Bodybuilding Community

World of Warcraft is accessible and easy to understand

balaatcount — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:09:00 GMT

World of Warcraft has been massively successful and has exceeded the normal popularity of a role-playing title. The main reason for this is that it is very accessible and straightforward, and it is not difficult to play it. Even if you are completely new to gaming you shouldn’t have any problems getting started.

World of Warcraft is an easy game to set up. It comes on 4 discs that you install on your computer. You then have to create a game account. Your access to the game’s world involves paying a monthly subscription via credit card or an equivalent. The typical subscription rate is $19.95 per month. The first month is usually free as part of your purchase. The subscription can be paid every month, or every three months or six months if you prefer.

World of Warcraft operates through a series of servers that differ depending on where you are in the world. The servers are positioned globally and you simply connect to whichever one is local to you. The servers allow you to access the game. They are a reliable system and well maintained. There are different types of servers for each type of action that you play, whether it is role-playing or player versus player, for example. The servers are named as realms in order to increase the feel of the game.

World of Warcraft takes place in the world of Azeroth, a fictional land that has been the setting for all of the Warcraft games. This world has its own history and myths.
It was created by ancient gods, who gave rise to the earliest races on the planet. Azeroth resembles our own world and has recognisable landmarks like cities, forests, caverns, towers, dungeons and other structures. Azeroth has seen much trouble in its time, and its past has included great wars and conflict.

The universe in World of Warcraft is imaginative and is the home to many races.
The world of Azeroth is structured as three continents - the Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, and Northrend. They all have their own inhabitants and climate. The Eastern Kingdoms are the home of humans, dwarves and gnomes, who are known collectively as The Alliance. Kalimdor is the home of tauren, orcs and trolls, who are known collectively as The Horde. Northrend is the home of the wicked Lich King.

Although World of Warcraft is rich and detailed, it is an easy game to understand.
All characters tend to belong to one of two groups, the Alliance and the Horde. The Alliance seems good in nature while the Horde is generally more evil. The Alliance characters are attractive to look at and are considered pretty, while the Horde characters are ugly and less appealing. You can play as characters from either group, and they each possess their own personalities and strengths.

World of Warcraft allows you to design your own character and customise them as you see fit. The character that you create can be one of nine possible classes. The classes include choices like druids, hunters, mages, rogues, shamans and warriors. Every class has its own skills and professions. You will use these talents to help you in the game. The process of creating a character is simple, and it allows you to express your own identity, as your character is a reflection of yourself.

The gameplay in World of Warcraft concentrates on exploration. The main game contains sixty levels, all of which feature much territory to explore. There are many items in the game that you can either take for yourself or trade. The main currency in Azeroth is gold, and you will need to collect a lot of it to buy armour and weapons and other useful goods. There is also a great deal of combat and you must defeat many monsters and creatures in order to progress.

World of Warcraft is designed beautifully, and you will find it a pleasure to learn how everything functions and works. The control system is sensible and makes good use of the keyboard and mouse. The game includes a camera that allows you to look around and have a full view of your environment. In general, it is a clear and comprehensible experience.

World of Warcraft is a very entertaining game and is easy to play. Its strength is that you don’t need to have detailed knowledge or experience of the role-playing genre to enjoy it. Even though the game contains a large and detailed world you will not have a problem understanding it. This is a perfect game for any kind of player.

The making of Indian white wine with local supplies

admin — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:04:00 GMT

Although making of wine is a bit offtopic to bodybuilding, research says good wine is a killer of cholesterol and burns away fat on frequent use. The wine available in the markets are either so sweet or tastes like vinegar. On top of it they are very expensive. So I had decided to make it at home. The first thing I did was to buy a book on wine making "The Wine Maker's guide" by JP. Choffel. I chose to make white wine from apple about 40 litres.

