The Health and Fitness Thread

[jamahir]

for which muscle ?Biceps or triceps ?

Chest.

I meant lying on a cot with two blankets and a pillow under me to create a height - to simulate a bench-press.

 

[Signalian]

Chest.

I meant lying on a cot with two blankets and a pillow under me to create a height - to simulate a bench-press.

Unless its a proper bench, don't do chest excercise on a make-shift bench of blankets because your spine may not be leveled and can cause problems to your spine.

Keep hands WIDE apart for CHEST exercise of Bench press, but same distance from weights from both sides.

Keep hands as close as possible for TRICEPS exercise of Bench Press.

 

[jamahir]

Unless its a proper bench, don't do chest excercise on a make-shift bench of blankets because your spine may not be leveled and can cause problems to your spine.

Thanks for the advise.

Unfortunately I will have to go with this method for at least three or four months before I can afford a gym.

Keep hands WIDE apart for CHEST exercise of Bench press, but same distance from weights from both sides.

Keep hands as close as possible for TRICEPS exercise of Bench Press.

Okay, thanks.

 

[I.R.A]

@I.R.A , about barbell, what is the correct placements of the hands, near the plates or slightly away from the plates??

Edit : I mean for chest.

Please watch video posted by @Nilgiri in post number 1039.

I would strongly suggest not to try bench press except on a leveled hard surface to rest your back on. Makeshift benches with blankets can be harmful and may not bring the desired results. Try it on the floor instead.

About the various grips ....... for chest you can opt a wider grip, a relatively closer grip and a reverse grip.

Wider grip helps with width (not that wide that it reaches the plates, there are normally ring markings on the barbell, the one more closer to plates is wide enough) ....... narrow grip helps with definition and reverse with overall shape of pecs, mainly upper chest.

Whatever grip you try, it needs to be balanced, what I am trying to say is that both hands should be gripping barbell at equal distance from the plates.

Too wide would get your shoulders involved and too close would get your triceps involved ...... not helpful if you are aiming to build chest.

Once you have lifted the weight, try controlling the motion and squeezing your pecs, when you bring it down don't go lower then your shoulder line.

 

[Signalian]

https://images.dawn.com/news/1177202

I learned 8 self-defence moves to help you protect yourself from assault
Amir J. Khan taught me the art of Krav Maga, a self-defence system. Here's how you can benefit.

UPDATED JAN 16, 2018 06:53PM

This story was first published on 7th March 2017.

Ask yourself: Do I feel safe? Safe on the streets of my city? Safe from people at work? Safe at home?

I'll go first. I don't.

I never feel safe unless I'm within my home in Karachi. Even then I'm acutely aware of household objects I can use as potential weapons against intruders in case of a break in. Keys? Yes, I can wedge the teeth between my fingers and attack the face. Vase? Yes, can break it on the head and use the shards to stab. Glass of water? Throw water on the face. Distract. Then break glass on the head. Yes. That should work. Books? Shield? Hmm, maybe.

Call me paranoid but my guard is always up.

It could be owing to the recent break in at my aunt's house — the robbers pushed and shoved the poor woman down a flight of stairs with complete disregard to her age or health — or it could be a reaction to news of harassment at Atif Aslam's concert, or the fact that since an early age, each time I've stepped foot outdoors I've felt like a hapless prey shrinking under the weight of penetrating stares of predators on the streets.

Feeling safe is a luxury we don't have, at least not given the current situation in Pakistan. Women face harassment at work, on the streets, when using public transport and some, even in their own homes.

And although we may not be able to stop molestation from taking place at large or even in the home, we can, however, fend for ourselves by learning self-defence.

So when gym and studio, MUV Base introduced self-defence classes by personal safety and self-defence (Krav Maga) instructor Amir J. Khan, needless to say, I was instantly interested.

It's best to learn these self-defence moves from a professional and then practice them on a daily basis so they become second nature. You shouldn't use them without practice and training.

As Amir stressed to me, these moves are meant to weaken the assailant and give you enough time to get away. It's not advisable to keep attacking the assailant, which will reduce your getaway time and attract bystanders and/or the assailant's companions.

