Stephen Blackwell, a business visionary and revenue operator, leverages a decade of entrepreneurial experience as an investor and board member for Rep. Outside of his professional work, which recently included roles as CEO of SpinMedia and CFO of the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter, Stephen Blackwell enjoys personal fitness and weight training among other hobbies. Also known as resistance training, strength training involves lifting, pushing, or pulling various weights to encourage muscle stimulation and growth. The practice serves an important role in an overall health and fitness program, since muscle mass decreases as a person ages. Often, muscle loss is associated with a decrease in metabolism. Strength training presents a solution to this problem, since it has been shown to burn calories and increase metabolism. Other benefits of strength training include an increase in bone density and strength, improved concentration and mental sharpness, and a better overall quality of life. In addition, individuals who practice strength training can reduce the symptoms of chronic conditions ranging from arthritis and back pain, to obesity and depression.
The recipient of a bachelor's degree in English from Fordham University, Stephen Blackwell is a digital growth specialist who previously served as CEO of SpinMedia, which owned media assets including Vibe and Spin Magazine. In his free time, Stephen Blackwell enjoys reading up to four hours each day.While reading can be an enjoyable activity, it turns out it's also a necessary exercise to maintain good mental health and combat dementia. A 2016 study conducted by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health found that people who read books, regardless of the genre, for as little as 30 minutes a day had a life expectancy two years longer than those who didn't read at all. Magazine and newspaper reading can be helpful, but not as much as reading books. The researchers concluded that reading books requires a deeper focus that makes the brain work hard to make connections as the reader works through a long and detailed work.Beyond mental stimulation, reading every day can bring about a variety of benefits, including stress reduction, vocabulary expansion, and memory improvement. Even reading as little as 20 minutes a day on your morning commute to work can drastically improve your focus during the day to come.