These are the ingredients and equipments needed

Apple - 50 kg
Masher(I used the conventional wooden bucket and a heavy piece of wooden log)
Water - 40 litres
Yeast - 20 gms
Sugar - 12 kg
Potassium Meta Bi Sulphate or Campden Tablet
Hydrometer -950-1200 range
Big Buckets -2
Long handled stirrer
Water can 2 (20 liter capacity, the normal plastic water can with narrow neck)
Corks and Saline tubes

I bought 50 kg's of apple, ripe ones removed the seeds and mashed it out. I cleaned the Bucket, stirrer with potassium meta bi sulphate solution. (Prepare the solution with 1 liter of water and 100 gms of potassium meta bi sulphate)
Then the mashed apple was divided into 2 and put in the buckets. 20 liters of water was added to each bucket. 6kg of fine sugar was added to the bucket. I bought the best sugar in market. If you go for cheap sugar then the finished wine will not be of the high quality. Then the yeast was added approximate 10 gms to a bucket. A long handled stirrer(I used the stem part of a pal tree leaf) was used to stir the solution. Be careful to stir them in clockwise direction which is believed to be good for yeast multiplication.

(Here is what I did and I am writing it in simple words if you wish to try it at home)

Fermentation with air - phase 1

Cover the bucket with a clean cloth and leave the solution to ferment with availability of air. Stir it twice a day for 5 days. By then the yeast would have broken down the sugar and apple must. The fermentation will be furious and you will see bubbles and foams from day2. It will be vigorous till day 4 and the must will start settling down by then. If the must is not settling down and you notice fermentation even on day 5, you can allow it to ferment for a couple of days more. Do not forget to stir it twice a day so that the must is distributed evenly. Once the primary fermentation is stopped filter the solution by a clean white cloth.

Fermentation without air (secondary fermentation)

Clean the water cans with sulphate solution and rinse them thoroughly. Filter the fermented apple juice using a clean white cloth. By now it will have the smell of wine. Pour the filtered juice (we call it wine from now on) into the water bottles upto the neck only leaving an inch or so empty. If you have not enough wine to fill it, you can add clean water to make it up to the neck. Now place a airtight cap on the bottle. You can get this cap everytime you open a sealed 20 liter water can. Place the cap and wind the cap thoroughly with tape so that no air can get inside the bottle. You can use several techniques to prevent any air entering the bottle and to expell the air (gas) generated during the secondary fermentation. I used a saline kit for this purpose. With the sharp end I pierced the Cap and put the other end of the tube into a bottle of water so that no air can come inside but the fermented gases can ooze out through the water.

Leave it for 2 months and then rack it. Racking is just filtering again so that the wine is clear from any suspended particles. Leave it for another 2 months. Now the wine is ready to drink. However if you can bottle it and can keep it for another 6 months, it will give best results. In my case we just drunk the 40 litres in 3 weeks.

I had took the pictures of all the apparatus, the procedures etc in my camera, but unfortunately it got corrupted. Next Time I start with wine making I will provide you with as much details as possible. Also I will offer a bottle of wine (inside India) for the best comments

Not much success in the first phase..

admin — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:17:00 GMT

Work was so hectic that we 3 couldn't do our workouts which eventually led to the failure of phase-1. We were working out several diet plans and exercise routines but could not execute it well. I am writing the story of my part while Felix and Marilyn will be writing their experience separately.

It happened that I had to expand my office with 4 more staff and we launched a series of websites including www.realkk.com which took most of my time. On top of it I had been running behind officials for a Gun license which I finally got . I don't want to bore you with the other not so important things happened. Inspite of all the hassles I was able to reduce 2 Kg or roughly 5 pounds which was only 20% of the expected 25 pound loss. However I consider this as a good achievement and thank everyone who had contributed in the community and motivated me to do it.

Without the motivation from the bodybuilding community, I bet I would have gained at least 10 pounds. Ok enough of it, I would like to share you the experience and the diets I used to get this very little success.

