abcollins1
Forum Replies Created
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Great article with pictures –
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Close grip pull ups are easier because you are able to use your biceps more to help pull you up. Wide grip is harder because you use your back muscles only in order to pull your body weight.
Right now i can do 3 unassisted wide grips from a dead hang, and about 10 close grip ones.
If you want to get better at pull ups, you gotta do more pullups.
What i do is start with a set of unassisted pull ups, as many as i can get, then do 3 more sets of assisted pull ups, each set to failure and increasing the assistance with each rep.
Other good things to work on are lat pulldowns. shrugs, and bent over rows to strenghten the overall muscles of the back.
I wouldnt say that pull ups should be used for an overalll fitness assesment, however I think they are the gold standard when determining if the muscles of the back and much of the arms are strong.
It wasnt until I really started to focus on building a back that i could do any pullups.
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We can dream all right! Right now i would love to be able to use the whole garage for the pole/dance/fitness space. But trying to convince my hubby is going to be a chore. Im taking over half of it now. With him on deployment, hes never seen this house or the pole (he knows i have it though) so the more i get done before he comes home enhances my chances of at least keeping my half! LOL
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Hey Thanks!
I swear I used the search button and tried to find earlier posts.
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Why not just do bodyweight exercises or plyometrics?? Im not a fan of using 1.5 lb wieghts for anything. My purse weighs more than that!
Squats
Lunges
Pushups
Pull ups
Planks
Tricep dips
Headstand pushups
Burpees
Wall Sit
Step ups
Calf raises
Bird Dog
Supermans
Bridge
And the list goes on. Resistance bands are a great tool and can be used in many many ways. But as far as a "no weight" exercises go, the above are great for beginners and are a great core for beginning an exercise strengthening program, all of them can be modified to be easier or harder to suit skill level.
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I have naturally thick curly hair, cant say that ive had any issues poling with it, but im not very advanced yet.
Anyways, i do a lot of the same R34 said. I only wash my hair about 2 times a week, though i have to wet my hair everyday to style it. I typically will use a very heavy conditioner everyday to help with the frizz. Once a week I use a claryifying shampoo to take out all of the buildup from all the products i use, and another time I will use a moisturizing/hydrating shampoo, because you dont need more volume with thick hair!
I also use a leave in conditioner and use a curl definer spritz so control frizz and keep the curls curly.
I do brush my hair when wet because just doing it with my hands will not work on my hair. But I do have to have a specific type of brush to prevent damage. Once i get the tangles out, the brush doesnt touch my hair.
With drying the hair, you either have to let air dry or blow dry using the diffuser ONLY! Just straight blow drying results in the curls separating, air drying is best but takes up to 2 hours with my hair.
Also, as R34 said, DONT TOUCH!! Once its styled dont mess with it or the curls with just frizz.
For products, I have found that the cheap ones do not work on my hair. My hair really does best with the better quality hair care products. I do not know why and i dont know if everyones hair is that way. I just noticed a huge difference with the products i use.
For shampoo/conditioner i use Paul Mitchell, Redken or Aveeda.
My curl definer is Bed Head Foxy Curls and when i want straight hair, i use a babyliss 2" flat iron (much less than 100 bucks and works just as good as the more expensive brands) and a product from SexyHair called Straight Sexy.
Biolage makes a good hair mask conditioner that i like. Works really nicely on my hair.
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As i stated I do not have an x-pert pole. I have a stainless steel 45mm lil mynx rotator, which i chose over a x-pert pole for several reasons. This is why i wrote that it was not the exact pole OP was asking about, it was just my thought process on material and size which i thought would help.
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I bought my first pole and chose 45 mm stainless steel, its not x-pert but i can give you an idea of why i chose it.
So far I am really liking the stainless and glad i did not go with powder coated or anything else. I dont tend to sweat over much or have sweaty palms and stainless is slippery enough to me to do spins on. I have danced on brass and didnt like it (just personal choice).
I went with 45mm because i thought 50mm felt to big and 40 mm felt too small, but like goldilocks, 45 was just right. I have small hands and my hands just didnt grip the 50 and the 40 was pretty hard for me to climb. so 45 was perfect. Also, from reading on here, I get the impression 45 seems like the norm in competitons so I thought it another plus to train for my goals.
