MikeCFT's advice column

Okay, so I'm confused when to use an ice pack or a heat pad if you:

Sprain something
Pull a muscle
Muscle ache
Cramp
Feet hurting from walking too much
From wearing heels
From uncomfortable shoes

AHH!! I just don't know when to put what..help?

Anything swollen- Ice

Anything that just feels tight and aches- Heat

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Where I live, every single guy is obsessed with skateboarding.
I dont mean its their hobby.
I mean they are obsessed.
I have never heard a guy say something other than a skateboarding trick, thats all they ever talk about to eachother.
The sad thing is , im not over exaggerating.
I know they like it and stuff
but do they ever think of anything else besides it?
thnx.

What's wrong with that? It's better than being obsessed with drugs.

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Ok so i want to get fit, not like beastly body builder or anything, but i wanna tone myself.
So i need some sugestions for workouts and explanation on how to do them for my Abs, Pecks, Biceps, Triceps, Back, and my legs.
If you have awebsite thats fine i had alot of trouble findin a good site so if you can give me some workouts and detailed descriptions I'd appreciate it. thanks

I am not going to explain every movement but I'll tell you my personal favorite exercises per each body group- Bodybuilding.com has a huge amount of information about how to perform the exercises properly.

Abs-
Rope Tucks
Hanging leg raises
Crunches

Pecs-
Bench Press
Incline Dumbbell/Barbell Press
Various Plate loaded Hammer Strength machines
Flyes
Dips

Shoulders-
Military Press
Front/Side/Rear laterals
Clean and Press
Arnold Press
Shrugs

Biceps-
Scott Curls (Most people call them preacher curls)
Barbell Curls
Hammer Curls
Incline DB Curls

Triceps-
Dips
Pushdowns
Skullcrushers
Close grip Press

Back-
Barbell Rows
Deadlifts
Seated cable rows
T-Bar/Jailhouse rows

Legs-
SQUATS
Hacksquats
Stiff legged deadlift
Leg Extensions
Standing/Seated Calf raises

Some ideas on a few exercises to research. Just so you know; you're not "Toning" anything until you build a good base of solid muscle.

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Is it better to start running and working your way up to a half mile, then a mile, and so forth and so on?

Because our teacher is making us run a half mile, and none of us basicly were prepared for that, EVEN though its only a half mile, its 8 laps about in our gym. And he didnt even have us practice running, like start with 3 laps, and go to 5 ... he just made us run 8 right away.

And its absolutely horrible and so hard!

What do you think about this,
wouldnt it be better if you gradually worked your way up to a half mile, then mile..?

Absolutely- it's what is called Pyramiding. Starting lower and gradually going up. The same principle applies to weightlifting- you start out with a fairly light weight and work yourself up to a heavier weight in the set.

He should be warming everyone up with some lighter jogs then working up to the greater distances. Especially if most of the class aren't runners to begin with.

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Is a Slimfast Optima Royal Chocolate Flavored drink ideal for a 12 year old? This is not for me, my little sister wants to know if she could drink it and I have no clue lol.

No.

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I just joined a gym and I have free use of the steam room? Is it really good for you? and do they usually have the temp. set and everything?

Yes it is very good for you and it feels great. I use my gym's sauna regularly. Just came back from using it as a matter of fact. Just go in, sit, stretch and sweat. The best way to do it is to go into the sauna, stay in as long as you can and go cool down under the showers then go back in and repeat until you can't do it anymore.

As far as the temperature goes- at least in the sauna I use the people can control the temp by pouring more water over hot rocks. I like it to be very hot (about 200-220) so I mix 1 teaspoon of Eucalyptus extract in a bottle of water and pour it over the rocks in stages to get that soothing smell and it really clears out your sinuses.

Just be careful and don't stay in for too long or when you haven't drank a lot of water.

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I love this guy I've been dating for a year now. Our parents let us be together, but make our lives miserable because we are together. We still are in love but he's letting the outside world that tells us not to be together get to him saying things like, "It doesn't make sense for the one thing that you love, to make you miserable also." How should I respond to this?

Sounds like a regular Shakespeare.