Here's what I learned during my sessions - ways to block aggression which is most likely to occur in real life.

1) Bear hug

When grabbed from behind in a bear hug, use your elbow to strike the groin multiple times till the assailant's grip loosens.

Shift your hip to one side and move your leg behind the assailant's to wedge it in between his. Simultaneously, stick your elbow out parallel to the assailant's chest and push him back so he trips on your leg and falls to the ground — this requires a lot of force. Make sure your leg between the assailant's is grounded with full force to trip him. Once he's on the ground attack with punches.

2) Arm pull

One of the most common ways to manhandle a woman is the arm pull.

Instead of tugging and pulling your arm — the assailant's grip will only tighten — open your palm, twist it around and jerk it out from between the assailant's fingers and thumb. During the hand pull, pivot 180 degrees to the side for an elbow attack to the head. (If you're tiny and your assailant huge, jump to strike).

3) Hair pull

Another common way of controlling women is by pulling their hair.

In all probability the assailant will tug and pull at your hair for physical dominance. To regain balance, take both hands, grab a hold of the assailant's hand clutching your hair and hold it steady, turn to face the assailant, grab his neck for stability and kick the groin repeatedly till the assailant's grasp on the hair loosens, then either punch the face or go for an elbow strike.

4) Wall choke

If an assailant grabs you by the neck and pushes you to the wall, pull your chin in so that the head doesn't hit the wall. Once against the wall, drop one shoulder to the side (do not bend your knee) lift the opposite arm in a 90 degree angle and twist to the other side. Push your tricep down the assailant's arms with all your might to break his clasp on your neck, strike his face with your elbow, with the same arm grab the back of his neck and ram the head into the wall.

5) One arm choke

Take the opposite arm and dig your fingers under the palm of the assailant's, peel it away from your neck and outwards rotating it to the other side, keep holding the hand and twisting while grabbing a hold of the assailant's tricep.

Hit the area under the tricep (weak spot) with your knee and continue to twist the tricep in an upward motion and push him to the ground.

6 & 7) Ground choke/rape
There are two ways to do this:

One is when the assailant is choking you while he sits atop your pelvis, use your pelvis to thrust him up with full force. He'll fall face first behind you.

Second is when the assailant is choking you with his legs in-between yours. Clasp your hands together, place your legs inside his and lock them in. Move your arms up and out with full force breaking his grasp on your neck, the assailant will either fall on top of you or drop his hands on either side to steady himself.

In a swift move, place a palm on one side of the assailant's nose and grab the back of his head with the other -- now this is important, the placement of the hands depends on the side you're going to rotate the assailant, If you're going for the left side, then place your left hand on the right side of his nose and your right behind the head -- with your legs still locked in his twist him to one side and get on top of him and strike his face.

8) Pipe or danda attack

If an assailant swings a weapon at you, assess whether it'll make contact or not, if not, run towards the assailant, open your arm at a 90 degree angle, take it over his arm holding the weapon and pull his arm in. Grab the back of his head and strike the groin with your knee multiple times.

Grab the base of the pole with the arm holding the neck and dislodge the other arm to grab a hold of the pipe from the other end, twist and break it out of the assailant's grip and swing. Hard.

Amir J. Khan is a former Security & Law Enforcement professional, as well as a personal safety and self-defence (Krav Maga) instructor. He's a certified trainer in Unarmed Combat and Impact Weapons and is currently working at Aga Khan University as Campus Manager and also offers private self-defence classes.

All gif photos have been taken by Umair Khan, ex-military, divemaster and underwater photographer and videographer.

Note: This guide is informational and is not a substitute for professional self-defence coaching.

 

[I.R.A]

Woah! What happened?

Just lost control during this monsoon ........ still recovering from pain in left deltoid, and I have lost muscle mass too.

Accha I wanted to ask you about BCAA and whey if you could advise me.

I am not doing as well as I was last year before my injury.

I am trying to stay away from both of these and have driven my wife nuts with my crazy dietary chonchle.

Most guys (including close friends who once used to be heavily into weight training like you .... same gym as Shahid Kapoor - Barbarian in Bombay) are saying diet is simply not enough for the kind of training I am doing (150-200 km during the week and another 200+ ride on Sunday) as well as brevet workload (the season starts on November 1).