On top of that I went with a spinning/static combo because i kew that I would want to learn both and didnt want to buy 2 poles (although I want a portable pole so eventually I will buy another pole 🙂 LOL)
I know its not the exact pole you were asking about but i thought my thinking process on my first purchase might help you out.
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Just wanted to let everyone know thanks to this thread, I won $100 of credit and was able to get 3 pairs of shoes plus 1 pair of leg warmers for a grand total of $47, shipping and tax included. I know mine will take a while to come in because all of mine were a special order, but its a pretty awesome deal!
I also clicked on everyone elses picks to share the love!
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I think with naming a business, you need to find what sets you apart from the rest of your competition, and you need to target your specific audience with your name/brand. As webmaster said, you also need to be looking at your online presence as well, so web sites, facebook pages, twitter, blogs, all are really useful and need to be coherent.
Since we dont have a clear picture of what you are trying to do with your business, its really hard to say what would be a good fit name-wise. Im not a big fan of any of the names that you posted, I just dont feel they fit, but again I dont really know what you are really trying to do.
When I named my business, It just sorta clicked. Since i am a military spouse, and i generally work with either military members or their spouses, MilSpouse Fitness was born. I own both
http://www.milspousefitness.com as my blog
and http://www.milspousefitness.biz as my website, I have a facebook page as well. I am still very much a small business, but always growing. I know some things are going to change in the future and i have a lot of projects going on right now, but the name fits with what i do and there is pretty much no mistaking it.
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There is a HUGE difference between starving yourself and being on a lower caloried diet. For instanace, my maintenance calories are 2300. To lose weight i subtract 500 cals for a 1 pound lose per week, so thats 1800 cals. now that is hardly starving myself.
To get a bigger calores deficit, i can add exercise, lets say 250 cals per day times 6 will get me another 1500 cal deficit, so i am now losing 1.5 pounds a week. And by keeping most foods healthy, i can eat quiet a bit and not be starving.
Its really quite simple and healthy. No starving, no crazy scheme. If i was not exercising i would still be losing weight, just not as fast (1 pound a week as opposed to 1.5 pounds a week).
In order to do this, you need to know how many cals you are currently eating, which is why i suggested journeling.
And again, if you are poling you are building a base of muscle to work with.
I did my last competion in April, dropped 12 pounds in 12 weeks. Now i am in my off season, and trying to GAIN muscle adn strength which requires that I eat more. You must eat for your goal. If your diet IE what you eat- is off then everything else will be off.
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There is a HUGE difference between starving yourself and being on a lower caloried diet. For instanace, my maintenance calories are 2300. To lose weight i subtract 500 cals for a 1 pound lose per week, so thats 1800 cals. now that is hardly starving myself.
To get a bigger calores deficit, i can add exercise, lets say 250 cals per day times 6 will get me another 1500 cal deficit, so i am now losing 1.5 pounds a week. And by keeping most foods healthy, i can eat quiet a bit and not be starving.
Its really quite simple and healthy. No starving, no crazy scheme. If i was not exercising i would still be losing weight, just not as fast (1 pound a week as opposed to 1.5 pounds a week).
In order to do this, you need to know how many cals you are currently eating, which is why i suggested journeling.
And again, if you are poling you are building a base of muscle to work with.
I did my last competion in April, dropped 12 pounds in 12 weeks. Now i am in my off season, and trying to GAIN muscle adn strength which requires that I eat more. You must eat for your goal. If your diet IE what you eat- is off then everything else will be off.
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Im not theoretical, most of the public knows zilch about nutrition. Hence why i am reiterizing the fact that our main sources of carbs should be from fruits and vegetables. If you dont know that a fruit or veggie is a carb, then how do you know what to use as the base of a diet?
Also, I am assuming that since the OP is on a poling sight, that she is indeed doing ab exercises and cardio by poling, so i did not address that part.
Abs are made in the kitchen. In order to lower body fat, you must be eating the correct calories. Diet alon is responsible for lowering body fat. Since op is poling she should be building muslces and have enough of a base to work off of, especially since she specifically stated she could feel her muscles.
Again you can not out train, out supplement or out cardio a bad diet. ANY personal trainer can tellyou that. You want abs, then your cals must be on point. There is no supplement out there that can do it, and since you cant spot reduce, no exercise which will make your abs pop. You must lower body fat and that come with diet. If your diet is not on point, then you wont lower body fat and you wont see abs.
