Before the Hybrid Videos I was Dinjin

This post is aimed at the Soloflex Forever website. I posted it after the webmaster of that site attempted to steal credit for my Soloflex Beast idea. The post below this one reveals in the webmasters own words that the idea was not his.

Before I published my first Hybrid video I was a business owner, family man, commercial diver, and sometimes even a  fashion model.  Yes, I have done television and runway modeling.  If I never model again, big deal.  Been there. Done that. Got the video footage.

At 46, I am semi-retired.

I was Dinjin before the Hybrid videos. I will be Dinjin long after the YouTube videos are forgotten.

I am sharing this information so that my antagonistic blog readers and YouTube viewers will know that I am independent of any benefit they think I gain by uploading my workout videos.

Comments and ratings on my videos are suspended until I have recorded and published my next Hybrid video. The video will contain as many as 17 new exercises that can be done on the classic Soloflex muscle machine, plus two new methods of resistance. Best of all, it will contain a much needed bashing for the lame attempt to steal credit for my Beast Super Hybrid idea.

For those who have claimed in their forums that I am egotistical and  verbally acidic, I agree. These qualities of mine are part of why you log into my blogs and view my YouTube videos for new workout ideas, and not the other way around.

My suggestion is that you go back to your forums and write about how, negative, pretentious and offensive I am. By doing so you can FINALLY bring some much needed excitement to your otherwise mind-numbingly boring forum topics.

Imitation Is The Highest Form Of Flattery

I am thrilled by the fact that my Super Hybrid idea caught on and that others are finding it useful.  Although, I am frustrated as the result of a  few things.   Like this post from the Soloflex.com blog made just hours after the release of my Soloflex Beast Super Hybrid video:

Posted by:  GARRET 
August 5, 2009 at 7:18 pm

"I wanted to make something like this a few months ago but while I had the idea, I didn’t have the room, or the know how. This fellow had a bunch of ideas that I hadn’t thought of.

He beat me to the creation of it. He would make a great Soloflex model. Great for him!

I’m jealous, I admit it."
 
You can view this actual post at:  http://www.soloflex.com/archive/this-guy-is-nothing-short-of-awesome-you-rock/comment-page-1/#comment-1719
 
After watching and downloading my Soloflex Beast Super Hybrid video, Garret welded his own Hybrid into existance.  Garret's duel Soloflex mainframe hybrid is featured below: 

The following was published on Garret's Soloflexforever forum.  Here is the web address to the actual post: 

http://soloflexforever.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3

By Garret, AKA  bucksteelsoloflex » Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:54 pm

"My highly modified dual Soloflex Power rack system"

"Pictures coming soon. Two machines welded into one. Does every thing a regular Soloflex machine does, plus circuit training, plus full free barbell open power rack capability and more. Nothing else out there that I have seen can do as much in such limited space. All with legendary Soloflex quality and durability.

"I designed this on paper over a year ago. I wish that I had built it right away. So far it works flawlessly. ALL I need to acquire is an extra Barbell ram and I can hang my hammock on it again. Two of the barbell arms were tuned into safety catches. I just did some squats with 400 pounds on the barbell and it handled it better than expected."
      
The  "I DESIGNED THIS ON PAPER OVER A YEAR AGO" comment is in direct contradiction to his post just THREE MONTHS EARLIER on the Soloflex.com site where he said,  "I WANTED TO MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THIS A FEW MONTHS AGO BUT WHILE I HAD THE IDEA, I DIDN'T HAVE THE ROOM, OR THE KNOW HOW."


I'm glad I was able to show you how, Garret.     Enjoy my idea.


Here is a picture of me test driving the Beast.  This photo was taken just after the machine was built, and before I presented my duel mainframe idea to the world.

