text:
Strawberry Banks () is a  biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1993.

This is a Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserve. The banks are thought to have once been used to grow strawberries, hence the name, and be the crash site of a Second World War German bomber. Strawberry Banks adjoins the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Three Groves Wood nature reserve and lies on the west-facing slopes of a small valley in the Cotswolds between the villages of France Lynch and Oakridge. The site is roughly 5 km (3 miles) east of Stroud. Strawberry Banks and Three Groves Wood are part of a group of nature reserves in Stroud's Golden Valley.

The site supports a large population of the marsh fritillary butterfly, and it is also one of the few sites in Britain at which the oil beetle Meloe rugosus occurs.

Species
Further information is in the nature reserves handbook. This oolitic limestone grassland supports a variety of plants and animals.  These include the greater butterfly-orchid, bee orchid, common spotted orchid, wild columbine, common rock-rose, milkwort, kidney vetch, wild thyme, yellow rattle and devil's bit scabious during May and June.  Green-winged orchid, cowslip, early purple orchid, wood anemone, hairy violet and bluebell can be seen early in the year.  In late summer pyramidal orchid, autumn gentian, clustered bellflower, Carline thistle, betony, yellow-wort, marjoram, zigzag clover, small scabious and Dyer's greenweed flower.

This site supports sainfoin, a fodder crop, which was sown many years ago on this and many other Cotswold grasslands.

There are areas of hawthorn, hazel, ash, pedunculate oak, holly and blackthorn scrub.  Toothwort, nettle-leaved bellflower, woodruff and sanicle may be found in these areas.  A stream, edged with trees and shrubs, runs along the bottom of the banks where meadowsweet, ramsons (wood garlic), brooklime and water figwort may be found.

The site is known for its invertebrate life, including notably marsh fritillary.  Other butterflies include small blue, green hairstreak, chalkhill blue, Duke of Burgundy, marbled white, silver-washed fritillary, grizzled skipper, comma and brown argus. Roman snails, heath snail and a rare oil beetle Meloe rugosus are present.

Conservation
The banks have been gently grazed by horses and ponies since 1969, which has helped to maintain the grassland. There is regular cutting of invasive scrub and some of the large beeches at the edge of Three Groves Wood have been felled to increase the area of grassland.  This is done to enhance the species rich sward.

Walks
There is a publication which details walks for recreation and observing wildlife in the Golden Valley.  This includes information on Strawberry Banks and four other nearby nature reserves being Three Groves Wood, Siccaridge Wood, Daneway Banks SSSI and Sapperton Valley.  The walk also includes other ancient woodland at Peyton's Grove, Oakridge village, Bakers Mill and Reservoir, Ashmeads Spring, and part of the route of the old Thames and Severn Canal.

Publications

 Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al., 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust'
 'The Golden Valley Walk', (undated), Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

References

SSSI source
 Natural England SSSI information on the citation
 Natural England SSSI information on the Strawberry Bank unit

External links
 Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
 Natural England (SSSI information)

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire
Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1993
Nature reserves in Gloucestershire
Cotswolds

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Morelia is a city located Center-West of Mexico, capital of the State of Michoacán de ocampo. It is placed in the corillera "Neovolcánica", between the Cuitzeo and Pátzcuaro lakes. Morelia is an important agriculture and livestock industry center. Industries: food, chemistry, wood, and textile. Colonial monuments: baroque cathedral. It was founded in 1540 under the name of Valladolid. It received the actual name in 1828 in honor to Generalísimo José María Morelos y Pavón (1765-1815), who was born there.
In 1537 a group of Spanish families, wanted to move down to another place, and left the ancient province capital, Pátzcuaro, and requested to the Spanish crown, the territory for their new city, and in 1541, Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoça (old Spanish for Mendoza), gave the permission for building the new capital, in the valley of Guayangareo. Valladolid was founded in 1541, and Emperor Chearles I of Spain, V of Germany, granted the arms to the city and the kingdom.
The colonial flag with the arms in the center was created for the province. It was used until the fall [March 19, 1823] of Iturbide [as Michoacán flag], and forbidden (by the republicans) because of its "Hispanic" colors.
It became to be used once more but as symbolic of the city [Morelia] about its 450th anniversary (1991) of its foundation. The flag is currently hoisted in the city's square and other several public buildings.
For popular usage, the Morelia flag is plain red over yellow, without no arms.
This is a modern version of the coat of arms granted to the city of Valladolid de Michoacán about 1541 by Charles I of Spain and V of Germany.
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, February 19, 2001.


During our manufacturing process, we do not use any solvents, detergents or any other harmful, toxic or volatile chemicals. We operate on electrical power only and do not discharge any gases or smoke into the atmosphere.
Our materials are composed of recycled material in varying proportions depending on available shipments and deliveries from our suppliers. Our main suppliers are located within close proximity, enabling us to minimise on transportation.
We work in a closed loop so that we do not produce any unprocessed waste. Our company has always arranged selective sorting of its waste and recovery through recycling. We have several containers into which we sort and dispose of manufacturing waste (offcuts, material used for calibration, production failures, etc) as well as paper, cardboard and wood from our pallets. We sort according to different materials for optimum processing. Our waste is collected on-site by a specialist company that processes and recycles it as raw materials.
We are listed by sustainable packaging organisation Eco-Emballages . In 2011, we made a number of improvements to our buildings and production methods an and all of our staff have received awareness training on eco-design, gaining us ISO 14001 Approval.
Polyethylene is an environmentally friendly recyclable plastic material : It is cleanly manufactured, produces little waste and does not give off any harmful substances. It belongs to the family of recyclable thermoplastics, which are 100% reclaimable and whose processing requires very little energy.
- It is a fully recyclable product. Plastic bags are sorted and may be recovered (the Auchan scheme) and recycled.
Firstly, plastic has a high thermal capacity, comparable or even higher than traditional energy sources. Plastic therefore provides improved combustion and leaves less unburned material behind in the furnace. In total, combustion of plastic in the 80 household waste incineration plants fitted with a heat recovery system is reported to provide an annual saving of around 540,000 equivalent tonnes of petroleum. Plastic can also be used as a fuel in industrial boilers (Solparil in Arras, nothern France, who use their manufacturing waste to create steam for manufacturing packing films) or in cement manufacture (the waste used is industrial waste).
Secondly, incineration is a simple solution for the large volume of packing material that is too spoilt or too small to be recovered (bags, yoghurt pots, etc.).
And finally, incineration of plastics does not cause any specific issue in terms of hazards. While plastic gives off carbon dioxide and water vapour, as with other waste, it contains very little fluorine and no sulphur. And so, according to French plastics manufacturing association SPMP, were we to remove plastics from the household waste incinerated, this would lead to the paradoxical situation where combustion would give off more pollutants than without the plastics. There remains the issue of chlorine, which is not always examined in an unbiased manner, and therefore, not always considered with sufficient care. Plastic does not contain chlorine. With the exception of one polymer: PVC. Combustion of plastic does not therefore give off any harmful or toxic gases.
Recyclable plastic waste such as films, bags and other packaging can be collected. Once sorted and washed, it is melted to make a new paste which will be further transformed into pellets which will be fed back into the extrusion or injection cycle, producing new products. Very often, the recycled or "regenerated" material is used by dustbin liner manufacturers, but manufacturers also work with materials combining virgin and recycled pellets. Nowadays, a number of films contain a percentage of recycled product, with this proportion sometimes as high as 30%. Schemes to recover all forms of plastic films from waste-generating companies are coming on line and organising local collections for recycling purposes. The famous Bouchons d''Amour scheme endorsed by Jean-Marie Bigard collects plastic bottle stoppers that are melted and the paste thereby collected is used to manufacture new products such as plastic pallets. Ethique Environnement collects recyclable plastic waste (stretch-wrap and shrink-wrap, plastic waste, waste packaging, etc.).
This is a polyethylene material combined with an additive comprising a mixture of prodegradant substances, charge stabilisers, enabling polyethylene to be transformed into a degradable material. This material breaks down of its own accord within 3 months under the effect of light, oxygen and heat and totally degrades within 2-3 years. Its degradation process produces water, CO2 and biomass only, without any substances harmful to soil, plant growth or animal life.
These are plant-based materials, primarily based on potato or corn flour. The material degrades completely through assimilation by bacteria. To date, this material is extremely expensive (3-5 times the price of PE), and degradation times are slow.
Out of a concern for the environment that we take deeply to heart, Harry-Plast markets \"sustainable development\" carrier bags, designed to be re-used a number of times. As a company striving for innovation on this key issue of preserving our environment, we regularly design and develop products using new materials and procedures enabling them to be re-used and thus minimising the consumption of raw materials.
Polyethylene plastic bags have been around for 35 years. They are light, waterproof, reusable, readily combustible and non-pollutant from a chemical point of view. The polyethylene-based shopping bag has no harmful effects on either the soil or the water table. The only gases given off during combustion are water vapour and carbon dioxide. It is very durable and, to date, has not found any substitute. The criticism that it receives is engendered by a lack of civic duty on the part of some consumers, who leave it lying around to litter the environment. It is then the victim of its light weight, which means it can easily fly away.
Burning plastic is still poorly understood by the general public. While polyethylene combustion produces only carbon dioxide and water, just as with any waste, it never produces dioxins. Moreover, burning shopping bags in waste incineration plants provides a saving of 540,000 equivalent tonnes of petroleum (source: SPMP) every year.


text:
La Pedrera de la Colònia és una antiga explotació d'extracció de pedra per a la construcció del terme municipal de Monistrol de Calders, al Moianès.

Actualment està del tot abandonada. Està situada al costat nord-est de la Colònia, i també al costat de la carretera B-124, a ran de la pista asfaltada que mena a la Païssa.

Bibliografia

 ERILL I PINYOT, Gustau, GUAL I PURTÍ, Jordi (fotografies) i MANENT I ORISTRELL, Llibert (cartografia). Monistrol de Calders: El poble dels pagesos enginyers. Moià-Monistrol de Calders: Gràfiques Ister. Ajuntament de Monistrol de Calders, 2006. (Col·lecció Pedra i aigua, 1). DL. B-54.339/2006.