To be blunt-

Dump his sorry ass.

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in my school theres this club called the "Duck Tape Club". me and my friend were CRACKING UP when we heard it on the announcements.. but seriously like nobody i know knows what it is!! and they said yesterday that there were only 7 more slots left, and today it said that the spots were filled, and not to fret cause they're making another club in the spring. L-O-L. Whats up with this?????

Maybe they go around repairing things with "DUCT tape" not "Duck Tape"

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i have two questions but if you can only answer one thatll be ok! first off im 16 and a sophomore.

1- i was wonderin how much harder are AP courses than advanced? i took 9th and 10th advanced literature and i was recommended for AP liturature next year and was wondering how much more of a struggle it honestly is?

2- im really worried that i wont survive in college. i make mostly all a's and an occasion b on report cards in regular & advanced classes, but the thing is, i dont really learn much! i memorize information, pass the tests because of that, soon forget it, but usually do all my homework, therefore i get high grades. i dont really try to do this, but it jus kinda happens. i zone out and stuff so yeah + if its not an interesting subject i just can not learn it. is that going to affect me a whole lot in college? im scared of flunking out especially since i want to try to get into a major university!

Relax...AP American history was a joke I can tell you at least.

College is awesome- wayyyy better than high school- I can tell you that also.

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what are some drinks, food, ANYTHING that helps speed up your metabolism? i'm not talking about excerise, cuz i'm well aware that does help. but for example, is it true adding pepper to your food speeds up your metabolism?

thanks in advance ! :)

Spices do help to speed up the metabolism- so yes things like pepper and mustard do help.

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I need some help with the way I eat, i want to drop 10 pounds. my average food day:

breakfast-piece of wheat toast, yogurt, juice
midmorning snack- granola bar and water
lunch- sunchips and half peanut butter sandwhich
after school- carrots and hummus or black bean soup
dinner- whatever family eats. vegetarian.
every once in a while i eat sweets

You're eating like a bird. You gotta feed your body.

Being vegetarian is tough with getting a lot of nutrients. I am no expert on vegetarians so I really can't lend any great advice there. But I can say for sure that vegetarian or not- you aren't eating enough.

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okay, so normally for my average every-day food i eat would be:

breakfast- special k with milk/yogurt and sometimes with some sort of fruit.

lunch- a wrap w/ turkey, cheese, lettuce, pickles. or a chicken ceasar salad.
and normally for a side i have raisons and an apple/orange.

supper- either a healthy choice tv dinner, veggie burger, another bowl of special k, or sub from subway.

and then for snacks i usually have apples or oranges, carrots, pinnapple, etc.
and i also have a multivitamin.

as for excersises i've starting using this motor track thing for a half an hour and 100 crunches a day.

what i'm asking is, am i doing this right? or am i going overboard or what not?

and can you give me some more tips on how to be healthy? i'm trying to loose 30lbs..

Too much carb, not enough protein or food in general.

TV dinners, a second helping of Special K and the subway has to go at least and the amount of fruit that you're eating too.

Lunch is good.

Your snacks are good but dont eat so much fruit.

Bring in more protein from eggs, chicken, fish.

Bring in better carbs from whole grain breads, oatmeal, a little pasta, potatoes.

Your body is made up of more than abs- workout your whole body and don't just do crunches.

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How do you properly remove ingrown toenails?

I had a nasty one that a podiatrist treated me for right in his office.

I know how painful they are and you should let a doctor do it...he shot me up and my foot was numb and I didn't feel a thing- I watched him do the whole thing and I couldn't even imagine how it would have felt if it wasn't numb.

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Are brown eyes even pretty anymore?
It just seems like all these beautiful people have blue or green eyes.

And all the people with light colored eyes are noticed more.

My eyes are very dark brown.

I want to make them look pretty.. :\

There's nothing prettier than sparkling brown eyes in my opinion.

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Ok.... well I am currently checking out gym memberships in my area, but I have also thought about buying some weights and getting an elliptical machine. Which would be the best for me to do?

Get a gym membership- the atmosphere of everyone working out will do you good and you will have a variety of equipment to use.

