is on this, but let's just do it anyhow.

Rather than deplete the body's energy, exercise actually re-energizes the body and allows us to increases our endurance, our physical strength, and makes the whole thing run more efficiently.

What's more exercise can help to stave off all sorts of ailments, such as heart disease, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, mental health issues, and certain types of cancer.

It also helps to keep your weight manageable, and can even prolong your life expectancy.

In other words there is every reason to exercise.

But perhaps the best one is so that you don't end up looking like this fat fuck.

I swear it is almost like the Russians chose the stupidest, unhealthiest, and most mock-able American they could find to be our president. Almost as if they were trying to destroy our credibility complet......Ahhh.

Update: Here is a Time Magazine article saying that exercise even makes you younger on a cellular level. 

Apparently that is why Donald Trump has old, pudgy, Cheeto stained cells unlike the rest of us.

Reality show "The Biggest Loser" was in fact the "Biggest Scam."

Courtesy of The New York Post:

Following a controversial study that claims to explain why almost all “Biggest Loser” contestants regain massive amounts of weight, numerous ex-Losers reached out to The Post to dispute its findings — exclusively revealing that the show encouraged contestants to take street drugs while starving themselves and to lie about how much weight they were losing. 

The federally funded study, conducted by Dr. Kevin Hall at the National Institutes of Health and published two weeks ago, says changing metabolic rates, hormone levels, and genetic predispositions explain post-show weight gain. 

What’s missing, former Losers tell The Post, is any examination of the show’s secret and brutal tactics, which include providing illicit drugs to contestants and submitting them to questionable medical exams by the show’s resident doctor, Rob Huizenga, known as “Dr. H.” 

Huizenga collaborated with Hall on the NIH’s study. 

“People were passing out in Dr. H’s office at the finale weigh-in,” says Season 2’s Suzanne Mendonca. “On my season, five people had to be rushed to the hospital. He knew exactly what we were doing and never tried to stop it.”

I think it is well established that I hate all reality shows.

However there are a few which really earn my disgust, and this is one of them.

As a former personal trainer I know exactly how hard it is to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

And the fantasy offered by this program was potentially quite damaging to the viewers.

Anybody who thinks they can spend a couple of weeks or months changing their diet and working hard at the gym and that it will make a long term impact on their physique is buying into the snake oil sold by the producers of this program.

Yes exercise and dietary changes DO help trim the fat and build muscle, but it ALWAYS happens incrementally and only has a lasting effect if it is maintained after the initial weight loss.

I am not at all surprised that the show used some form of stimulant and starvation tactics to get the contestants to lose weight.

Not am I surprised to learn that there were long term side effects.

What I am surprised about is that this show is even still on the air.

More bad news for Fox News as increasing number of middle aged white folks just start dying off.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

Middle-aged white Americans are dying at increasing rates and half a million people are dead who should not be, according to a new report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

The study, co-authored by Anne Case and Angus Deaton, analyzed death rates for men and women aged 45 to 54 in the United States, a range often categorized as "middle-age." The duo, both economics professors at Princeton, then compared the data to those death rates found within other domestic racial categories and those seen in similarly wealthy nations. 

Black, Hispanic and older Americans (65 and up) have continued to see longer lives, as have those in Sweden, Australia, Germany and other rich nations, but middle-aged white Americans have not. The results represented a "marked increase" in mortality between 1999 and 2013, and the trends seem to "reverse decades of progress in mortality and was unique to the United States."

Well isn't that inter......hey wait a minute I'M a middle aged white American!

So what the hell are they dying from?

The study links the increase in mortality to a slew of problematic issues seen throughout American society, including an increase in drug and alcohol abuse and an increase in suicide rates. White men had the highest suicide rate of any demographic in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The authors also draw a stark link between a rise in opioid availability, including the growing problem of cheap heroin. They theorize that an uptick in "the epidemic of pain, suicide and drug overdoses" may be tied to 2008's financial crisis, and say many baby-boomers are among the first to live a harsher life than their parents.

