Why A STD Dating Site Is Awesome To Meet Someone!

Today certain junior high-minded individuals in the blogosphere are snickering about STD-Love.com, a new online personals dating site tailored for people infected with STDs.

After all, STD rates are excelerating, and presumably, a lot of that has to do with the fact that our sexual partners are either completely in the dark about the fact that they are infected, or worse, lying when they say they're "clean," so to speak.

Conversely, the members of STD Love are responsible enough to keep up-to-date on their medical status, and courageous and honest enough to be totally up front about it, all traits that everyone is looking for in a intimate romantic partner.
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In praise of bodyweight exercises! The land of no weights!

Do you need to perform heavy weight training to build a great physique? Take a look at this gymnist above, a product of NO WEIGHT TRAINING! Does that answer your question?

I personally perform very little weight trainging as bodyweight calesthenics make up 75% of my workout regimen. When I do perform weight training exercises, they are with lighter weights, perfect form, higher reps (12-25 repetitions) and the intensity is kept higher. (The recent photos of me at the beach area testiment to no heavy weights, I have maintained my mass with calesthenics).

So to answer my original question, NO, heavy weight training is NOT a requirement to build a great physique, but INTENSITY is of paramount importance. More on the subject of intensity in a future post.

Investment Update

The timing of my postings were within days of the low. The S&P 500 made a low of 666 on March 6th. It has rallied all the way up 802 and is now pulling back to the 789 level. I am very pleased with performance thus far and I have been peeling some profits off (in my IRA and 401-k accounts) as the market has gone too far, too fast. I would be surprised if the S&P 500 pulls back to the 720-740 level before launching another rally. If you are not in, I would seriously consider doing so during this correction. My strategy has been to buy into these crashes and take profits anytime my positions make a +20% profit. Overall, I believe we go much higher (900+ on the S&P) into the Summer before the market starts heading down again. This rally will not be straight up and it will offer us several opportunities to take profits and later repurchase.

Lance Armstrong is Buff

This photo was taken of Lance last week in his garage. Damn, he's in great shape! At his peak he had awesome legs/calves but a puny upper body. He has really trained hard to bring his torso and arms up to par. Way to go Lance!

This is what Dumbell training will do. I train in my home gym which consists of Soloflex SelectTech dumbells, a pull-up bar, pushup handles, a step (like the one in this photo), resistance bands and a swiss ball. That's all anyone needs to get buff and in peak shape!

Acne 2 : Home remedies for acne

---> Orange peel has been found very effective home remedy for acne treatment . Mixed well with water on a piece of stone, the peel should be applied to the affected areas. There are several things that you can do with fresh lemon. Slice a lemon in half and rub it on the effected area and leave it over night and rinse your face in the morning or squeeze the juice and mix it with rose water and apply to the effected areas.

---> Aloe Vera juice applied twice a day can greatly help in healing of the scars of the acne. Aloe Vera juice can be found at most health stores.

---> Cucumber is one of the easiest and refreshing treatments used for the treatment of acne and to refreshen up the skin. It makes our skin feel looking young. Blend the cucumber into a paste and apply it on the affected area. Leave it for 30 to 45 minutes and then wash it off.

---> Paste of sandalwood powder with black gram dal can be used on facial skin for acne treatment. Keep it overnight and wash it with cold water the next day.

---> Tomato can also be used for the treatment of blackheads and to open the pores of the skin. Cut the tomato and rub it on the skin. Leave on for fifteen minutes. Wash it off with water. This will reduce open pores and blackheads. This treatment is good particularly for oily skin.

---> Garlic has been used successfully in the treatment of acne. Rub raw garlic on the affected skin several times a day, it will help to remove the scars. Chronic forms of acne are also healed by this method.

---> Nutmeg. Make a paste of nutmeg with unboiled milk and apply on affected area. This works as a wonderful ointment. Pimples disappear without leaving a mark.

---> Egg whites are also used to get rid of acne. Apply it on face and leave overnight. Wash off in the morning.

---> Neem is used for the treatment of all sorts of skin problems. It contains Nimbidol and Gedunin, which have very good fungicidal properties. Neem has proved to be beneficial in skin disorders such as warts, scabies, psoriasis, eczema, and even dandruff. It is extremely effective in acne treatment.

---> Honey and cinnamon. Take 3 tablespoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Make a paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. Repeat for two weeks, pimples will disappear forever. This is an effective home remedy for acne treatment.

---> Ice. Before going to bed apply ice on the face. This will reduce the inflammation and burning sensation on the skin and also lighten the scars of the acne.

---> Groundnut oil. Mix 1-tablespoon groundnut oil with 1-tablespoon fresh lime juice to prevent formation of blackheads and pimples.

---> Niacin and vitamin A are used for the treatment of the acne. It is recommended to take100 mg niacin, three times daily, and 50,000 international units of vitamin A, three times daily. Vitamin E, 400 mg, should be taken once daily. This therapy should be continued for a month.

---> Coriander juice. Take a teaspoon of coriander juice; mix it with a pinch of turmeric powder. It is a very effective home made ointment for pimples and blackheads. The mixture should be applied to the face after thoroughly washing it every night before going to bed.