You can view the original, reposted, Soloflex BEAST Super Hybrid video here:

INVERSION: You are only as strong as your lower back

One of the most common injuries for weight lifters, bodybuilders and aging men in general is lower back pain. My own history with lower back pain has been long and antagonizing. It wasn't until recently that I discovered the benefits of regular inversion and the accelerated pain relief that it offers. And I must say, my back hasn't felt as good as it does now in years. I no longer live in the almost constant dread of throwing my back out. Then being out of full commission for weeks at a time until it healed.


One day, while sitting in my office I took notice of a commercial for teeter hangups on the television. For those who are unfamiliar with teeter hangup, the company makes inversion boots, inversion tables and other lower back pain relief devices. Because I was desperate for relief from my back pain and willing to try anything I paid full attention to the Teeter commercial. After the commercial was over I realized, I COULD USE MY SOLOFLEX FOR REGULAR INVERSION SESSIONS! I gave it a try. It worked beautifully!

I know there has to be other Soloflex owners out there who are also dealing with regular bouts of lower back pain. Who have never considered their Soloflex Muscle Machine as the means of long term back pain relief.

Here is the theory behind why inversion is believed to work to relieve lower back pain. The constant pull of gravity has a cumulative negative effect on the joints and spinal discs. Inversion puts gravity to work by placing the body in line with the downward pull of gravity. Not only can inversion therapy help to temporarily relieve back pain, but it also can be used as a method to relieve other negative effects that gravity has on the body. Hanging upside down stretches and relaxes the muscles and reduces stress on all the spinal discs.

Inversion temporarily lengthens the spine, increasing the space between the vertebrae, which relieves the pressure on discs, ligaments and nerve roots. This reduction in pressure on the discs translates into less back pain.

The inner core of the spinal disc is made of jellylike material which provides the "cushioning" in the back. You can lose up to .5" (1.3-2.0 cm) in height daily during your waking hours from the compressive effects of gravity. This daily height loss reverses overnight, but not 100%, resulting in permanent height loss, loss of flexibility and shock absorption. While inverted, you are able to temporarily reverse the downward pressure on your discs, helping the discs to recover an regain lost moisture and lost height, with improved flexibility.

Lying down in bed only releases 75% of standing body weight on the spinal discs. The hundreds of ligaments and muscles that encase and stabilize the spine act like a bunch of rubber bands holding the spine in compression equal to 25% of standing body weight. Inverting to 60 degrees helps to reduce the disc pressure to at or near zero.

Inverting yourself to as little as 20-25 degrees for even a few minutes can help relax tense muscles and speed the flow of lymphatic fluids which flush out of the body's wastes and carry them to the blood stream.

Unlike the cardiovascular system, the lymphatic system has no pump. Only the alternate contraction and relaxation of the muscles moves the lymphatic fluid "uphill" through capillaries and one-way valves to the upper chest for cleansing. Inverting the body so that gravity works with, not against, these one-way valves stimulates the flow of lymph system, helping to clear toxins from the body.

Your heart must work against gravity to pump blood up to your brain, which is the body's largest consumer of oxygen. Inversion is a simple way to improve circulation to the upper body.

When inverting, you are helping your heart to move the blood from your feet, legs, and lower body. This allows the blood in your limbs to circulate more easily, which may help to drain blood from varicose veins.

The experience of thousands of people who invert regularly is that it gives us the relief from back pain we have been looking for. Just as important, we gain the rejuvenating effects of inversion on the entire body, providing health benefits far beyond the relief of back pain.

The Proper Form Myth

A comment from one of my YouTube viewers addressed the poor lifting form that I used in my "Arms" Shock Routine video. From the instant that I reviewed the finished footage of the video I knew that my sloppy form would become a topic of intrest to someone. So, I waited. My plan from the beginning was to respond to the form issue with a blog post if ever a viewer broached the subject. The subject has been brought up, so here is the post.

Please consider the following.

In this example,  I will say each set must be completed within 30 seconds.

