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Best home gym equipment buys for hitting your fitness goals indoors ready for Summer 2023

March 22, 2023 by www.mirror.co.uk Leave a Comment

Many of us could benefit from being able to workout from home around a busy schedule. The fitness industry has massively changed things up (especially since lockdown), with plenty of alternative ways to keep in shape.

It’s important to know which type of exercise best suits you when making an at home equipment purchase, with some maybe breaking the bank for a more simple routine.

From recognising fitness goals, fitness levels and and available space at home, here have listed our top best fitness products for working out indoors, from treadmills for cardio to dumbbells for weight training.

Our favourite part about exercising at home is not having to commute to the nearest gym. Plus, you’ll be saving money from not forking out on a costly membership.

Here are the best home gym equipment buys available now.

Top 3 home gym equipment buys
PROIRON Neoprene Dumbbell Set

A must for any fitness lover’s home, this dumbbell set includes various weights that will help you increase strength and muscle tone. Made from neoprene with cast iron inside, the weights feature a flat part to stop them from rolling away on the floor. They also won’t damage your floor if you drop them.

You get a pair of 1kg weights, a pair of 2kg weights, and a pair of 3kg weights. Each set also comes with a handy dumbbell stand.

From £

47.99

Amazon

Buy Now

Dumbbells and Bars Weight Training Kit

For those looking to work their entire body, this weight-training set is a good bet.

Each kit features two 2kg solid bars, one 8.7kg bar, four 10kg cast iron discs, eight 2kg cast iron discs, and four 1kg cast iron discs. The set also comes with three pairs of disc collars.

From £

199.99

Decathlon

Buy Now

Gymproluxe Band & Bar Set 2.0

If your space is on the small side, then this band and bar set is a must. It is made up of two variable resistance bands designed to handle up to 265 pounds of force, making it great for different abilities, and a lightweight steel bar.

The portable set makes it more convenient to perform a variety of workouts both indoors and outdoors. Seated rows, bench press and dead lifts are just some of the excercises you can try – meaning your heart will be racing in no time.

What’s more? A 30-day risk free trial lets you try the Gymproluxe with peace of mind.

From £

109.95

Gymproluxe

Buy Now

What are the best home gym machines?

If you have enough space in your home for hefty fitness equipment, it’s a good idea to choose something that will enable you to do something you like, whether that’s running, rowing or cycling. Here are our top picks.

  • Best treadmill: Nero Sport Pro Bluetooth Treadmill – £269.98, Amazon
  • Best exercise bike: Original Peloton Bike – £1,145, Amazon
  • Best rowing machine: V-fit Tornado Air Rower – £299.99, Amazon
  • Best vibration plate: Bluefin Fitness Ultra Slim Vibration Plate – £124, Amazon

What are the best small home gym buys?

For those with less space in their home, these smaller pieces of equipment should do the trick. They’re both compact and easy to store away when not in use.

  • Best resistance bands: Gritin Resistance Bands – £8.99, Amazon
  • Best dumbbell set: PROIRON Neoprene Dumbbell Set – £47.99, Amazon
  • Best pull up bar: Opti Multi Pull Up Bar – £21, Argos
  • Best medicine ball: Weight Ball Medicine Ball – from £16.99, Amazon
  • Best skipping rope: Weighted Skipping Rope – £10.99, Decathlon
  • Best punch bag: Lonsdale Fitness Strike Bag – £270, Sports Direct
  • Best kettlebell: Mirafit Cast Iron Kettlebell – from £27.99, Amazon
  • Best weight training set: Dumbbells and Bars Kit – £199.99, Decathlon

  • Best resistance set: Gymproluxe Band & Bar Set 2.0 – £109.95, Gymproluxe

Best home gym equipment 2023

1. PROIRON Neoprene Dumbbell Set

Best dumbbell set

PROIRON Neoprene Dumbbell Set

A must for any fitness lover’s home, this dumbbell set includes various weights that will help you increase strength and muscle tone. Made from neoprene with cast iron inside, the weights feature a flat part to stop them from rolling away on the floor. They also won’t damage your floor if you drop them.

You get a pair of 1kg weights, a pair of 2kg weights and a pair of 3kg weights. Each set also comes with a handy dumbbell stand.

Price: £47.99, Amazon – buy here now

2. Gritin Set of 5 Resistance Bands

Best resistance bands

Gritin Set of 5 Resistance Bands

Whether you’re doing yoga, HIIT workouts or are just warming up, these resistance bands will switch up your workouts by exerting force on your muscles. This pack comes with five bands for different resistance levels, as well as a carry bag for easy storage.

Price: £8.99, Amazon – buy here now

3. Nero Pro Bluetooth Treadmill

Best treadmill

Nero Pro Bluetooth Treadmill

If cardio is more your kind of workout, this treadmill from Nero Pro has some super advanced features, including integrated Bluetooth so you can easily track your progress.