---> Mint. Mint juice can be used in a similar manner as coriander juice.

---> Papaya. Juice of raw papaya (including the skin and seed) can also be applied on swelling pimples. For acne treatment, cornstarch when combined with water can be used as a mask to absorb oil.

---> Hot fomentation can be applied locally to open up the pores and to bring out the waste matter. The affected parts should then be washed with cold water. The patient should take sun and air baths by exposing the whole body to the sun and air. For acne treatment, do not wash face with soap and water, wash it in the morning and night with lukewarm salty water. Soap is a drying agent and may worsen the acne, whereas luke warm salty water may help remove oils without drying the skin.

--->Fresh lime juice mixed to a glass of boiled milk can be applied to the face as a face wash for pimples, blackheads, and cracked skin.

---> Drinking of wheatgrass juice may remove acne.

The Workout the World Forgot

It's called Natural Movement -- or "MovNat" in its French abbreviation.

I admit that before last night I had never heard of what has been called "humankind's oldest, trickiest, and most indispensable physical disciplines." Writing for Men's Health magazine, Christopher McDougall has a terrific article on this beautifully primal training method.

Describing its beginnings, McDougall writes:

In 1902, Georges Hebert was a 27-year-old French naval officer stationed on the Caribbean island of Martinique. On May 8 of that year, he was aboard a ship off the coast when an ominous plume began rising from Mont Pelee, the volcano looming over Saint-Pierre, Martinique's largest city. Sometime around 8 a.m., Pelee erupted, raining hot ash and sizzling rocks on the horrified population. Molten lava gushed down the slope and spread through the streets in fiery streams, igniting everything in its path. Swarms of pit vipers poured off the mountain to flee the searing heat, tangling in the feet of fleeing people and biting at their legs. In minutes, the Paris of the Caribbean had turned into an absolute hell.

Into this inferno plunged Hebert. Leading his troops ashore, he scouted out viable escape routes and waded into the panicky crowds, trying to shepherd them to safety. By the time the eruptions ceased, fewer than 700 people had survived, many thanks to Hebert's improvised rescue operation.

While touted as a hero, Hebert couldn't help but focus on those lives lost in the incident.

The modern world, Hebert believed, was producing hollow men who focused on appearance and forgot about function. At the same time, they stopped exercising with the wildness of kids and instead insulated themselves from risk. The cost, he felt, was far more destructive than they might think.

Motivated to do what he could to realign our fitness philosophy, Hebert convinced the French navy to put him in charge of conditioning for a class of its recruits. Using the recruits as guinea pigs, he incubated a system he called Methode Naturelle -- the Natural Method. Hebert preached a simple philosophy -- "Be strong to be useful" -- and focused on 10 essential skills: walking, running, jumping, walking on all fours, climbing, balancing, throwing, lifting, defending, and swimming.

Next, Hebert set to work on an outdoor training facility. He designed it to look like a giant playground, equipping it with climbing towers, vaulting horses, sandpits, and ponds. Scattered about were rocks and logs and long poles to be used for throwing, or balancing, or passing hand-to-hand while running, or anything else an athlete dreamed up at the moment. Hebert had only one firm rule: No competing. When you try to beat the other guy, he believed, you test the other man's weaknesses and not your own.

Within a few years, Hebert's "Be Useful" system was adopted by the entire French navy. In 1913, speaking before the French Physical Education Congress, he astounded them with the results of tests he'd performed on 350 navy recruits. On a rating system that scored performance according to strength, speed, agility, and endurance, French sailors ranked with world-class decathletes.

The time had come to take Methode Naturelle to the world. Hebert handpicked an elite team of trainers and prepared them to spread the word throughout Europe, Asia, and America. But before they scattered, the First World War erupted. Because of their superb physical conditioning and dedication to service, the men of Methode Naturelle were deployed in frontline positions against German troops armed with machine guns and poison gas. By the end of the war, the trainers were all dead or maimed. Hebert was heartbroken, but not surprised. Methode Naturelle was never about trying to live forever -- it was about trying to make a difference before you died. (all emphasis mine)

And if that's not enough to get you motivated, read the entire article and/or check out this promo video.


(Feed readers click through for video)
McDougall continues:

A smart body, he explains, knows how to convert force and speed into an almost endless menu of practical movements. Hoisting yourself onto a pole may seem as trivial as a circus stunt, but if you're ever caught in a flood or fleeing an attacking dog, elevating your body 5 feet off the ground could mean the difference between safety and sorrow.

And with that one word -- "practical" -- Le Corre exposes a key weakness in modern exercise: Our workouts are domesticated, while the world out there is still plenty wild. In a pinch, can a man put gym-generated biceps and tank-tread abs to any real use? Could it be that our treadmill-running, elliptical-gliding, well-oiled Cybex world has turned us into show dogs who can't hold our own in the hunt?

"I meet men all the time who can bench 400 pounds but can't climb up through a window to pull someone from a burning building," Le Corre says. "I know guys who can run marathons but can't sprint to anyone's rescue unless they put their shoes on first. Lots of swimmers do laps every day but can't dive deep enough to save a friend, or know how to carry him over rocks and out of the surf."