Colònia


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Re: highlighted portion of the mission statement below, is EC expecting the chair of the group to have f2f meetings with regulators globally to share information and develop relationships? Are you thinking a couple of regulators such as FCC and EU/ETSI, or a more comprehensive list? Or, are you expecting e-mail communication with regulators?


I recently upgraded to IE 11.0 and for some reason quoting posts no longer works for me even though I have made no changes to the security (or any other for that matter) settings of Internet Explorer. Any ideas?
Oops I made a mistake in the Thread title... any way to edit that?
Not sure what it could be. We did have some discussion about quotes when the forum-software had a major version upgrade a while ago. The forum-software site has a similar report. Invision had a similar issue with IE9 and IE10, which they say they have fixed; so, perhaps they have to do something again for IE11. It's the CKEditor that they use for WYSIWYG editing.
Sorry about this. According to this thread, the folks who develop the software we use for the forum, say it is an issue with CKEditor, which is developed by someone else. However, the good news is that the CKEditor folk now say they're compatible with IE11, so the forum software will likely incorporate that into the next release.


text:
The virtual CEEGC is taking place on 22 September in a virtual layout.
The team at Hipther Agency is excited to announce the final agenda of one of the most important conferences in the Central and Eastern European region, the CEEGC.
The yearly Central and Eastern European Gaming Conference was launched in 2016 and is the crown event for the gambling industry professionals that are looking to dive into quality discussions about the CEE, CIS, and Balkans.
Register here for free | View the agenda
The focus in 2021 is on industry updates from Romania, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and the final agenda looks the following way:
22 SEPTEMBER 2021 – All times CEST (Central European Summer Time)
– 9:30 – 10:15 – INDUSTRY UPDATE: ROMANIA
Moderated by Andrius Gabnys – Founding Attorney at Gabnys.Gabniene
Nicola Longmuir – Chief Commercial Officer at Push Gaming
Cosmina Simion – Managing Partner at Simion & Baciu
Dan Iliovici – Vice President at Rombet
– 10:15 – 11:30 – INDUSTRY UPDATE: CENTRAL EUROPE
Dr. Robert Skalina – Senior Advisor at WH Partners
Helembai Gabor – Senior Associate at Bird & Bird Budapest
Dr. Jan Rehola – Director at IFGR and Partner at PS Legal
Aleksej Mišković – Senior Partner at Law Firm Glinska & Mišković Ltd.
Jaka Repansek – Media and TECH Law Expert
Piotr Dynowski LL. M. – Partner/Attorney at Law/Head of IP/Media/Tech&Comms Practice at Bird & Bird Poland
– 11:30 – 12:30 – CEE AND CIS AS THE MOST IMPORTANT HUBS FOR ESPORTS
Moderated by Lyubomira Lazarova – Chief Marketing Officer at UltraPlay
Anton Janér – Founder & CTO at Abios
Vlastimil Venclik – Founder and CEO of Oddin.gg
Peter Ivanov – Head of Trading at UltraPlay
Alexandr Iaroshenko – CEO at Betbazar
– 12:30 – 13:15 – INDUSTRY UPDATE: D-A-CH
Moderated by Dr. Simon Planzer – Partner at PLANZER LAW
Dr. Christian Rapani – Attorney at Law at Dr. Christian Rapani
Dr. Holger Jakob – Senior Lawyer at MELCHERS LAW
– 13:15 – 14:00 – INDUSTRY UPDATE: BALKANS
Moderated by Joe Ewens – Managing Editor of Vixio
Lazar Miuchin – VP of Strategic Partnerships at NSoft
Luka Popović – Partner at BDK Advokati
– 14:00 – 15:00 – INDUSTRY UPDATE: CIS
Tamar Jikia – Senior Associate at MG Law Office
Araksi Sargsyan – Head Of Business Development at DS Virtual Gaming
Ilya Machavariani – CEO and Senior Partner at 4H Agency
If you haven't already registered, make sure to register here for free.
The conference is sponsored by UltraPlay, Nordic Gambling, and PLANZER LAW.
UltraPlay is a multi-awarded betting provider, founded in 2010, offering a turn-key iGaming platform to online operators worldwide. The company focuses on sports and eSports betting, live betting, white-label, online casino, and blockchain technology.
Assembled by a team of iGaming professionals with vast experience in betting product development, operations, eSports, and marketing, UltraPlay is a trusted partner for delivering superior sports betting software and odds products to its customers.
Learn more about the company here: www.ultraplay.co
Nordic Gambling is the only legal firm in the Nordic countries that specializes in gambling-related law such as licensing, compliance advice, and public affairs.
They have gained extensive experience in the industry from working with operators, suppliers, service providers, and government regulators. Their team has been closely involved in the development of the law and regulation in a number of European jurisdictions, including Denmark and Sweden.
The partners of Nordic Gambling are recognized among the leading legal experts in the gambling industry and are qualified to assist you with whichever legal issue you may encounter.
The team at Nordic Gambling is also very pleased to announce that they have contributed a section on Sweden, first published in the latest version of the International Comparative Legal Guide to Gambling 2020. You can read that chapter here.
Visit https://www.nordicgambling.com/ for more details.
PLANZER LAW is a law firm specializing in gaming & entertainment and technology & online businesses. Its team notably provides strategic, regulatory and legal advice on all matters relating to EU/EEA and Swiss gaming regulation. PLANZER LAW enables and facilitates business development and compliance programs. Clients profit from an unrivaled global network and highly specialized expertise.
Dr. Simon Planzer, founding partner of PLANZER LAW has been recognized by the leading ranking by Chambers & Partners as a global gaming law expert. He has been endorsed by interviewees as "absolutely excellent" and "the top Swiss lawyer" for gaming.
For more details visit https://www.planzer-law.ch/en/
Related Topics:CEEGCCEEGC 201Nordic GamblingPLANZER LAWUltraPlay
Betbazar rides record growth with Stanislav Mykhailov appointment
HIGHLIGHT GAMES ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH SKS365
Prague Gaming Summit, MARE BALTICUM and CEEGC are set to return with new format in 2022
Once again UltraPlay is shortlisted for the SBC Awards
UltraPlay returned to SiGMA Malta 2021
UltraPlay returns to live events at SiGMA
UltraPlay won its second IGA Esports Betting Software of the Year Award
RB Leipzig and 888sport – one of the world's leading sports betting providers – have agreed a partnership which will last until at least 2023 and the partnership will begin at the Bundesliga home match against FSV Mainz 05. 888sport has become an Official Partner of the Red Bulls.
Alongside significant TV-relevant advertising presence (such as Cam Carpets next to the goals, LED-board animations), 888sports will primarily be present on our digital channels. As well as the branding at the stadium, 888sport will become the presenter of the RBL predictor game, which gives fans a chance to win special prizes such as signed shirts, VIP tickets and season tickets for next season over the course of the campaign.
This will be 888sport's first involvement in the Bundesliga, which makes it crucial that the partnership is designed in a way which fits both parties' brands. The positioning of the multiple award-winning sports betting provider is one which is based on a readiness to innovate and the resulting reputation as a pioneer in the technology sector. 888sport wants to expand further in the German market and its motto "Safer. Better. Together" demonstrates its commitment to safe and responsible sports betting.
Matthias Reichwald, Chief Commercial Officer of RB Leipzig:
"As in the rest of football, we are always looking to strengthen in the area of partnerships, especially those who fit our philosophy and orientation. We have found one of these in 888sport and we're proud that 888sport sees us as a suitable partner for their first entry into the Bundesliga.
888sport is an established brand who would like to grow further on a national and international level, which exactly corresponds to our vision, and now we can take on this challenge together."
Kieran Spellman, Vice President Head of 888sport:
"We are proud to announce this long-term partnership with RB Leipzig, one of the most ambitious football clubs in Europe, and become their official partner. The team has developed at a rapid pace and shown how you can climb to the very top of Europe playing attractive, offensive football, having already come second in the Bundesliga and reaching the Champions League round of 16 last season.
We can't wait to support the club with their future development and do our part to help RB Leipzig continue to establish themselves as one of the top three teams in Germany. This comes alongside the regulation and successful licensing for 888sport in the German online sports betting market. This partnership is a signal of 888sport's long-term commitment to Germany."
Pedro Barreda, Director International Marketing & Head of Sponsorships of 888sport:
"We're looking forward to working with RB Leipzig and to being part of their journey for at least the next one and a half years. 888 are a world leader in their field, and RB Leipzig are one of the top clubs in European football, so this partnership is a perfect fit and will strongly support us with our ambitious plans for the newly-regulated German sports betting market."
SYNOT Games has entered the Polish iGaming market through a new partnership with Totalizator Sportowy, the owner of the only legal online casino in Poland, Total Casino.
SYNOT Games is debuting its top-performing slots like Book of Secrets, Fruit Awards, Hunter's Spirit, and newest releases such as Respin Joker 81 or Buffalo Hunt for Polish players through the national operator's casino network, Total Casino.
"Partnering with Totalizator Sportowy opens up a wholly new market for us. It's our first entry into the Polish market, so healthy jitters are rightfully present. But we trust in the quality of our games; even though expectations are high, we know Polish players will not disappoint," Ivan Kodaj, CEO at SYNOT Games, said.
"We are still developing our gaming offer and we want to entertain our players with the best experience possible. SYNOT Games' portfolio has generated interest among our players and I am sure that the popularity of this provider's games is going to continue," Maciej Kasprzak, Online Gaming Department Director at Totalizator Sportowy, said.
Evolution today announced that it has gone live with three dedicated, branded live casino tables for win2day, the online gaming platform of Österreichische Lotterien Gesellschaft m.b.H (Austrian Lotteries), holders of the exclusive licence to run electronic lotteries in Austria
The win2day-branded live dealer environment, consisting of a Roulette and two Blackjack tables, is the latest development in a long-standing collaboration between Evolution and win2day. Evolution has for many years been Austrian Lotteries' sole live casino supplier. Under this agreement it streams a range of Evolution-powered live games – such as Lightning Roulette, Immersive Roulette and Infinite Blackjack – for win2day players to enjoy on desktop, tablet and smartphone.
In addition, Evolution brands NetEnt and Red Tiger also provide some of their biggest online slots games to win2day, including Starburst, Fruit Shop Megaways and Twin Spin Megaways from NetEnt and Gonzo's Quest™ Megaways™, Piggy Riches™ Megaways™ and Mystery Reels Megaways™ from Red Tiger.
Patrick Kittl, Product Manager Casino Games/win2day at Austrian Lotteries, said: "At Austrian Lotteries our philosophy is to act responsibly, to always look to introduce innovation to better entertain our players, and to work in partnership. In Evolution we have a partner that helps us to fulfil all of these commitments through their world-class portfolio of products. We are very excited to be extending our live casino offering with these new tables, developed and branded specifically for win2day players."
James Jones, Head of Business Development at Evolution, commented: "win2day offers a fantastic range of classic lottery games, casino games, bingo games and sports betting opportunities on a single website. We are proud to have worked closely with win2day to extend choice still further. The new dedicated tables provide win2day with exceptional flexibility in how their brand is presented online and how they engage with their players."
NewCasinos.com Announces the NC Awards 2021 Winners

