I just got the sample size of Bar Sinister in so now you can include a sample of that gorgeous blend in any sample pack you choose.
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With freeweights you set your limits and execute it all with a minimum of fuss or accompaniment. Often you see people using freeweights with a “spotter” or buddy who can help you with form, the amount of weight you are using, and comment on how you did. Freeweights can be just about anything heavy: hand weights (these can go from 1 lb to 100 lbs or more), kettleballs (iron balls with a handle to make them simpler to lift), bars with weights on the end, medicine balls…anything practically. I have seen large concrete balls that look like boulders used in some gyms. The only thing a freeweight really can’t be is a machine, and freeweights are never done in a class, they are very individual. If you are going to choose freeweights, it is imperative that you are: a) honest with yourself, b) faithful to performing your exercises, c) aware of yourself and your surroundings. Being honest with yourself has more to do with realizing your limitations, weaknesses, and talents than it does just about anything else. Don’t pick up too little weight because you won’t gain strength. Don’t pick up too much weight because you will hurt yourself and then the game is over for 6-8 weeks and you will lose your momentum. Be critical of your own form and this is where a spotter can help because as much as you think you know how you look when you do something, sometimes you can get quite a surprise. Being constant is pretty self explanatory. If you miss more than two sessions ask yourself if you are enjoying your free weights or if you are bored and would rather do something more social. Free weights are not right for everyone, and forcing yourself into doing an exercise you hate is not a good idea. Being aware of yourself and your surroundings means that you will be less likely to hurt yourself or other people. Putting your equipment away can be a pretty dangerous time because you are tired and just want to get the clean up over with. Make sure you are not going to hit someone else or hurt yourself. Coming up with a good routine is actually pretty easy nowadays. The internet is full of great routines for you to print out and try, there are a boatload of great freeweight routines on apps for your smartphone (iFitness is free and lets you choose from a great variety of muscle groups and routines). You put in your vital statistics, choose a routine you would like to do and click “go”. You even get movies of what they should look like while you are doing them (the exercises that is). They tell you the reps you need to perform, how many more you need to do during the course of your development, and let you record your progress. Again, please know you cannot “spot develop” one muscle. If you are working on, say, your biceps you are going to be working out your shoulders, triceps, lats, and back muscles, too. All muscles work in groups, that is what they are meant to do. So if you think you are developing big biceps and your shoulders are not as equally large…try working on exercises which target the shoulder as the main beneficiary of the exercise but know that the other muscles will be going along for the ride. Oh, and sometimes you think one muscle needs developing and you realize that you were looking at it unclenched, and sometimes you are just unlucky to have that one muscle always being smaller than you would like. Normally, it just takes a lot of practice and lifting, opinion changing and then one day you ARE surprised and happily so. Also, please please please don’t talk about “toning” your muscles. You either develop them or not, there isn’t much middle ground here. Whether you are a man or a woman, it is almost impossible to overdevelop your muscles. To do that you would have to spend an inordinate time at the gym and resort to some chemical supplement which is not recommended (Arnold Schwarzenegger had a heart operation way too early in his life and that leads me to believe that his muscle bound appearance was based on something other than hi reps, not worth it and most people just end up looking odd rather than wonderful). If anyone offers to help you “spot tone” thank them and decline. There is no such thing. Last but not least, please wipe down your equipment after you finish. Most gyms have a spray and paper towel set around for this purpose. I carry a set of alcohol wipes that I tear open and wipe down. Washing your hands real well after your exercises is a great idea. Unfortunately, there have been rumors of bad germs out there and the thought of other folks sweat, skin flakes, and oils is pretty unappetizing. There are times I wipe down my equipment with one alcohol wipe before I start.