Download the free app which is compatible with iPhone, iPad & Android devices, you’ll be able to control your new machine from your device too.

There’s 12 auto programmes on the treadmill, as well as three level manual incline and pulse sensors. The easy to read LCD display keeps you in the know about your distance, calories, speed and many more.

Price: £269.98, Amazon – buy here now

4. Original Peloton Bike

Best exercise bike

Original Peloton Bike

If you need a fitness machine with interactive motivation, the Original Peloton Bike is a great contender.

The top-rated model boasts a large 21.5-inch HD touchscreen, along with a 16-watt sound system and a resistance knob for manual control, so you can keep up with your trainer’s instructions with ease. It has 15% off at Amazon for a limited time.

A Peloton membership costs £39 a month, but with an abundance of workouts for different ages, it will help everyone in the family stay fit.

Price: £1,145, Amazon – buy here now

5. Domyos Weighted Skipping Rope

Best skipping rope

Domyos Weighted Skipping Rope

This rope from Domyos is designed with to removable weights to help you slim down and strengthen your upper body.

It allows you to double up your cardio with strength training, perfect if you only have a small amount of room at home. If you’re pushed for space inside, you could always try it out in the garden or an outdoor space.

The simple tool gives you an intense conditioning body workout.

Price: £10.99, Decathlon – buy here now

6. V-Fit Tornado Air Rower

Best rowing machine

V-fit Tornado Air Rower

This rower uses a chain drive air resistance system, that adapts to your abilities – making it a top contender for getting fit at home, in your own time.

The faster you row on this machine, the stronger the resistance will become. This is a great feature that allows you to push yourself and work according to what you can manage.

There’s three screens that will let you know the calories lost, distance, speed and many other important stats to bear in mind for your future progress.

The machine is easily folded down for convenient storing and can hold up to 115kgs in weight.

Price: £299.99, Amazon – buy here now

7. Opti Multi Pull Up Bar

Best pull up bar

Opti Multi Pull Up Bar

If you’re keen to train your upper body, this multi-use pull up bar is a good option with an equally desirable price. Use the bar to complete push ups, sit ups and chin ups.

It comes already assembled for your convenience, all you have to do is find the perfect spot at home to install it. It’s also nice and easy to remove it from your door frame when it’s not in use.

Price: £21, Argos – buy here now

8. Weight Slam Ball Medicine Ball

Best medicine ball

Weight Slam Ball Medicine Ball

Smash your fitness goals with these handy slam balls – which are easy to store away when not in use.

The balls are designed to be thrown thousands of times without breaking, making them perfect for smashing down onto the ground.

Price: From £16.99, Amazon – buy here now

9. Lonsdale Fitness Strike Bag

Best punch bag

Lonsdale Fitness Strike Bag

Whether you’re boxing training, strengthening your core or just warming up with some cardio, this strike bag from Lonsdale will make a great accent to any home gym.

Use it practically anywhere there’s space in the home, or it’s suitable for use outside if you’re pushed for space.

Price: £270, Sports Direct – buy here now

10. Bluefin Fitness Ultra Slim Vibration Plate

Best vibration plate

Bluefin Fitness Ultra Slim Vibration Plate

If you aren’t into big, fancy machines or you simply don’t have the space for them at home, this solution from Bluefin Fitness is one to consider.

The vibrating plate has a large anti slip surface, making it safe and simple for you to undertake a range of workouts; including squats, resistance work, balance work, strengthening your core and much more.

Enjoy 80 levels of vibration speed, five built-in programmes and integrated bluetooth speakers, which will not only keep your muscles guessing, but your workouts far more interesting.

Price: £124, Amazon – buy here now

11. Pro Fitness Folding Workout Bench

Best at-home workout bench

Pro Fitness Folding Workout Bench

Looking for the full gym experience at home? This folding bench will give you that gym feeling – just without the membership fees.

If space is scarce at home this might not be the best option for you, although it does fold away to be quite compact, whilst it’s extended to full form it does hog quite a bit of room.

It comes equipped with a detachable preacher curl and leg curl station, a 165cm bar, two 45cm dumbbell bars, six 5kg, and eight 2.5kg vinyl weight plates to build up your strength.

Price: £153.33, Argos – buy here now

12. Mirafit Cast Iron Kettlebell

Best kettlebell

Mirafit Cast Iron Kettlebell

This kettlebell is designed with a textured-but-smooth handle to give you a great grip, while the flat bottom is stable and roll-resistant, and the cast iron is ultra-durable.

Price: From £27.99, Amazon – buy here now

13. Fitbit Versa 3 Smart Watch

Best fitness tracker

Fitbit Versa 3 Smart Watch

Keeping track of your progress will not only help you to improve weak areas of fitness, but also keep you motivated.

Whether it’s during yoga or a pilates session, Fitbit’s water-resistant Versa 3 provides all the info you might need to smash your health and fitness goals.