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
THE AFFRONT LINE
Inside the angry Muslim protests over lessons about LGBT relationships in Birmingham primary schools as teachers face abuse
Angry demos over lessons about LGBT relationships have spread from Parkfield Community School to Anderton Park School in Birmingham
From Oliver Harvey
Chief Feature Writer
30 Mar 2019, 1:36
Updated: 30 Mar 2019, 1:39
IT'S home time, and wide-eyed children streaming through the primary school gates are met by a wall of noise from placard-holding protesters.
As two police officers look on, demo orchestrator Shakeel Afsar bellows into his megaphone: "Our children!" A throng of around 50 Muslim demonstrators, some in black niqabs, chant back: "Our choice."
Parents and children protest against LGBT lessons outside the Anderton Park School in BirminghamCredit: Caters News Agency
One home-made banner reads: "Say no to the sexualisation of children." Another, scrawled in black marker pen, says: "Let kids be kids."
For the past two weeks, protesters have gathered at Birmingham's Anderton Park Primary School's gates demanding an end to LGBT lessons for children as young as four.
Ringleader Mr Afsar, 31, whose niece and nephew attend the school, told The Sun: "Parents feel the school is forcing a different moral way of thinking on the children."
A tinderbox cause for some religious communities, opposition to the lessons in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues, has spread through WhatsApp and social media and seen parents raising concerns in Manchester, Croydon, Oldham, Blackburn and Bradford.
'PARENTS HAVE BEEN TOLD THEY WILL GO TO HELL'
Nor is the issue going away. On Wednesday this week, MPs voted by 538 in favour and just 21 against to make relationships and sex education (RSE) compulsory in English schools from September next year. The curriculum guidance, updated for the first time in nearly 20 years, encourages schools to teach about different families, including ones with same-sex parents.
Protests are so heated — with children leaving school in tears and non-protesting parents abused — that the headteacher has pleaded with Government ministers to intervene.
School staff say some parents not joining the demos have been called "bitch" or been told are "not a proper Muslim". Local Labour councillor Kerry Jenkins tweeted that parents were being "harassed" and told they will "go to hell".
Protest kingpin Shakeel Afsar bellows into his megaphone: 'Our children!'Credit: The Sun
Around 50 Muslim demonstrators, some in black niqabs, chant back: 'Our choice'Credit: The Sun
Andrew Moffat MBE, assistant headteacher at Parkfield Community School, created the award-winning No Outsiders programmeCredit: BPM Media
A leaflet handed out this week by protesters calling themselves the Anderton Park Parents' Community Group said: "We do NOT believe in homosexuality. Parents do NOT want their children's belief changed."
Headteacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson told The Sun: "In the past couple of weeks people have been sworn at. It's really horrible, intimidating. We've had very upset children and parents."
Gay Muslim campaigner Khakhan Qureshi, 49, said a visit to an Anderton protest this week had left him "scared".
The founder of Birmingham South Asians LGBT tweeted: "It's not nice to hear children encouraged, nay indoctrinated, against homosexuals."
But protest kingpin Mr Afsar, who is banned from the school premises, denied protests had been abusive or were homophobic. Other protesters insist same-sex lessons for four-year-olds are wrong. Mum Khadija Kubra, who has a four-year-old girl, said: "Our kids are too young for this." Mum of an eight-year-old, Shida Rashid, in her 30s, said: "We're not against LGBT people. They're humans too."
But single mum Imarah Forrester, 23, said her tearful five-year-old son was "scared" by the protests. The sales assistant added of the lessons: "They're not teaching the kids anything sexual. They teach them to love and appreciate everyone.
"I went to an all-girls school where there was bullying of anyone they thought might be gay. Here they're just teaching that some kids have same-sex parents, so there is no anger or hatred. I'm glad my son is being taught this."
Yet some children streaming out of the school at final bell join their parents chanting in the demo.
Muslim journalist Dilly Hussain believes 'homosexuality is a sin' but rejects Piers Morgan's suggestion that anger over LGBT school lessons is 'driven by homophobia'
CONTROVERSY SPLITTING SCHOOLS
Looking on, councillor Jenkins said: "I find it disappointing that children are pulled into this."
Protests spread from Parkfield Primary School, in the Alum Rock area of Birmingham, where some parents were angry over teaching of the No Outsiders programme.
Award-winning No Outsiders — devised by teacher Andrew Moffat MBE — uses picture books to foster tolerance regardless of race, age, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation. Books include And Tango Makes Three, a tale of two male penguins who rear a chick, which helps children understand there are different sorts of families.
Parkfield, and five other Birmingham schools, have temporarily suspended teaching of No Outsiders to allow discussions with parents.
A leading figure of the Parkfield demos, Amir Ahmed, was at an Anderton protest this week. The IT consultant, 54, said parents were ready to pull children out of class. He added: "As Muslims, most of the community believe it's not permissible to have a homosexual relationship. Why should schools be teaching something different?"
Anderton, in Moseley, has 680 pupils, 88 per cent of whom are Muslim. It is rated good by Ofsted.
'MUSLIM TEACHERS FEAR IT WILL ADD TO ISLAMOPHOBIA'
In her office, away from the protest, head Ms Hewitt-Clarkson, 48, said: "We must respect people's religious beliefs but they don't override British law."
She added that her school does not use the No Outsiders programme or have separate classes on same-sex relationships. She said: "We may talk about this for two or three minutes a week. If you equate that to how many hours we're in school, 32 a week, about one per cent of the time we say, 'Some people might have two dads'. Some of her Muslim teachers now fear repercussions from the protests. She said: "Staff — and over half are Muslim — worry that it adds to Islamophobia."
'As Muslims, most of the community believe it's not permissible to have a homosexual relationship', Amir Ahmed saidCredit: Caters News Agency
Primary school stops gay teacher's LGBT lessons after 300 Muslim parents protest
Ms Hewitt-Clarkson has met with protesters and posted a video about the lessons on the school website. But she said: "Mr Afsar is banned from the school site. He and his team bully and intimidate. The first time I met him, he described himself as a general in an army ready for battle." Mr Afsar denies using that phrase — or bullying.
Ms Hewitt-Clarkson has pleaded with Education Secretary Damian Hinds to intervene.
But this week he appeared to dodge the question, seemingly for fear of angering either camp, while leaving it to ex-Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw to back teachers.
Mr Hinds was asked on a BBC Question Time panel: "Is it morally right that five-year-old children learn about LGBT issues in school?" Instead of directly answering, he said he would trust teachers to make right decisions. When the BBC1 show's Twitter account posted the question, it caused fury. BBC presenter Sue Perkins tweeted that it harked back to the dark days of homophobic legislation, posting: "Are we really here again, nearly two decades after Section 28 was repealed?"
Comedian Joe Lycett tweeted: "Let me know what you guys decide so I can pack bags for jail."
In contrast to Mr Hinds, Mr Wilshaw defended the Birmingham schools. He said "Conservative religious people" were free to their views but "must understand they live in a pluralistic society that believes people should be treated fairly and equally".
The ex-headteacher added: "There have been problems in Birmingham for a long time and it's important there is political backing for this issue, from the local authority, local MPs and the Department of Education, to make clear they will not tolerate this sort of behaviour."
Under new legislation coming into force next year parents WILL be able to withdraw primary school pupils from any sex education. But the relationships education that has angered some parents at Anderton Park Primary will be compulsory.
Parents will be able to take kids out of sex education at secondary school until age 15. A pupil can then opt into lessons regardless of parents' views.
most read in uk news
RAPE HELL
Boy, 18, who appeared on Supernanny as an unruly toddler raped and choked woman
MEG-A BLOW
Meghan Markle loses NINTH member of staff who lead Sussex Royal foundation
FACE OF DEFIANCE
Inspirational woman who wrote 'f*** cancer' on her face dies aged 28
DOOR-CRUSH HORROR
Contractor crushed to death in doors of armoured vehicle at Army base
A Department for Education spokesman said: "No school or teacher should face undue pressure from outside the school community. The Department will do all it can to support headteachers to do their jobs. We want children to know there are many types of relationships, which is why we are making relationships education compulsory."
Meanwhile, as protesters pack up their placards for another day, Ms Hewitt-Clarkson vows to continue same-sex lessons.
She said: "If we stop, it will mean some children will be well prepared for life in modern Britain and some won't — and that's not acceptable."
Children holding up a home-made banner outside the Anderton Park School in BirminghamCredit: Caters News Agency
Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson, Headteacher of Anderton Park School in BirminghamCredit: Caters News Agency
Local Labour councillor Kerry Jenkins tweeted that parents not joining the demos were being told they will 'go to hell'Credit: The Sun
Gay Muslim campaigner Khakhan Qureshi said a visit to an Anderton protest had left him 'scared'Credit: Collect
Muslim parents' protests spread from Parkfield Primary School, in the Alum Rock area of BirminghamCredit: BPM Media
Some Parkfield Community School parents were angry over teaching of the No Outsiders programmeCredit: Caters News Agency
LGBT rights and issues


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Totobates discifer är en kvalsterart som beskrevs av Hammer 1961. Totobates discifer ingår i släktet Totobates och familjen Liebstadiidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

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Blastrac N.A. is pleased to announce that Josh Jones has been promoted to Transportation Market Manager. Josh has been with Blastrac for eight years. Josh's first position at Blastrac's Oklahoma location was as an Assembler then moved into the Sales Service Technician position. For the past seven years Josh's position has been as Area Sales Manager/Central Region. With the background experience and energy Josh possesses there will be more emphasis on the transportation sector for Blastrac. Please join us in congratulating Josh in this new position.


