Results matching “Bird”

This is a guest post from Fitness Fixation's Kelly Mills. Oh Ladies, Time To Start Strength Training...

Remember last time I said ladies should lift? Nothing has changed. But some of you may now be saying, "Well, I'd love to start a strength training program, but I have no idea where to start." And others of you might be saying, "Why should I listen to this bitch anyway?" Okay, let's tackle the latter first. I have no idea. But, I mean, you've read this far, so may as well keep going.

Look, I avoided weight training for years. Going to the local gym and putzing around on the little dumbbell curl machine had about zero appeal to me, and though I tried to get into it from time to time, I could never really commit to what felt boring and pointless and much less appealing than staying home and watching bad sitcoms on TV while eating spoonfuls of peanut butter right out of the container. (I suppose my blog in those days could have been called, “Straight to the Jar”.) But then I found a style of weight training I loved, namely this kickass combination of plyometric drills and running and jump-rope with technical lifts and cool tricks mixed in for a terrifyingly hard and super fun workout, and I got hooked. I'm not saying that will absolutely work for you, but there's probably something out there involving barbells and exercises that will. Oh, and did I mention that this training also made me lose body fat, get muscle definition, speed up my running, protect my bones, feel super strong and badass, and lift my ass a good inch higher without Spanx? And that I'm not one of those naturally skinny people who can eat anything and look like a rail? That my metabolism is so slow I could probably survive as long as the cockroaches after the nuclear winter wipes out all the food supplies? Just saying.

This is a guest post from LIFT magazine's Tanya Ryno. Numbers That Lie.

Before you brag about how much weight you're moving, take a look at how the cable is connected to the stack at your favorite exercise machine. Is the top plate connected to a pulley or a cable? Why? The pulley version makes lifting the weight easier by half. Try a triceps push-down with the two variations of machine and you'll see. So go ahead and use the little white numbers to track your progress, but remember that "40" doesn't necessarily mean "40 pounds."

Via Engadget : Ever wanted to exercise the muscles around your mouth? Try the new smile trainer from Patakara. Interesting - if slightly odd - idea.

It was a great trip.

Quite apart from the mountains of family tree research we managed to come up with - not to mention the tanned, relaxed feeling - the past two weeks highlighted something particularly relevant to this site : a bag of nails and a couple of wraps make very welcome travelling companions.

With regular doses of bodyweight exercise (including exploration of the many fitness trails around that part of the world), and a daily bend or three, I feel in pretty good shape. In fact, I'll keep doing those two things; as well as the usual array of heavy stuff.

The normal article schedule will resume in another couple of hours (still unpacking things here), as well as the uploading of a photo or two. Firstly though, thanks to everyone who contributed articles in my absence. It's greatly appreciated.

It was a great trip.

Quite apart from the mountains of family tree research we managed to come up with - not to mention the tanned, relaxed feeling - the past two weeks highlighted something particularly relevant to this site : a bag of nails and a couple of wraps make very welcome travelling companions.

With regular doses of bodyweight exercise (including exploration of the many fitness trails around that part of the world), and a daily bend or three, I feel in pretty good shape. In fact, I'll keep doing those two things; as well as the usual array of heavy stuff.

The normal article schedule will resume in another couple of hours (still unpacking things here), as well as the uploading of a photo or two. Firstly though, thanks to everyone who contributed articles in my absence. It's greatly appreciated.

We got back from the Queensland trip this afternoon - relaxed, tanned and overflowing with information. In particular, our visits to the State Library of Queensland (in Brisbane) and the Heritage Centre (Maryborough) proved fruitful. A number of this site's articles will be updated over the coming days.

Also of note is the overall family tree (the Bird site, at least) over on Geni. I've already updated the basics; a more thorough update will take place in a couple of days or so.

We got back from the Queensland trip this afternoon - relaxed, tanned and overflowing with information. In particular, our visits to the State Library of Queensland (in Brisbane) and the Heritage Centre (Maryborough) proved fruitful. A number of this site's articles will be updated over the coming days.