Phew! Okay well I should be fine more or less, because I am not much of a drinker, and I am much too poor to support a heroin addiction. 

Besides right before typing this I finished the second of the three workouts I have planned for today and am currently sucking down a blueberry and coconut milk protein shake.  So I am doing what I can to keep the grim reaper at bay.

As for suicide, yeah that's not my thing.

I have always considered my life to be a gift, and I have no plans on shuffling off this moral coil until they drag me kicking and screaming into the void.

On the bright side, and yes I know there is not much of a bright side, this is doing nothing to help the GOP demographic. 

Angry at the constant jabs, Rick Perry challenges Donald Trump to a pullup contest.

Courtesy of CBS News:  

After enduring Donald Trump's barrage of insults for weeks, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry told the billionaire businessman to put up or shut up on Wednesday, challenging him to a pull-up contest. 

Trump, who's currently leading polls of the 2016 Republican primary, told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that Perry lacks the "energy," the "brain power," and the "toughness" to be an effective president. 

Perhaps it was that last charge that stung the most. Perry, a former Air Force captain who's worn his tough-guy image on his sleeve during a long career in politics, fired back during an appearance at the Yale Club. 

"Let's get a pull-up bar out there and let's see who can do the most pull-ups," Perry said, inciting a round of laughter and applause from the audience.

Okay for the record I would not want to contribute to either man's campaign, but having said that I would be willing to pay to see this. 

For one thing I am almost positive that Trump could not even begin to lift his bulk off of the ground, and if he did he would undoubtedly shit himself with the effort.

After all the man rode an escalator down to announce his intention of running for president.

Down, not up, down.

Okay I have to say that I am REALLY looking forward to his first debate next week.

Though sadly it appears that currently Rick Perry is not quite making the cut.

Andrew Sullivan speaks out: "Blogging nearly killed me."

Courtesy of CNN:

"The truth is, I had to stop primarily because it was killing me," Sullivan said Sunday night at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. 

"I used to joke that if blogging does kill someone, I would be the first to find out." He described the grueling pace that he maintained along with a small editorial staff. 

"This is 40 posts a day -- every 20 minutes, seven days a week," Sullivan said.

After closing down his blog in January Sullivan took some time to "detox." But on Sunday he agreed to an interview with Jeff Greenfield.

 "Here's what I would say: I spent a decade of my life, spending around seven hours a day in intimate conversation with around 70,000 to 100,000 people every day, " Sullivan said. "And inevitably, for those seven hours or more, I was not spending time with any actual human being, with a face and a body and a mind and a soul." 

"I couldn't imagine blogging the next election," he said. "I will not spend another minute of my time writing about the Clintons. Period. Or the Bushes."

Wow, you that really hits home for me, and I totally understand where he is coming from.

Personally I keep my blog posts to a manageable seven a day of the most, part but since I have no staff that means that each post must be researched, written, and edited all on my own.

And as many of you know, sometimes mistakes slip past my attention.

Also unlike Sullivan I do work out at least five to six days a week, and usually space out the workouts so that I have a reason to leave my desk and get some exercise. Since my other job also requires time on the computer it is easy to spend up to ten hours at my desk a day. And I often do.

However much like Sullivan I also find that most of my interactions with other people take place online in the form of texts, blog comments, and e-mails. I do get a few phone calls a day to break up the monotony, and I have several face to face conversations with my daughter when she is here, and others who live with here as well. So I am not completely isolated.

What's more I rarely ever feel alone, even when I am completely alone in the house.

That may have a lot to do with the constant ideas that bounce around inside of my head.

I don't actually hear voices or anything, but I have been known to talk out loud to myself when I am trying to flesh out an idea. (My daughter gives me grief about that constantly.)

And unlike Sullivan I have no plans to walk away from blogging at this time even though I have also been doing it for ten years now.