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The Fountain of Youth, Part Four - John McCallum
Taken From This Issue (April 1969)
Parts One, Two, and Three are here:
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-fountain-of-youth-part-one-john.html
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-fountain-of-youth-part-two-john.html
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-fountain-of-youth-part-three-john.html
If you've been following this rejuvenation thing -- and if you're over 40 you should be -- you'll be pretty well informed on the first three of the four segments we're considering. The four segments, you'll remember, are:
1) nutrition,
2) weight training,
3) vigorous social activities, and
4) running.
In our discussion of nutrition, we stressed the elimination of all junky foods from your diet. That means no cakes, cookies, candies, steroids (sp. junkie), and so on. No soft drinks. No processed grains. No junk, period. You don't have to become a crackpot about it, but do become very, very health conscious.
Eat as few carbohydrates as possible. Your meals should be largely first class protein foods. Use supplements in generous amounts, but again, don't turn into a crackpot or supplement addict.
Don't skimp on your diet. There's really not much point in following the program at all unless you eat appropriately. If you persist in loading your gut with sugary garbage, then you're wasting your time and it's as simple as that.
I've got a friend named Larry Robson. He asked me to work out a nutrition program for his grandfather. The old man, he said, was eating himself into an early grave.
I went over and spoke to the old fellow. He was sixty years old, with a head like a block of concrete and as polite as a charging rhinoceros. I suggested some light protein food would make a good basis for his breakfast.
"Mush," he snarled. "Eat it every morning. Been eating it for sixty years."
"That's nice," I said. "But certainly . . ."
"With sugar," he snapped.
"Yes," I said. "I know. However, under the . . ."
"Sticks to your ribs," he added.
"I'm sure it does, Mr. Robson," I said. "But you really . . ."
He got up and brushed past me. "Scuse me, sonny," he said. "Star Trek's on. Never miss it."
I got Larry to one side and wrote out a list of low calorie protein foods.
"Here," I said. "See if you can wean your grandfather off the mush and on to some of these."
I went over a few days later. The old man was eating a big slab of white bread.
"What's that?" I asked him.
"Vitamin enriched," he said. "Yessir. Says so right on the label."
I pointed to the bread. "What's that you got on it?"
"Strawberry jam," he said" Great for energy."
I spoke to Larry.
"I guess it's no use," he said. "You can't help him."
"I'll help him," I said. "I'll be a pallbearer when they bury the old codger."
We discussed weight training as the second segment of your rejuvenation program. The important thing, you'll remember, is working the large muscle groups vigorously in PHA style. Cardiovascular stimulation is the key to the whole thing. You've got to train your heart and lungs as religiously as a physique contestant trains his biceps.
Don't be concerned with pumping or cramping or any of the other tricks the muscle boys use. Your primary goal is a strong, enduring body and perfect health. You'll improve your appearance, too, but make it a secondary thing.
The third segment we discussed was vigorous social activities. Get very interested in such things as hiking, tennis, skiing, swimming, and so on. One of the best social activities, from a health standpoint, is vigorous "country dancing." That means square dances, polka, and so forth. Find something you like and enjoy it regularly.
Just before we get into the final segment, there's three other items you should note if you're really serious about regaining and retaining your youth.
1) Mental Stimulation. Don't let yourself stagnate mentally. Expand your intellectual horizons. Read new books. Read old books. Start new projects. Join discussion groups (this was, of course, pre-internet). Nothing will age you as fast as a closed mind.
I've got an Uncle who's a weight lifter. He follows all the rules we've been talking about and he's an absolute marvel. A little while ago he joined a night school class in marine biology. I talked to the instructor a short time later and asked him how my uncle was making out.
"Oh, fine," he said. "He's won the whole class around to his viewpoint."
"Did he?" I said. "That's great. I didn't realize old Harry knew so much about the world under water."
The instructor pulled his lip back in a snarl. "You gotta be kidding," he said. "The old bugger wouldn't know a soft shelled crab from a sea serpent. He's just so christly bit nobody'll argue with him."
2) Sleep. Don't try to get by without enough sleep. You don't have to sleep like a groundhog, but sleep enough so that you feel peppy during the time you're awake. Dragging yourself around in a sleep-starved state is one of the quickest ways to blow the whole thing.
3) Body Weight. Keep your weight down. Don't accumulate fat. Your ideal bodyweight is the least you can weigh without losing muscle tissue. Remember that you life line is in inverse ratio to your waist line.
Now we can discuss running, the final, and probably the most important segment of your rejuvenation program. Running, more than any other single thing, will guarantee you a long, healthy, youthful life.
My Uncle Harry does a lot of running. He's always concerned about doing everything right, though, so he phoned me. We agreed to meet at the track the next day and run together.
I got there first and stripped down to my track suit. I was walking around on the grass when I heard him wheel into the park and pull up in front of the oval. Uncle Harry drives a lavender colored Buick with a pair of Smitty mufflers and flowers painted on the doors. Half the traffic cops in town know it by sight.
He came bounding into the oval and on to the track. Three girls walked in behind him and lined up by the bleachers. All three were blond, mini-skirted, and in their late teens.
"What's with the bubblegummers?" I asked him.
"Friends of mine," he said.
He pranced out onto the grass and started bouncing around. "Warming up," he said. He had on soft blue track shoes, a pair of white jogging shorts, and a bright purple turtle neck with a gold chain and medallion. He leaped through the air and landed on one foot with his arms outstretched. There was a squeal of delight from the girls. "What do you think?" he said. "Do I look like an Olympic star?"
"You look more like Anna Pavlova," I said. "What's with the bouncing? We're supposed to be doing a run, not Swan Lake."
He leaped over to the girls and sat them down in front of me. They looked like triplets. He leaned down and whispered something and they all giggled.
"C'mon, Uncle Harry," I said. "Let's get going. I've gotta get back to work."
Uncle Harry fiddled around some more and then, finally, we started down the track. He turned his head and waved back to the girls. They came to their feet like the bench was hot and waved little lacy handkerchiefs.
"For goodness sake," I said. Do they think you're going to Vietnam or something? We'll be around again in about a minute."
"Don't shout," he said. "They'll think they're being scorned out."
We jogged a lap and passed the girls again. Uncle Harry raised a hand like he was giving the Papal blessing.
"What are you doing?" I said. "Waving to them or drying your nail polish?"
We jogged around once more. Uncle Harry nodded to the girls as we passed. They gave hims a burst of applause and I gritted my teeth.
I was starting to sweat a bit. We were both running nice and easy and I could tell it was going to be a good run.
"This is the greatest, isn't it?" Uncle Harry said.
"It really is," I said. This'll do more for your health than all the pills and medicines since the beginning of time. If everybody'll start a program of progressive running, we could close up half the hospitals in the country."
Running progression, here:
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/09/running-john-mccallum.html
"Running and sensible weight training make a miraculous combination," I said. "You can convert middle aged men into youngsters with them."
"What do you figure's the best distance to run?" Uncle Harry asked.
"Five miles," I said. "Anything less isn't enough and anything more isn't really necessary. Anybody that starts a running program should plan on working up to five miles per run. It seems an impossible distance at first, but almost everybody can do it."
"What about speed?" he asked.
"A nice medium pace is best," I said. "You should try to knock off a mile every nine or ten minutes. That means your five mile run will take about 45-50 minutes. Anything slower than that is too slow."
"It's also a good idea," I said, "to open up on the last lap so that you finish out of breath."
"How many days a week?"
"At least four," I said. "That'll give you the best results."
We jogged around. I quit talking so I could concentrate on breathing. The laps fell off one by one.
"Last lap," I puffed.
Uncle Harry opened up. He crossed the line twenty feet in front of me and pulling away. We slowed up and walked a lap to cool off.
"Uncle Harry," I said. "You're amazing. How often do you run?"
"Almost every day," he said. "At least four times a week."
I shook my head. "I don't know why you come to me for advice," I said. "I should be coming to you."
We finished the lap and the girls came running up to meet Uncle Harry. They fluttered around him and smoothed his hair and dabbed his forehead with their hankies.
"Why don't you come over to my pad tonight?" he said to me. "The girls will be there."
"What's the occasion?"
"Nothing," he said. "Just a little party. Music. Cultured conversation. You know."
"Yeah," I said. "I know. I imagine it'll be a very healthful affair."
"Why sure. We may even do a little country dancing." He leered at the girls. "First, that is."
Two Questions: Press . . . Calf Training - Charles Coster
A "Thank You" to Liam Tweed!
The Best Crucifix Lifts of All Time:
http://usawa.com/best-crucifix-lifts-of-all-time/
Note: This is taken from a monthly column (1951) Charles Coster wrote for "Vigour" titled
Idle Thoughts.
Over a period of time I have had quite a number of inquiries on how to solve certain problems, the most frequent of which seems to be "How to develop the calves" and How to increase the press." I have always felt a little conscious of my own shortcomings when dealing with the Olympic inquiry. This was the sort of information I felt would be better dispensed by people like W.J. Hunt, Ernie Peppiatt, or Ron Walker -- they qualify.
William James Hunt
Find out more about this guy's grip feats!
https://www.davidgentle.com/ironindex/hunt.htm
Ernest James Peppiatt.
The one with the heaviest bell.
Ronald Walker, July 1937.
Finally, a photo showing just how handsome Walker was.
His lifting ones don't do him justice.
Nevertheless, it is possible to pick up some very useful information and practical experience when one is interested and observant and one Press schedule in particular stands out in my mind.
A certain 10 stone lifter, Alf Griffin of Hackney, who at one time held the British Press record with 198 pounds, found himself year after year 'stuck' at this figure. Suddenly, at a slightly heavier bodyweight, he blossomed out during club competitions with presses of 203-209-214 and, on one occasion 220 pounds.
As I refereed and passed 214 on one occasion, naturally I asked for details. He had discovered a 'new' pressing system it seemed, of unusual rigor, and there were plenty of muscular 'aches' attached. But the most important thing was IT GOT RESULTS and that was what mattered.