The Diet
Initially I had followed Dr.Atkins diet plan to cut down all carbs and go for protein rich foods. Being a south Indian we are very much used to eating rice from our child hood in the form of idlies, dosa, Puttu and other forms. It was not so easy to cut it off completely. Rice is very rich in carbohydrates and the body had been used to it. So I planned to have cereals for lunch on alternate days and have a light breakfast in the morning avoiding rice based foods.

So morning breakfast was eggs with noodles or two chapathis.

I chose sprouted green grams for lunch on alternate days which was less carb and full protein

Nutritional value of Green Gram (Per 100 grams)

    Energy : 30 calories
    Protein : 3 grams
    Carbohydrate : 6 grams
    Dietary Fiber : 2 grams

    I had decided to go for sprouted green grams for lunch. To make it more edible chopped onions, salt and a little coconut gratings was added to it. This is what you have to do if you decide to go for a sprouted green gram lunch. I had tried several recipes and finally stuck with this.

Take about 50-70 gms of green grams and put them in a airtight vessel with water added to the level. Keep it for 24 hours. When you open it next day you will see that the grams have sprouted with about 2-6 mm shoots. Chop a small onion and fry it in olive oil or any low fat oil. Use aas minimum oil as possible. You can add one or 2 green chillies to add taste. Once the onion is fried red add the sprouted grams and stir it for a while, then add the coconut gratings to finish the dish..

It may sound a bit annoying to have only green grams for lunch, but it is a delicious dish and will give you a stomach full feeling. It keeps your energy level high and feel light..

I had avoided taking more sugars and brought down the number of cups of coffee per day. Other than that I kept off from Grape Juice which I used to take often. I am planning for a strict diet in phase-2

Exercise

As for the exercise, I did 40 minutes a day on an average of 3 days a week, which I feel is very less than what I had planned initially. Rain, work and various other factors have really affected the routine. However I did the following exercises.

1. Taichi - Yang style, Basic -8. I had learned taichi from Master Selvaraj, who is the best Taichi Master and head of Taichi India Federation. Unfortunately, I couldn't continue the classes and Master was also flying to and fro to Hong Kong. So eventually I ended in learning the basic-8 only. I do it five reps a day.

2. Slanting Bench Press with 30 kgs, - 50 reps.

3. Biceps - 8 kg (single hand) - 50 reps

4 Forearms - 8 kg (single hand)- 50 reps

5.Pushups - 10-15

6.Cycling -(one or twice a week) -11 kms.From my home to kanyakumari and back

7. Occasional swimmiing

8. Work out on a belly trimmer rope..

Apart from this I feel I did not have a killer will and most of the times the body did not cooperate to the new exercise routines. However I feel I will achieve good success in phase-2

Exercise No. 5: Straight Abdominal Crunches

ripfast — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:21:00 GMT

Exercise No. 5: Straight Abdominal Crunches

Lie back in a bent knee sit-up position with hands behind your head or touching your temples. In a controlled way, slowly lift your head and shoulders 30º off the ground. Hold the position for a second (tensing the abs. hard). Release and go back to the starting position. Don't "pull" your head up with your hands. Each repetition done properly, will take at least two seconds.

Exercise No. 4: Horizontal Leg Raises

ripfast — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:09:00 GMT

Exercise No. 4: Horizontal Leg Raises

Lie flat on the floor on your back. Place hands, palms down below your pelvic area. Hold your head and shoulders slightly above the floor. This intensifies the pressure on the abs and gives better results.
Now with a controlled, smooth movement (not "swinging"), lift up your legs and pelvis until your feet point straight up.
At this point you can add a "thrusting" movement by thrusting your feet upward this adds further tension to the abs. When bringing legs down, perform the exercise above in reverse.

This excercise programe is sponsored by ripfast

Exercise No. 3: Hanging knee raises

ripfast — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:55:00 GMT

Exercise No. 3: Hanging knee raises
This exercise is the same as the last one except here, you must bend your knees fully and try to lift your legs up as far as possible(preferably to the chest).