There are some changes coming however.

My buddy Dennis Zaki builds websites as a side job, and he has convinced me to upgrade IM in the near future. I am somewhat resistant as I don't usually welcome change, but he assures me the site will be much improved and more user friendly when he finishes with it.

So let me take a moment here to thank all of you for your patronage. I am well aware that there are sharper, sleeker, more content heavy websites you could be visiting, and yet I know many of you camp out here on a daily basis and I want you to know that it gives me the inspiration to keep on plugging away.

And have no fear, changes or no changes, I will still be the un-apologetically liberal firebrand you have all come to know and barely tolerate.

I think I found my next computer keyboard.

Courtesy of Fast Company:  

If you've ever been so frustrated with work email that you wanted to punch your computer—or toss it out the window, à la the Office Space printer beatdown—you might appreciate this new keyboard design. Designers replaced each letter with a punching bag, so if you want to write anything, you'll have to kick or bodyslam it out. 

For the designers, the "workoutcomputer" was a more interesting way to approach our sedentary work lives than a typical standing or cycling desk. "We were inspired by personal needs for physical activity during daytime, and back pain in the evening after a full office day in front of the computer," say designers Desiree Heiss and Ines Kaag, from the European design studio Bless. 

Instead of splitting the day into time for working and time for working out, the designers wanted to combine both simultaneously. Of course, it's not exactly the most efficient way to type a page. 

"If you were using it the first time, it might take approximately two minutes per word, depending on the length," say Heiss and Kaag. "But when you know where all the keys are, you could actually write relatively fast. Of course, it still takes 10 times longer than using a normal keyboard, seeing that the distances between the keys are vaster."

As much as I like this concept, using it would probably mean I could only get out two or three posts a day. But damn those would be hard hitting posts. If you know what I mean.

Ah, but just imagine how much more satisfying it would be to type up a post on Republican trickery or Sarah Palin shenanigans with this bad boy.

I am actually fairly good at staying on a workout schedule and do a combination of resistance training and cardio at least five times a week, if not six.

And I actually used to box when I was younger, and fought in full contact Karate matches as well, so I am no stranger to the heavy and speed bags. Still I am trying to imagine my success at typing on this while trying to enjoy my evening glass of wine.

I am guessing it would even more full of typos and run on sentences than usual.

President Obama and Vice President Biden do their part to support the First Lady's "Let's Move" campaign.

You know I kind of like the idea of the President and Vice President sort of hanging out together, telling jokes, shooting hoops, and laughing at Fox News pundits.

I don't know if that is the reality of their relationship, but I like to think that it is.

By the way if you are interested in a more humorous "Let's Move" clip you can watch this one featuring Michelle Obama, Will Ferrell, and some smart kids.

Joe McGinniss responds to my e-mail.

Immediately after hearing of Joe's condition yesterday I sent him an e-mail to express my concern and offer to help in any way that I can.

Late last night I received an answer, which to be honest I was surprised at, since I assumed Joe was receiving multiple e-mails from friends and supporters and that he probably would not have time to respond any time soon, if at all.

However it was actually a very informative and blunt assessment of his condition and what he is doing to stay healthy for as long as he can.

My intent in sending the e-mail was simply to contact my old friend and provide support. I had no intention of sharing the contents of any response with all of you, except perhaps to let you know he was doing well.

However Joe suggested that I DO share the contents with you, except for some more personally exchanges, so I will.

Here is a portion of Joe's response:  

Fortunately, I feel really good right now. I might even write a piece called "How Prostate Cancer Saved My Life (Before It Killed Me.)" 

I no longer eat red meat, or even skin-on chicken. No dairy (milk, eggs, butter, cheese) except a few ounces of fat-free, unsweetened yogurt into which I mix my Fiber One and raspberries or blueberries in the morning. No bread, no rice, no pasta, no sugar. In other words, none of the foods I've loved and grown fat on over 70 years. 