Seeing the Griffin was an unusually well-developed lifter of some years' standing and a Herculean hand-balancer to boot, I decided to make a few notes.
Herewith that Press Schedule:
Take a barbell loaded to only 60% of your limit Press. Assume a hand-grip 12 inches wider than the one normally used for competitive purposes . . . and perform 5 presses.
When the bar is overhead at the conclusion of the 5th press, 'rock' the bar so that the hands may be 'slid' inward to your normal width press grip and then, with no resp period perform another 5 presses - from behind the neck.
When the weight is once again overhead at the conclusion of the 10th press, 'rock' once again, and decrease the hand spacing until the thumbs are only about 9 inches apart. In this 'cramped' position -- and with no pause, lower, and perform 5 more presses from as low a position in front of the sternum as possible without bending back.
Take a short rest, and then repeat the same routine with the same weight. The lifter has now performed 30 presses.
After a further short resting space, repeat the performance for the third time, after which 45 presses will have been performed.
The weight of the bar must now be altered until it represents only 40-45% of the lifter's limit Press, and after a suitable resting period another 45 presses are performed in the same manner, in series of 15 repetitions, and from the three different positions and angles described.
I myself have experimented with this particular routine, and I can vouch for the fact that it is extremely tough going in spite of the insignificant nature of the poundages. Pressing muscles that had not ached for years became acutely painful at the first onset, and even when one has been acclimatized through use, the pressing muscles always felt thoroughly worked.
In my opinion the Griffin pressing schedule is the best system I have ever come across and I can completely recommend its adoption . . . with the usual warning -- don't expect miracles to happen after the first workout.
try executing a thousand presses in this manner, spread over three weeks or a month, before you form any conclusion. Rome wasn't built in a day, and it takes time for the shape of the physique to alter and for stronger tendons and ligaments to form.
Variety of execution can relieve the monotony of this type of pressing to a great extent, so don't forget that the order of procedure need not always be 'wide grip' -> 'behind neck' -> 'very close'. That order can be reversed, or one can commence with the 'behind neck' position and please oneself whether to finish with the 'wide' or 'very close' grip.
Personally speaking I found the exercise to be much more effective by variations of technique -- and therefore I used to vary as much as possible, remembering Ron Walker's maxim 'to keep the ache as long as possible'.
Finally, the chief point to remember for anyone trying this system:
Don't throw the bar overhead quickly. Don't let the bar 'fall' down. Press upwards slowly . . . and lower the weight to the shoulders slowly. The object of a schedule of this nature is to keep the entire pressing group under CONTINUOUS TENSION for as long as possible -- in order to promote maximum muscular growth.
Ronald Walker at one period of his W/L career used a pressing system very similar to this one, and I hope to mention details in the near future.
Now, to the calf development question.
Requests for information about the possibilities of calf development are common from body-builders and since various authorities have made generous remarks about my calves from one time to another, I suppose this is a section of body-building where I qualify.
The calves are frequently termed the most obstinate part of the body to develop, and so they are -- for some people.
My calves were 'normal' from the start . . . but that didn't prevent me from trying to improve on them, and many routines have been carried through at one time or another.
Years ago, I was about 19 at the time, I worked in a building where there happened to be a couple of half hundred weight iron blocks in the basement.
There were 143 steps from the basement to the top of the building, and such was my youthful enthusiasm in those days that whenever possible I would grip the 56-lb. block weights and walk to the top for the benefit of my calves -- using my toes as much as possible. After some practice I found it possible to ascend from the bottom to the top just by raising on my toes . . . and keeping my knees locked. This increased the severity of the exercise.
In those days I used to cycle to business, six miles, and back again at night, and I always made it a practice to cycle 'with my toes' as much as possible.
In this way thousands of repetitions were performed during the course of time -- and by the time I was 21 the tape measure showed a tight 16.5", sometimes more.
Practice nights at the Hackney W/L Club were three nights a week . . . and whenever a dead lift bar was loaded I frequently 'went up on my toes' for a few reps.
As well as contracting the calf to the fullest possible extent, I used frequently to 'stretch' my heel down to the ground with my toes and the ball of the foot placed on a couple of books.
Plenty of bulk repetition work of all kinds is the only solution for stubborn cases that lack calf development.
People have sometimes expressed surprise at learning my calves were only 16.5 inches . . . but the reason for their large appearance lies in the fact that my knee and ankle measurements are somewhat small.
The Fountain of Youth, Part Three - John McCallum
Taken From This Issue (February 1969)
If you've been following this rejuvenation thing, you should be pretty well up on the first two of the four segments we're considering. The four segments, you'll remember, are:
3) vigorous activity, and
We want to go on now and consider the next segment of the program -- vigorous social activity.
Some people get more social activity than others. Some get almost too much. My Uncle Harry is a good example. He phoned the other day and asked me to meet him for lunch. I got to the restaurant ahead of him. I was sipping a coffee when he walked in.
Uncle Harry is fifty-seven years old, but he looks thirty-five and he acts like eighteen. He started weight training about forty years ago. He figured he had a good thing going so he stayed with it. He bought a set of York weights way back when and he still uses them as faithfully as the day he got them.
He came through the door like gangbusters. He's about six feet tall, weighs two-ten and it's all muscle. He's got thick curly hair in a block cut, an eighteen inch neck,j and shoulders like Reg Park draped in a beautifully cut Nehru jacket. Every woman in the place sucked in her breath, and the cashier looked like she wanted to spring over the counter and molest him in the doorway.
He walked over humming "Black Day in July" and sat down. Three waitresses sprinted for the table.
"Uncle Harry," I said. "You're a constant source of amazement to me."
"That so?" he said. He turned and flashed a smile at the nearest waitress. She broke a sweat and dropped her pencil. "Just bring me some nice cold beer to start," he said.
Her mouth dropped open and I thought she was going to drool on his jacket.
"I'll have the same," I said.
She never even heard me.
Uncle Harry gave her my order. She looked at me like I was intruding.
Uncle Harry picked up the menu. "Well," he said. "What do you think? About two pounds of nice rare steak?"
"For you" I said, "I'd suggest about five pounds of Mexican laughing grass."
"Never use it," he said.
"You don't have to," I said. "You're turned on all the time, anyway."
The waitress flashed up to the table with two beers on a tray.
"Holy cow," I mustered. "She must know somebody at the brewery. Has the track coach heard about her?"
She plunked my beer down and some of it sloshed over the rim of the glass. She lowered Uncle Harry's in from of him like it was the Holy Grail.
He picked it up and sipped delicately. He turned to her and nodded approval. She took a deep, slow breath, lowered her eyelids, and darted her tongue across her lips.
"Uncle Harry," I said. "For goodness sake order something. I'm starting to feel like a peeping tom."
He picked up the menu and smiled at the waitress. "What would you recommend?" he said.
She leaned over and breathed on his ear. I thought she was going to bite it. Her voice dropped about three octaves. "The dinner steak," she whispered.
"Fine," he said. "We'll each have one, then." She stared into his eyes and her head weaved back and forth like a cobra getting ready to hit a rat.
"Rare," he added. She nodded approval and I began to think I'd come to the wrong restaurant.
She whispered in Uncle Harry's ear. He smiled pleasantly.
She turned and bumped her way to the kitchen like she was coming down the runway at the old Roxy theater. For a wild moment I thought I heard distant drums.
"What did he say?" I asked him.
He yawned. "Said she's through at eight o'clock."
I stared at him in awe "Uncle Harry," I said. "You gotta be the greatest. Why do you bother with a slob like me?"
He sipped his beer. "I like your ideas," he said. "I'd like to hear more about that rejuvenation thing."
I choked on a mouthful of beer. (that fit nicely!) "Rejuvenation?" I said. "You gotta be kidding. If you get rejuvenated any more they'd lynch you."
"I'm serious," he said. "I want to do everything right."
"Uncle Harry," I said, "you do everything right already. You always did. You eat right. You train righ. How young do you want to get?"
"What about social activities?" he said.
I stared at him for a while and finally he got embarrassed.
"You said it was important,"he muttered.
"Listen, Uncle Harry," I said. "The kind of social activity I'm talking about your already do. I mean, swimming, for example."
"I do a lot of swimming now," he said.
"I know you do. The trick with swimming, of course, is to swim. I don't mean laying on the beach, or floating around on an inner tube. I mean swimming hard and vigorously until you're too tired to swim anymore.
"Energetic swimming in cold water is one of the greatest stimulants for your cardiovascular system. Get in a good session every time you're at the beach.
"Tennis is another good activity," I said. "You don't have to be a star at the game. Just get out on the court and move around a lot."
"I like tennis," Uncle Harry said. "And handball, too."
"Handball's good," I said. "So's hiking, if you've got mountain country to do it in. Or skin diving Or skiing, if you don't use the tow lift. Practically any outdoor recreation that involves a lot of leg work. They're all good for you and help keep you young."
"I do all those things," he said.
The waitress brought our steaks. She fussed over Uncle Harry. She moved the salt and pepper closer to him. She brushed imaginary crumbs from the tablecloth. She did everything but run her fingers through his hair.
"Give her the cutlery," I said. "Maybe she'll cut your steak for you."
She gave me a cold look and flounced away.
"One of the best social activities," I said, "is dancing. Vigorous dancing."
Uncle Harry took a mouthful of steak. "I do a lot of dancing already."
"Listen," I said. "I've seen you dance and you oughta be ashamed of yourself."
He looked indignant.
"I don't mean shuffling around the snake pit with some broad young enough to be your granddaughter," I said. "I mean real live stuff. Polkas, square dancing, and do on.'
He looked at me like I was crazy. "Man," he said. "That bumpkin bit ain't really my bag, you know."
"I know," I said. "But it's great exercise. Lots of authorities recommend it."
"Name on," he said.
"Bob Hoffman often mentions the value of vigorous dancing."
He thought about it for a moment. "Course" he said, "Hoffman ain't really the swinger I am."
