Look Ripped

The pointy end of the fitness industry

It would seem that the pointy end of the fitness industry might be Fitness First’s Platinum.  It’s like traveling by plane in the front end; it’s always the most prestigious place to be. Fitness First Platinum has all the trappings for the discerning gym junky and if the regular Platinum isn’t exclusive enough members can upgrade to the Black Label, imagine not having to wash your own gym gear again.

Where the stars align

Yesterday while on an impromptu visit to Platinum I was surprised to see none other than Nicole Kidman training away on her pec deck. What amazed me just as much as seeing her mixing with the eastern suburbs set, was her inability to grimace, her face was expressionless, like a Venetian mask, I assume the product of botox.

They always look better on TV

I was disappointed, Nic looked pretty ordinary and she had the body of a taut teenage boy and an uninteresting face, certainly a far cry from the face that launched the new Chanel perfume. Her trainer looked as though he may have stuck the odd syringe into his dial as well; between the two of them they looked like department store dummies.

Nick needs to increase the weight and reduce the sets

As her trainer walked off to attend to his needs Nicole continued to press twenty or more reps out on the pec deck, I felt the urge to drop her my card and some advice to increase the weight and drop the reps, she looks stringy enough. Lower reps and heavier weight would allow a bit more shape to grow on her androgynous frame.

It’s all happening at the pointy end

Fitness First Platinum certainly has its fair share of well-heeled clients if the Westfield car park on the gym level is anything to go by, it looks like the window of a prestige car dealers shop. Oh well back to slumming it tomorrow back to where the real people smell, fart and in most instances can still grimace. And it would appear that Nic may have finally become a real life Stepford Wife!

Golfers the new drug cheats?

It would seem no sport is untouched when it comes to rumors of drug use, the latest sport to suffer the ignominy of drug related innuendoes is golf. Gary Player, one of the legends of the game has, during a momentary lapse of senility made the comment that he had been informed by a reliable source that a number of pro golfers are using steroids, creatine and Human growth hormone (HGH)

Grist to the mill

It would seem Gary’s statement hasn’t fallen on deaf ears and has managed to add more grist to the rumor mill. Unfortunately an unsubstantiated remark like this one only further stigmatizes professional sport and those that participate. Like the majority of spectators the Gary’s knowledge of performance enhancing drugs could be placed on the head of a pin.

These drugs do what?

For a start creatine is a legal supplement not a drug, and is synthesized in the liver from three amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine, the main source in food is   animal protein. Theory is that supplementing   an athletes diet with creatine increases the ability to perform anaerobic activities power lifting, weights, sprints etc. explosive activities. Creatine is also a good cell volumizer, which basically means it increases the cell uptake of fluid hence increasing the size of the muscle and increasing body weight. 

H.G.H

HGH is also naturally produced in pituitary gland or biosynthetically, it is a important endocrine hormone responsible for growth, bone density, lean muscle mass, maintaining blood lipid levels and decreasing adipose tissue etc. Sylvester Stallone was caught bringing Jintropin (GH) into Australia last year. The synthetic GH is used for short stature in children and infamously by athletes and as an anti ageing drug.

Atrophy of the love muscle

Anabolic steroids also known as anabolic androgenic steroids or AAS, a class of roids related to testosterone. AAS increase protein synthesis within cells causing anabolism of cellular tissue especially muscle. The side effects are large skeletal muscle and a shrunken love muscle.

Could golfers benefit from any of these?

Golf is a game that relies on flexibility, strength and to a greater degree technique, performance enhancing drugs would probably be of little benefit to someone of the ilk of Tiger Woods, young and full of naturally occurring hormones, conversely Gary Player a golfer well and truly into the afternoon tea of his career may find performance enhancing drugs could add a few meters to his drive and a spring in his step.

Juice a Boost or Just a Fat Bag?

It would seem that the new religion for most people these days that fancy themselves health conscious is drinking juice. We seem to think if it comes from a vegetable or fruit it can’t be bad for us or can it? A new study has identified that fructose could be the reason were all getting fatter by the day.

A cup of fructose or a cup of fat

As hard as it is to believe it would seem the high consumption of fruit juice and fructose is causing our waistlines to increase and possibly damaging our livers. The supposition is that fructose has become more prevalent in our diets than at any time in our history. During the 1970’s we consumed on average ½ a pound of fructose per head per year, by 2003 that figure has increased to 56 pounds. 