Please help me. Move this to a new training thread. Lets gain from PDF instead of only Persian Arab gc.

Cheers, Doc

BCAA .......... yar most of these supplements are not regulated. Even in US they are not registered by FDA. People use them, and some of them are very good in helping, but I remain conscious of these whey proteins and BCAAs etc. The thing is if you get them imported directly from outside this corrupt region, it's better, like import them from UK or US, but locally, the chances are high that you won't get the original product though the packing would be original. Second thing is yar, you have to carefully read the ingredients of the product your are using, because what you intake considerably affects your health. Some of them have Sodium and Cholesterol included. Third I would suggest taking meal 5 times a day. These products are like a quick fix, and most of the time people develop sort of addiction, they can't do it without them, it becomes an essential part of the regime.

What I do is I keep the whey protein with me, but I don't use it regularly on daily basis, I only use it when I have hit the bottom or I have really sour muscles. Say once in week or sometimes once in month only. Remain natural and try recovering from natural way feeding. Plus don't forget we aren't the teens or we in our twenties where it won't matter.

And seriously before finally deciding to intake any of this, just watch videos like "Dark side of bodybuilding" ... where professional athletes and builders confess and regret the moment they opted to use steroids, they are unanimous in saying that if they could go back they would chose otherwise.

You can delete your post from that thread.

 

[padamchen]

Just lost control during this monsoon ........ still recovering from pain in left deltoid, and I have lost muscle mass too.



BCAA .......... yar most of these supplements are not regulated. Even in US they are not registered by FDA. People use them, and some of them are very good in helping, but I remain conscious of these whey proteins and BCAAs etc. The thing is if you get them imported directly from outside this corrupt region, it's better, like import them from UK or US, but locally, the chances are high that you won't get the original product though the packing would be original. Second thing is yar, you have to carefully read the ingredients of the product your are using, because what you intake considerably affects your health. Some of them have Sodium and Cholesterol included. Third I would suggest taking meal 5 times a day. These products are like a quick fix, and most of the time people develop sort of addiction, they can't do it without them, it becomes an essential part of the regime.

What I do is I keep the whey protein with me, but I don't use it regularly on daily basis, I only use it when I have hit the bottom or I have really sour muscles. Say once in week or sometimes once in month only. Remain natural and try recovering from natural way feeding. Plus don't forget we aren't the teens or we in our twenties where it won't matter.

And seriously before finally deciding to intake any of this, just watch videos like "Dark side of bodybuilding" ... where professional athletes and builders confess and regret the moment they opted to use steroids, they are unanimous in saying that if they could go back they would chose otherwise.

You can delete your post from that thread.

I like your line about remembering our age. I try to keep forgetting. But life keeps reminding in so many different ways. But the mind and heart are not ready nor willing to agree.

My wife and kids told me this on Sunday when I DNFed the 600 I had been training for. They (my middle one) said - dada we knew you were not ready/prepared, and mama told us that pray that something happens to his bike because he is not going to listen, and he is not going to stop till he falls.

I was going great till 3 weeks ago. Then travel to Belgium, came back, a day later driving to Gujarat. Came back. Just two days before the rid. And zero saddle time for three weeks ... taking "pre-event taper" to ridiculous lengths I guess.

And 150 kms into the ride, in unimaginable humidity and October heat, and dehydration setting in cause I misjudged the distance to the previous control point and ran dry, I had a tyre burst out of the blue which I could not repair .... and returned to Pune with my bike in a bus.

I'll search out my diet plan and post it here for you.

5 meals is really tough for me bhai. I am trying to design my plan with the minimal amount of deviation from my regular life, work, home.

Cheers, Doc

 

[I.R.A]

I like your line about remembering our age. I try to keep forgetting. But life keeps reminding in so many different ways. But the mind and heart are not ready nor willing to agree.

My wife and kids told me this on Sunday when I DNFed the 600 I had been training for. They (my middle one) said
dada we knew you were not ready/prepared, and mama told us that pray that something happens to his bike because he is not going to listen, and he is not going to stop till he falls.