"Uncle Harry" I said. "Nobody's the swinger you are. But that type of dancing is still good for you."
He hacked away at his steak. "Where would I learn?"
"Take lessons," I said.
He dropped his fork. "Take dancing lessons?" he said "You're outta your tree."
"No, I'm not," I said. "You asked me and I told you. Vigorous dancing is a good social activity if you want to stay I Am Stuck On Band-Aids And Band-Aids Stuck On Me young, and if you don't know how to do it, then a few lessons is the best way to find out."
We finished our lunch. The waitress was nowhere in sight. Uncle Harry handed her a bill. Her eyes glazed over and she punched three buttons before she got the cash register open.
Uncle Harry gave her a big smile. Her nostrils dilated and she crouched a little. You couldn't tell if she was going to curtsy or leap over the counter. I opened the door and pushed Uncle Harry out.
"Well," he said. "Thanks for the advice."
"Thanks for the lunch" I said. "You don't need any advice."
"I'm going to give the country dancing thing a whirl," he said. "You really think it's good, eh?"
"I do," I said. "I really do."
"Great" he said. "I'll get started right away."
"Tonight?"
He peered through the restaurant window and then looked at his watch.
"Maybe tomorrow." he said.
The Fountain of Youth, Part Two - John McCallum
Taken From This Issue (December 1968)
The Fountain of Youth, Part Two
by John McCallum (1968)
My bachelor uncle came over the other night. His name is Harry. He was wearing a pair of turquoise cords, a light blue ascot, a shirt that looked suspiciously like gold lamb, with a set of Buddhist prayer beads hanging around his neck.
I shielded my eyes. "That's a nice outfit, Uncle Harry."
He flopped down into a chair and crossed his feet on the desk. He had on cowboy boots with curlicue engraving down the sides.
"And nice footwear, too," I added. "Who do you think you are? Matt Dillon?"
He flicked an imaginary piece of lint from his cords. "The trouble with you, my boy," he said, "is that you don't know a real swinger when you see one."
"You're right about that, Uncle Harry," I said. "I gotta admit you're a swinger. You started swinging the day you were born."
He yawned.
"The trouble is," I said, "that was fifty-nine years ago."
"Fifty-seven," he said. He looked as pleased as a cat. "Yessir. Fifty-seven last March and I feel like a two-year-old."
"A two-year-old what?" I said. "Horse or egg?"
He grinned at me. "Don't be snappy, son. You oughta be flattered."
"Flattered?" I said. "Why?"
"Because," he said, "I've come to you for advice. Free advice," he added."
"Advice about what?"
"About," he said, "the finest, kindest, most deserving individual I know."
I sat up. "Who?"
"Me," he said.
I looked at him for a moment. "Uncle Harry," I said, "you're nothing but a dirty old man and you know it."
He grinned. "But a swinger."
"Right," I said. "But a swinger."
He took his feet off the desk. "What about it then?"
"What about what?"
"The free advice."
I put my feet on the desk where his had been. "Uncle Harry," I said. "My vast store of information is at your disposal. What do you want to know?"
He looked a little embarrassed. "It's what you were saying about staying young. You know, the fountain of youth thing."
I gave him a close look. "Uncle Harry," I said. "Don't tell me you're finally becoming aware of your advancing years."
"Never mind what I'm aware of," he snapped. "You were talking about getting young and staying that way with the right kind of training. Remember?"
"Of course I remember," I said. "I'm not senile like some people I know."
He gave me a cold look. "Watch it, sonny," he said. "I'll cut off your allowance."
I swung my feet off the desk and sat up straight. "Okay, Uncle Harry," I said. "I'll tell you how to train so you can get young and stay that way."
"Wild," he said.
"But I think all the old dolls on the bourbon circuit oughta send me something in appreciation."
"They will, my boy. They will," he said. "I'll see to it."
"You still do a little lifting, don't you?"
"Oh, sure," he said. "A few presses and curls. You know."
"Yeah," I said. "I know. But training for rejuvenation involves a little more than that. Are you sure you want to?"
"Certainly," he said. "It's worth it. I'm looking forward to a long, active life devoted to charity and good works."
I looked him right in the eye but he kept a straight face. "All right, Uncle Harry," I said. "This is what you gotta do, then. Pay attention."
"The first thing to remember," I said, "is that your rejuvenation routine should do two things. It should give maximum stimulation to your cardiovascular system, and it should do it in as short a time as possible. Two and three hour workouts are okay for the kids peaking their biceps, but it's wasted time for you."
"You've got to compress your workout. No wasted moves. There's other segments to the program and you've gotta save time for them."
"Great," he said. "I'll spend the time wisely, too. Long walks through the park and all that."
"Uncle Harry," I said. "Who the heck do you think you're kidding? You'll spend it in the gin mill with your juice-head friends and you know it."
He put on an indignant look. "It's better than sleeping your life away."
"Sleeping?" I said. "You gotta be kidding. Half those guys are wiped out by ten-thirty, anyway."
He looked hurt.
"Never mind, Uncle Harry," I said. "Let's get on with it."
"Now," I said. "You won't be doing much on the smaller muscle groups. You don't need it anyway. There'll be no cramping. No pumping. No half movements. Nothing like that."
"Don't be concerned about getting cuts in our deltoids or your biceps a half inch bigger. Your goal should be the developing of a strong, enduring body, and absolutely vibrant health."
"You'll work on the large muscle groups. You'll use standard exercises, moderately heavy weights, and you'll do your workouts in PHA style."
"You should work out three times a week. No more; no less. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is ideal. That'll give you plenty of exercise with the weights and still leave time for the other segments of the program."
I scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to him. "There," I said. "Do this."
1) Press behind neck: 10 reps
2) Squats: 12 reps
3) Bench Press: 12 reps
4) Situps: 25 reps
5) Hyperextensions: 15 reps
6) Bentover rowing: 15 reps
Uncle Harry studied the paper. "That doesn't seem like very much."
"It'll be enough for now," I said. "If you do it properly."
"Do the behind the neck presses standing. Use a medium width grip. Clean the bar and do the first rep off your chest. Do the remainder behind your neck. Don't let the bar rest on your shoulders between reps. Rebound it right back up again.
"Keep your head up and your back as straight as possible during the squats. Take three big gulping breaths between each rep. Squat to parallel position, no lower.
"Use a shoulder width grip for the bench presses. Do them in strict style. No back arching, no footwork.
"Do the situps on an incline board and hold plates behind your head for added resistance. Don't let your back arch. Roll up and down down like a rug being rolled and unrolled.
"The hyperextensions are terrific for your lower back. Concentrate on doing them in perfect style. Round your back at the bottom and arch it high at the top. Use extra weights as soon as you can, but not so much that your style gets sloppy.
"Use a close grip for the rowing exercise and pull the bar to your lower abdomen. Arch your back and raise your head when the weight comes up. Round your back and lower your head when the bar goes down.
"You got all that?" I asked him.
"Sure," he said. "No problem. I know how to do all those exercises anyhow."
"That's right," I said. "Now, don't forget. You'll be doing the workout in PHA style.
"Do a set of exercise #1, then a set of exercise #2, then #3, and so on right through the group. Then do a second set of exercise #1, a second set of exercise # 2, and so on. Then run through the group a third time, then a fourth time, and so on for six sets.
"Use an extremely light weight for the first set. The empty bar may be enough. Add a little weight for the second set, and a little more for the third set. The first three are just warmup sets, really.
"Don't neglect the warmup. A lot of the success of this routine depends on stimulated blood circulation through thoroughly warmed up muscles.
"Jump to your best exercising poundage for the fourth set. Drop ten pounds each for the fifth and sixth sets.
"Don't stop and rest between exercises. Keep on the move. If you're puffing too hard, walk around till your breathing slows a little and then go right on to the next exercise. If you sit down and rest, you'll undo most of the good of the PHA system.
"Figure you can handle all that?" I asked him.
"Like nothing," he said.
"Okay, then. But, don't forget, there's other segments to the thing. Are you eating a pretty strict diet?"
"Like a Trappist monk," he said.
"I'll bet."
He grinned and got up.
"Wait a minute," I said. "Don't you want to hear about the other segments?"
He looked at his watch. "Like later, maybe." He started for the door. "I've got a deal figured for some of that free time tonight."
"Good," I said. "Phone me in the morning and I'll come down and bail you out."
The Fountain of Youth, Part One - John McCallum (1968)
Taken From This Issue (October 1968)
The Fountain of Youth, Part One
While the youngsters are bulking up their arms this month, let's have a word with the most neglected man in weight training. I'm referring to Daddy-O. The gentleman over fifty years of age. The senior citizen who wants to improve his strength and health and roll back the years a decade or two, but isn't sure how to go about it.
And it's no wonder he's in doubt. At least 99% of all weightlifting's instructional data is aimed at the young man. And there's nothing really wrong with this. Some fine, result producing systems have emerged from this mass of information. The only one who's suffered so far has been dear old dad. He's not interest in physique contests, or at least he shouldn't be, and contest type training isn't suited for him anyway. It doesn't answer his physical needs.
And what are his physical needs? Youth. Youth is the answer. Youthful heart, youthful lungs, youthful mind, youthful everything. The old lady may not let him chase girls up and down the beach, but at least he should feel like it; and if the old dragon ever stays home, he should be physically capable of doing it.
And how to reach this happy state of affairs? You can sum it up in one word. Conditioning! Not peaked biceps. Not high pecs. Not cuts, nor sep, nor def, nor anything else. Just conditioning. Conditioning, proper conditioning, will add years to your life and life to your years. It'll put snap and zing in your arteries and give you a heart like a teenage boy. It'll hand you the most priceless gift of all -- youth.
Don't confuse muscles with condition. It's possible to have big muscles and not be in condition at all. It's possible to have big muscles and not be in condition at all.
A friend of mine is fifty-four. I watched him work out one time. He did flying exercises on a flat bench for twenty minutes and then started concentration curls. After ten minutes of curls, I spoke to him.
"Alan," I said. "What are you doing?"
He gave me a puzzled look. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"It looks like you're pumping up your biceps."
"I am," he said.
"Why? Why does anyone pump up their biceps?"
"Well," I said. "The kids do it to get bigger arms. But I don't know why you're doing it."
"To get big arms," he said.
"You already got big arms."
"All right, then. To get them bigger."
"Al," I said. "You're nuts. You got big arms, big chest, big shoulders, big everything including a big gut. At your age you should be working to get into condition."