Using proper lifting form, if, within 30 seconds, you moved 20 pounds for 10 reps, at the end of the set you will have moved a total of 200 pounds (20 pounds X 10 reps = 200 lbs).

Using fair to good form, if, within 30 seconds, you moved 20 pounds for 15 reps, at the end of the set you will have moved a total of 300 pounds (20 pounds X 15 reps = 300 lbs).

Which of these sets will put the greatest demand on the body? Correct - the fair to good form set. Because a greater total amount of weight was moved within the same 30 second period.

The greater total amount is all your body cares about when it comes to building muscle. It strives to meet the greater total amount demand. It could care less about proper form. Muscles only respond to the demands associated with the form being used.

The most physically powerful and visually impressive guys in the gyms often prove my point with regard
to proper form. I personally cannot remember one huge guy standing firm on the "proper form" issue. Unless he was being forced to do so by the equipment he was working out on.

Personal trainers and trainer wanna-bes, on-the-other-hand, are often found on soap boxes with proper form speaches for everyone within earshot.

I think many of us would progress faster if we spent more time picking the weight up and putting it down. And less time pretending that form will be the decisive factor in our ultimate success or failure.

John. This Soloflex User Got Focused And Made Some Major Changes

This post is one I am really excited to make!   It is about my new friend John and his recent physical transformation.    John's experience will not only inspire Soloflex users, but anyone wanting to shed a few pounds.   John is the first to demonstrate the Soloflex Muscle Machine as a valuable tool for building, toning and sculpting muscle while following a serious weight loss regimen.  Sure, others have undoubtedly used their machine during weight loss, but John is the first to document it publicly, as it happened.

                       

These are photos of John before and after and of his home gym.  John's gym is ultra streamline, with two classic Soloflex machines. His gym is clearly capable of doing everything any die-hard weightlifter or bodybuiler could need.  Johns gym also has  additional safety features.

                                                           

You can follow John's actual progress and posts by going to the comments sections of my Hybrid Soloflex videos. 

The following is a cut and paste from an email that John sent to me today outlining his diet and progress.  It serves as a great guide for anyone interested in taking control of their bodyweight issues.

"The most dramatic change came the last 3 weeks of my eating plan. I used a homeopathic product called hCG in drops form. The diet was very extreme 500 calories a day for three weeks. Now I'm on eating about 1100 calories a day. The first picture was me at 188 lbs.

"The second picture was me at 172lbs. I wanted to go down to 165 lbs but I lost another 17 lbs in 21 days. The whole time on the hCG I did some exercises on the Soloflex and with the free weights. I walked alot every day a very fast pace. Usually 3 miles on my way to and from work. The first part of the diet I followed the James Bond diet Daniel Craig used for Casino Royal.

"After the intial loss I plateaued which is when I discovered the hCG diet. I've been on it for 3 weeks with the drops and almost 2 weeks off the drops. I completely gave up all starchy carbs these past 5 weeks. I eat 2-3 melba toasts or bread sticks a day. At each of three meals I have 4-6 oz of protein, green vegestables, and a piece of fruit. a lot of coffee, tea, and water. I have much more energy, sleep better, and a whole new wardrobe. I even fit into my Army uniform from 31 years ago which is a size 38 when I was 29 years old. I just need to tighten up the slight bid of fat arund the middle. I took your advice and bought a fat burner called Recreate. I start tomorrow."

Done like an expert, John.  Thanks for leading the way.

How To Create Your Custom Workout Using The Gadget Located On The Right Side Of This Page

The workout gadget will produce two weeks of routines. As you progress through the input steps of the gadget you will be able to enter a start date for your routine to begin. Day 8 of the routine will be the same as day 1 of the routine. In other words, you will start the weekly routine all over again on day 8. Beginning with day 1.

The first box in the gaget requires your "Split information". Here you are able to decide how many times per week you want to work all of your major muscle groups. You are able to "Split" your full body workout up to span the course of a seven day period.

