First, machines are not safer, especially Smith machine. Here is a great quote I found on forums from Paul Chek:

People get a pattern overload from using the Smith machine. The more fixed the object, the more likely you are to develop a pattern overload. This is due to the fact that training in a fixed pathway repetitively loads the same muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints in the same pattern, encouraging micro-trauma that eventually leads to injury. If Johnny Lunchpail always uses a Smith machine for his bench presses, he ends up working the same fibers of the prime movers in the bench press all of the time: triceps brachii, pectoralis major, long-head of the biceps, anterior deltoids, and serratus anterior. But he can’t change the pathway, the bar will always be in the same position. This commonly leads to chronic injury over time. The weight is stabilized for you. However, the joints operate in multiple planes. Use of the Smith machine, greatly decreases stabilizer activity. That creates a problem when the trainee returns to free-weight training. When that happens, the trainee is exposed to the three-dimensional environment called real life.

Plus, when you work out with machines you lift more weight and you seem to be stronger. But you aren’t really. When the time comes to pick up the couch or push a car in real life, well, you might be surprised..and not in the pleasant way. Not to mention that we as skinny guys already are a bit weaker than others (it sucks but we have to accept this fact and bust our asses to get stronger). So, a second point against machines is that they don’t include the stabilizer muscles in training and that’s why you can lift more and you are not as strong as you could be if you trained with free weights!

So, the reasons why free weights RULE are:

1. Stabilizer muscles trained, this means more strength, better balance in real life

2. More muscle micro trauma, this means better gains because your body is challenged by the exercises better

3. Best exercises like squats, dead lifts, overhead presses, barbell rows, bench press are done with free weights

4. Allow more variations in range of motion

But, this doesn’t mean you can’t use machines at all.. not necessarily. Adding leg press to squatting, lunges and straight-legs dead lifts are good. They give your quads a good workout. But this is just an additional exercise and no way it should replace the free weight exercises.

So definitely choose free weights over machines when possible. This will help you grow bigger and stronger and get that beach body faster!

Cheers,

Adrian

There is something terribly sexy about tattoos particularly arm tattoos for guys. Through the years it has become more than just a means of self expression; it has become a fashion statement as well. It also shows how tough a man can be and how rough he can get. Gone were the days that tattoos are identified with ex-convicts and rock stars. Now anyone can have them just for the fun of it.

Arm tattoos for guys became so popular nowadays. They come in all forms and designs as well as colors. Guys choose to have arm tattoos simply because it can be seen easily with out taking their clothes off. It is also less painful to have them in the arms too.

Should you choose to have tattoos, before you have them it is best to ask questions first. Here are a few things you need to consider. First is the design. Tattoos are forever and it is of utmost importance to have something written on your skin that you really love and you live by. Try not to choose a design just because it is the in thing at the moment. Choose a classic design that will still be pleasing say ten years after. Remember that if you decide to remove it, it is both costly and at the same time it is a minor medical procedure that would require skin perforation and antibiotics to prevent infection as a follow up treatment.

Most arm tattoos for guys are either statements tattoos with minimal graphics or just plain text. You can play around with the design for as long as it compliments your statement.

Choose a licensed tattoo artist or shop where to have them. Getting a tattoo is considered a minor medical procedure. When shopping for a tattoo artist, ask if you can see his equipment before making a deal with them. Check out their shop and see if it is clean or if they are using hygienic practices and equipments. Remember that getting a tattoo will involve skin puncture and blood. As we all know several diseases can be transmitted through this particularly AIDS and hepatitis. Even though this is uncommon, it wouldn’t hurt if you are careful. I’d rather be careful than sorry in the end.

Be prepared as well to pay more if you want a proper tattoo you can be proud of. Licensed tattoo artist tend to charge more simply because they have gone to special training courses on tattoos. They have invested as well on equipments and ink they use. High quality inks that are hypoallergenic and give optimum results are a bit expensive compared to cheap ones. Remember that good tattoos are not cheap and cheap tattoos are not any good.

Arm tattoos for guys would be more pleasing if the part where they have their tattoo is toned or buffed accordingly. It would be emphasized even more and displaying say your triceps and you biceps won’t be a problem. I mean who wants to see a tattoo on flabby arms anyway?

Listen, if there is every a time in your life when flirting is easy; it has to be in your 20s. You have your whole life ahead of you, and this time is definitely a learning experience for any guy. So if there are a few rejections along the way, it’s important not to sweat them, because those who keep trying eventually find the right girl. Here are some of the best flirting tips you will ever find on the Internet:

The Subtle Eye Contact

Women love guys who pay close attention to them. One of the best ways to show her is by keeping eye contact during your conversation. It’s always been a way for us to flirt with a woman without actually coming across as flirtatious. This tip alone will help you get plenty of dates, and most likely she’s going to return the favor. Oh, this also works even if she’s sitting across the room, especially if you add a nice subtle smile to go along with it.

If she does the same, it’s an indication you can approach her and see where it goes.

Body Language

Whenever a woman touches you during conversation there is almost always a reason for it. In fact, if you’re doing everything right, she will make an excuse to touch you on the shoulder, arm, hand, or leg. This is a clear indication she is interested, especially if she does it more than once. When a guy does it you need to do it in a way that doesn’t seem like flirting at all. The easiest way is when you’re passing by and brush against them or tell a joke and touch her during the laughter.

Practicing Your Approach

In the movies we always see the guy who has a crush on a girl, but doesn’t know how to approach her. He usually stands in front of the mirror (at home or a public restroom) and goes over his lines time and time again. It’s quite entertaining, but it’s also something you should consider doing yourself. See what you look like when you approach a woman. Record what you say and then listen to what it sounds like.