"Condition?" he said. "I'm in terrific condition." He flexed his arms. "Look."
"That's not condition," I said. "How far can you run?"
"How would I know?"
"What would you guess?"
"I dunno," he said. "Couple of miles, maybe."
"Baloney," I said. "You couldn't make it around the block."
He didn't agree, so next evening we met at the track. It was a nice cool evening and I said I'd run with him.
It's a quarter mile track. Halfway round, he sounded like a Yangtze River gunboat, and at the three-quarter mark he gave up. He waddled off the track and collapsed on the grass.
"Good grief," he gasped.
"You all right?" I asked.
He was gulping air like a fish out of water.
"You better go home now," I said.
He sat up. His face was beet red.
"C'mon," I said. "Let's get out of here. If you drop dead, the cops might figure it's my fault."
He got up finally and I walked him to his car.
"Al," I said. "You better give a little thought to what I said about conditioning if you plan to start any long novels. You're a walking heart attack."
He had his breath back. "I hate to admit it," he muttered, "but you may be right."
If you think I'm right, we'll get on with it. We'll work out a conditioning program that'll bounce you into shape real fast. It'll add twenty useful years to your life, and pour more pep and vigor into your working parts than you'd believe possible.
Ponce de Leon spent most of his life searching for a mythical fountain of Youth. You can discover your fountain of youth, the real one, simply by reading and putting the following into practice.
Remember -- the secret of regaining and maintaining your youth is conditioning. Conditioning from the inside out. Training your cardio-vascular system as hard as Mr. Big trains his biceps. That's what keeps you young.
We're going to be pressed for space this month, so we'll have to go more deeply into the whys and wherefores some other time. If you'll take my word for it now, we'll carry on.
There should be four distinct segments to your conditioning program. Each segment is as follows:
(a) nutrition,
(b) weight training
(c) vigorous social activities, and
(d) running.
Let's take them one at a time. We'll start with nutrition.
If you're over fifty and you're serious about your health and condition, then you better start paying attention to your diet. The kids may get away with gastronomical murder but it doesn't mean you can.
I watched my daughter's boyfriend eat a brick of ice cream one time. He smothered it with strawberry jam and washed the whole mess down with three cokes.
"Marvin," I said. "That's more sugar than I'd eat in a year."
He smacked his lips. "Delicious," he said. "Whyn't ya try her, dad?"
"You're out of your tree," I said. "If I ate all that garbage I'd gain twelve pounds and my liver'd fall out."
He licked off the spoon. "Course," he said, "let's not forget I'm a growing boy."
"Marvin," I said. "You're a bloody garbage can."
"But I envy you," I said.
You can envy the kids too if you want, but don't try to eat like them.
the old saying that you are what you eat is never truer than when you reach middle age. And if you really want to look young, feel young, be young, then don't forget it.
Diet for the man over fifty isn't a complicated process. You don't have to be finicky about it, just be sensible.
To start with, and this is very important, eliminate all the junk food from your diet. All the gooey cookies and cakes and candies and soft drinks and sugar and processed grains and so on. Eliminate them completely. They're junk and you don't need them.
Don't just cut down on that kind of crap. Stop eating it, period. Bob Hoffman used to say that enough leaks would sink the biggest ship, so quit letting your youth leak away by crummy eating habits.
Slash your carbohydrate intake to the bone at the same time. They don't do much for you except make you fat anyway.
The bulk of your diet should consist of protein foods, preferably from animal sources. Meat, milk, eggs, cheese, fish, poultry, etc. This is the stuff you should be living on. Round it out with fresh fruits in small amounts and preferably raw.
Supplements should play a large part in your diet. You should be absolutely saturated with protein, vitamins, etc. Anything less isn't good enough for the kind of results you want, and it's impossible to get this kind of nourishment without supplements.
One final word of diet advice. Keep the amounts of food you eat down to a reasonable level. Don't overeat. If you do, you'll ruin the whole deal.
We're out of space. Start cleaning up your diet, and we'll get at the next segment of your rejuvenation program as soon as we can.
Call Me Old Fashioned - Paul Kelso
"Whatever you do, Son, don't do it."
Now shut up and read this . . .
I'm in my office up in the classroom building one day going through a stack of what Ken Leistner's mailman used to call "comic books" (glossy bodybuilding magazines), when the Big Kid from Houston eases in with a problem. Says he wants to lift in the Ark-La-Tex meet in the spring and train for football at the same time, as he plans to transfer to the four-year school at Nacogdoches in the fall.
He complained that he couldn't get a good workout in our wright room because the equipment was too old-fashioned. No pec-dec, no cable crossover, no leg sled, hack machine or seated calf raise; no nothing. All we had in the early days was a squat rack, a bench, a couple of Olympic sets, one power bar and a lot of loose dumbbell bars and plates. This guy had a build like a black panther and the sleekness of a seal. Weighed about 200 at 6'. Benched 280, squatted well but was behind on the deadlift and other big pulling movements. If he did them at all.
I explained the programs I had the Wampus Cat powerlifters and round-ballers on and suggested a few football-oriented changes.
"I know that stuff. I want to use modern methods and show up buff," he said.
I could see we had a little translation problem.
"Did you ever hear of Charles A. Smith?"
Lived down in Austin. Wrote for Joe Weider for years. He used to say, 'There is nothing new in weight training.'"
Note: do a search of this blog for Charles A. Smith. I spent a couple years and some dollars rounding up all the training articles of his I could. Well worth the effort. He's my all time favorite lifting author. Or keep reading and I'll give a link to some of his stuff on here.
The Houston Kid looked at me like I had just spoken to him in Chinese. He picked up one of the "comic books" and pointed out a picture of our current pro "Mr. Sensational" as his goal. Besides, he didn't care for squats that much as they hurt his shoulders. I caught on as to what I had here. Another young trainee who confused appearance with ability. (There is no true correlation between size and appearance with strength and ability.) Then he said he'd like to look so good when he got the college that the football coach would come up and ask him to try out.
"You must have been watchin' old Mickey Rooney college movies," says I. His expression was blank.
It is really sad that so many have no conception of what it means to be able to actually DO something, and what it takes to accomplish goals with reasonable expectations of success. These fantasies are encouraged by the tendency of some publishers and writers in the game to market image instead of the acquisition of competence.
Note: Ain't there just a lot of that going on now in every field you can come up with!
Miss a workout? Take a pill. Paint on some bottled suntan and buy a cantilevered shirt and go struttin' with your earphones on. Heck, I just wrote a song.
I told him that the first thing he was gonna do was go back to the dorm and write a letter to the coach and tell him that the Houston Kid wanted to play football for him, what position he wanted to try and ask what weight he should come in at. The second thing was to pay up his power club dues and I'd send off his entry for the spring contest four months hence. The Kid's expression slid over toward panic. The third thing was to meet me in the weight room at four o'clock. He made a sound like "homina-homina" and blurted out that he needed time to think about it.
Then I caught on. He was using me as a sounding board to find out if his dream had any plausibility. Maybe he would have been relieved if I'd told him to forget it. I don't know. I decided to act like a professional educator and molder of youth instead of a professional curmudgeon (see photo above).
"Look, you've been studying this. I think you've got a shot. It's a long time 'til fall. Come on down to the gym at four and we'll get started."
He stumbled out.
I sat there a few minutes longer and read in one of the "comic books" about a student at a Big Ten school who a Master's degree for proving that three sets of eight to ten reps with eight or nine basic exercises is a more effective way to train than one set each of twenty or so movements. Where did I first read that, Strength & Health in 1949? Peary Rader's Master Course?
Rader Course!
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/02/reder-system-part-one.html
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/02/rader-system-part-two.html
Some Bob Hoffman stuff on this blog set up for nice and easy access
https://gregorytaper.com/2013/12/06/the-compiled-work-of-the-tight-tan-slacks-of-dezso-ban/
You guessed it. You can find a great listing of Charles A. Smith's stuff there too.
There might be some more recent posts not included.
Then I saw in a coaches' mag that a kinesiology major had proved that excessive stretching before competition reduced power and performance. I had heard that from McAdoo Keaton, the famous SMU track coach, back in 1955. He helped Jack Adkisson (later known as pro wrestler Fritz Von Erich) to become the number two college discus thrower, and Forrest Gregg (later All-Pro with the Green Bay Packers) to throw the javelin from here to Fort Worth.
There was more. A 1992 study proved that vitamin-mineral and amino supplements were unnecessary for athletes if they ingested a well-balanced diet in sufficient quantities. Right. How about somebody developing a surefire program to guarantee that the athletes will eat such a diet. Good luck.
Another article quoted a Ph.D. strength coach as saying that trainees should not follow programs based on anecdotal evidence until they'd been tested under academic, scientific conditions. Translated, that means that 80 years of reports in non-academic books and magazines in the field are questionable. Yes, there has been a lot of baloney. But are methods that were proven or disproven in training or by trial in competition to be dismissed as anecdotal?
Certainly the game needs the benefit of sound research and new scientific exploration. However, it is my opinion that we are just reaching the point in growth of our game where we are beginning to understand what the questions are. Please remember that academic study of weight training did not really begin until the mid-fifties, and then in the face of hostile opposition, with the boom taking off in the '70s. And, in contrast, that the first realistic championship in weightlifting was in 1889.
Surely there were some valuable insights during the interim period.
May I suggest that before spending a lot of money and wasting students' time that the new breed of academics in weight training and competition familiarize themselves with the history of this activity, consult with the aging old-times still involved, and peruse the "anecdotal" literature? They could save themselves the risk and embarrassment of telling a lot of people what they already know.
Yeah, I know. Maybe I am a curmudgeon.