Price: £129.99, Argos – buy here now

14. Dumbbells and Bars Weight Training Kit

Best weight training set

Dumbbells and Bars Weight Training Kit

For those looking to work their entire body, this weight-training set is a good bet.

Each kit ncludes two 2kg solid bars, one 8.7kg bar, four 10kg cast iron discs, eight 2kg cast iron discs, and four 1kg cast iron discs. The set also comes with three pairs of disc collars.

Price: £119.99, Decathlon – buy here now

15. Gymproluxe Band & Bar Set 2.0

Gymproluxe Band & Bar Set 2.0

If your space is on the small side, then this band and bar set is a must. It is made up of two variable resistance bands designed to handle up to 265 pounds of force, making it great for different abilities, and a lightweight steel bar.

The portable set makes it more convenient to perform a variety of workouts both indoors and outdoors. Seated rows, bench press and dead lifts are just some of the excercises you can try – meaning your heart will be racing in no time.

What’s more? A 30-day risk free trial lets you try the Gymproluxe with peace of mind.

Price: £109.95, Gymproluxe – buy here now

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NFL warns teams about Lamar Jackson ally; QB says he’s promoting gym equipment with him

March 23, 2023 by www.foxnews.com Leave a Comment

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The NFL issued a memo to all teams on Thursday to notify them that someone who is not certified by the NFLPA could attempt to persuade them to enter contract talks with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

The man named in the memo, obtained by ESPN, is Ken Francis. Because Jackson does not have an agent, teams are only allowed to discuss a contract with him.

Francis contacting teams would be prohibited because he is not a certified agent.

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Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens carries the ball defended by Rayshawn Jenkins #2 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first half at TIAA Bank Field on November 27, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens carries the ball defended by Rayshawn Jenkins #2 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first half at TIAA Bank Field on November 27, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)

Jackson, who was given the non-exclusive franchise tag by the Ravens prior to the deadline earlier this month, is allowed to discuss an offer sheet with another team.

“As an uncertified person, Mr. Francis is prohibited from negotiating Offer Sheets or Player Contracts, or discussing potential trades on behalf of any NFL player or prospective player or assisting in or advising with respect to such negotiations,” the memo read.

As it turns out, just as the memo surfaces to the public, Jackson posted on Twitter a business venture that he is undertaking with Francis.

LAMAR JACKSON ‘REALLY EXPLOSIVE OPTION’ AT QUARTERBACK, PANTHERS GM SAYS

“The Entire Gym” is a product Jackson said he is launching with “my business partner Ken” this summer.

The timing of that announcement couldn’t have come at a better time.

Jackson has been steadfast about not wanting to have an agent represent him in contract negotiations. The Ravens worked diligently prior to the franchise tag deadline to get something done, and while there was some optimism, they ultimately had to assign Jackson with the tag.

Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens carries the ball defended by Rayshawn Jenkins #2 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first half at TIAA Bank Field on November 27, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens carries the ball defended by Rayshawn Jenkins #2 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first half at TIAA Bank Field on November 27, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)

However, it wasn’t the exclusive tag, which wouldn’t allow other teams to vie for Jackson’s services if they so please.

Instead, other teams can speak with Jackson and only Jackson, as the memo further indicates, and give him an offer sheet that the Ravens have the opportunity to match. If they don’t wish to do so, they would receive two first-round picks.

LAMAR JACKSON PUSHES BACK ON REPORT HE TURNED DOWN $200 MILLION GUARANTEED FROM RAVENS

Carolina Panthers GM Scott Fitterer, who owns the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, admitted they looked into Jackson but deemed him a “very expensive option.”

“Like anything, you always have a conversation,” Fitterer said Monday via Pro Football Talk. “But we were looking. … He’s a great option, a really expensive option. But we’re focused on more of the draft picks at this point.”

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta released a statement once Jackson was designated with the franchise tag.

Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens reacts against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on September 11, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens reacts against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on September 11, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

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“Having not yet reached a long-term deal with Lamar Jackson, we will use the franchise tag,” DeCosta said in a statement. “There have been many instances across the league and in Baltimore when a player has been designated with the franchise tag and signed a long-term deal that same year. We will continue to negotiate in good faith with Lamar, and we are hopeful that we can strike a long-term deal that is fair to both Lamar and the Ravens. Our ultimate goal is to build a championship team with Lamar Jackson leading the way for many years to come.”

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

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Billy Porter on the Tonys Red Carpet

June 9, 2019 by www.nytimes.com Leave a Comment

“I want to flip the question of what it means to be a man,” Billy Porter said. “This question of masculinity, this sort of microscope of heteronormative masculinity that we are very often held up to, especially as leading men, needs to be shattered. You know, it’s toxic and I’m over it and I’ve lived it and I’m not doing it anymore.”