Instead, it's fish (salmon, salmon, and more salmon), greens (broccoli, kale, mustard greens, etc.) some fruit (blueberries, raspberries, pomegranate seeds) tons of tomatoes, especially cooked, because cooking releases ten times more lycopene, an occasional handful of walnuts or almonds, lots of garlic, smidgens of olive oil, and for spices, turmeric, ginger, oregano and cayenne pepper. Oh, and green tea and rooibus tea. Lots of both. 

Red wine is allowed, praise the Lord! 

I work with a trainer at a gym for an hour three days a week. The other four, and sometimes even on those three, I spend forty-five minutes to an hour on a treadmill in our basement, and I push both the incline and the speed to the point where I stumble off it, panting and sweating and yelling upstairs to Nancy that she'd better call 911.

Nancy, of course, is Joe's wife. A very lovely woman that I met once at the house in Wasilla, and a person that Joe is very lucky to have by his side. She will definitely take good care of him.

As you can tell Joe is not one to sugar coat things and goes on to offer his usual no frills assessment of his condition. He is upbeat but still remains firmly reality based.

Before you ask, yes I did send him some of the links that all of you provided, and I am sure he is very appreciative of your concern.

Joe does have some projects in the works that sound very interesting, so yes he still plans on producing more amazing literature for all of us to enjoy.

Personally I plan on buying everything he produces from now on. (Of course I would have done that even without the cancer.)

If I receive anymore updates, and Joe gives his permission, I will gladly share them with you. But for right now I guess the best thing we can do is to keep a positive thought and follow Joe's example by make our own healthy choices as well.

Because as Joe says, "In a battle between mortality and an individual, mortality always wins."

Yes it does but it should always know that it is in for a hell of a fight first.

Paul Ryan's muscle pictures are just precious.

Photos courtesy of Gawker.

Gee, I remember when I made MY first muscle. So THESE are the long awaited pictures of Paul Ryan's "amazing" physique?

Okey dokey then.

You know I am a long time gym rat myself, and totally support Paul Ryan's commitment to fitness. And I hope that he sticks with it for his entire life as it has many long term health benefits.

However in the future he might resist the urge to have his picture taken while pretending to workout. It just makes him look like a douche.

And that hat CERTAINLY doesn't help.

However the most important thing to keep in mind is that exercise, no matter how committed he is to it, has NOTHING to do, one way or the other, with his ability to be a good Vice President.

Personally considering who Ryan is facing in tonight's debate I certainly hope he worked his mental muscles more aggressively than he obviously did his legs. (By the way, where DID I leave those pipe cleaners?)

Could this possibly be secret of Sarah Palin's dramatic weight loss?

As a rule I don't usually put too much stock in blind items. However this one sort of caught my eye:

I guess she is a celebrity now. Not sure what her title would be. Anyway, she definitely has A list name recognition. Actually she has A+ name recognition. Anyway, she has lost weight recently and says it is because of diet and exercise. Could be true, but the little pick me up powder she was wiping from her nose the other night is probably helping too and that famed LA weight loss drug Adderall.

Of course the vast majority of  comments on this post immediately identified Sarah Palin as the most likely subject.

Now as you all know I have already ridiculed the idea that Palin's weight loss has anything to do with a new fitness regime, which is simply absurd.  Having said that we already know from Joe's book that Palin has a history of cocaine use, however it was the inclusion of the Adderall that immediately convinced me that this was most likely Palin.

I cannot give specifics right now, but I will say that during the research for one of the books on Palin, information concerning another family members longtime addiction to that particular drug emerged. It did not make it into the book, due to the difficulty of finding cooperative witnesses to confirm it, but between all of us it was given a great deal of credence.

Hmm, could this also clear up the mystery of the "white powder" delivered to Bristol on the set of DWTS? Inquiring minds want to know.