The Houston Kid wanted modern? I'd give him modern. I just had to get some "new" equipment. I went down to the campus shop and got a couple of tow chains. Then I drove over to Lope Delk's construction site and "borrowed" one of those big hooks they attach to crane cables to swing wrecking balls from. I couldn't get the wrecking ball in the car. Just as well.
I met the Kid in the weight room on time. He was wearing posing trunks and pretending he didn't see me while he did some alternate DB curls. I was supposed to be all agog at how "buffed" he was. He had done that peculiar psychological twist common to the young (and some older folks who are allegedly grown up) of challenging me to make him do what he wanted to do in the first place.
True, he did have an impressive visual physique. Sort of early gymnast: bulbous pecs, biceps like softballs, high lats and carved out humps above the knees. It was obvious he had trained up to that point: for the beach. He could carry pony kegs of beer pretty good.
The Kid pouts, "Okay, Coach. I'll try it your way. Now what's this super program I'm gonna do?"
I exhaled slowly, under control.
"First, throw these two chains over the rafters so the ends hang down on each side, then take that hook over to the parallel bars."
The Kid looks at me like I'm crazy. He takes care of it, nearly knocking himself silly when the chains whipped around. I admit I had mixed feelings just then.
Then I put him through a few tests. He couldn't deadlift much more than he could bench, which is far too common, didn't know what a hook grip was, and thought a shrug was a Padre Island shore bird. I worked him up on jerks off the rack and had him hold each one for a count of five. By the time he got to 185 lbs., he was shaking like that guy on the space roller coaster in the movie "2001."
"What we're gonna do, Kid, is work you in ways and from angles you never imagined. You'll end up with more overall strength and maybe some increase in athletic ability. You're also gonna have a back from the planet Mongo.
Here's the program, and it isn't modern."
1) Standing DB Presses - 1 x 8, 3 x 6:
Heels together. Improves pure pressing power while increasing control and balance.
2) Overhead Supports - 3 single reps, each held overhead for five seconds:
The bar is suspended in the chains (you can use a power rack) almost to full lockout over your head. Get under the bar and use your legs and arms to lock it out at full extension over your head, like finishing a jerk. Bring your feet in line. Stabilize under it and hold it for the count. Control the weight and work to your limit. I hope I'm not confusing anyone by mentioning the jerk. Weightlifting -- Olympic style -- remember?
3) Dips - when you can do 4 x 10 reps start using added weight and go for 6-8 reps:
Our hook is 50 lbs., when you can start hanging DB's on that, you're getting to be somebody. Perform these with the elbows held back at about 45 degrees and try to find a position that involves the delts, pecs, triceps, lats and serratus more or less equally. Dips have been called "the upper body squat," and are extremely useful in a limited program. They should be practiced regularly by anyone wanting strength along with development.
4) Power Cleans from the Floor - 4 x 5 reps:
Jerk the first rep of each set. With the bar on the floor, start the lift with the legs and then pull with the back and arms, rising to full body extension. Do not split the legs forward and back. Dip the knees slightly to get the shoulders under the bar as you rack it in. Get someone to show you if you don't know how. This very basic movement will do wonders for your pulling power and develop columns of muscle from your heels to the base of your skull. Do the first two sets with moderate loads and think speed, then add weight for the last two sets. Caution: Don't throw the bar; pull it up straight. Please treat this movement as an exercise and not a lift. Add small plates every workout if you can, and the poundages will mount over time.
5) Squats:
After a warmup set or two, grind out 3 x 8 reps with a weight you can handle in good form, high-bar style. Then drop the weight down by a third and go for one set of maximum repetitions. The most important thing: On the first rep of every rep of every set, try to shrug the weight upwards with your shoulder girdle. This is the old Hise shrug and it will accustom you to heavy loads faster than anything I know about. Every two weeks or so, load the bar with about 95% of your best high-bar single and simply back out of the racks and set up. Try to shrug the bar a few times, and then put it back. Do this three times. Use spotters, or live -- maybe -- to regret it.
6) Kelso Shrugs - 3 x 10 reps:
Perform on a low-angle incline bench, under 45 degrees, lying face down. A curl grip on the bar, lifting straps until your grip catches up and big iron is the ticket. Shrug the bar up toward the chest, concentrating on a point in the middle of the upper back, not up toward ears. "Yeah, but ain't that modern," you ask? Maybe, maybe not. The shoulder girdle has been able to "shrug" to the rear since it was invented, and chances are, well, see Charles A. Smith reference earlier on here. Vary your hand spacing and grip set-to-set for different "feels."
Every third workout:
Do ONLY squat (competition style) and bench, 4 x 6-8, and deadlifts for 4 sets of 5; first and second sets with moderate weights, then two work sets. Alternate exercise: bent-arm pullover and press instead of dips. If splitting the routine, include it one day and do dips the other.
There's a reason for including the weightlifting moves. I love 'em. I started as an Olympic-style weightlifter way back when there was no such a thing as powerlifting.
Note: You might like this two-part article by Peary Rader -
"Powerlifting: How It All Started"
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/12/powerlifting-how-it-all-started-peary.html
It is a terrific high to succeed with personal record overhead lifts, when everything is perfect and in the groove. I think every weight trainer should try a long cycle on the lifts at some point in the first several years of training. It'll help with whatever you decide to do with the iron in the future and make you strong and quick. But there's a danger . . . . you might get hooked!
For three months the Kid did each of these movements once or twice a week, splitting the program in several combination at first because it was just too much to do them all in one session when he began. Probably started too heavy, which was my fault, not his. Every third workout was competition-style squat, bench, and deadlift, nothing else, 4 x 6-8 (see above for deadlift reps). One month before the meet we went to lifts only, 3 sets of work sets of 3-5 reps, after a few warmup sets.
His personal record total jumped 100 lbs. at the contest. He came back to the "old fashioned" program after the Ark-La-Tex and gained fifteen pounds by the time football season rolled around. He made the team at the four-year school and earned a letter his senior year.
Is there a moral to this story?
Dreams can be realized if you are willing to take the risk of failing.
(Complete) Calf Training - Vince Gironda
This article is taken from the March '68 issue of Joe Weider's Muscle Builder/Power.
That cover likely sent a lot of guys to the gym more often.
Yeah! It's a Classic.
Seriously, fellow lifters, you have to be a bit of a pain freak to do the full-blown type of calf training. Torch 'em . . . Burn 'em . . . Blow them babies up! That type. I was thinking about this on my afternoon "rapid" transit commute to work today.
There was a hellish accident on one-a the main bridges around two o'clock. Some idiot's semi flipped and wound up blocking all lanes of bridge traffic going in both directions. So, all the vehicles that'd normally be going over this bridge were diverted to the next one . . . halfway across town, right along my usual bus route.
I got on the thing unknowing. Who bloody knew! First thing that clued me in was the fact that the bus took 10 minutes to go one block. Okay then. About 60 or so more to go! I should be at the train station just in time for Christmas. It'll be nice and cold then too. Bonus!
It was bloody hot. Packed on that bus like pigs heading for slaughter. Standing hip to hip, sweat rolling down the small of your back, some stranger's baby in a stroller screaming. The heat. And that's around block two.
It became a kind of low rent S & M.
Lack of oxygen set in.
Mobile Bondage Dungeon #100, en route.
I suppose we all have that weird friend we suspect is into some kind of homemade S & M on the cheap. There's always a huge spiky dildo drying in this guy's dish rack. You notice things like a length of electrical wire with what looks like pubic hair on the frayed end, mouse traps but never any mice, pantyhose hanging in the bathroom but no females ever, drug paraphernalia for substances that aren't even close to fun.
Standing there on that stinkin' bus next to that screamin' kid. The strap handle you hang onto starts looking pretty tempting. "Deranged man breaks infants neck then hangs himself on bus strap." That's when I decided to get off and walk to the train.
After a stiff 40-block walk in the sun I showed up at the station just in time to run up those four big flights of stairs and squeeze on the train. Pouring sweat. Wet shirt. Sure, I guess I mighta smelled a little too. Musta been the salami and cheese sandwich in my bag cooking.
Hopefully the driver of that overturned semi died in the accident.
Hey, I know I'm not alone in that sentiment.
Anyhow, some of this intense style of calf training . . . I figure you gotta be a bit of a pain freak to really get deep into it. Or not.
Calves, eh.
Crazy Calves!
If any single muscle rates as the least developed of all muscles among all bodybuilders --
IT'S THE CALF.
Stubborn and difficult to develop, it requires special attention; it must be bombed into growth. No matter how well developed the thighs, the legs, as a whole, cannot be impressive when the calves are small.
Take Steve Reeves as an example . . . perfect from top to bottom. How great would he look if his upper body and thighs tapered down to a spindly base? Get the point?
Because of the density of calf tissue and its distance from the heart (the body's pumping station -- which delivers nutrient-rich blood to the muscles), the calves must be worked a minimum of 20 repetitions per exercise to respond. You must rise on your toes on the base of the big and second toe (when performing various exercises), if you are to develop the meaty inside portion -- the most difficult part of all.
Rotate the heels inward as you rise to the contracted position.
As you lower the body allow the heels to resume the wider position.
The legs should always be slightly unlocked at the knees.
This places stress on the lower part of the calves.
Calves are a "stretch muscle" -- so you must try to lengthen the muscle by stretching at the bottom of the movement. I have discovered that men with poor calf development have poor range of motion. On the other hand, men with good calves have developed great flexibility. Obviously, then, the Donkey Raise is on of the best calf exercises because the bentover position induces great stretch. Second best is to work on the calf machine.
Hard-to-develop calves should be worked daily, but not in the same way. That is, work 3 heavy days and 2 pump days. On your pump days do not tire the calves, just induce circulation. The best procedure is to do sets of 100 or more reps with moderate (bodyweight) poundages. Use good slow form. Do not try to rush, especially when you reach the pain barrier. Speeding usually causes a shortening of the motion and causes pain, or "burns" to the point that you won't be able to take it. Again, work slowly and stretch the muscle at the bottom of the movement and fully contract at the top.
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