210# and dropping. :-)

Post #35,621 by inthane-chan 4/16/02 2:02:00 PM Reply	210# and dropping. :-) I was @ 255, and I've managed to take myself down quite a bit. Nope, no weird workout schedules, no fad diets - I'm eating 2000 calories a day right now, and when I hit goal I'll probably go on to eat ~2300 or 2500 calories a day. Not bad, eh? Hint: Don't eat much meat, eat lotsa veggies, fruit and grains. My wife went on Jenny Craig (and she's doing really well) and I reverse-engineered their method, and used it myself without a counselor or spending extra $$$. Working great here... Oh, and don't forget the exercise. Hey, didn't a bunch of you make new year's resolutions? "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Post #36,025 by inthane-chan 4/19/02 3:48:37 PM Reply	Anybody got any bodybuilding experience? I want to get some serious muscles - I'm thinking about going out for firefighter recruiting - and I'm wondering if anybody here knows a good site with HEALTHY information on building muscle. None of those "take our drug and you'll turn into Arnie" sites - I'm looking for a good combination of weights, diet, and exercise to get pumped. "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Post #36,048 by Another Scott 4/19/02 6:00:23 PM Reply	Not much first-hand. If you get a $50 set of barbells, etc., at Sears or Target they often come with a booklet listing various exercises. If you're dedicated, and spend the time, you can make yourself tremendously strong with simple tools like that. I've got a old book by Frank Zane - "Super Bodies in 12 Weeks" - that lists various exercises and techniques. Of course, I've never been able to keep to his schedule.... It's about $25 used at Amazon. It's hard to go wrong with most of Jack La Lanne's recommendations either. [link\|http://www.naturalstrength.com/history/kingoffit.htm\|Here]'s a story about some of his techniques and accomplishments. Stay away from the supplements, IMO. If you want to get huge it's better to get there by hard work than messing with your body chemistry. Good luck! Cheers, Scott.
Post #36,053 by boxley 4/20/02 8:59:12 PM Reply	You want big arms and abs? Bullworker, it is a flexable, sort of length of rubber. It was used by the late rick rude, and although he had medicinal help I know other strictly natural big folks that use it. Pushups, 100 a day, 4 sets of 25 will give your neck and shoulders that bubble look. Charles Atlas uses isometrics to get big. Isometrics is pushing against an immovable object. Crunches are good also. A great female builder (Pillow) said it takes about 4 hours a day to get big and stay there. Hi pro low carb also is needed. thanx, bill TAM ARIS QUAM ARMIPOTENS
Post #36,121 by inthane-chan 4/22/02 1:14:03 PM Reply	Not big, strong. As Yet Another Backup Plan, I'm going out for firefighting. One of the tests is to exert a certain amount of force with a sledgehammer on a measurement plate in 10 seconds. I want to be able to do it in one swing. :) Appearance would be nice, but I'm just interested in the strength portion of it. We've got a weight machine in our apartment complex that nobody uses, and I'm working on it - benching about 135 right now. "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Post #36,133 by CRConrad 4/22/02 2:59:12 PM Reply	Heh, gives a whole new meaning to the term "benchmarketing"!