Pinned around Mr. Porter’s body was a hand-sewn Elizabethan gown made from the velvety pomegranate red curtain that had once separated him from the audience for the entirety of his Tony-winning “Kinky Boots” run : roughly 1,150 shows.

In a dressing room on the Upper West Side, he was preparing, with Sam Ratelle (his stylist), for his first time as a presenter at the Tony Awards, on June 9. This comes after a run of red carpet entrances, including the Oscars and the Met Gala, that have transformed the genre from bland marketing moment for brands to opportunity for high personal statement making.

[ Billy Porter wore a gown to Tony Awards and he wasn’t alone.]

Mr. Porter arrived at the Met Gala in a 24-karat-gold headpiece , born aloft on a litter carried by six shirtless men in gold pants. For the Academy Awards he wore a perfectly tailored tuxedo gown .

“Can we talk about the shoes?” he asked Mr. Ratelle. They’ve been working together for a little over a year, and their conversations usually go something like this.

“We can always talk about the shoes,” Mr. Ratelle said.

Mr. Porter looked at the sketches. “These grandma shoes, I can’t,” he said, of some chunky heels. What he could: a pair of tan six-inch platform spikes, as high as the stakes for Mr. Porter, for whom expectations are now exceedingly grand. Enter the curtain.

When “Kinky Boots” closed, in April 2019, the handbag company Scenery Bags, which makes handmade accessories out of retired theater material, bought the fall of red velvet and contacted Mr. Ratelle to ask if Mr. Porter was interested in having it made into a purse. Mr. Ratelle had another idea.

He asked Celestino Couture — the designer Sergio Guadarrama and the creative director Cade Johnson — whose collections feature upcycled, socially conscious creations, to start sketching options for a gown.

“Initially they wanted to do a representation of Lola,” Mr. Ratelle said, meaning Mr. Porter’s character in “Kinky Boots,” “but I had to go back to them and say, ‘He’s not a drag queen. He’s a man in a dress.’ We don’t want to confuse people, because he actually is not a drag queen. One day he might want to wear a dress, one day he might not.”

Mr. Porter agreed. “Sometimes it’s just a train and some pants,” he said.

With the shoes on and the gown secured around cotton organza fit pants, Mr. Porter began to walk. There are people who say dance like no one’s looking; Mr. Porter walks like everyone’s looking. He threw the skirt around like a weapon.

When Mr. Porter was a student at Carnegie Mellon in the late 1980s and early ’90s, he took a costume behavior and etiquette class. The course detailed how to work all of the stage garments from other eras, pieces like petticoats or bustles or trains or fans or parasols.

“For men, it was all about coats with tails and canes and top hats,” he said. He paid a lot of attention to the women’s clothes, he said, “because again, it was way more interesting.”

Mr. Porter spied a slip-on pair of clear vinyl heels, also very high, but open toed. “These might be better. She can get a little pedicure too,” he said, trying them on. Then he observed, “Putting on the dress, playing Lola, made me feel the most masculine and grounded that I’ve ever felt in my life because I was finally not apologizing for anything.”

Mr. Guadarrama described his plans for the Tonys curtain gown, which involved thousands of hand-embroidered flower clusters, a corseted bodice and a skirt that expands horizontally like an upside-down bloom, opening to a pair of cigarette pants (also made from the curtain).

“This is exactly what I was looking for — pants but drama,” Mr. Porter said. Mr. Guadarrama asked Mr. Porter if they could include an embroidered uterus, because the dress is inspired by “empowering women’s reproductive rights.” Mr. Porter nodded.

“I love the Tonys,” he said. “It was the first award show that I really paid attention to. I saw Jennifer Holliday sing, ‘And I’m Telling You’ from ‘Dreamgirls’ and realized I could do this for a living. You know, it’s like, ‘Oh wait, there are black people that do this? And they sing like I’d sing in church? I want to do that.’”

There are those who only know Mr. Porter as Pray Tell from the FX series “Pose,” which begins again on Tuesday, but he started his career as a singer in R&B 30 years ago. Then, Mr. Porter’s music videos featured him swooning over and serenading a Whitney Houston look-alike.

“It just didn’t have anything to do with me,” he said. At one point, a record executive told Mr. Porter not to speak during an appearance on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” for fear that he would seem too gay, too black.

“I don’t have to pretend anymore,” Mr. Porter said. “When we walked into acting school, the first thing they’d say is, ‘You have got to be honest. You have got to be true, you’ve got to be authentic.’ And then they turned to the gay boys in the room and it’s like, ‘Except y’all, you faggots have to fix yourself.’”

Mr. Porter thought Broadway might prove different from the music industry. But the roles didn’t quite fit. “I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” he said. “August Wilson wrote about the neighborhoods I grew up in and there’s not one person in his 10-play cycle that is a gay black male.” Eventually, Mr. Porter saw “Angels in America” and finally connected to a character onstage.