If you want to develop your muscles which will help you lose weight and make you look better, strength training classes are for you. Generally, you stand in one spot and lift weights. There are “Boot Camp” classes and spinning classes where you are usually confined to one spot but those are meant to get your heart rate up and pure strength classes are meant to develop muscle. There are brands of strength classes like “Body Pump” or “Urban Iron” and most of them use a bar with different weights you can chooses to lift to music. The class theory is lots of repetitions with relatively low weights concentrating on different muscle groups as you go along. One class I was in I counted 92 repetitions in about 5 minutes (that was squats for the quads and glutes). You get the picture. In the classes I have been in the groups targeted are: back/hams/glutes, chest, abs, shoulders, triceps, biceps, core, quads, and general warm up. It isn’t really possible to totally isolate a muscle group, they all work together. So, if you are trying to develop your biceps, it is practically impossible not to involve a lot of the rest of you, too, like your: lats, forearms, shoulders, and chest and abs. You can’t really spot develop but you can develop a large muscle group and certainly strengthen one group as well. Just remember you are all connected. Start out slow in weighlifting and go up slowly as well. Please don’t start off by loading up the bar with as much weight as it will hold and lifting it come hell or high water. You can end up with a nasty case of tendinitis which will take out out of the class for 6-8 weeks. Not worth it. Start with light weights, you will get plenty of repetitions to keep you working. Concentrate on form. Again, you don’t want to hurt your back or knees because you were trying to show off. Also, I will be frank, showing off is considered “not in the spirit” of weightlifting. So drama, noise, strutting, well…not. Weightlifting is probably one of the most contemplative exercises I have ever done because it’s just you showing you what you can do. Even in a class, it’s not a team sport and it’s actually very quiet and takes great concentration. There is a serious side to it, solemn even. That is one of the great attractants of weightlifting, a certain humble edge and seriousness of purpose. There isn’t the posing of yoga, the yelling of zumba, or grim grind of spinning. Weightlifting classes compete somewhat with freeweights. The latter is totally outside the classroom and at most with a buddy or “spotter”. Classes find you among people but you are your own judge of whether or not you can lift something and put it down successfully. Heart rates are usually lower for weight lifting classes than for cardio, and you won’t lose as much weight in them either, ironically. I usually burn about 250 calories in a weightlifting class of an hour but I can push myself to 300-350 calories with increasing weights, repetitions (just one or two more at the beginning, participating in the class demo at the beginning, and making sure that you put your weights away and helping putting away others’ gear will tack on about 25 calories and sometimes more). You will learn how much weight you can lift in 5 minute shifts. There are usually small weights to tack on to bring up the total to the next level or to try out and see if you are ready to go up. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t eternally progress, everyone has a limit and that means concentrate on form and duration. Women look better after weightlifting. I have not seen anyone muscle bound, and I have been lifting for 5 years now and no one has stopped me on the street to ask how I ended up looking like Charles Atlas BUT I have gotten a lot of compliments. Being stronger is being beautiful. I look great in a strapless black evening dress. Think Lisa Lyons (look her up…very entertaining). Finally, what to wear? Something simple and comfortable. Good flat bottom sneakers (like running shoes where the sole is thick and flares out for stability), shorts if you are a man (I wear workout pants or capris), a shirt which does not constrict you (bra if you are a woman but it does not have to smash you because you are not going to be leaping around). I bring water to class (I always do that) and a towel because I will sweat. I wear my heart rate monitor to show myself how hard I am working (really helps), and weightlifting gloves. Gloves are good because the weakest part of your body in weightlifting is your hands. I can pick up a lot more weight than my hands will let me. You have to keep your grip on the bar as well. Gloves have a suede palm which helps you grip your bar and makes you safer and more comfortable. They are fingerless so you can feel the things you need to pick up, put on and off; and they protect your knuckles. I buy mine on amazon.com and there are a lot of different brands. Target sells them, too, as well as sporting goods stores in your neighborhood. I lost 25 lbs last year and weightlifting was one of the cornerstones of my effort. I highly recommend it as a part of everyone’s routine. Doing it right takes a bit of practice, but it is so worth it. More later.