And yes, body fat reduction can be done with just diet alone. Its just a lot slower process. And yes it can be done in a healthy manner.
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All of those studies include obese individuals who began an exercise program. ALL it proves is that you lose weight with exercise, not that the CLA ALONE was responsible for fat loss. Any obese person who begins an exercise program is goign to lose fat.
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Im not trying to be mean, but when someone is asking for help in losing fat, saying "i stopped eating any carbs" is false, misleading and can result in someone trying to cut carbs out of a diet, which can be unhealthy and is not the correct way to go about losing fat. Its best not to cut any food out of a diet barring any medical conditions. Which is why i commented on that fact so OP did not believe it was necessary or true. You did not stop eating all carbs as you stated. You simply cut some foods that were not good for you, which is a better way to state it.
Even during competition diets, i still eat chocolate every day. I am easily able to work it into my plan and still lose 1 -2 lbs a week. So eating "specific" foods to lose weight is unneccesary.
OP specifically asked about abs, and genetics are only going to play a portion in that. if OP wants a six pack, its all in the diet, not in genetics. Im not saying she has to look "perfect" or like a "supermodel" but if you want your abs to pop, then its following a low cal diet until you reach the body fat level you need for them pop. How much fat we carry is not due to genetics. How much fat we carry is all in how much do we eat. Personally i can see abs at about 20% body fat, other women i know need to be at 16% which is very low for a woman. Seeing abs is not genetic.
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hydrogenated oils do not "go to your belly". Hydrogenated oils actually tend to stick to our internall organs, more typically the heart, since it is a man made chemical which the body is uncertain what to do with.
The reason why you lost weight is because these oils tend to be in highly processed foods high in calories (butter, some oils, some nut butters, etc). cutting out hydrogenated oils cut down in cals, hence the weight loss.
There is no such thing as as "abs diet" since you can not spot reduce. There is no scientific evidence that CLA helps lose fat.
There is also no such thing as clean eating, foods are not "clean" or "dirty". they are not good or bad. There is food that is more nutritios or less nutrious, but that is all. Labeling something clean or dirty is just a marketing ploy. this is the basis of food and body issues. Making something be "bad" or "the devil" is not a healthy way to look at anything. Look at foods as "is this the best most healthy thing to eat, or will this bring me closer to the goals i want" not Oh im bad cause i had a cupcake. Make an informed choice of what to eat and why. Not a thing of guilt and shame.
Beware fad diets and false info. There is no substiture for eating a healthy well balanced diet.
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remember that fruits and veggies are carbs!! I find it very hard to believe someone who says "i dont eat carbs", so you are saying you only eat meat and nothing else? no beans, no apples, no dairy, no potatoes, no nuts, nothing but meat. Hard to believe and not very balanced at all.
And you really dont need more than 1 g of protein per pound of body weight, scientific studies have proven that anything over that amount does not help to lose weight or build muscle.
And dont let genetics be an excuse, yes we all have different types of bodies, but it has nothing to do with losing fat. We all lose fat with the same scientific priniciples. Some are going to find it harder to lose than others, but the principles are all the same. I find a lot of people think that it is their genetics to be a certain way when in fact the way they eat and exercise is the reason they look the way they do. They use genetics as a crutch rather than making a change to their habits to look the way they want.
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Losing fat is ALL about diet. In order to lose fat, your diet has to be correct. That means you need to be in the correct calorie deficet for your body. I suggest you track your calories for at least 3 days to see how much and when you are eating. If you are gaining weight then you are over eating your calories.
PA, is correct you can not spot reduce fat loss, it comes from all over, not from where we choose it.
If you carry a lot of weight in your stomach, you will probably have to be at a very low bodyfat percentage to get six pack abs. Going that low means you have to pay very close attention to diet and especially your mix of carbs, proteins and fats.
Cardio does not make you lose fat, you can do all the cardio in the world, but if you are over eating you will not lose anything. Cardio is the last part of the equation and is used to help burn calories to put you in a lower calorie deficet. You must control diet first.
You can not out train, out supplement or out cardio a bad diet.