Absolute definition, sponsored by ripfast

Exercise No. 2: Hanging leg raises

ripfast — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:48:00 GMT

Exercise No. 2: Hanging leg raises

Performing this movement requires the use of a horizontal bar from which to hang, e.g. a doorway chinning bar. Your grip should be slightly wider than shoulder width.
Bend you knees and try to raise your legs as high as possible (you should aim to touch your chest). Do not keep your pelvis completely straight for this exercise, for then other muscle groups apart from the abs come into play.
Keep your pelvis area curled slightly upwards during the whole movement (see diagram) this ensures pressure on the abs. Hold the raised position for a couple of seconds (keeping abdominals "tight") and then lower your legs.
To ensure correct and most effective form, make sure that you don't "swing" your legs up. Keep the movement slow and controlled let your work.

Absolute definition, sponsored by ripfast

THE AB-SOLUTE DEFINITION PROGRAMME:

ripfast — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:53:00 GMT

Exercise No. 1: The Abdominal body Stretch
Begin and end all of your routines (at whatever level) with this exercise, as it is more of a stretching exercise. It is essential to stretch before any exercise session (to warm up) and afterwards (to cool down) this greatly reduces the chances of any injuries. Lie down on your front, with your arms next to your head and stretch out as far as you can. Also stretch your legs, feet and toes as far as you can in the opposite direction. At the point of maximum tension, hold the position for 15 seconds, then release.
Perform five repetitions (reps).

AB-TRAINING Donts

ripfast — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:49:00 GMT

There follow some tips over what to avoid when training abdominal muscles:
1.Sit-ups: Don't do them! Although traditional "wisdom" has long stated that the sit-up is a good ab. exercise, this is not the case.

Sit-ups and other similar movements (which involve arching the back) involve the psoas muscles (which run from the front of the Legs, through the pelvic area, to the lower back), and these exercises are useless for abdominal development work.

2. 0ver-speedy expectation of results.
3. Lack of discipline: giving up too early.

Points 2 & 3 are also important as they play a vital part in ensuring exercise programme fail!
All too often, people start a diet and fitness programme and expect to be in shape within a week. When this fails to happen (as, of course, it will), their dedication decreases and inevitably the programme fails.

To avoid this scenario, keep your discipline. Work out realistically-targeted goals and work at them. Try not to miss even one session (the routines take more than 10 minutes to perform), because missing one session will make it easier to miss the next, and so on.

Remember Edison's words: "Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration." get ready to perspire!

AB-SOLUTE DEFINITION

ripfast — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:44:00 GMT

The Ab-solute Definition programme is designed to isolate and work specific parts of the abdominal muscle group. The routines are put together in a specific order, which when adhered to will give fantastic results. There follows a description and "How To" section on all the exercises. Number of repetitions, durations etc. are listed in the relevant table afterwards.

WHEN TO TRAIN
Do your exercises on alternate days, and rest at weekends. IDEALLY, EXERCISE ON MONDAY/WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY = WEEKEND RELAX.
Remember, even on higher levels your complete workout will only take between 5¬-10 minutes!

AB-SOLUTE DEFINITION -1

ripfast — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:14:00 GMT

THERE'S MORE? SURE THERE IS!
On average the super effective routines that you will find in Ab-solute Definition will only take five minutes of your time and as long as you don't have too much fat around your waistline you'll start seeing results in a couple of weeks.
Abs are probably the most responsive muscle group in the human body. Three sessions of the abdominal definition routine a week are enough to put you on the road to great results.

Furthermore, after the routines section, we have included extra ab exercises which you can later incorporate into your routine at will, keeping future ab workouts- fresh and shockingly effective.

AEROBICS
Aerobics are generally considered bad for people wishing to put on serious muscle mass, but this is really not the case, aerobics should be an intrinsic part of your training regime.