“Charlie Horses” and other cramps are something I used to suffer with after working out until I fit stretching into my regular routine. It just feels good, too. Some of the more important stretches I do after my workouts include: shoulder muscles, hamstrings, and quads. Those are the ones which are big and do a lot of work during an average workout. It feels great to “pull them out” and put them back to their normal mode. One serious story about stretching was that I started to get a very bad pain on the TOP of my foot after cardio activity. It felt like a ten penny nail was being driven into it about 3 inches in front of my big toe where several bones came together in a knob. I went to a podiatrist who declared I had a bone spur from arthritis, said nothing could be done about it and gave me a Cortisone shot to try to ease the pain. Much to my distress, the shot was supposed to last about 2 weeks and it didn’t get through 3 days of exercises. I had another appointment with another foot surgeon for a consult. He was a sports doctor who listened, asked some good questions and told me that my problem was the Achilles tendon which was shrinking. If I stretched it out by standing on a step and letting it stretch I would probably be pain free. Otherwise, there wasn’t much he could do. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose so I did the stretches and the pain is GONE!. I am back to working out and pain free. So, I am passing that along to you. Give that a try if you have heel pain, too. It’s a real common problem with a real easy solution. Google “Achilles tendon stretches”, there are a lot of styles but they all do the same thing. I do them every day and no pain any more!
One of the most famous protein foods is meat. You don’t need much of it at any meal, and the rule of thumb that I use is to take a portion about as big as a deck of cards. That has worked for me. It manages to let me stretch my food budget, too because everyone wants to serve you 3 times as much as you need. Take the extra home with you and enjoy it later. I have gravitated to buffalo from regular beef, too. There is a lot more protein for the calories there, and it is becoming easier to find. Fish, of course, is a wonderful low cal hi protein food. Alas, I really hate the smell of seafood and don’t enjoy eating it. I do it but it’s pretty much wasted on me. If you like it, great, but also remember that there is a bit of skepticism about whether it’s a good idea to eat a whole lot of fish (regarding contaminates in particular) so keep it varied. Dairy products are also excellent sources of protein. I look for Greek yogurt with 0% fat. Love Fage brand, it is so Greek, and tastes like sour cream (I cannot believe how low in cal it is). Learn to love Greek yogurt with nothing on it. That’s right, NOTHING!!! No sugar or fruit (read sugary treat), honey (sugar) or anything but its own good self. I also use it as a booster rocket for milk. Putting a tablespoon of Greek yogurt in the mild and cereal makes milk taste really old fashioned yummy. Why? I don’t know but it is consistent. Try it. One thing I stay away from is “protein bars” and other stuff like that. I am usually astounded by the calories they have in them, and other stuff, too. Oh, and they are very expensive. So, I just get my protein at meals and that saves the hassle of having to search something out when you don’t have the time. Of course there are other protein rich foods, and they do keep your cravings down, this is just a short collection of things which I thought of off the top of my head. I lost 25 lbs from January 2011 to June 2011 and it was slow but it worked. I realized that I had to change my habits (lifestyle if you would rather) so that I encorporated exercise into my every day, and stopped eating so darned much (there is a vast conspiracy out there, friends…). Come and visit me if you like on my website www.possets.com. I am not a diet councilor, I am a perfumer who lost weight without too much pain.
Fiber does not have a taste, it has a texture. A lot of the texture is really appealing. Think raisin, so do nuts which have the husks on them. Don’t peel tomatoes (like I used to do) and when you are making pea soup, don’t strain it. Berries are famous for their little hitchhiking fibrous seeds and skins, and bulgar wheat is well worth exploring, use it in place of rice and try your hand at making tabulleh. As a matter of fact the whole wheats, buckwheats, brans and whole grains in general are wonderful sources of fiber (just don’t overdo it with the starches here…I take a half a cup and measure out what I am getting…that works). Rice (also a starch so don’t take more than your serving) is a good source of fibre. Brown rice and wild rice are what you are looking for here. As for the processed foods, little comes close to Fibre One. OK, it is sporting some artificial sweetener (that is one reason why a serving is 60 calories) but the fiber content is very hard to beat. Give it a try, just take the original flavor and pass up the honey coated type (that one has some bad calories along with the fibre). If you want to increase the amount of fibre in your diet, do it slowly. Wolfing down 4 times your min. daily requirement is going to give you a BAD case of gas. Incorporate it slowing into your diet and you are a lot better off. Also, fibre absorbs water as it goes through you. Be sure to drink plenty of water and be prepared that you might appear to gain a bit of weight because of the absorptive properties of fibre. Another thing you want to pass up is the fibre pills. Wow. Gas and pain for over a day there. If you don’t watchout fibre will give you bad gas. And anything with psyllium in it is a killer by itself. Just pass (pardon me) on the psyllium and stick with the stuff you know. |
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A Great Fun Game For Fitness