In response to questions about her dramatic weight loss Sarah Palin claims to be writing a book about fitness. Somebody needs to explain the difference between "fit" and "skeletal" to her.

Courtesy of People:  

New photos of Sarah Palin looking very thin have caused a stir online, and now the former Alaska governor and 2008 VP nominee tells PEOPLE she's just fine and is, in fact, working with her family on a new fitness book. 

In an email to PEOPLE on Tuesday, Palin – who's known to treat houseguests to a smorgasbord of homemade treats such as moose chili, chocolate cream pies, pecan pies and lemon meringue pies – wrote, "Our family is writing a book on fitness and self-discipline focusing on where we get our energy and balance as we still eat our beloved homemade comfort foods!" 

Palin, 48, says she will discuss the topics in "our unique and motivating book." 

"We promise you what we do works and allows a fulfilling quality of life and sustenance anyone can enjoy," she adds. 

It is unclear if Palin has a contract for the upcoming book or when the work will be published

Are you fucking serious? There NO contract!

Who in the hell would give this walking cadaver a contract to write a book on healthy eating?

This emaciated look is NOT due to counting calories and exercise!

That is due to either a chronic illness, a debilitating depression, or body dysmorphic disorder. (Anybody see Todd lately?)

According to Steve Schmidt, Palin was living on Atkins bars and diet soda during the  2008 campaign, and Frank Bailey and others have said that Palin often resorts to fasting in order to lose weight.

Those are not techniques that will sell any weight loss books I can promise you that!

Besides did she REALLY say that the whole family was writing this book?

Somehow I cannot imagine that Bristol, who claimed that she gained this much weight while exercising up to eight hours day, and who went to get lipo dissolve injections to help her lose weight during her short lived reality show.

Just another Palin lie. But a damn funny one I have to admit!

Bristol Palin's goal on DWTS this time around is NOT to gain weight. Seriously?

Courtesy of People:  

While some celebrities are known for shedding pounds while participating on Dancing with the Stars, Bristol Palin did not consider herself one of them. 

The Alaska native, 21, said during her time on ABC's hit series that she didn't notice any changes in her body except for toned legs. But this time around, on season 15's all-star edition, which premieres Sept. 24, Palin is hoping for a different outcome. 

"My goal [is] not to gain any weight," the young mom recently told PEOPLE during the Television Critics Association summer tour in Beverly Hills. "I think it's hurtful for any girl when someone's criticizing their weight on a national level. It's an awkward position." 

Well that was carefully worded. 

She "did not consider herself one" of the celebrities that lost weight on the show?  That's because she WASN'T one of the celebrities that lost weight on the show!  That is not a based on a perception, it is a based on actual, irrefutable evidence.

And once again I don't think the majority of people were JUDGING her for being fat.  They were judging her for being pregnant on the show, and putting the fetus in danger while pretending that she wasn't carrying a child.

And if that "perception" is not true then I assume Bristol Palin has the most screwed up metabolism on the planet, one that gains fat during exercise rather than loses it, and we can look forward once again to watching her swell up like a balloon in a Macy's Thanksgiving day parade THIS season as well.

However if we were correct, then THIS time Bristol should look forward to actually trimming down without resorting to crazy dieting or surgical procedures. And wouldn't THAT be a nice change of pace for members of her family?

Let's have another ask Uncle Gryphen Monday shall we?

Well these last few weeks have been pretty exciting haven't they?

Since our last "Ask Uncle Gryphen" open forum we have seen the Supreme Court uphold Obamacare, scientists discover the Higgs boson particle, watched Bristol's reality show ratings plummet to earth faster than Sarah Palin's political credibility, and witnessed the return of the "ruffled ear" version of Trig Palin, just to name a few rather explosive events covered by this blog.

So it certainly seems like a good time to allow a little Q and A session.

However before we start I thought I would share with all of you the recent additions to Casa de Gryphen.