Also of note is the overall family tree (the Bird site, at least) over on Geni. I've already updated the basics; a more thorough update will take place in a couple of days or so.

I'm travelling for a couple of weeks (back around March 15). In the meantime, here are a few hidden gems from the archives.

Enjoy.

Straight to the Grip Contest

When it comes to grip training, Jedd Johnson's a goldmine of information. Over on the Diesel Crew site they've just wrapped up his excellent Straight to the Grip Contest series into a single PDF document [392kb, .pdf].

Download it, print it out and share it with your friends. It's a great read.

I'm travelling for a couple of weeks (back around March 15). In the meantime, here are a few hidden gems from the archives.

Enjoy.

Card Tearing Anyone?

I don't care if you tear a stack of paper, a deck of playing cards, or a stack of bills you don`t want to pay. Tearing is good fun. Tearing can have some advantages over other types of destructive training/enjoyment as the technique I will describe is significantly easier on the elbows than short steel bending. Additionally, everyone thinks they know someone who can tear a deck of cards. That someone should and will be you!

I tear because I can, and tearing gives me a sense of accomplishment and finality that other forms of resistance training don`t provide. There are not many other activities that combine a high level of mental toughness, explosive strength, brute strength, a bit of strength endurance and last but not least complete and utter VICTORY. If you pull or press a weight for a PR the weight looks at you as if to say you won that one, what have you got now? (no weights don't speak to me, well at least not too often) When you tear or bend the job is DONE. The only thing left is to decide if you want to tear the halves into quarters.

The purpose of this article is tearing and I will stick to two areas of tearing that I have had some success. Mind you, I do not consider myself a guru or any such nonsense. I am simply a fairly strong man who has found pleasure in tearing and bending and feel a need to share these old time strong man exercises with others.

Technique and mind-set are critical to your success in tearing. Mind-set is more important initially in the sense that if you are truly focused and concentrate on generating tension in the proper sequence, then you have a shot at delivering the necessary power to complete your task. The quality of your technique will determine how efficiently you are able to deliver that power. The way to increase your skill level is to practice. Keep in mind I'm referring to quality practice, do not mindlessly crank out repetitions to say you are done.

Remember, practice does not make perfect, “perfect practice makes perfect”.

I'm travelling for a couple of weeks (back around March 15). In the meantime, here are a few hidden gems from the archives.

Enjoy.

The demise of monkey bars

'Hey hey, we're the Monkeys, and people say we monkey around'
- Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart

A few weeks ago I visited Sofala, an old mining town near Bathurst, NSW. Russell Drysdale depicted the main street in his 1947 painting Sofala, and it hasn't changed much in the 60 years since. It's a dry, desolate, dusty place - and quite beautiful. I love it.

Whilst walking along this same street I noticed something that I haven't seen for a number of years - monkey bars. There they were, in a childrens' playground neatly slotted between a pub and a toilet block (perhaps not the best location, but it was relatively well protected from the sun). It was a very unusual sight.

If you're not quite sure what monkey bars are, picture a smooth-runged steel ladder placed on its side. The whole thing is supported on poles, keeping it 7' or 8' off the ground. A chinning bar on steroids, if you will.

A few decades ago - when I would have first played around on monkey bars - they seemed to be everywhere. In their original, simple form or as part of more elaborate constructions such as rockets and aeroplanes. To a young boy with a big imagination, they were magical.

Fast forward 20 years or so, to the mid '90s. Due to their popularity - they were being used almost 8 times [1] as much as other playground equipment - there were an alarming number of accidents. Many of these were minor (as anyone who's ever fallen awkwardly from a chinning bar will attest), but politicians the world over began to grow worried that something more sinister was possible. Fearful of lawsuits, many of the monkey bars were removed.

The result? A major source of entertaining upper-back work was largely taken away from an entire generation. Sure, there are still any number of ways children can perform chin-ups. But none is so much fun as a climb across the monkey bars.

References

1. Injury and frequency of use of playground equipment in
public schools and parks in Brisbane, Australia
J W Nixon, C H C Acton, B Wallis, M F Ballesteros, D Battistutta
Injury Prevention, 2003