ANAEROBIC EXERCISE
Weight training for bodybuilding is classified as anaerobic exercise. This means "without oxygen". The reason for this is that the exercise is so intense that the body cannot supply enough oxygen to the working muscles during the activity. This explains why, after an intense set you are Left out of breath.

Your body now has a negative oxygen supply, which is "refilled" during the rest between sets as you regain your breath.
The energy for anaerobic exercise is obtained by the body by burning glycogen, the body sugar found in the muscles, liver and bloodstream.

Due to the short duration and explosive nature of anaerobic exercise, the body is prohibited from tapping into its stores of fat for energy.

AEROBIC EXERCISE
Aerobic means "with oxygen" and refers to exercise done with a low to moderate intensity during which the body is still able to supply enough oxygen to the system while the activity is taking place.

Aerobic activities can therefore be sustained for a longer period of time. During aerobic exercise, the initial source of energy for the body is the glycogen stores, as these stores are depleted, the body begins to utilise body fat for its energy requirements.

AB-SOLUTE DEFINITION

ripfast — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:56:00 GMT

Welcome to the Ab-solute Definition programme. A Super-effective programme of proven exercises for the abdominal muscles. The programme, if adhered to, will give you the results you desire in shaping your waistline, as well as blasting some of the old misconceptions about abdominal training.

The Ab-solute Definition programme is probably the best abs programme you'll ever do.

Before we go any further, let’s just take a look at the role abs play on the overall "physique map" what having a rock hard, chiselled six packs of abs could mean for you.

There is an argument that argues that the abdominal muscles are the most important muscles in the human body!

Let's take a look at that. The abs are used in every aspect of life. Standing, walking, working, as well as working out. Above all, it is this set of muscles that protects your inner digestive organs, the very organs responsible for nutrient absorption and distribution, the ones that make "the system" work. But let's just look at the abs aesthetically. Imagine a bodybuilder whose arms, chest and shoulders are okay. You can tell that he works out, and yes he's got pretty good muscular definition. Now add a set of ripped abs to the scenario. See what we mean? For some reason having a ripped set of abs puts all of your other body parts into a much more favourable light. A good set of abs will make even a fairly average body look great.

Check out the classical sculptures by great artists of the past, such as Michaelangelo. Even check out the "body design" of famous superheroes (e.g. Spiderman, Superman). They all have fantastic abs.

Due to common stereotypes, one tends to assume that someone with a large fat protruding belly is probably a slob, not in control of his eating habits or his life (we're not saying that this is the case, we're saying that this is the stereotype).

On the other hand, a lean, defined midsection gives the aura of power and heroism.

So awesome abs are a big plus point to have on your personal physique map.

We're not saying this so that you have an excuse to skimp on the rest of your body workout intensity. Far from it, we're saying that by realizing the importance and benefits of this fantastic muscle group, you will give yourself the edge over other people who don't have good abs, or want them and are going about it the wrong way.

Mission started

admin — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:45:00 GMT

"Every Journey begins with a single step"

Finally we 3 of us have started the weight loss mission by monday 10th July 07. I had inquired some gyms last week, while Felix has his own workout equipments at home and Marylin's apartment has their own sophisticated Gym with a trainer. I will be doing brief updates on behalf of those 2 guys until they find some time to write about their experiences. Coming to the point the I have decided not to enroll in any of the gyms I have visited. While at chennai I used to be a frequent gym goer and continued it while in Dubai for some time. Those Gyms had great trainers sufficient equipments, spacious and motivated bodybuilders.

The ones I visited last week had one or more of the following drawbacks

Operated in a small dungeon like place
Not enough equipments, members have to stand in a que to use a particular equipment
Trainer looks like a bloated toad
lot of gossip going on and most of them are chatting over cell phones
too much distraction from short skirt girls
The time slots are not convenient

and a lot more other things which didn't suit the needs.