Though I tend to work out fairly regularly, the summers have typically been when I ratchet up my exercise regime.  However this summer I have found that changes in my job have made getting to the gym almost impossible. (Plus they recently moved all the way downtown, which has proven to be VERY inconvenient.)

Since working out is part of how I let off steam, and manage my aggression, I have been a little extra asshole-y as of late. (I am sure none of you noticed.)

Finally recognizing that I was simply NOT going to be able to make it to the gym with any reliable frequency I caved in and bought this.

I have had it for a week now and I LOVE it!

Combining it with my free weights,

and the Elliptical already in my office,

is giving me workouts just as good as the ones I experienced at the gym, now relocated all the freaking way across town.  So I cancelled my membership for the first time in twenty five years, and I will be doing all of my exercising here at home. Which has the added benefit of removing ANY excuses for missing a workout.

Already I have noticed an improvement in my temperament, my energy level, and my focus.

Plus as an added feature I am near my computer more often and can deal with breaking stories as they happen. More blogging, more bodybuilding, more better! (Okay so perhaps grammar might be slightly affected with increase in testosterone. Fair trade in my opinion.)

Anyhow go ahead, tell the newly re-energized Gryphen what's on your mind. I am all ears.

Nancy French uses straw man argument involving Hillary Clinton to defend Bristol from criticism over her pregnancy cover up during DWTS.

Today Nancy French, attempting and failing once again to convincingly channel Bristol, used the thinly veiled cover of pretending to support Hillary Clinton to bitch on Bristol's behalf about criticisms over her weight gain on DWTS.

I will skip over the pandering to females that starts the ghostwritten post and go directly to the meat (Get it, meat?) of the ridiculous defense courtesy of Brancy's (Totally stole that!) blog:

When I was on Dancing with the Stars, I was only nineteen years old. I was active and fit, but I did gain five to ten pounds over the course of the show.

(Five or ten pounds?)

At my heaviest, I was still thinner than a lot of girls my age, but heavier than I am now. I’m not saying this because I’m somehow proud of how I looked on that show. 

Rather, I’m saying that I’ve been the brunt of jokes, speculation, and criticism about my appearance, and it’s not fun. 

When people choose to mock young impressionable females and even more mature national political leaders, it spreads the lie that the value of women resides in their appearance. As women, we should resist the urge to laugh at our sisters, both Democrats and Republicans alike. Plus, Hillary looks good! (Agreed! Hillary looks fine. Who said she didn't? However she is NOT somebody who got to where she is by batting her eyes while wearing short skirts and high heels.) I think we should give her credit for not having a make up artist following her around and being comfortable in her own skin.

Okay, let's get something straight. The people, at least on THIS blog, who mocked you Bristol, did not mock you because you were overweight. They mocked you because you were clearly pregnant and tried to pretend that you weren't.

And unlike the paint chip eaters that supported your mother, and helped you stay on DWTS far longer than you deserved, we were not fooled!

And by the way it certainly does NOT help to make your point that you gained weight on the show because you were a high school basketball player and the show's exercise regime actually "took my activity level down a notch," when you left the show looking like this..

..and today look like this.

I mean it kind of makes one want to ask, "What kind of exercise are you doing now that is SO much more strenuous than what you did during Dancing with the Stars?"

P.S. I guess I should add that Bristol posted this new picture of her mom to demonstrate how natural she is by saying this is how she looks 90% of the time.

Actually if Bristol wants to make the point that her mother is not somebody who cares about appearance most of the time (Something I absolutely disagree with by the way.), than perhaps she should have chosen a more representative picture of what her mother looks like without all of her fake hair and makeup on.

For that purpose I feel this one is a better choice.

There, fixed it for you Brancy!

Best First Lady ever? Could be.

Here is the description of this event from the You Tube page:

UNI students Ian Goldsmith, Tyler Wright and Scott Connerley lead First Lady Michelle Obama and 14,000 school kids in Des Moines in the Interlude Dance. Obama was in Iowa to celebrate the second anniversary of her "Let's Move" campaign.