“I was doing ‘Grease’ and thinking, ‘Oh my God. no one will ever see me like that,’” Mr. Porter said. “I was wearing 14 inches of red rubber hair when I did ‘Beauty School Dropout.’” The roles he was playing, he said, felt grotesque and exaggerated, and they were dehumanizing.

He moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in a screenwriting program at U.C.L.A. “But there were a few years when I was depressed all the time,” he continued. “That was my inappropriate Abercrombie & Fitch phase. And my cargo pants phase.” He put his stuff in storage; he couch-surfed; he wrote; he directed; he did what he could.

Then, in 2010, at the age of 41, he was cast as Belize in an Off Broadway revival of “Angels in America.” After that, “Kinky Boots” came along, followed by “Pose.” “Now I’m being hired for exactly who I am,” Mr. Porter said. “I don’t have to pretend anymore.” At some point he decided he didn’t want pretend on the red carpet either. He was tired of wearing what he calls a “literal straight jacket.”

“I didn’t even know I had a desire to wear things that were feminine,” he said. “It was just about wearing something that was different.” Mr. Porter also realized he was missing out on a huge revenue stream in the form of fashion advertising, endorsements and marketing moments. He was buying all his clothes, which cost “lots of money — enough money to where my business managers said, ‘You have to stop spending money on clothes.’”

And so he decided to make himself a brand. He uses every article and accessory to articulate his mission. Last week at an event he carried a These Pink Lips bag painted in big block words, “Pay Me!,” along with a profanity.

As his red velvet curtain dress was zipped into a hanging bag for safe transport back downtown to Celestino’s showroom, Mr. Porter changed into his walking-around clothes: a long black blouse, Prada shoes and straw porkpie hat. His husband had been telling him that he had to start wearing baseball caps to avoid being recognized, but he doesn’t have any.

“I won’t wear a baseball cap,” Mr. Porter said. “I still dress up to fly. My aunt Dorothy always says, ‘Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.’”

And what job does he want?

“I want to run all of it,” Mr. Porter said. “For now, this is the steppingstone to hosting the Tonys’.”

Then he wants an empire. “I’ve sat around and waited for other people to tell me yes,” he said. “I want to be the yes person.”

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How men with muscle dysmorphia are turning to extreme dieting, exercise and steroids for the ‘ideal male physique’

March 22, 2023 by www.abc.net.au Leave a Comment

James Smith is a supremely fit personal trainer, but struggled with body issues throughout his 20s.

“I was going through a phase of my life where training became the most important thing to me,” he says.

“My job was incredibly average and my relationships were incredibly average … the one thing I could focus on was training in the gym.”

But no matter how hard he trained, he started to plateau before reaching his “physique goals”.

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‘I only planned to do one cycle’

James turned to steroids.

“Why would I train a year for something when I can do it in three months?” he told himself.

“I only planned to do one cycle,” he says, “then I recovered and thought … one more, then the third time.

“All of the physiques that I’d been aspiring to started to look like the physique that I was obtaining through taking steroids.”

And he wasn’t the only one to notice the difference.

“There aren’t many drug use and abuse issues where you get complimented or rewarded for addiction,” he said.

Men struggle with body image issues too

In Australia, the number of men experiencing body dissatisfaction has risen from 15 to 45 per cent over the past 25 years.

Studies show that up to one in four people experiencing eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia are male, and almost half of the people experiencing binge eating disorders are male.

Muscle dysmorphia is another eating disorder that is on the rise among men.

Scott Griffiths is a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne’s School of Psychological Sciences and an expert in body image, eating disorders, muscle dysmorphia and anabolic steroid use.

“I think of it like reverse anorexia,” Dr Griffiths says when describing muscle dysmorphia, and most sufferers are boys and men.

“The body type they’re trying to achieve is lean and muscular,” he continues, describing big biceps and a six-pack.

“They are often objectively large and muscular, but if you asked them how they feel about themselves, they would say ‘too skinny’ or ‘overweight’ – there’s a gulf between what they are and how they see themselves.”

There are other body image concerns among men too, like baldness, penis size and even height.

“There are leg lengthening surgeries that very few men will try to have done, but more common are things like shoes that have lifts concealed in them,” he says.

The factors that contribute to eating disorders are remarkably similar between men and women, but the end result is often where it differs.

Hereditary factors, Dr Griffith explains, include having parents who struggled with issues like compulsive exercising.

Character and personality should also be taken into account, he adds.

For example, a perfectionist might apply that mentality to their body and training, and “believe they’re not living up to that perfect, ideal body.”

Finally, there are social and environmental considerations.

“If you were bullied as a child for being overweight, or were late to puberty and teased because of your size, you can be prone to ruminating on your appearance,” Dr Griffiths says.

‘My face was holding water’

A bad reaction to a steroid cycle is what turned James off the drug.

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“My face was holding water, I would get very red if I went in the sun for more than minute – but I wasn’t burnt,” he explains.

It turns out that it was his blood pressure.