And 150 kms into the ride, in unimaginable humidity and October heat, and dehydration setting in cause I misjudged the distance to the previous control point and ran dry, I had a tyre burst out of the blue which I could not repair .... and returned to Pune with my bike in a bus.

I'll search out my diet plan and post it here for you.

5 meals is really tough for me bhai. I am trying to design my plan with the minimal amount of deviation from my regular life, work, home.

Cheers, Doc

Right now I am signing out. See you tomorrow .......... buddy physical activity and season weather .... go hand in hand. I got my shoulder injury in this humid season.

 

[I.R.A]

5 meals is really tough for me bhai. I am trying to design my plan with the minimal amount of deviation from my regular life, work, home.

The meals don't have to be cooked meals. You can carry items like akhrot, pista, Kaju, badam, chanay, chuwary, khajoor, chalgozay, wagaira wagaira ........ I mean dry fruit yar. Study the nutrition value of these items and try including them in your diet plan ...... kahi b kissi b waqt kha sakty hain.

And don't take it to heart, like any other sport, sometimes you are in form and perform well, at others you don't. It's part of the game, I am sure you will recover from this phase.

 

[Thorough Pro]

This shit only works in demos where the dummy is doing nothing other than helping you demonstrate you your shitty moves. Real street criminals are violent and they don't wait for you to make your fancy moves. Watching internet vids NEVER makes you an expert.

https://images.dawn.com/news/1177202

I learned 8 self-defence moves to help you protect yourself from assault
Amir J. Khan taught me the art of Krav Maga, a self-defence system. Here's how you can benefit.

UPDATED JAN 16, 2018 06:53PM

This story was first published on 7th March 2017.

Ask yourself: Do I feel safe? Safe on the streets of my city? Safe from people at work? Safe at home?

I'll go first. I don't.

I never feel safe unless I'm within my home in Karachi. Even then I'm acutely aware of household objects I can use as potential weapons against intruders in case of a break in. Keys? Yes, I can wedge the teeth between my fingers and attack the face. Vase? Yes, can break it on the head and use the shards to stab. Glass of water? Throw water on the face. Distract. Then break glass on the head. Yes. That should work. Books? Shield? Hmm, maybe.

Call me paranoid but my guard is always up.

It could be owing to the recent break in at my aunt's house — the robbers pushed and shoved the poor woman down a flight of stairs with complete disregard to her age or health — or it could be a reaction to news of harassment at Atif Aslam's concert, or the fact that since an early age, each time I've stepped foot outdoors I've felt like a hapless prey shrinking under the weight of penetrating stares of predators on the streets.

Feeling safe is a luxury we don't have, at least not given the current situation in Pakistan. Women face harassment at work, on the streets, when using public transport and some, even in their own homes.

And although we may not be able to stop molestation from taking place at large or even in the home, we can, however, fend for ourselves by learning self-defence.

So when gym and studio, MUV Base introduced self-defence classes by personal safety and self-defence (Krav Maga) instructor Amir J. Khan, needless to say, I was instantly interested.

It's best to learn these self-defence moves from a professional and then practice them on a daily basis so they become second nature. You shouldn't use them without practice and training.

As Amir stressed to me, these moves are meant to weaken the assailant and give you enough time to get away. It's not advisable to keep attacking the assailant, which will reduce your getaway time and attract bystanders and/or the assailant's companions.

Here's what I learned during my sessions - ways to block aggression which is most likely to occur in real life.

1) Bear hug

When grabbed from behind in a bear hug, use your elbow to strike the groin multiple times till the assailant's grip loosens.

Shift your hip to one side and move your leg behind the assailant's to wedge it in between his. Simultaneously, stick your elbow out parallel to the assailant's chest and push him back so he trips on your leg and falls to the ground — this requires a lot of force. Make sure your leg between the assailant's is grounded with full force to trip him. Once he's on the ground attack with punches.

2) Arm pull

One of the most common ways to manhandle a woman is the arm pull.