So what next, I have decided to do it inhouse with the available equipments and strictly follow the low carb Atkins plan. This is supposed to be an induction time which will last for another 15 days(upto july 25 2007). I had to cut the usual coffee, tea and snacks. No juice, milk, ice cream or any diary products. It is pretty tough for these 3 days and Atkins have strictly said that the carb intake cannot be more than 20 grams which used to be a lot more before. So I follow the strict diet as per Atkin standards which really is terrible for the past 2 days. Lucky I didn't find any abnormalities or loss in strength or energy. But the stomachs are crying out for the routine food which I had for 20 + years.

Apart from this I had contacted my Taichi Master and he is busy preparing for his tournament in China. So I have to meet his assistant by this weekend and discuss any possibilities of resuming taichi which I had to abruptly stop a couple of years back. I will write more on the previous experience on taichi later.

Also I had managed to cycle at an average 25km speed for 11 kms. It was marvelous, went upto kanyakumari and returned back. It was real tough while coming back due to the slope and the opposite breeze. It was very refreshing and felt good. It is not an exercise bike, Its a Hawk Racer from "Hero Cycles" but I guess it will do the job. Had I used an exercise bike I am pretty sure I couldnt cover more than 5 kms. So here we go..

Monday (10-7-07)- Started Induction on Atkins

Tuesday (11-7-07) - Atkins with a brisk walk for 3 kms.

Wednesday (12-7-07) - Atkins with cycling for 11 kms.

Not weighed yet :-) . Will do that sunday and post it here.

The weight loss story - Target 25 pounds in 100 days

admin — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 11:54:00 GMT

We have not yet decided the date to start the workouts or not even scheduled on what to do.. Since all the 3 are working on various projects on tight deadlines, we have agreed to start the work outs not late than July 10th. Meanwhile my cousin brother Amarnath have joined with us in our weight loss mission.. I would be providing more details later on him or maybe he will write down his own experiences. To begin with I have just weighed myself and measured my hip size..

What i found out was pretty discouraging. I weigh about 96 kg or 212 pounds and the hip size is a mega 42 inch. It's uncomfortable to publish the photos here, however I am doing that coz every time I look at it, I will be motivated to shred that fat. There is a heavy downpour here today, so had to remain indoors. I bought a book of Dr.Atkins and browsed through it. He is emphasizing on taking low carbs and more protein. The first thing I did after doing some reading was to google for Dr.Atkins. Wiki says Dr.Atkins have died obese according to the docs. And his wife have defended it saying that the weight was due to the medication given at hospital. Anyways I have decided to follow Atkins advice for some time and test the results. His diet appears to suit me coz here being surrounded on 3 sides by the sea, we get a lot of sea fish not to mention the abundance of river fish.

The only thing I need to sacrifice is the sweets which I have decided to quit from tomorrow. While writing this I have gobbled 3 big sweet and ripe alfonso mangoes which will be my last in this mango season.

Welcome to Bodybuilding and weight loss Blogs!

admin — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:55:00 GMT

Share your weight loss and bodybuilding experience with our commune. While the commune may sound like the community of hippies in the 60's, it does have something related to them. Yes we share our experience and any revenue we get out of this community. 60% of the advertisement revenue from your blogs or any content you contribute to the commune will be diverted to your account directly from google. We are working on it with the new Google Adsense API exclusive for community portals which is in the BETA stage. You will be getting 75% of any revenue on site from your content as soon as the community grows and the remaining 25% is sufficient to maintain the community related promotions. For more on Goggle revenue sharing please click here

If myself and other friends of this community are able to attain the desired physique from the motivation and advice from this community, it would be the greatest success of this community. Money is not the first priority here. So we discourage any "make-money-quick" guys to kindly not join the commune. Please read the below carefully before you join the community

- No copy paste business.

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- This community is not focused on making money on the net. Do not participate if you have no interest in bodybuilding, fitness or weight loss. The aim of the community is to bring people together rather than making money.

- Please provide real and accurate data.

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- Overall be honest and friendly to everyone in the community

Good Luck and wish you a comfortable stay in our commune..