Rob's Blog » Fitness

Naked Sunday Workout

Rob Wood — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:31:21 +0000

Do you have a dream of exercising naked? Maybe you should head to Holland, where the Fitworld gym in Heteren has opened its doors to have the first clothing-free workout. About a dozen middle-aged and elderly men braved the glare of nearly twice that number of journalists, photographers and at least five television crews. The participants said they “feel more free” and that “it just feels better to do it with your clothes off”. The event was dubbed Nudifit, or Naked Sunday. Some women had signed up, which may have explained the high number on onlookers, though none attended this first session.

Related Pages: finding a gym

No grunting please

No grunting please

Rob Wood — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 04:00:02 +0000

A New York fitness club, which has outlets nationwide, has a long list of “dos and don’ts” that its members have to follow. That does not sound too bad. However, one of these rules is that no grunting is allowed, apparently to create a non-intimidating environment. And they enforce the rules too. Recently, one of the club’s members was expelled for grunting. I don’t know if he ended up giving a bit more resistance, but eventually Police Officers were called in by the management to escort the patron out. He admitted emitting several grunts when he was about to lift 227 kilograms. I think sometimes you have to make some noise to get the most out of a lift, and it usually feels good too. Where they need to stop the grunting is during women’s tennis matches. It really annoys me when I am trying to enjoy watching a game of tennis and all I can hear are the women grunting. The Wimbledon Championship have laid down the law in the past with regulating the clothing people could wear, now they should regulate the sounds the women can make too.

Related Pages: chosing a fitness club, tennis, Wimbledon

Running Pains

Rob Wood — Wed, 10 May 2006 03:13:03 +0000

I have moved around Australia quite a few times over the last 20 years, spending time in Perth, Darwin, and Canberra, finally making it back to Melbourne, the home of my birth. In my attempts to stay healthy with a small amount of aerobic fitness, I sometimes venture out onto the roads and parks for a jog (I do it too slowly to call it a run!). In Perth there were some great spots along the river in Nedlands, and around Lake Monger, and the weather was usually pleasant to hot. Darwin was always hot but you can get used to that. Canberra was a challenge. I started running each morning before work, and I lasted until one morning the temperature dropped below zero. That was too much for me and I had to find other methods of keeping fit. Now in Melbourne I am finding the same problem, but I reckon it is even harder than in Canberra. The cold air and wind are not very appealing. I am sure there are many reading this that have to put up with much colder weather than we get here in Australia. I am very impressed with how people cope with the extremes of weather from other parts of the world. They say we are the lucky country and for me it is the weather that makes it so. No matter how lucky I am to have such a mild climate, mild is not enough for me to use my usual methods to keep fit.

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