I'm Such A Loser

Image by dogwelder via FlickrI think most of you are too young to remember, but back in the 60's and 70's, I remember seeing advertisements in comics for Charles Atlas' Dynamic Tension muscle building system, as well as Mike Marvel's Dynaflex system.

Both of these systems are isometric training. Charles Atlas apparently had better marketing so it was more famous. Mike Marvel, while not as famous, is also a known name (to me anyway).

I was pleasantly surprised to find a full, free copy of Mike Marvel's Dynaflex system available on the internet as I was surfing around recently. That website, Transformatics.com, had scanned the entire Dynaflex system and made it available.

If you also have a copy of Charles Atlas' Dynamic Tension system, you can compare the exercises and see how different or similar they are.

I have also compiled all the pages into a PDF file. If you want it, download it here. Update: Seems that my provider has prohibited file downloads, so I am unable to post the PDF up for download. Sorry :(

Sorry I don't have Charles Atlas' Dynamic Tension system for download. Even if I had, I don't know if it would even be legal to do so.

As a side note, I know many people frown upon isometric training. What I can say is that "it works". Why?

Way before I had Bodylastics, I had the Steel Bow from Bowproducts.com. The Steel Bow is essentially a modern version of "Bullworker". When I started on my workout back in November 2007, all I had was the Steel Bow. The Steel Bow, or "Bullworker" if you prefer to call it that, is an isometric training device.

To cut the long story short, I lost weight and gained muscle on it. In 2 short months I lost about 6kg or so, and as I stated in a previous entry here, I went from zero pushups to 20+, proper form. In other words, isometric training works. You don't really need weights to build muscle. With the proper guidance and training routine, you can increase your fitness and build muscle/lose weight.

I am sure if you put your mind to it, and followed the Dynaflex system, you will probably improve your fitness too, at the very least. Even if you don't get a "he-man body", you will have already increased your fitness level.

Personally, I'm not following the Dynaflex system right now. I still have my Steel Bow with me, and I also have my Bodylastics. For now, I'm going back on the Steel Bow and following a new 25-step routine which I have discovered in the bullworker forums.

Labels: workout

Image via WikipediaThese words are heard so often, that I gave up on them a long time ago.

But, to be honest, I have uttered them myself, in the past.

It's just a simple case of "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak".

Whatever your fitness goals are, be it to lose weight, get toned, or build muscles, these words are a killer to yourself. Don't wait till tomorrow, do it today!

See, it's very common for women to say that they are fat (even when they aren't). Then they'll say "ok I'll go on a diet/workout tomorrow". Why? Because they've just seen that chocolate cake, or that nice yummy peppermint ice cream, and they feel like having it right now. When you reminded them of their own goals, ie to "lose weight", they always say the same thing - "I'll start tomorrow".

The thing is, there's always a "tomorrow". Just like numbers, you can always +1 to any figure to increase it, hence there's never an end to a number. If you keep saying you will "start tomorrow", you will never start it. One of these "tomorrows" has got to become a "today".

If you're trying to lose weight, going on a "diet" alone won't help much. Yes the weight might go down on the scales, but weight loss is more likely muscle mass than fats (which is what you women are concerned about, right?). Eating less (in quantity) means less nutrition. If you do not workout, whatever else you eat will not be burnt as fuel - they get stored as fats. Even if you eat very little, they get stored as fats too.

The only way to make the body burn whatever that comes in as fuel, is exercise. The more you exercise, the more you are telling the body that it needs to burn fuel, and fats are the body's stored fuel reserves.

To make it simple, "fats = fuel". You don't workout, fats won't go away. No matter how little you eat, you will still have the fats in storage. The reason you see yourself "become slimmer" is due to loss of muscle mass (and perhaps water).

So, when you "start tomorrow", don't just start on the "diet". Start on the workout too.

Labels: diet, motivation

I know, it's been a while since I updated this blog. My only excuse is - I've stopped working out too.. and started to get soft... *sigh*

No matter, it's time I got back to it. The good thing is that I didn't really "put it back on", since my diet essentially remained unchanged. Still balanced, healthy, just minus the "workout" component. Yes I gained 1kg or 2kg but that's ok. I can lose those again in a couple of weeks as soon as I get back to my workouts.

The title for today's post came from a lunchtime conversation I had with my colleagues. It revolves around women - their wives, girlfriends, and girls in the office in general. The usual complaint I hear from them is "I'm FAT!" even when they're a svelte 48kg standing at 1.63m tall.

Now, what happened was, during this conversation, a woman with a good figure walked by the table. I pointed her out and said - "She would probably think she's fat too, but she's not". Then the women at the table started going "noo she's gorgeous, she's not fat".

Whereupon I said to a slim (and pretty shapeless) girl, who was 45kg or less and was complaining she was fat, "but she's bigger sized than you, so what makes YOU fat and she, not?"

Ladies, realise this - you always think you're fat when you're not. Men don't like slim ok? They like curvy. Curvy and Slim are 2 different things. You can be "meaty" and still be curvy. You can be slim and shapeless. Usually, slim women are the shapeless ones.

The only men I know who liked slim shapeless women are photographers. They always say that slim women look great in photos. My reply - good, take a pic of them, and go to bed with the picture. In the meantime, I'd like something meatier to hug on my bed.

Ladies, don't go on a weight-loss diet/programme when you overshoot the "50kg barrier", ok? I don't know who told you that you can't exceed 50kgs, but this "rule" is not set in stone for every girl ok? You gotta look at your height too! You'd look pretty damn skinny if you're 1.7m tall and weighing in only at 45kg. Almost like a skeleton I'd say.

I know a couple of women with nice figures are of average height (1.66m or so) weighing JUST PAST 50kg... eg 52kg, 53kg etc. Yes they still want to go down below 50kg, but they'll lose the nice figure.

Secondly, the weight is not the all-controlling factor of your figure. I also know a particular girl that's 1.72m and weighing 51kg, but she doesn't have a nice figure. The difference? She didn't exercise. All her muscles are not toned, shapeless.

So yes, even if you're "under 50kg", you still need to work out. Muscles need to be toned to give definition to your shape. Simply weighing less is not the answer to your "problems".

Besides, who told you men liked women to be under 50kgs anyway? Magazines? If so, you ladies need to stop reading those magazines and wake up to the real world.

Labels: rant, Weightloss