Instead of tugging and pulling your arm — the assailant's grip will only tighten — open your palm, twist it around and jerk it out from between the assailant's fingers and thumb. During the hand pull, pivot 180 degrees to the side for an elbow attack to the head. (If you're tiny and your assailant huge, jump to strike).

3) Hair pull

Another common way of controlling women is by pulling their hair.

In all probability the assailant will tug and pull at your hair for physical dominance. To regain balance, take both hands, grab a hold of the assailant's hand clutching your hair and hold it steady, turn to face the assailant, grab his neck for stability and kick the groin repeatedly till the assailant's grasp on the hair loosens, then either punch the face or go for an elbow strike.

4) Wall choke

If an assailant grabs you by the neck and pushes you to the wall, pull your chin in so that the head doesn't hit the wall. Once against the wall, drop one shoulder to the side (do not bend your knee) lift the opposite arm in a 90 degree angle and twist to the other side. Push your tricep down the assailant's arms with all your might to break his clasp on your neck, strike his face with your elbow, with the same arm grab the back of his neck and ram the head into the wall.

5) One arm choke

Take the opposite arm and dig your fingers under the palm of the assailant's, peel it away from your neck and outwards rotating it to the other side, keep holding the hand and twisting while grabbing a hold of the assailant's tricep.

Hit the area under the tricep (weak spot) with your knee and continue to twist the tricep in an upward motion and push him to the ground.

6 & 7) Ground choke/rape
There are two ways to do this:

One is when the assailant is choking you while he sits atop your pelvis, use your pelvis to thrust him up with full force. He'll fall face first behind you.

Second is when the assailant is choking you with his legs in-between yours. Clasp your hands together, place your legs inside his and lock them in. Move your arms up and out with full force breaking his grasp on your neck, the assailant will either fall on top of you or drop his hands on either side to steady himself.

In a swift move, place a palm on one side of the assailant's nose and grab the back of his head with the other -- now this is important, the placement of the hands depends on the side you're going to rotate the assailant, If you're going for the left side, then place your left hand on the right side of his nose and your right behind the head -- with your legs still locked in his twist him to one side and get on top of him and strike his face.

8) Pipe or danda attack

If an assailant swings a weapon at you, assess whether it'll make contact or not, if not, run towards the assailant, open your arm at a 90 degree angle, take it over his arm holding the weapon and pull his arm in. Grab the back of his head and strike the groin with your knee multiple times.

Grab the base of the pole with the arm holding the neck and dislodge the other arm to grab a hold of the pipe from the other end, twist and break it out of the assailant's grip and swing. Hard.

Amir J. Khan is a former Security & Law Enforcement professional, as well as a personal safety and self-defence (Krav Maga) instructor. He's a certified trainer in Unarmed Combat and Impact Weapons and is currently working at Aga Khan University as Campus Manager and also offers private self-defence classes.

All gif photos have been taken by Umair Khan, ex-military, divemaster and underwater photographer and videographer.

Note: This guide is informational and is not a substitute for professional self-defence coaching.

For all health and fitness buffs, this is quite lengthy but packed with use full info

 

[Thorough Pro]

For all lazy the sloths who find it hard to achieve anything in life or keep blaming one thing or the other for their failures ... Watch this lengthy 2 hour long video and see what they can achieve if they man up ...

Trust me its worth it

 

[Thorough Pro]

 

[Signalian]

I learnt defence against the wall choke, arms choke and ground choke (with mounted position) the other day in Krav maga class.

 

[I.R.A]

I have somehow discovered that hanging from the bar (with hands gripping the bar from top or bottom) helps with pain in shoulders. I had stopped doing pull ups thinking that it would worsen my already injured shoulder, but hanging instead helped with recovery.

Plus to build chest, supersets of straight / incline machine press and seated machine press with very minimal rest / interval in between ...... help a lot. The key to build and pump your muscles is minimal rest and doing supersets for any particular muscle. Keep the heart pumping..... and use variations for building muscles. At the end do a compulsory set of lifting heavy weights (reps don't count, 3 to 4 would do).

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

Guys in the US and Canada especially. I am looking for a good Whey Isolate (prefer unflavored, natural) to replace ON Whey concentrate which I had been using for years. Any recommendations.