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What is the difference between Democratic and Republican? Also what is the difference between Liberal and whatever else? Thank you.

Do yourself and this world a huge favor when it comes time for you to register to vote- register as a Republican. There's a reason why the last 3 letters in the other party is "Rat".

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I want to start going to the gym but I have no one to workout with! What can I do about this?

So?

Go by yourself.

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Hey Mike,

I have been having some trouble with my grip at the gym. My forearms have always lagged a bit behind the rest of me, but this hasnt really been much of a problem until I started to deadlift.

In the past I didnt do that exercise due to lower back problems. Anyway, now my grip is holding me back. Last time, the weight literally dropped out of my hand when i still had at least 2 reps left in me. Its not even that I lift a huge amount.

Anyhow, I was wondering, do you think its a good idea to do forearm specific exercises? Or should I just keep dealifting and let the arms catch up? So far my favourite programs just focus on a few compound exercises and not much else.

Any input is much appreciated, this is really bugging me. Thx.

(not-so-wise)Alan

You came to the right guy...I am a grip training FREAK. Yes you should do your forearms- but strong forearms don't always necessarily mean strong hands.

No matter what lift it is, deads, bench, even hacks...you're only as good as your grip.

Some Forearm exercises- Flexor (Inner)
-DB/BB Wrist curls (standing, seated, behind the back)
-Tick-Tocks- Get two DB's and hang them at your sides- bend the wrist in towards your side like doing a wrist curl and under the same control bend it all the way out as far as you can go- think of a pendulum; that's why they're called Tick-Tocks.

Extensor (Outer)
-Reverse BB/DB wrist curls
-Wrap rubber bands around your fingers and try and open your hand fully against their resistance
-Make a fist and with your other hand grip the fist as tight as you can and try to open your fist against your other hand's resistance.
-Thor's Hammers- Get a sledgehammer or other long; top heavy object and hold it in the middle at eye level and rotate it upwards under control until it is straight up, then under control lower it back to the parallel starting position. As your forearms get stronger- you will see that you will be able to go further down the handle.
-Sand drill; get a bucket of sand and with your hand try and drill all the way to the bottom.

Grip Work:
-Bar Hangs; Simple- just hang from a bar for as long as you can
-Newspaper crumple; Get a page from a newspaper and hold it out to your side gripping a corner of the paper with your thumb and index finger and without moving your arm crumple up the newspaper into your hand.
-Plate squeeze; Get an Olympic plate and with your 4 fingers hold it by the inner ridge- hold this at your side. Squeeze as if you were making a fist- being careful to keep a hold on the ridge.

More Advanced:
-Plate/DB Pinches; Get 2 10 lb Olympic plates and put them together (Smooth sides out) and grip the top portion and hold in the air and when you can't hold it anymore- switch to the other hand. To make it extra hard- begin by picking them up off the floor. For DB pinches- grab a hexagon shaped DB and stand it up...wrap your hand around the top part and lift. Repeat.
-Grippers; If you're serious about grip training I recommend getting a set of "Captains of Crush" grippers sold at Ironmind.com

-Bending 60-penny nails, ripping phonebooks/ decks of playing cards in half is a sign of excellent lower arm/hand development and quite an ego rush :-D

These are VERY tough grippers and the higher ones are for world class grip strength; read the selections and find which one is right for you.

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I am gonna start going to the gym tomorrow because I am about 60 pounds overweight, but I have never been to a gym before. Would it be best to get a trainer just one day to show me how to use things and whats best for me or get a trainer for all the time?

We trainers are smarter than that :-P

Depends on your particular gym's policy- most will require you to buy a set number of sessions. I personally have a 4,8,12 session block and I offer a complimentary first session; that's to just get to know me and for me to get to know you though- no real instruction takes place if it's free. Most trainers will do the same thing if a complimentary session is offered.

Getting a long term trainer is most likely going to cost you quite a bit because the trainer and the gym both have to make money so the fee is higher. If a session plan is offered and you want a trainer- take the lowest number of sessions and if you determine that you like the trainer and their style then sign up for more sessions after that and go long term if you have the resources.

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