The medicine ball is a great exercise tool, but it's hard to know exactly what to do with it. Today, I'm highlighting a new move to try, the medicine ball curl and press. With this exercise, you balance the ball on your hand (which will require hand, wrist and forearm strength) as you do a biceps curl. At the top of the curl, you then push the ball up and out, which targets the shoulders.

This is a great move to warm up the arms and shoulders or to add into your usual upper body workout routine to spice things up. I'm using an 8lb ball here, but you can go heavier or lighter, depending on your fitness level.

As with many medicine ball exercises, you sometimes have to experiment with different weights until you find one that works for you. Having a variety of medicine balls is a great idea if you're going to be incorporating more than a few med ball exercises into your routine. As a general guideline, you might start with a 4lb ball and consider trying 6, 8 or 10lbs as you build more strength and endurance.

Do it right: Stand or sit and hold a medicine ball in the right hand down at your side. Curl the arm up in a biceps curl and, at the top of the movement, push the arm out and up, engaging the shoulder. Bring the ball back down and then lower the arm to starting position, repeating for 1-3 sets of 10-16 reps on each arm.

In a recent and thought-provoking article, our Eating Disorders Guide, Matt, posed an interesting question: Should we limit the display of nutritional values in restaurants or schools?

The reason Matt asked this question is because of a controversy you may remember from awhile back. Harvard University removed nutritional information from its menu because some students and parents raised concerns about the impact of this information on people with eating disorders. Namely, that this kind of information might trigger some people toward disordered eating.

What do you think? Does posting nutritional data about food, like calories, fat, sugar, etc. help us or hurt us? Should we be concerned about people who have eating disorders and, therefore limit where and how we post nutritional information? Vote in this week's poll and tell us what you think.

Most of us probably don't think about how strong our bones are - they seem to take good care of themselves without much interference on our end, don't they?

Unfortunately, that isn't always the case. Brittle bones or osteoporosis can happen to any of us, particularly postmenopausal women, but it's something we can stay ahead of with a little something I like to call exercise.

Not just any exercise will do the job, though. A recent study found that weight bearing exercise is the key to building strong bones. That means activities in which the body works against gravity like walking, jogging, lifting weights climbing stairs or playing tennis.

What it also means is that, while non-weight bearing exercises, like cycling or swimming, are good for you, they don't always help your bones. Another study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise suggests competitive cyclists have lower bone mineral density than untrained people due to the fact that cycling isn't a weight bearing exercise.

If weight bearing is good, high impact exercise is even better. Activities that involve jumping offer greater strain magnitudes, rates, and frequencies - all fancy terms for the forces we put on our bones that, in turn, make them grow stronger.

Does that mean you have to run every day or jump up and down during your workouts if that's not your thing? Not necessarily because, don't forget, strength training is one of those activities that can make your bones stronger. Just something to think about if you needed another reason to pick up some dumbbells.

_Sources:

Smathers, AM, et al. Bone density comparisons in male competitive road cyclists and untrained controls. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009 Feb;41(2):290-6

Manske, Sarah L, et al.Bone Health: Part 2, Physical Activity. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, July 2009 vol. 1 no. 4.

David Kessler's The End of Overeating is an excellent book for anyone in the nutrition or fitness biz or for anyone who struggles with what Dr. Kessler calls 'hypereating.' While his writing is on the sciency side, he goes through a fascinating account of what leads us to overeat - a combination of brain chemistry, appetite and manipulation by the food industry.

What I really like is that he doesn't offer the usual diets, menu plans or workout programs, but a more individual approach to dealing with our eating habits. He knows we all know how to eat healthy, that isn't the problem. The problem is actually dealing with our own emotions and bypassing all the temptations we face to make those healthy choices on a regular basis.

You can learn more in my review and be sure to leave a comment to tell us what you think. Or post your own review to give readers another viewpoint.