“I didn’t sleep good or feel good,” he adds.

He was also concerned about the side effects of steroid use.

“If I had had to have heart bypass before I was 60, would it be worth it?” he asked himself.

“If I couldn’t have kids when I was older, how would I feel – would it have been worth it?”

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In the pursuit of the perfect body, Australian men – like James – are turning to dangerous and illegal supplements.

The latest research from Dr Griffiths shows that steroids accounted for two per cent of all injection drug users in 2010 – and rose to seven per cent in 2014.

“Steroids work as intended,” Dr Griffiths says.

“So if you’re very insecure about the way you look, and there’s a substance out there that works well, there’s a temptation to use it.”

When people are on steroids, they can feel better for a time because “you’ll be likely to build muscle” and “you get the progress that was frustrating you before”.

Once people come off steroids, all the gains will be lost and “that will be extremely stressful” for many.

“The weight you can lift will go down, reps will go down, weight loss will occur,” Dr Griffiths explains.

“The spectre of steroids stays because you can make all of that go away by taking steroids again.”

Around one-third of steroid users become psychologically dependent on it, according to the latest research by Dr Griffiths.

The immediate side effects of steroid use can include loss of hair, severe acne, gynecomastia (also referred to as ‘man boobs’) and hypogonadism (the shrinking of testicles).

Long-term use can result in impaired cardiovascular function.

“There’s evidence that the heart becomes enlarged – and enlarged hearts are weaker and pump less efficiently,” Dr Griffiths explains.

Related to hypogonadism, high doses of testosterone – like those that come from using anabolic steroids – can impair natural testosterone production.

“When you flood the body with that much testosterone from outside, the ability for the body to bounce back and resume making testosterone naturally can be reduced,” Dr Griffiths says.

“This puts men at risk of infertility or being put on testosterone replacement therapy – it’s a lifelong impediment.”

Even professional athletes feel pressure to look a certain way

Australian boxer Harry Garside has won a bronze medal at the Olympics in 2020, and a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games two years before that.

But even at the peak of his boxing career, he wasn’t happy with his physique.

When I won the Commonwealth Games in 2018, I still woke up the next day and felt quite unhappy,” he says.

“I thought, maybe when I win the Olympic gold medal I’ll feel happy.”

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Harry opened up about his struggles with self-criticism on The Drum.

“I think the reason why I’ve been so ambitious stemmed from a place of insecurity,” he explains.

“I have thought that when I look a certain way, I will then be happy.”

But he’s learned over the years that achieving the desired physique – or any other goal – won’t make him happy.

“No matter what you look like in the mirror – no matter the success, the money, the cars – if they’re the things you’re striving for, and if it comes from a place of insecurity and low self-worth, no matter when you get that, you’ll feel the exact same,” he says.

“I think it’s so important to go from the inside out.

“It’s how you feel about yourself, that’s the most important thing.”

How to develop a positive body image

Dr Griffiths says the first thing men can do if they’re struggling with their body image, is to talk with someone.

But it’s not that easy.

“Men who worry about how they look are often not talking in earnest about how they feel to many people,” he explains.

Online forums for body builders and gym enthusiasts are typically filled with joking and light trolling.

“This is great for camaraderie, but not necessarily for unpacking why someone feels poorly about how they look, or feel the urge to look a certain way,” he says.

Dr Griffiths recommends starting the conversation with an expert from a specialist organisation like the Butterfly Foundation.

“For a lot of guys, they’ve been training, dieting, and feeling poorly about how they look for so long, and it can be hard to see clearly how regimented their diet and exercise has been.”

Harry says he’s still a work in progress when it comes to having a healthy body image.

“I’m trying my best to build myself up with a lot more love and positivity,” he says.

He wants to get to a point where “it doesn’t really matter about the goals I achieve, or the things that I do in my life, or the way I look – as long as I feel good on the inside out.”

“I think that’s more important to any young person out there.”

James also reflected on the impact that targeted social media can have on young men.

“If you stop and watch a video of one guy doing a chest workout on TikTok, the algorithm now knows your interest and is going to feed you more juiced up dudes doing chest workouts,” he says.

“You’re going to teach the algorithms exactly where your insecurities are, and they’re going to prey on them.”

Dr Griffiths agrees that social media has a great impact on people’s body image – even greater than more traditional forms of media like magazines and the movies.

“Social media allows us to present idealised, filtered, curated versions of ourselves, and we can get instant, wide-ranging feedback on those images,” he explains.

“It can make people quite sensitive and make their self-esteem contingent on others.”

James’ message to young men is: physique isn’t everything.

“It’s quite a wild bet to double down – to believe that everything that’s important in your life is tied to how much muscle you have and how low your body percentage is,” he says.

“Your relationship to your reflection is not the only thing that will build long-term happiness in you.”