Box two requires you to decide how many days per week you want to do your "Split" workout. Said another way, "How Often" do you want work your entire body in a week?
You will not input information in the third section of the gadget. In this "Traning Days" section the gadget will inform you how your work and rest days will be broken up after you apply the informaion you have entered in the first and second boxes.

The "Weak Muscle Group" section is pure genius! We all have one or two week muscle groups. The workout gadget takes your individual weaknesses into consideration and builds your routine to focus more one those groups.
The "Exercises, you cannot do" area is self explanatory. Check the exercises listed that you can't do or prefer not to do. The workout gadget will give you exercise options which will allow you to still work the scheduled muscle group(s).

After you input all of this information and press Continue you will discover more options at the top of the gadget to select from.

Enjoy your workouts.  I hope you find the workout gadget as useful as I have.

The Second Thing You Need To Know To Get Ripped

After you have workd out a close estimate of how many calories you must limit yourself to daily, next you must lay out your diet. In the beginning you will have to literally read the nutritional lable on everything you plan to eat. Count calories. Count grams of protein and count grams of carbohydrates. At first this is a royal pain in the ass. But it is a necessary evil. After a while you will get used to your diet and will be able to roughly figure food values in your head. Then counting everything will not be necessary. Until then a small note book to log your food intake and gram values each day is a must-have. I still have my old pocket notebooks and will be posting some of my actual daily meals on this blog sometimes in the future.

Before I go further I should probably pause and tell you how log I had to follow this diet to get ripped. Well, in three months I was astounded by the results. By month 4 I had to begin to consuming empty calories just to keep from looking too freekish. Overall I had droped 20 lb of fat before I reached the degree of muscular definition that you see in the Soloflex Hybrid videos. Do not think for one moment that you cannot achieve the same results. You can. I have seen others do it, you can as well

The two main rules that you have to keep in mind when you intend to get ripped is to keep your daily consumption of carbohydrates between 100 - 300 grams. Focus on getting your carbs from complex carbohydrate sorces. Avoid simple carbohydrates. Or keep them to a minimum.

The second rule is to consume 30 - 40 grams of quality protien every 2 hours. This step serves multiple purposes in the process. 1. It keeps you from feeling hungry to the point that you lose control and stray off your diet. 2. Your body has to use more fuel to digest protien than it does for other food components, which means you will burn more calories. 3. You will meet your muscles REAL protien requirement needs. Most people who workout aren't even close. As a result their progress from their workout routines often lag.

A high protien diet will require you to drink a lot of liquid. Drink often (limit alcohol. Most alcohol has way too many carbs) while on this diet.

Begin the diet with your carbohydrates around 300 grams per day and slowly, work down to about 100 per day. Or when you reach the degree of cuts you desire adjust your carbohydrates to maintain that level. You will have to pay close attention to your body to do this.

Keep your breath fresh. The side effect of this diet is bad breath. The smell actually comes from your body using protien as fuel. The side effect passes as your body adjusts to your new diet. Until then be aware of your oral condition. Plenty of liquids will help keep your system flushed and keep the breath problem small.

Thats it. Get to it.

The First Step To Getting Ripped

Avoid the weight scale. Don't get on it more than twice per month. Use the mirror as your progress guage. Your bathroom scale cannot distinguish between fat and muscle. Your eyes can. So focus more on how you look than on how much you weigh when you are working on cuts and muscle definition.

Diet management will be your key to success. Not doing more sets or more reps or increasing your aerobic activity. All of those things are necessary but alone they won't get you there. If they could the gyms would be full of ripped guys instead of being full of puffy smooth guys trying to get ripped. The exception to this rule would be if you are doing extreme workouts like P90X or some other non-stop intense activity .
The problem with P90X type workouts is that it is difficult to maintain the results without working out like you are on speed everyday.


To get ripped you must know how much food you need per day and lay out those meals in advance. This means you have to carry prepared food with you when you are leaving home. Or you must carry enough protien supplements to replace high the protien meals you will require throughout the day.

