The Rise of the Minimalist Workout: “In an article under his byline for Sports Illustrated in December 1960, “The Soft American,” President-elect John F. Kennedy lamented the state of the nation’s fitness. As president he exhorted citizens to plunge into activities like 50-mile hikes. As anyone sitting quietly and reading this article probably knows, that message did not resonate with most Americans. And these days, a majority get no planned exercise at all. So at the recent annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, one of the hottest topics was not how much exercise Americans should be completing, but how little.

Heart Attacks Can Happen at Any Age: “Ernie Bender was lean and athletic; he skied and walked a lot, and would go snowshoeing every Wednesday with his friends. A golf course superintendent, he lived in Vail, Colorado, with his wife and three sons. One evening in 2000, he and his buddies decided to snowshoe up Vail Mountain and ride the gondola down. Bender complained of indigestion on the way up, which was odd because his last meal had been lunch. He told his friends he needed to sit down before getting on the gondola. After the group got in the cable car, he lost consciousness.”