Fierce_LiNk

That's what I'm worried about. I've already got a bit too much fat that I want to shift, heh. Part of me is also thinking that maybe I should shift some of this excess fat first before taking up these protein shakes? Right now, I think I've got a few pounds I just need to shift off my stomach. Personally, I get more out of my workout if I'm concentrating on one particular area at a time. Going from shoulder pressing to upright rows, bicep curls and lat pulldowns, it's varied and it's good for an overall workout. But, I think maybe you should try spending some time concentrating on each area a bit more. For example, when I was working on my shoulders earlier in the week, I did: Front Shoulder Raises Side Raises Bent Over Raises Upright Rows Shoulder Presses Generally, you aim for 10-15 reps per exercise. I repeated this three times and I wanted to die afterwards. Really effective. Shoulder Exercise Vid This is where I got the workout from, and I find that it works for me. I spent a while just doing shoulder presses and while it can be effective, I find that it isn't any near as effective or satisfying as this workout. You could probably integrate this workout with another one, as it doesn't particularly take too long at all. So, you might want to work your back and shoulders in the same day for example, arms and chest, or something. Also, try not to take too much notice of the people there. I've found that the more often you see "regulars" there, the more they tend to respect you somewhat. I see the same 20 or so faces when I go, and I've found that we say hi to each other briefly and stuff. Like I mentioned above, I get more out of it if I go into the gym knowing which area I'm going to be focusing on. It is just down to preference though, some people may enjoy doing overall body workouts more than spending time on just one particular area or two. I had a really great workout on Thursday, then came home, and a few hours later I caught a flu-like illness. I wanted to go today for a workout, and I haven't, so I feel a bit gutted, heh.

I think I'm going to give protein shakes a go, as I think I'm at the right stage now where I think they will be helpful. Question: Do you still take these shakes when you are not visiting the gym, like on a rest day, for example? Also, I'm visiting the female in two weeks time, so I think it would be best to start these shakes after I return? Because taking them for 2 weeks, stopping, then restarting again seems a bit disruptive. Any advice on this? Mike: Give us an example of what you do at the gym. So, how long do you spend there? What exercises and what size weights?

I'm still a noob at the moment, so I'm always looking for different ideas and ways to approach things. I try to read a lot into things, and a lot of sources on the web seem to suggest that you shouldn't work out the same specific body part for more than 2 times during a week. Although, some say three, so who knows. Yesterday, I concentrated on my arms. So, started off by doing some rowing work as a little exercise to get me warmed up. Then, did some forearm curls, 3 sets, increasing the weight a little each time. After this, some bicep preacher curls, again increasing the weight each time. Then I did some tricep work, so some Tricep barbell extensions. Then, some tricep dumbell extensions, before some tricep cable pushdowns. I try to alternate, so between these I mixed in some dumbell bicep curls. It kinda works for me to keep alternating these. So, some dumbell curls, dumbell hammer curls. There is also a seated dip machine which I've used but find that it doesn't quite hit the spot for me. So, I tend to use the dip assist machine, or just to it manually. Love dips. I'm particularly keen trying to keep things varied when I exercise. It's quite boring and ineffective (I find) just doing standard bicep curls. So, I'm looking for ways to mix things up. Although, a part of me is worrying that because I am only working out each part twice a week that maybe this isn't enough. At the end of my workout, that's when I do my cardio work. I'm trying to do more now, about 30 mins worth altogether. So, I normally do some running, then exercise bike stuff. Not a fan of the cross trainer at all. I think the strongest part of my body at the moment is my legs, probably from the running I've been doing when at the gym. So, quite pleased, heh.

Hmm, I'd ask about that in future, just to make sure. Ask your Doctor or something. Just to be on the safe side. Ahh, so it's a performance enhancing drug? Most of the stuff I read just seemed to point towards muscle regeneration. Is it a steroid?

I definitely agree with the last bit. I think that my triceps need a lot more work, as do my shoulders. Triceps are sometimes criminally overlooked. They make up something like 2/3rds of the arm, yet people tend to just focus on biceps.

I can't imagine stopping now, as I'm really enjoying going. I know a lot of people find it boring, but it can be as fun as you make it. It's all about pushing and challenging yourself. Also, with the cardio stuff, I tend to start off with either some rowing or running, do my workout, then do the majority of my cardio stuff at the end. I think you burn more calories that way? If there's one thing that is holding me back at the moment, it is probably my diet. But, I'm trying to eat more fruit and veg and trying to eat more healthily. But, I could be doing a lot better. There really is nothing more satisfying than feeling the burn, though. It's great.