This is how to closely estimate how much food you will need throughout each day. You will have to adjust theses calculations as you lose fat.

1. Find out your weight.

2. Next we must calculate the bare mimimum calories you will need per day to sustain yourself. To do this multiply the answer from line one by 10.5: Line 1 X 10.5 =

3. Consider your physical activity for the average day. If you are currently not getting any exercise multiply line 2. by 20%. If you are getting a light amount of exercise say, being on your feet at least 2 hours per day, multiply by line 2 by 30%. Multiple by 40% if you get moderate exercise every day. If you do intense exercise 3-4 times per week use 50%.

4. Add line 2 and line 3. This is your daily calorie need. Or close to it.

5. Now subtract 500 (this will allow you to lose about a pound per week). The resulting number is your ideal daily calorie intake.

If you follow this formula you will lose weight.

Inversion Weight Training Preparation

For anyone interested in inversion weight training I will make the following suggestions.

Spend time just hanging in the inverted postion for a week or two. Rapid internal changes will take a little time to get used to. Invest time in mounting and dismounting the machine. This is how I adjusted to the quick blood pressure changes which occur when standing up from the inverted postion. Workout slowly and carefully. Pay atttention to any changes in consciousness. At the first sign of dizziness stop and dismount the machine. After you dismount hold on to the machine to keep your balance until you feel oriented again. Your ability to reorient quickly will improve as you get used to the exercises.

My idea behind inversion weight training is simply an extreme attempt at muscle confusion. But it works. I consistently experience muscle soreness after I do inversion weight training exercises. I always use light weight when doing inversion exercises. My consistent ablily to get sore from using light weight when doing inversion exercises is how I guage the potential of this type of training. I consider inversion weight training a valuable, though certainly unusual, way of introducing muscle confusion. It is a great method for shocking the system when progress has stalled.

All of this is theory, of course. I could be doing nothing more than creating the slow on-set of mental retardation by weightlifting in an inverted position. But somebody has to volunteer to be the lab rat in the name of expanding our fitness horizons. It might as well be me.

How to build a freeweight attachment for your Soloflex Muscle Machine

The Length of the inside pipe is EXACTLY 40 3/4 inches (fourty and three quarters). 1/2 inch inside diameter blackpipe. Threaded on both ends. The exact cut of this pipe is important because the more precise it is the better able you will be to screw the plate ends on without having slack between the reducers and the Soloflex barbell arm. I screw my plate arms on and off as I need them. This will make more since later if it doesn't now.

Once you have the inside bar cut you will need to wrap it with duct tape. Not the entire bar. You will wrap it In sections. Remove all oil from the bar with alcohol or some other degreeser. After the degreeser on the pipe drys stick the ducttape to the pipe and begin to wrap the tape over itself. Just like it is on the cardboard spool you are removing the tape from.

What you are creating here is a shim (a spacer) for when you insert the pipe inside the Soloflex barbell arm. You want to stop taping the pipe when the taped pipe will barely slide into the Soloflex barbell arm. Repeat this about six times down the length of the pipe. Space the tape evenly along the pipe.

When you are finished slide the taped pipe into the barbell arm. It should be slightly difficult because the tape should be barely allowing the pipe to fit inside. When you are finished with this part of the assemebly you can check if you have done it right by spinning the barbell arm.

The barbell arm will be heavier because of the additional weight. Hold it with one hand on the top of the bend in the neck and spin the entire thing 360 degrees a few times. The pipe inside should stay put. If it doesn't remove it and add more duct tape. Make it stationary inside the barbell arm but removable in case you decide to use the machine in 100% classic mode.

The plate pipes should be cut 15 inches long. 3/4 inch galvanized pipe. You will need two, of course. Thread one end of each pipe. DO NOT REAM the uncut ends of the pipes. Reaming expands the ends and will prevent certain small holed plates from sliding onto the pipe. I had this problem in the beginning.