Post #36,209 by boxley 4/23/02 9:54:08 AM Reply	Its the swing not the force Find a heavy axe for $20 and invest in some stumps, feet apart, concentrate on hitting the ground beneath the stumps, picture the stumps not there. relax, swing lightly over your head then at veticle peak power on. Used to amuse the locals at the woodpile. Mind yer toes. thanx, bill TAM ARIS QUAM ARMIPOTENS
Post #36,224 by inthane-chan 4/23/02 11:49:21 AM Reply	Used to do that for gramps. I've done that, splitting a whole hell of a lot of wood in the process. Had the one-swing chop down to an art. The problem is, this is a horizontal swing, not a vertical swing, so I can't use gravity (as much) to help. :P "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Post #36,226 by boxley 4/23/02 11:53:19 AM Reply	Baseball bat and heavy bag TAM ARIS QUAM ARMIPOTENS
Post #36,515 by Mike 4/25/02 1:32:13 PM Reply	Recommendation Read "Body For Life" by Bill Phillips. Its packed with common sense and some good motivational thinking/writing. I think he has a website too. The insight I gained from it was that you really need to focus on changing your lifestyle. I was in a pattern of getting out of shape and then embarking on truly punishing workout schedules to get back in shape. Then once I was in shape...I would figure that it was okay to eat cake and drink beer. The difference between doing nothing at all and doing something is enormous. Once you are doing something its then a question of degrees whether you (say) cycle 5 miles or 25 miles. My sin was that often I would lapse into doing nothing at all for 1-2 years. I bought a mountain bike last year. If you find a good trail it offers the thrill of a video game plus gives you a serious workout. AND the consequences are real if you #@ck up (been straight over the handle bars twice) so the adrenaline is there. It is NOT boring in the same way a gym can be. There is actually a serious sub-culture out there which I didn't really know about before. A world of nobby tires, ceramic frames, disk brakes, biker sneakers, jelly gloves, full suspensions etc. etc. The thing I really like about it is that it is surprisingly non-competitive. Most people seem to be of the mindset that just being there is where its at. Everyone can have a good story whether you make it around in 20 minutes or 2 hours. Finally.....for the most part.....its fairly forgiving on your body. You won't get the kind of foot/leg/nipple problems which prolonged jogging can give you. (Note: If your nipples hurt when you jog.......you're probably not quite ready for mountain biking). -Mike -- William Shatner's Trousers --
Post #36,589 by inthane-chan 4/26/02 11:31:38 AM Reply	Well my nipples sure don't hurt... Sorry, couldn't resist that one. No, I'm not lapsing into the "do nothing" mindset - but there's something I REALLY want to do that I can't find anybody around to do it with. Boffers. For the uninformed, this was my old hobby, picking up foam-padded PVC pipes and bashing other people with them who were trying to do the same to me. A lot of fun, lots of excercise (I always came home tired, sweaty, and in serious pain, not from the boffers, but sore muscles), and I can't find anybody locally who's into this peculiar hobby of mine. Bah. "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Post #36,609 by Mike 4/26/02 2:58:40 PM Reply	Well I learned something new today -- William Shatner's Trousers --
Post #36,636 by ben_tilly 4/26/02 9:02:08 PM Reply	Try the SCA They sometimes use boffers. OTOH they prefer wearing real armor, and harder sticks... Cheers, Ben "... I couldn't see how anyone could be educated by this self-propagating system in which people pass exams, teach others to pass exams, but nobody knows anything." --Richard Feynman
Post #36,767 by inthane-chan 4/29/02 11:15:51 AM Reply	That's why I don't try them. 1) Greater expense 2) Greater risk "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Post #36,839 by ben_tilly 4/29/02 7:38:03 PM Reply	Less risk With boffer swords it is too easy to get poked, hit in a sensitive spot, etc. The SCA swords aren't much heavier, and with a little armour you easily eliminate the vast majority of possibilities for accidental injury. Cost, well yes. SCA armour isn't very expensive (plus people sometimes lend stuff), but it is more so than boffer swords. Given that you are unemployed, this may be an issue. But I would ask an active member before deciding that you can't afford it. Cheers, Ben "... I couldn't see how anyone could be educated by this self-propagating system in which people pass exams, teach others to pass exams, but nobody knows anything." --Richard Feynman
Post #36,849 by inthane-chan 4/29/02 8:51:19 PM Reply	You ought to see our eye protection... ...and we DO wear padding/mesh in the appropriate areas. The only injuries in the 12 year history of the group I was involved with were self-inflicted, such as the guy who walked backwards off an 18' embankment in full plate armor. :P Okay, there was one case where a guy's weapon was called "nonspec" (it had PVC showing) and he was told to a) fix the weapon, b) not use the weapon, or c) leave the game. He refused, tried, was restrained, and then handed over to the friendly police officer who liked to watch us. Wasn't charged with anything, but we didn't see their face around those parts again... Something about a possible assault 'n battery charge being pressed. "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Post #37,008 by ben_tilly 4/30/02 9:15:45 PM Reply	Ah I was only briefly involved in the SCA, and that was a long time ago. But I seem to remember that injuries there are non-existent to rare as well. I have never been involved in boffer fighting. I have just seen it a couple of times. Cheers, Ben "... I couldn't see how anyone could be educated by this self-propagating system in which people pass exams, teach others to pass exams, but nobody knows anything." --Richard Feynman

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