I have to say that I am becoming more and more impressed with Michelle Obama all of the time.

Could you imagine ANY OTHER First Lady being THIS accessible and down to earth?

Michelle Obama with Jimmy Fallon last night.

I have to admit that I totally missed this last night.

I had an exhausting day and made it to the very beginning of Fallon's monologue and that's pretty much all I remember.

Of course thanks to the wonder of the internet I had the opportunity to watch the segment this morning and then share it with all of you as well.

On a side note my daughter came home last night and wanted to talk politics. She said that there is a LOT of enthusiasm among her friends for this next election and that everybody she knows is voting Obama. 

She also watched that science fair in the White House video and said THAT was the kind of man that she was proud to support in 2012.

I love that kid!

Jimmy Fallon takes on Michelle Obama in White House tug of war to promote "Let's Move!" initiative. He doesn't stand a chance! Update!

Courtesy of ABC News:

The normally dignified Blue Room at the White House became a late-night show comedy set last month when first lady Michelle Obama engaged in a friendly game of tug of war with host Jimmy Fallon, according to a photo released by the White House today. 

The scene, part of a taping for Fallon’s show, is meant to promote Mrs. Obama’s commitment to physical activity — and good humor — on the second anniversary of her “Let’s Move!” initiative aimed at fighting childhood obesity. 

The first lady embarks Thursday on a three-day national tour to celebrate the milestone with stops in Iowa, Arkansas, Texas and Florida.

Well I guess I know what I'm staying up to watch this evening, though I had the longest day ever so I really wish this show came on earlier.

Suck it up Gryphen! You will get plenty of sleep when you are dead. (I had a coach that used to say that to me all of the time.)

Update: Here's a sneak peek.

Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" program gets the late night treatment.

Courtesy of Obama Foodorama:

Expect some hilarious Let's Move! hijinks on Tuesday night when First Lady Michelle Obama cameos in a video segment on NBC talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The comic visited Mrs. Obama last week at the White House to film the outing, which will air as part of this week's celebration of the second anniversary of the Let's Move! campaign. Among other fitness activities, the First Lady had Fallon running up and down the historic White House stairs, he said when he announced the upcoming cameo. 

"I said to her, this is really amazing, and she said 'well, it is the White House,'" Fallon said while chatting on NBC's Super Bowl pre-game show. 

Mrs. Obama announced in 2010 that she'd given up riding the White House elevator in favor of using the stairs in order to keep fit. The White House has six stories, and it will be revealed on Tuesday how many Fallon and Mrs. Obama ran through.

Like I said before, the Obama's don't just "talk the talk" they also "walk the walk." Even when it includes climbing six flights of stairs.

I am all over this kind of program and think it is a GREAT idea to get kids away from their video games and up and moving around.

When I worked at the elementary school I helped to start a program that was designed to address childhood obesity, and we had some very good success in the two years that I was around for it.

I personally have been a lifelong exercise addict and believe that it has fundamentally changed my life for the better.

I give Mrs. Obama huge props for starting this campaign and keeping it going like she has, and if this segment with Ellen DeGeneres is any indication, she certainly takes her OWN fitness seriously.

Michelle Obama demonstrates impressive athletic prowess on Ellen show.

I actually thought that both Michelle and Ellen were VERY impressive during this display.

As an ex-personal trainer I can tell you that there are plenty of males in their age bracket who would be hard pressed to do even HALF as many pushups as either of them just did.

By the way I just have mention how impressed I am with the fact that both our President and First Lady are far less about "talking the talk," and much more about "walking the walk."

There are a lot of others who will tell you they have some impressive physical or intellectual ability and then simply NEVER demonstrate that in any observable manner, OR instead fake it to fool the morons.

However the President and Michelle, just show what they got "going on."