I was talking about this subject with my brother recently. There are some guys at the gym who are beefy as hell, yet they have huuuuuge bellies. If you asked them to run, they'd only last a minute or two. I went to the gym last summer for about 2 months, but I think my belly-line was bigger then than it is now. But, I'm roughly the same weight now as I was then. The difference however is that I'm doing lots more cardio work now. It just seems a bit pointless and self defeating if you can do all this fancy stuff with weights yet struggle to walk or run. I think my goal is to get stronger, fitter and leaner. I've still got a little bit of a belly, but that is slowly coming on.

I've tried reading up about it, but I can't find one source that tells me/us why it is a banned substance. Doesn't it aid muscle regeneration? So, maybe it has something to do with enhancing performance or something. I dunno. Going to try and read some more.

I think that's pretty terrifying, imo. Knowing that you will cease being a part of this world, and have no certain idea of what will lie beyond, how can that not be scary? Plus, knowing that you will be leaving people behind, and wondering how life will go on for them. I try not to think about death too much, but I don't think anyone should be made to feel bad for being a bit scared about it.

I don't think you can ignore it. I mean, it's there. I don't think it should be ignored, because it can make up a part of who you are. But, you shouldn't judge a person solely on that, either. That's when it becomes a problem. For example, if you are a female with blonde hair, you are sometimes instantly classed as an "airhead." These connections are wrong. So, in essence, I think we agree on the same things? Haha.

Generally, I think many black people are proud of the fact that they are black, anyway. Why should it be something negative? It should be a point of celebration. The Irish are proud of the fact that they are Irish, so I think it can be used as a positive thing. It's all about being individual and like it or not, we are all different to each other. But, I think this is a good thing.

You're right, it is what their skin colour is. There's no getting around that. A white person is white, for example. I seriously worry about many people who refer to skin colour as if it's some sort of disability. It's not. It's part of heritage and it makes up part of who you are. I kinda like having my name and skin colour, because I find it funny when I see the puzzled look on people's faces as they try to determine where I'm from or what I'm like as a person because of it. The downside is that when you put your name on application form or something, you feel that you can sometimes be judged without someone ever truly getting to know you. But, with that in mind, why would you ever need to refer to the term "black" anyway? There's one example I've heard over the years where if you walk into a room and see 2 white guys and one black guy, you refer to the black guy by his skin colour, whereas you might refer to the white guys by other physical features, such as their height, build, or something else. "The tall guy" for example. I guess being black is part of a physical appearance, but I think if Martin Luther King (Jr) taught us anything, it is that we should be looking beyond the physical. Some people can do that, others can't.

You fool. Rummy isn't a teacher. Also, I had a funny conversation when I was getting my haircut last week. My cutter-man was from Iran I think he said, and he said that I looked either Turkish or Spanish. He was cutting my hair for 10 minutes with a puzzled expression on his face and in my head I knew he was thinking "where's this sucker from?"

Thank you. My Mum and brother are ill at the moment, so it looks like we've all come down with something. I was just a bit shocked at how sudden it came on. One minute I was feeling great, then the next I felt sooo rubbish. My head doesn't feel right.

I've lost a lot of respect for Sol Campbell over the Notts County fiasco. Signing a contract, only playing the one game and then deciding that you want to play for clubs in the higher leagues just seems very disrespectful, imo. Maybe he just didn't think things through or something. Also, did anyone else read/hear about Fabio Cannavaro failing that dope test? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8298063.stm "Fabio Cannavaro has failed a doping test after taking a medicine containing banned substance cortisone. Cannavaro, who took the medicine in August, had sought an exemption, claiming he was treating a wasp sting. However, the Juventus defender's application was missing documentation and, while awaiting a decision, he was subsequently tested. "

Sorry to hear about that, dude. I had very, very little sleep. I was sick three times yesterday and felt like absolute crap. Went to bed, and my body was so cold whilst my head felt like it was on fire. I couldn't sleep because I just ached all over. I feel slightly better, but still feel a bit whoozy. Got a call from my agency, and that school I went to the other day (the ethnically diverse one) have requested me by name and want me back for a whole day on Thursday. Whose the daddy? That's made me feel slightly better.

I love going to the gym. I think I pay around 20 quid or so a month, but I get my money's worth as I spend quite a lot of time there. I too am worried about the moobs! As for strength, I'm not that big a guy. Pretty short and haven't got a huuuge build. There are guys there lifting big dumbells and huge weight, and there's me chugging along lifting 10-12 kg handweights (per hand/arm) which isn't a great deal I don't think. Also, bench pressing! I can lift around 30-40 kilos, which again isn't a great deal, it just feels bluddy impossible to go higher. I'm definitely stronger than I was when I started going, but I still have a way to go. I want to find out more about protein shakes and just what kinds of foods will help with muscle building/fat loss. Living at home means that my Mum does most of the cooking, and it isn't the healthiest of food to be honest, heh.