...

"Being fit isn't about being able to lift a steel bar or finish an Ironman," Le Corre says... "It's about rediscovering our biological nature and releasing the wild human animal inside."

I don't know about you, but I feel like climbing a tree. Where do I sign up?

About acne

Acne or pimple is a common ailment in young people during their teen age. This occurs due to some hormonal changes in the body. It particularly occurs in the young age, from 12 to 16 years of age, and is more common in those who have an oily skin. Chronic forms of acne may occur over the shoulders, the back and chest as well as face and neck.

Diet is not responsible for acne but certain foods may produce this condition, especially in some patients. Rich foods such as chocolate, nuts, soft drinks, fatty meals and increased sugar, may produce this condition. Certain drugs such as those containing bromides and iodides may also produce acne in some patients. Some girls develop pimples before menstruation. These remain for only one or two days. When acne remains for months or years, something should be done to remove the condition. Nervous tension due to family trouble may also play an important role in creating this problem.

Acne rosacea is an abnormal redness and irritation of the face and nose. It may also occur on the cheeks, chin, and forehead at times. Acne rosacea occurs more commonly in middle-aged people. But sometimes it is also seen in children and young adults, particularly if there has been similar trouble in past generations of their family. Excess of heat, cold and wind may also produce more pimples on the affected skin. It is not a serious problem as it disappears with the age.

To prevent the acne keep the skin clean by washing two or three times a day with fresh water. Apply warm moist towels to the face for ten or fifteen minutes. If pus has formed under the skin, do not open the pimple until it is ready to drain. Squeezing and pinching of the skin may extend the inflammation and delay healing, and may also cause scarring of the face.

Most of the acne occurs due to wrong eating habits, such as irregular eating, excessive eating of starch, sugars, fatty foods and fried foods. Chronic constipation can also lead to acne. If the stools are not passed properly, the waste matter remains in the body as it is not discharged and makes the blood toxic. This accumulation of toxic substances in the body leads to acne and other forms of skin diseases. Other causes of the skin diseases are the unhealthy conditions of the skin, habits, excessive use of tea, coffee, alcohol, or tobacco, and sedentary habits, which lead to indigestion and general debility.

Diet: Avoid all rich foods, excessive amounts of sugar, and particularly chocolate and nuts. Choose a plain, well balanced diet containing plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Drink water and fruit juices, but avoids highly sweetened drinks. Extra vitamin A tablets should be added to the diet. Try to sleep at least eight hours every night. Avoid all strains, and follow the principles of good health, as these are essential for health. There are many natural home remedies for acne that we have in our kitchen or we can get from the health food store. These are not very expensive.

Who Can Argue with Health Care for Children?

Not to get too political, but I found this post from the Men's Health Office quite interesting.

Last month President Obama signed a bill that adds nearly $33 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The program will insure 11 million children in lower-income families. Health care for children - who can argue with that? It makes sense, and is obviously the right thing to do. But as with so many good ideas out of Washington that turn sour, the devil will be in the details. My worry, based on past experience, is just how this may actually back-fire and end up hurting children. "But how can that happen?' you ask. Let's look at past government attempts at caring for children.

In Hawaii they came up with what sounded like a good idea - provide health care to all children in the state. Seems like a no-brainer. But it failed and failed miserably.

Continue reading...

What are your thoughts on the subject? Are you skeptical of increased government intervention in the health care system in this country? Optimistic?

Yoga is the Macho thing to do!!!

Yoga? Are you crazy??? Yoga is for women and wimps! WRONG! If you rad my archived postings you'll learn that I had a heart condition casued by a virus a year and a half ago and was ordered by my cardiologist to do NO weight training or cardio whatsoever for a period of six months! This was due to the hypertension associated with this virus. For that six month period I performed NO weight training, no calisthenics, and no weight training. I didn't even pick up a golf club!
What I did however was the best kept secret in the world of fitness...YOGA!
I wouldn't be able to do the things I do now at 42 years of age...without Yoga! I am more flexible, more stable, better breaething and cardiovascular condition, better posture, and my rotator cuff and lumbar spine problems have all but disappeared after regular yoga sessions. I perform a 60-minute yoga session twice per week on a regular basis. Ask anyone who knows me how agile and flexible I am. Yoga has improved my overall health and I will probably live longer.

This is NOT your typical yoga...my routine centers around YRG, "Yoga for Regular Guys"

http://www.yrgworkoutllc.com/joomla/

Purchase the 3-DVD set here:
http://www.ddpbang.com/store/

The inventor of YRG and instructor is Diamond Dallas Page, a former pro wrestler who's career ended suddenly from a severe lower back injury. His wife convinced him to try Yoga as a form of rehad. The rest is history...he developed a very intense form of Yoga (YRG).
You have to try this yourself and you'll be convinced. This is very intense and it will elevate your heart rate! I highly recommend this DVD set....Disclaimer: I receive no form of remuneration from YRG, nor from P90X. Any exercise product or dietary supplement I recommend is a product I personally use and recommend. Fitness is my passion!