Barbell Collars with Quick Release Lock

The barbell collars that I requested from Chris Sports have finally arrived. It's been a good two weeks before I finally found the time to go back to the store and get them. The last time I was there, I only saw one piece of these quick release barbell collars. It took a while for me to ask the staff about these type of collars because the staff was busy with a customer who had a serious treadmill accident.

Wrist Sprain from Lifting Weights

Just when I thought I was gaining good ground on my weight lifting, I sprain the wrist of my right hand. This happened the other week on my leg and shoulder day (Wednesday). Presently, Monday is for Back and Biceps, and Friday is Chest and Triceps, lifting only three times a week.

No, I didn't accidentally fall on my right hand and then twist the wrist. The sprain was due to overexertion on the wrist as I lifted a barbell from a low position to a higher position.

Filipinos Should Learn How to Swim

It's been a year since the rains of typhoon Ondoy inundated much of Metro Manila. My second daughter's high school even had to look for another school venue because all the roads towards their school were flooded.

Typhoon Ondoy brought a month's worth of rain in a couple of hours. The metrowide flooding prompted the utility company to shut off power and there were massive blackouts. It took quite a while for the floods to subside and the sun to shine. Laundry piled up and I had to wash the car floor mats due to mud.

Serious Accident from a Defective Treadmill

With my interest towards fitness equipment, I constantly browse sports shops in the malls when I get the chance. Invariably it seems, it's the motorized treadmills and exercise machines that take space inside these shops because they're so big. Usually though, I just go past them without much notice.

A couple of weeks ago, while browsing for some quick release barbell collars, I overheard a bit of argument between a lady with her husband and the store manager. The lady was probably in her 50's and her husband was a Caucasian, and I'm assuming an American, at about the same age. The store manager was a young lady in her 30's, I think. Apparently, the couple was there to complain about, supposedly, a defective treadmill that the lady purchased from the store.

Funny Treadmill Accident

Without a doubt, this for me is one of the funniest videos ever to be posted on YouTube. It is about a guy who goes about singing and dancing to the tune of a track playing on the background entitled "Turf Talk". Well, somewhere along the video, the guy decides to jump on the running treadmill and goes into spin cycle TWICE!

I've no idea if this was all staged or fake as some YouTube commenters have alleged, but I'm betting that it wasn't. Go watch it below.

Review of the Balance Stepper for Cardio Workouts

It has now been over two years since I bought the Balance Stepper. This is the same balance stepper advertised by Tony Little as the "Rock 'n Roll Stepper". I have a post that has the Rock 'n Roll Stepper video.

It's funny, but elsewhere on the net, this same aerobic exercise equipment is being advertised as the "Body Slender". There are plenty of mini-steppers around, but I suppose this one is the one commonly referred to as a Balance Stepper.

Anyway, I feel that after using it for a couple of years, on-and-off (mostly off), it's high time I gave my own review for this fitness equipment.

Stationary Running without a Treadmill

Although trail running was my primary form of endurance exercise in college, it was also limited. I only had the chance to hit the trails when I visited my parents' house in the province. This was during weekends or the semestral breaks from the university. And for the rest of the year, I stayed at my aunts' house in the city.

Recreational Running for Fitness

Some people call it jogging, while some, the seemingly athletic types, call it running. The running purists call themselves "runners" of course, and have this disdain towards "the joggers".

It's like the term jogging describes the slow manner of locomotion that old folks attempt to revive their sagging stamina. It's either the old folks or the fat folks who're looking for some semblance of exercise. For me, I called it recreational running for fitness. And yes, it's the long slow distance (LSD) type of running.

Armwrestling - Motivation to Bodybuilding

During one of those classroom lulls in college, students would joke around and generally just talk about "stuff" which is anything under the sun, really - movies, tv, university life, homework, relationships - anything. There wasn't much to do especially if it's just a one-hour class and the professor had to leave half hour early. That's until one smart guy at the back of the classroom egged his buddy next to him to armwrestle.

Secret Weight Training with an Improvised Barbell

Back in the days when I was still in college, I stayed at my aunts' house during the weekdays. The house was old, but very spacious. I had my own bedroom that was neat and comfortable and it was there where I spent studying. But it wasn't only studying that I did there. Little did my aunts know, that bedroom with the nice and shiny wooden floors also became my secret gym for my improvised weight training exercises.

Benefits in Using a Sports Towel

After finding out what sports towels are and their advantages, I wonder why I hadn't discovered them sooner. Maybe sports towel use has been limited to just the athletic types who casually bring them like ordinary gear. I don't know.

When I go to various swimming outings in beaches or resorts, I don't see people using them. What I see people bring are the usual bathroom cotton towels. So you could say that, in spite of their advantages, their widespread use hasn't really caught on.