What’s the deal with fructose anyway?

Most of what we eat is converted to glucose and utilized by every organ in our bodies; fructose on the hand is only taken up by the liver. Glucose when utilized by the other organs only stores the remainder as energy or fat, conversely the majority of fructose has the potential to end up in fat storage.

Toxic cocktail delivered by stealth

Fructose is a hepatoxin (toxic to the liver) by design we were never supposed to consume such large amounts of fructose as we are today. The biggest hit of fructose in the US diet is due to the addition of corn syrup. Corn syrup can be found in a plethora of supermarket food products unbeknown to the consumer. Corn syrup was added to the shopping food chain in 1975 and in soft drinks in the 1980, since then there has been an exponential rise in childhood obesity.

Rethink the drink

With the majority energy in a glass of orange juice going to the liver as fructose and then stored as fat one may not need to ponder to hard why so many health nuts mulling around the juice bars have such large backsides, maybe you should rethink that next glass of juice, it could be killing your liver and enlarging your arse.

Ironing Out the Bugs in Our Hospital System

If you’re really sick or in need of surgery, being admitted to hospital may be your only option, unfortunately for the many that are admitted to hospital annually, thousands contract bacterial infections that not only compromise their health but in some cases, their lives. Disease experts are warning that our hospitals are failing to cope with the increased prevalence of antibiotic resistant infections and to compound the problem little is being done to arrest the problem.

Easy as washing your hands

Of the thousands of hospital annually recorded staph infections one third are MRSA (Methicillin resistant staphylococcus Aureus) the estimated cost to the health care system of treating a hospital acquired infected patient is  $25,000, the cost of alcohol based hand wash $2.80 per patient.

Risks may outweigh the benefits

When we go into hospital we hope to come out feeling better not worse or in some cases not coming out at all. The number of deaths directly attributed to hospital infection isn’t quantifiable because there are few protocols to monitor rates of infection or their outcomes. In the US the CDC has estimated the costs of treating hospital born infections are $5 billion dollars annually.

Laisse faire attitude to health

Although the dollar value of hospital-acquired infections may be prohibitive the human cost has no dollar value, what makes matters worse is that with coordinated efforts in quality improvement programs that measure what’s going on in our hospitals, medically acquired infections could be halved.

Obesity Health Problem or a Big Fat Joke?

Hands up those that have had a gut full of all the excuses for being fat? Billions of dollars go into R& D to find out why the world’s population is getting fatter. Pharmaceutical companies are competing to be the first on board with a drug that allows people to continue to stuff their faces, take a pill and stay slim. The silver bullet will not only allow people to gorge themselves and stay lean but will fill the coffers for those with the patent.

Operation Jumbo

Traveling by plane can be a huge problem in this day and age, not only do we have to deal with the air traveling terrorist, but also the huge arse in the next seat. Some airlines have gone as far as to have weighty passenger buy an extra ticket for their arse, better they pay more than you have to contend with a glute in your lap for ten hours or more. It’s been estimated that the increased girth and weight of the average American air traveler is costing airlines more in fuel, than twenty years ago. So not only is being overweight a health hazard, it’s also become an environmental issue.

The conundrum fat or skinny

Where’s the problem? It would seem for most of us we’re either too fat or to skinny less of us seem able to attain an ideal weight, Kate Moss has been carpeted for loosing too much weight, the waif has apparently lost so much weight, she now has an arse that looks like it belongs to an old lady.

Diet conundrum

Latest gossip mag has Demi Moore eating only raw food and no animal products, get a life. Kelly Clarkson eats jelly and peanut butter sandwiches get a brain!

Beth Ditto apparently used to eat squirrels, looking at the size of her legs she must have graduated to eating horses. Liz Hurley eats very little, a banana and 6 raisins for breakfast, and water crest soup. A cockroach eats more calories.

A world consumed by food

We have more food than at any time in human history yet the third world is starving and so is Hollywood, conversely the average dude is getting fatter and caring less, the medical bill for treating obesity is enormous and growing exponentially every year. If the Pharmaceutical companies don’t come up with a silver bullet soon, being the ideal weight is going to be an endangered species.