Felt absolutely fine all day. Went to the gym, felt great. Had food a few hours ago, felt great. Sat on my laptop, then 10 minutes ago I felt like I was going to be sick. So, I went to the loo, and I did. No idea what brought that on. The school yesterday had half the kids off with flu. Some of those had swine flu. Some of the staff were off too with it. Three of them, I think. I better not fucking have it.

That tunnel stuff suuuucks. But, thankfully, the other stuff ruuuuuled. Well done. My am proud ofs you. Runnn! Goooo! GET TO DA MEETUP!! What's the harm? It'll only be for one night, and you've met these guys before. I think it's more likely you'll have a nicer time than a shat night. As for my day, today was boring, but yesterday and day before were good. Day before yesterday, I worked in that school for the full day. Spent the morning teaching that Year 2 class, which was bluddy hectic. They are, hands down, the hardest class I've had to teach. There's so much going on at once. But, in the afternoon, I taught a Year 6 group, who were awesome and easier to teeeach. To be honest, the afternoon was a bit of a doss. We did P.E. and then they had a visitor who came to the school to talk to the kids about health and safety. So, it was eeeeasy. Yesterday was very, very different. The school was in Cardiff, just around the corner from Ninian Park Railway Station. In my class, there were two white kids! So ethnically diverse. The class were nice. Lively but not naughty, and we had some fun. Doing verb work though for English, which was pretty fun. On the way back to the train station, I had to walk up this ramp to take me to the platform. So, the ramp leads from the road, and in a zig-zag to the platform. There's two rails on either side, and then there's looooads of bushes and grass. I thought to myself: "ooo, I wonder if I'll see a mouse." I'm terrified of mice. Then, a mouse ran across the ramp! It ran from one side to the other, but it stopped halfway and looked at me. I stared at it, then it looked back at me, then ran off. When it was gone, I shrieked a little. Like a little sissy girl. I fucking hate mice. I ran to the platform just in case it came back or followed me. Thankfully, I made it on to the train without death.

About the grammer thiiiing: The important thing is the meaning of the message, in my opinion. Yeah, the spelling of words is pretty important, but the meaning of what you are trying to say is much more important. You can have a brilliant sentence with correct punctuation, awesome spelling and excellent words, but these are not as important as the message that you are trying to convey. For some reason, when I'm typing something to Ine, sometimes the words that I use are not spelled correctly. In my last message to her, I wrote "I'm glad your think went well" instead of "I'm glad your thing went well." I didn't spot it at the time, and it kinda worries me that I do it pretty often. Maybe I'm just lazy and my eyes suck. But, thankfully, she understood what I tried to say. When I'm marking books, sometimes the children have made a monumental mistake with their spelling (there's been some classics that I've seen, but my brain and memory suck eggs) and it can be pretty tricky trying to decipher what they're saying. But, the spelling by no means has an impact on what they're "trying" to convey. Quite often they've said the right thing but the spelling or sentence order hasn't been perfect. So, I try not to be too hard on people, provided that they are making an effort to at least make what they're trying to say understandable. In some books, I've looked at work and there clearly just hasn't been any kind of effort there, and in return it makes it nigh on impossible for myself to understand what they're saying. However, looking at this thread title, it's not entirely perfect, but you can still understand perfectly what he has tried to say.

I'm totally against the idea of a reboot anyway. With a reboot, this will always be compared to the original. Give me my Predator 3, dammit. Also, Ashley, hahahhahhahaha.

To all the Liam Neeson fans: He's great, but he has still starred in the travesty that is The Phantom Menace. There's no escaping that. I guess we'll have to see what direction they take with it. But, they couldn't have found somebody less-like Arnie. Maybe he's the exact opposite for a reason.

Eet's not normal to burrrrst into sooong? Holy sheeet. But, singing keeps the world a happy place. With rabbits bouncing along the grass, with the Sun blowing strawberry bubblegum bubbles and with the moonpig floating down to Earth...from the moon.

What did you think would happen? That Sega would listen to the plight of gamers worldwide? Sega have what I call "denial plugs", which they place into their ears when somebody comes up with a good idea. "Stop making 3D Sonic Games!" "I can't hear you...it's lovely up here in denial!" It's the same denial plugs Nintendo have when the screams of Pokemans three-deee are echoed around the webs.

If you listen very closely, you can hear the soiling come orgasmic sounds of thousands of Shenmue fans across the internet.