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Posted 22h ago 22 hours ago Wed 22 Mar 2023 at 8:01pm , updated 22h ago 22 hours ago Wed 22 Mar 2023 at 8:01pm
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Filed Under: Uncategorized Men's Health, Body Image, Mental Health, Muscle Dysmorphia, Eating Disorders, Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating, Sport, Exercise, Fitness, Personal Trainer, ..., overemphasizing check and arm muscles will give you a balanced physique, buendia men's physique, 2017 mr olympia men's physique, uk men's physique, 2018 mr olympia men's physique, dysmorphia in male, 2014 mr olympia men's physique, 2015 mr olympia men's physique, icestorm that is turning into static exercise, ice storm that is turning into static exercise 10 letters

Sailboat crew rescued in Pacific after abandoning ship sunk by whale

March 22, 2023 by www.sfgate.com Leave a Comment

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6

His circumstances sounded straight out of “Moby-Dick,” but Rick Rodriguez wasn’t kidding. In his first text messages from the life raft, he said he was in serious trouble.

“Tommy this is no joke,” he typed to his friend and fellow sailor Tommy Joyce. “We hit a whale and the ship went down.”

“Tell as many boats as you can,” Rodriguez also urged. “Battery is dangerously low.”

On March 13, Rodriguez and three friends were 13 days into what was expected to be a three-week crossing from the Galápagos to French Polynesia on his 44-foot sailboat, Raindancer. Rodriguez was on watch, and he and the others were eating a vegetarian pizza for lunch around 1:30 p.m. In an interview with The Washington Post later conducted via satellite phone, Rodriguez said the ship had good winds and was sailing at about 6 knots when he heard a terrific BANG!

“The second pizza had just come out of the oven, and I was dipping a slice into some ranch dressing,” he said. “The back half of the boat lifted violently upward and to starboard.”

The sinking itself took just 15 minutes, Rodriguez said. He and his friends managed to escape onto a lifeboat and a dinghy. The crew spent just 10 hours adrift, floating about nine miles before a civilian ship plucked them from the Pacific Ocean in a seamless predawn maneuver. A combination of experience, technology and luck contributed to a speedy rescue that separates the Raindancer from similar catastrophes.

“There was never really much fear that we were in danger,” Rodriguez said. “Everything was in control as much as it could be for a boat sinking.”

It wasn’t lost on Rodriguez that the story that inspired Herman Melville happened in the same region. The ship Essex was also heading west from the Galápagos when it was rammed by a sperm whale in 1820; leaving the captain and some crew to endure roughly three months and resort to cannibalism before being rescued.

There have been about 1,200 reports of whales and boats colliding since a worldwide database launched in 2007, said Kate Wilson, a spokeswoman for the International Whaling Commission. Collisions that cause significant damage are rare, the U.S. Coast Guard said, noting the last rescue attributed to damage from a whale was the sinking of a 40-foot J-Boat in 2009 off Baja California, with that crew rescued by Coast Guard helicopter.

Alana Litz was the first to see what she now thinks was a Bryde’s whale as long as the boat. “I saw a massive whale off the port aft side with its side fin up in the air,” Litz said.

Rodriguez looked to see it bleeding from the upper third of its body as it slipped below the water.

Bianca Brateanu was below cooking and got thrown in the collision. She rushed up to the deck while looking to the starboard and saw a whale with a small dorsal fin 30 to 40 feet off that side, leading the group to wonder if at least two whales were present.

Within five seconds of impact, an alarm went off indicating the bottom of the boat was filling with water, and Rodriguez could see it rushing in from the stern.

Water was already above the floor within minutes. Rodriguez made a mayday call on the VHF radio and set off the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). The distress signal was picked up by officials in Peru, who alerted the U.S. Coast Guard District 11 in Alameda, Calif., which is in charge of U.S. vessels in the Pacific.

The crew launched the inflatable life raft, as well as the dinghy, then realized they needed to drop the sails so that line attaching the life raft didn’t snap as it got dragged behind still-moving Raindancer.

Rodriguez grabbed his snorkel gear and a tarp and jumped into the water to see if he could plug the holes, but it was futile. The area near the propeller shaft was badly punched in, he said.

Meanwhile, the others had gathered safety equipment, emergency gear and food. In addition to bottled water, they filled “water bottles, tea kettles and pots,” before the salt water rose above the sink, Rodriguez said.

“There was no emotion,” Rodriguez recalled. “While we were getting things done, we all had that feeling, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ but it didn’t keep us from doing what we needed to do and prepare ourselves to abandon ship.”

Rodriguez and Simon Fischer handed the items down to the women in the dinghy, but in the turmoil, they left a bag with their passports behind. They stepped into the water themselves just as the deck went under.

Rodriguez swam to the life raft, climbed in and looked back to see the last 10 feet of the mast sinking “at an unbelievable speed,” he said. As the Raindancer slipped away, he pulled a Leatherman from his pocket and cut the line that tethered the life raft to the boat after Litz noticed it was being pulled taut.