Look to lose 1 – 2 pounds a week for safe effective weight loss. Any more that that and you will be losing more muscle than fat, which is bad. Losing muscle you will not only lose some strength you also lose a valuble fat burning tool.
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Im 31 ( closer to 32!) and just started pole. I have 2 kids, 5 and 7. Of course you can pole and make changes to your body! No one is ever too old to make changes. I know some 40 year old ladies with awesome bodies even after kids!! You can be as good as you want to be, you just need consistant practice and focus on flexibility and eventually you will get where you want to be!
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I have some mika yoga wear that i really like, and i have body by brazil shorts and tops that are cute and good. I just bought a Victorias secret workout skirt too. A girl in one of my classes had one and it was super cute. I will have to check out luvlee's video!
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I have small feet too, should be a 4 or 4.5 but i make due with a 5, they are hard enough to find as is. What i do is buy the pads that you can add to the shoe, they add a half to a full size depending on what type you buy.
I do a lot of shopping on beverlyheels.com. shoes are reasonably priced but i think the shipping is a bit ridic, though they do have pretty much anything you can think of and hard to find sizes.
Also howcool.com has size 4, not many but there are some.
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My pet/ street name would be Ginger Lake, which is a pretty good porn name!!
However, i have an alter ego when i do fitness competitions, and her name is Lolita. It helps me get into the mindset to be fierce and flirty and own the stage. So far it has worked and i think i will stick with that.
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How is your diet? Are you getting enough calories to sustain your workouts and your daily functions? Next thing I would look at is vitamins/minerals and fats. If you are not getting enough fats in your diet, it will affect your energy levels, especially when training and not getting enough b vitamins can make you feel tired or lethargic as well.
Another thing i would look at is how long you have been training at your current intensity level. If it has been months, then it might be time for a "deload" period where you dial back the intensity of the exercises and give your body a break and a time to catch up. You might even need a break for a week or two from doing anything in the gym, depending on your body.
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I was speaking generally, as these are the terms i hear most often. My own husband has used these terms, telling me he didnt want me to get too manly. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif A few years in and he finally quit worrying about it because he sees how slow the process is.
Its also the first thing that female clients tell me "i dont want to look manly or anything" or when they see my friend who is a natural compettitor, the comments will get crazy. Its just my experiences that this is the way much of the population views females with any amount of muscle. so many women are so afraid to lift a weight thinking they will get too muscular, and the comments from the men i find are even worse.
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As a trainer and competitor myself (i compete in fitness, figure, and bikini divisions), i hate it when people use the terms "freaks" or "manly" to describe female muscle.
Most female body builders take drugs of some sort to enhance their muscle building. These drugs have some side affects that not all of use would like or would choose on our own body. Natural female bodybuilders, while still quite muscular, look nothing like the bigger ladies. Most woman who are natural and in the off season (which means not at 10% body fat) do not even look that big. The pics that were posted are of women who not only use drugs but are in contest shape. And you dont walk around at 10% body fat all year! That means that is not your every day look.
To top it off, the percentage of women who have the genetic ability to pack on that amount of muscle are very very small, and the percentage of women in that category who choose to take it to the extreme is even smaller. Due to this fact, it has becomne very hard for those ladies who choose to look like that compete.
And it is a choice to look like that. Women simply do not have the genetic or hormonal structure to easily put on muscle. When women say "bulk" that is simply a term meaning "i have fat over what muscle I have" as muscle is not bulky, it is more dense and takes up less space than fat. So if you are carrying any amount of fat and are increasing muscle mass (which takes a lot of time!) woman will claim they are getting bulky. I cant count how many times i have been told this as a trainer. And other things get mistaken as getting bulky too, a carb heavy meal causing water retention, hormones causing bloat, muscle pump, etc.
While I myself choose not to use drugs and i compete naturally, i dont knock the ladies who choose to look bigger or enhance their look. I dont think they are "freaks" or that they look manly or find them disturbing in any way, and maybe its just because i have worked out with them, shown with them and competed with them that I find it sad that others have to feel its ok to rip on them and call them names.
I think females with muscle are awesome and to what degree you take it to is a personal opinon and should not be judged by others. Personally for me, I am a hard gainer in muscle and easy gainer in fat, so the more mass i can build the better. Im hoping that poling will help my upper body grow more.