Add a 3/4 X 1/2 inch reducer to the threaded end of each pipe and tighten with the pipe wrenches.

Now screw these onto the pipe inside the barbell arm. At first REALLY tighten the plate pipes onto the barbel arm. I mean crank it down! Then, remove both plate pipes, reducers and all from the inside pipe. Take them off completely. Screw them on again. Repeat the tightening steps. Really crank it down for a second time! Remove the plate pipes again at the reducers.

From now on you will be able to tighten the ends down hand-tight.

Here are the hand-tight steps:

Make sure you have the same amout of thread sticking out on either end of the barbell arm. Screw the plate pipes onto the ends of the barball arm pipe. Stand in the middle of the barbell arm. Grab the plate pipes and turn in the the opposite directions Really handtight. They will hold. I have used up to 200 lbs with handtight torque. For heavier weight just attach the pipe wrenches to the Reducers and do the same opposing motion.
Thats it. Enjoy your workouts and have a great day!

My Intent With This Blog

My intent is to provide exercise, workout and fitness suggestions based on my experiences with the Soloflex Muscle Machine. I will sometimes offer limited advice on diet and weight control. The advice will be limited because I am no expert. I have no professional or formal fitness training. I am not a personal trainer and have never aspired to be one. Any advise I offer will be based on the trials, errors and successes encounted in the course of achieving my idea of physical fitness. Not much else.

As I create posts I will insert them across all of my internet blog sites. The topics featured on this blog site will be the same topics featured on my other blog sites. There will be differences with regard to which Soloflex Hybrid attachment is being discussed on the site, but not much differnce in overall blog content.

The execption will be my Stock Charting Blogs. Their content will be completely different from the Soloflex Hybrid blogs.

Fitness, Illegal Drugs, Tobacco Products, and Alcohol

One of my beliefs is that by constantly reminding ourselves of how amazing we are as individuals, the more we lessen our dependency on outside sources to fulfill us.

I am writting this post as a reminder.  Not as condemnation. You see, I am guilty of the very things  I am writting about.

Good health allows us to be strong , happy, smart and as skillful as we can possibly be. The worst thing about illegal drugs and the overuse of legal drugs is that they damage us from the inside. Our bodies and minds are wonderful, complicated systems that run like finely tuned machines when we take care of ourselves. Here are come reasons you should not use or not overuse illegal drugs, tobacco products and alcohol.

Illegal drugs can damage the brain.

Illegal drugs are "psychoactive." This means that they can change your personality and as well as the way you feel. They also impair your judgements. While under the influence of drugs, we are more likely to endanger your life or someone else's. You will also be less able to protect yourself from danger.

Many illegal drugs are addictive, which means that once a person starts taking them, stopping is extremely difficult. An addicts mind craves the drug and becomes dependent on the way it makes him or her feel. The drug user or abuser may become sick if the drug is discontinued and so may become a slave to the substance.

These are really basic facts which, do to their simplicity, hardly get a second consideration after being heard. We have all known these truths since childhood. Many of us have just forgotten that we ever knew.

Here are some reasons why you should moderate or avoid alcohol:

Alcohol is the second leading cause of death in our country. More than 100,000 people die every year because of drinking.

Adolescents are twice as likely as adults to be involved in fatal alcohol-related car crashes.

Half of all assaults against girls or women involve alcohol.

Here are a few reminders about Cigarettes:

Nicotine is highly addictive. Once you start smoking, it is very hard to stop, and smoking cigarettes causes lung damage, cancer and other diseases. Tobacco and nicotine related diseases kill more thatn 400,000 people every year.

Each day, 3,000 children begin smoking. One third of these youngsters will probably have their lives shortened because of tobacco use.

Children who smoke cigarettes are almost six times more likely to use other illegal drugs.

Just some food for thought . . .