Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

I want to put some posters up on my wall in my home gym, preferably ones that SHOW me how to do exercises, but they are SO expensive! These are the best ones I could find online, but they are all at least twenty bucks apiece!

• Weight Training Stretches 24″ X 36″ Laminated Chart at Amazon.com
• Dumbbell Workout 24″ X 36″ Laminated Chart (Shoulder, Back, Leg, & Calf) at Amazon.com
• Dumbbell Workout Chart (Chest, Biceps, Triceps, Forearm) at Amazon.com
• Abdominal Workout 24″ X 36″ Laminated Chart at Amazon.com

They all look like they are good quality and they’re all laminated, but I don’t need that. All I need is a simple paper poster to go up on my wall in a frame. I want it large enough to see all the exercises and I want it to show the beginning of the move as well as the end.

Plus, TWENTY dollars apiece?! I can get a poster of anything else for only six or seven bucks! Why are these over twenty bucks apiece?

If I buy them directly from Algra, I can get them for $13 and they are paper:

• Bruce Algra Posters: Fitnus Series II

I found a pretty good poster to download here: Ironmaster – Strength Multiplied It’s meant to be printed on 11″X17″ paper, so it’s pretty high resolution.

• Dumbbell Exercise Poster 11X17

The problem with this poster is that it doesn’t show you how to DO the exercises. It only shows them in one of the states.

These images are better, but they’re so low resolution, you couldn’t print them up big enough to put on your wall.

• Chest Exercises via Easy six pack workout
• Dumbbell Workout via The Student Room
• Abdominal Workout via Alpha Fitness Equipment
• Tricep Workout via Serius Fitness
• Bicep Workout via Photobucket

Sparkpeople have a bunch of printable exercises, but I don’t care for the photos:

• Sparkpeople: Printable Exercises

These exercises are animated GIFs, which work really well on the computer, but you can’t print them up:

• Sport Fitness Advisor: Dumbbell Exercises Complete with Animated Diagrams

It looks like I’m stuck buying those overpriced posters from Amazon if I want anything of quality. I wish there was another option.

I’ve never seen American Psycho, but I get the drift the Christian Bale’s character is a bad guy and probably shouldn’t be trusted.

Then again, what he said in this clip is true:

Chloe Sevigny’s character says: “Do you wanna bite?”

Christian Bale’s character says: “I’m on a diet, but thank you.”

Chloe: “You don’t need to lose any weight. You’re kidding, right? You look great, very fit.”

Christian: “You can always be thinner, look better.”

The next time someone offers you food you shouldn’t eat, remember this little video. Reply, “No, thank you.” If they press you about it, remember the mantra, “You can always be thinner, look better.”

Who cares if a deranged and psychotic killer said the words. If they help you, they’re golden.

I love these animated GIFs of Sarah Millican!

A male acquaintance of mine, with whom I have never had a dalliance, said to me, “You know what? If you lost a couple of stone…”

Lost a couple of stone means lost about thirty pounds, for all you U.S. readers…

I said, “The rest of this better be a f-ing equation.”

He said, “If you lost a couple of stone, we could probably go out.”

I said, “Only if the couple of stone I lost was me f-ing head!”

THANK YOU, Sarah Millican! Don’t ever let anyone judge you based on the size of your body. That guy was a class A jerk!

Via: WIL WHEATON dot TUMBLR, laughterkey: anothertroy: best. I LOVE Sarah…

I love these photos of Katherine Hepburn skateboarding back in 1967.

The subtitle says:

This is Katherine Hepburn on an outing in Beverly Hills. Her sister’s son, Jack Grant, got the actress hooked on the sport while working on a book about it. Grant made this picture.

It’s surprising to me to see this great actress riding a skateboard. It just goes to show that all of us can excel at sports, even if we start them when we are adults.

The next time you miss the fun you used to have skateboarding, roller skating or riding your bike, grab your gear and get out there again. Exercise can be fun and make you feel like you’re young again.

Via: Katherine Hepburn Skateboarding, 1967 | Retronaut

The most interesting thing about this Breakfast Burrito from Finding My Fitness is the egg white tortilla.

Does it actually work? Does it hold the burrito together so well that you can eat it with your hands, or do you have to use a fork? The blog entry doesn’t clarify, so I guess I’ll have to try it myself. (more…)

I love this Reebok advertisement:

It reads:

Move in ways you’d never expect.

I know it’s talking about their shoe that is supposed to be flexible, but I love this ad because it is true about exercise. When I’ve been exercising regularly and doing my after cardio stretching, I find that I am able to move in ways that I couldn’t before. I’m far more flexible than I was before I started exercising.

I’m also stronger. I can lift more grocery bags and my bowling ball doesn’t feel like such a burden anymore.

I can go the distance, too. I can walk further before I tucker out. If we are going up a hill, I can do it without stopping for a rest.

When I exercise regularly, I find myself moving in ways that I never expected and it’s a delicious surprise!

I found some pancake forms at the dollar store the other day, so I made some heart-shaped eggs and star-shaped eggs for breakfast.

When I cracked the eggs into the forms, some of the egg whites escaped, but that didn’t ruin them. It worked really well and I loved having the same breakfast I have every day shaped in fun shapes instead. Why should having a heart-shaped egg make it taste better?!

If you can’t find pancake forms in your dollar store, here are some links to some:

• Norpro Nonstick Heart Pancake Egg Rings at Amazon.com
• Norpro Nonstick Star and Flower Pancake Egg Rings at Amazon.com
• 6pc Silicone Egg Rings at Amazon.com
• Mickey Mouse Icon Silhouette Egg/Pancake Rings at Amazon.com

The next time you’re feeling bored of your normal eggs and bacon in the morning, drag out the pancake forms and have a treat for breakfast!

I love this kludgy hack to create a work desk for your stationary bike.

They’ve taken a plain lap desk and positioned it for a good typing surface on the exercise bike. It’s almost ingenious in its simplicity, actually.

The next time you think that you don’t have enough time to exercise, remember this hack and how one person was able to combine two activities into one, getting BOTH jobs done!

Photo via: Stationary Bike Work Desk? Check!

The next time you think that you don’t have time to exercise, cook healthy meals or log your food, you need to realize that your argument is invalid.

Why?

Because if you really wanted to exercise, cook or log, you would MAKE the time to do it.

You need to erase the phrase, “I don’t have time,” from your vocabulary. Instead, you need to rephrase your thought to “It’s not a priority.”

• It’s not a priority to exercise.
• It’s not a priority to cook healthy meals.
• It’s not a priority to log my food and activity every day.

When you rephrase your excuses in this manner, you realize that “I don’t have time,” is just an excuse. Plan ahead. MAKE time.

You don’t have time? WRONG!

Your argument is invalid.

Via:

• Pinterest / Search results for someone busier than you
• Erase “I Don’t Have Time” from Your Vocabulary

I love this animated GIF from everyday i’m workin’ it.

It reads:

Your greatest competition is yourself.

It’s true. When I compare myself to others, I always defeat myself. I get so discouraged that I don’t want to continue. But, when I compare myself to how I was yesterday, it’s easy to beat that goal. If I focus on beating my past self, then I feel motivated and keep on task a lot longer.

Remember:

The only person standing in your way is you.

The next time you’re feeling down because you want to look like or do something that someone else can do, STOP it. Remember yourself from two months ago, are you better now? If not, get off your butt and make that happen. You can beat your best score or longest exercise streak. The game of comparing yourself to others, however, is one you can never win.

Via: everyday i’m workin’ it.