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This Animal Flow Workout Will Get You Stronger Without Any Weights
Don’t let the odd name deter you: Animal flow offers unique benefits you won’t get from traditional strength training. “It fundamentally brings you back to the basics,” says Nike Master Trainer Patrick Frost. “These are ground-based movements, where you create resistance by pushing and pulling your body around a fixed platform.” The trick to mastering this discipline is generating constant tension throughout your body. “There are some parts that require grace and some that require grit,” Frost says. “You could do this same workout multiple times and have a completely different experience depending on how you attack it.” While mimicking the movement patterns of a crab or an ape can…
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What Fortune’s Fastest Growing Companies list says about the economy
Good morning. David made a nod to Fortune’s Fastest Growing Companies list yesterday, but I want to return to it today, because I think it illustrates a couple of important points about today’s economy. First, while a tech company—AppFolio—topped the list this year, tech no longer dominates. There were only 20 from the technology sector on this year’s 100, down from 32 both last year and the year before. There were more from finance (24) and industrials (21) than tech. But don’t misread that. Tech’s effect on business continues to grow at exponential rates. It’s just that “tech” has moved from being an industry to being a competency… of pretty…
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Two tales of innovation from CVS and Pfizer
Good afternoon, readers. Innovation takes many forms. One form may be, say, transforming the way you think about your purpose in an industry. Another may involve rising to the urgency of the moment with technological advances. I mention this because two very different kinds of health care companies’ chief executives discussed that exact dichotomy of innovation during Fortune‘s virtual Global Forum this week. The highlights which come to mind are the stories of CVS Health (a major provider for COVID testing during the pandemic) and drug giant Pfizer (which has one of the leading candidates for a coronavirus vaccine). CVS CEO Larry Merlo pinpointed the company’s evolution to a specific…
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What to Do if Diminished Social Life Hurts Mental Health
The physical and mental health threats of COVID-19 are real and well-documented, but if you’re simply feeling bummed about missing your buddies, canceled pickup sports leagues, or—hell—your commute, that’s valid. The pandemic is affecting mental health in myriad ways. “The isolation many are experiencing is one of the most devastating things about this moment,” says Avi Klein, LCSW, a New York-based therapist who specializes in men’s mental health. See, human beings are hardwired for connection, explains Paul L. Hokemeyer, PhD, LMFT, a psychotherapist and author of Fragile Power: Why Having It All Is Never Enough. “Social connectedness is essential for our survival. It enables us to adapt to challenges and evolve…
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We don’t know enough about COVID antibodies to count on them
Our mission to help you navigate the new normal is fueled by subscribers. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today. One of the biggest outstanding questions about the coronavirus, and one which could well determine the course of the pandemic, is the role that antibodies play in immunity. By now you’ve probably heard plenty about antibodies in the context of immunity and developing a COVID vaccine. These Y-shaped proteins form because of an immune response to a pathogen or other hostile biological material. They may be personalized to sites on an individual virus called antigens, to which they attach and help prevent infection. As with many viruses, antibodies form…
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The COVID vaccine timeline: Where the candidates are now—and what’s still to come
The mad dash to create and manufacture a COVID vaccine isn’t quite over. But the beginning of the end may be somewhere in sight. By late September, four large-scale, late-stage clinical trials were underway for a COVID-19 shot in the United States. These include a candidate from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech (BNT162); Johnson & Johnson drug arm Janssen’s own experimental therapy (JNJ-78436725); one from biotech Moderna (mRNA-1273); and British drugmaker AstraZeneca’s AZD1222. “Four COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in Phase III clinical testing in the United States just over eight months after SARS-CoV-2 was identified,” said NIAID director Anthony S. Fauci once the Johnson & Johnson trial began enrollment. “This…