They escaped with enough water for about a week and with a device for catching rain, Rodriguez said. They had roughly three weeks worth of food, and a fishing pole.

The Raindancer “was well-equipped with safety equipment and multiple communication devices and had a trained crew to handle this open-ocean emergency until a rescue vessel arrived,” said Douglas Samp, U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area Search and Rescue Program Manager. He cautioned that new technology should not replace the use of an EPIRB, which has its own batteries.

Indeed, the one issue the crew faced was battery power. Their Iridium Go, a satellite Wi-Fi hotspot, was charged to only 32 percent (dropping to 18 percent before the rescue.) The phone that pairs with it was at 40 percent, and the external power bank was at 25 percent.

Rodriguez sent his first message to Joyce, who was sailing a boat on the same route about 180 miles behind. His second was to his brother, Roger, in Miami. He repeated most of what he had messaged to Joyce, adding, “Tell mom it’s going to be okay.”

Rodriguez’s confidence was earned. A 31-year-old from Tavernier, Fla., he had spent about 10 years working as a professional yacht captain, mate and engineer. He bought the Raindancer in 2021 and lived on her, putting sweat equity into getting the boat, built in 1976, ready for his dream trip.

Both he and Brateanu, 25, from Newcastle, England, have mariner survival training. Litz, 32, from Comox, British Columbia, was formerly a firefighter in the Canadian military. Fischer, 25, of Marsberg, Germany, had the least experience, but “is a very levelheaded guy,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez gave detailed information on their location and asked his brother to send a message via WhatsApp to Joyce, who has a Starlink internet connection that he checks more frequently than his Iridium Go. Because of his low battery, he told his brother he was turning the unit off and would check it in two hours.

Rodriguez also activated a Globalstar SPOT tracker, which transmitted the position of the life raft every few minutes, and he broadcast a mayday call every hour using his VHF radio.

When he turned the Iridium Go back on at the scheduled time, there was a reply from Joyce: “We got you bud.”

As luck would have it, the Raindancer was sailing the same route as about two dozen boats participating in a round-the-world yachting rally called the World ARC. Boatwatch, a network of amateur radio operators that searches for people lost at sea, was also notified. And the urgent broadcast issued by the Coast Guard was answered by a commercial ship, Dong-A Maia, which said it was 90 miles to the south of Raindancer and was changing course.

“We have a bunch of boats coming. We got you brother,” Joyce typed.

“Can’t wait to see you guys,” Rodriguez replied.

Joyce told Rodriguez that the closest boat was “one day maximum.”

In fact, the closest boat was a 45-foot catamaran not in the rally. The Rolling Stones was only about 35 miles away. The captain, Geoff Stone, 42, of Muskego, Wis., had the mayday relayed to him by a friend sailing about 500 miles away. He communicated with Joyce via WhatsApp and with the Peruvian coast guard using a satellite phone to say they were heading to the last known coordinates.

In the nine hours it took to reach the life raft, Stone told The Post, he and the other three men on his boat were apprehensive about how the rescue was going to work.

“The seas weren’t terrible but we’ve never done a search and rescue,” he said. He wasn’t sure whether they would be able to find the life raft without traveling back and forth.

He was surprised when Fischer spotted the Rolling Stones lights from about five miles away and made contact on the VHF radio.

Once it got closer, Rodriguez set off a parachute flare, then activated a personal beacon that transmits both GPS location and AIS (Automatic Identification System) to assist in the approach. Although the 820-foot Dong-A Maia, a Panamanian-flagged tanker, was standing by, it made more sense to be rescued by the smaller ship.

To board the Rolling Stones, the crew from the Raindancer transferred to the dinghy with a few essentials, then detached the life raft so it wouldn’t get caught in the boat’s propeller.

“We were 30 or 40 feet away when we started to make out each other’s figures. There was dead silence,” Rodriguez said. “They were curious what kind of emotional state we were in. We were curious who they were.”

“I yelled out howdy,” to break the ice, he explained.

One by one they jumped onto the transom. “All of a sudden us four were sitting in this new boat with four strangers,” Rodriguez said.

The hungry sailors were given fresh bread, then offered showers. The Rolling Stones crew gave their guests toothbrushes, deodorant and clothes. None even had shoes.

Rodriguez said he had tried not to think about losing his boat while the crisis was at hand. But, the first morning he woke up on Rolling Stones, it hit him. Not only had he lost his home and belongings, he felt like he’d lost “a good friend.”

“I’ve worked so hard to be here, and have been dreaming of making landfall at the Bay of Virgins in the Marquesas on my own boat for about 10 years. And 1,000 nautical miles short my boat sinks,” Rodriguez said.

The Rolling Stones is expected to arrive in French Polynesia on Wednesday, and Rodriguez is glad that he’s onboard.

“I feel very lucky, and grateful, that we were rescued so quickly,” he said. “We were in the right place at the right time to go down.”

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