This might seem like a crazy notion, but practicing your flirting with women is very important. It can help you feel more comfortable in the situation, and since you only have one shot it can also help you come up with the right approach.

These are three of the best pieces of advice we can give you. There are several other things to consider as well like; ending a conversation if it’s not going well, how to make it fun and entertaining, why smiling is crucial, and tons of other areas. The ones you see here today are enough to help you have an easier time flirting with any woman in the room.

Just make sure you are cool with rejection, but this will never be a 100% guaranteed plan.

It is common knowledge that women like to be chased instead of doing the chasing. If there is a guy you want and you do not want to pursue him and make it obvious that you want him, then try to follow these tips that will make him run after you.

Make him think you are worth the chase

No guy is going to want to chase you if he does not think you are worth it! Look like the “Prize”! Every time he sees you he should want you desperately. You can dress in a way that makes you extremely attractive to him and goad him in ways that make him want to run after you.

Make other guys run after you

If you are popular and other guys have their eyes on you, he is bound to want to be the one who wins you! This will make him chase hard after you. Throw him tidbits of encouragement and give him reason to believe that you would not resist him in any way. This will motivate him to run after you.

Look unattainable and hard to catch

No matter how sexy you look, if you come across as cheap, easy and too needy, he is not going to chase you. On the other hand, if he thinks that you are one hard woman to catch and unattainable, he will do his best to prove that he is well able to pin you down! He will want to show off his prize!

Become his fantasy woman

If he looks at you as the woman of his dreams, he will automatically chase you. Become his fantasy woman. Drive him crazy with desire. Dress in a way that makes him wildly attracted to you. Let him see fascinating facets of your personality that will make him want to chase you.

Stop chasing him

Have you been chasing him? If you have, it could be the reason why he is running! Don’t forget that men like to do the chasing sometimes and he could be one of these type of men who love a good chase and hates the thought of the woman running after him. Stop chasing him and pretend that you have other things to do! He will be tempted to run after you.

Make the chase a challenge

Don’t get caught too easily. Make him feel like he has to prove himself, his abilities and his capabilities in getting the woman he wants. Let him satisfy the urge to compete for something he desires with all his heart and he will run after you.

Hint that you want to be caught

A man needs to know that a woman will not reject his advances. This will motivate him further to chase her! If you keep encouraging him by giving him certain looks and smiles, he is sure to feel that you want to get caught!

While the days of kicking sand in a skinny guy’s face may have long gone, the fear and apprehension that we get from taking our shirts off on a busy beach are still very much here, so figuring out how to get a beach body is a major skinny guy question.

Let’s face it, the beach is the ultimate stage…there’s no hiding anywhere, so looking at your best is seriously important. And you know, that’s where girls go to look for guys, so you might as well be the one to stand out.

For skinny guys, the most important area to build muscle on is the upper body as this is the most noticeable, and tends to be where your bones stick out the most (my collar bones were my own personal nightmare!)

Here is a great upper body workout that will show you how to get a beach body fast – expect major gains within weeks.

How To Get A Beach Body Skinny Guy Workout – Upper Body

An ideal upper body workout for skinny guys will work on the 5 major muscle groups, and work each of them no more than 3 times per week, as rest is an essential part of muscle growth.

You need to make sure that you are lifting heavy weights – try to get a friend or gym partner who can spot you, as your final reps should be almost impossible to do. The rep numbers I’ve given are just a guide – if you can only manage 6 on your last set, don’t worry.

Make sure you always warm up and cool down sufficiently and stretch to avoid injury.

Chest

Chest Press – this is the ultimate chest and upper body compound exercise when thinking how to get a beach body…expect massive growth and size from this one. You can also add some variety some days by inclining the bench to build your upper pec muscles (these were great for hiding my collar bones that I mentioned earlier)

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Back

Bent Over Barbell Rows – these can also be performed with dumbbells instead of a barbell. Make sure you don’t curl you back on this; keep your abs tight and focus all the movement on your upper back muscles.

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Close Grip Chin-Ups can be performed instead if you don’t have access to a gym.

Shoulders

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press – these are fantastic for building big shoulders and trapezius muscles (those that join your neck and your shoulders), and will help you to get a beach body fast.

Focus on utilizing your shoulder muscles and avoid “cheating” by using your lower back muscles – that will only serve to cause you injury.

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Biceps

Standing Barbell Curls – like the bench press, this is probably one of the most famous exercises in any gym, and a real game-changer when thinking about how to get a beach body. Grab the bar in an underhand grip and lift by “squeezing” the biceps. Don’t rock backwards and forwards like most guys do – it doesn’t help you to build muscle quickly and can cause you injury.

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Triceps

Dips – these can be performed with your heels on the ground or raised on a bench (the higher they are the more difficult the exercise).

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

(If you have any wrist problems – try performing Tricep Press Downs instead, using an overhand grip on a cable machine at the gym)

Guy Gets Girl is one of the better dating manuals on the net today. It is replete with brilliant and insightful advise. This is unsurprising since Guy Gets Girl is written by a woman. Moreover, Tiffany Taylor, the author is a dating expert and has written many articles and books on the subject of dating and relationships. She has given away many of the secrets of women in this book and ladies have been quite understandably annoyed at this betrayal.

Tiffany Taylor has used her own experience and her expertise to write this manual and this has made it hugely popular. In fact this manual is in its fourth year of publication, is constantly updated with fresh knowledge and more tips.

This book, Guy Gets Girl, has three sections, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, that deal with men who are extremely shy and introverted, the regular sort of guy and men who would like to score heavily. All three sections are written in a simple and understandable way and are extremely useful.

The guide has a wealth of information and tips such as how to approach women, how to ask them out on a date, how to talk to them etc. Many men are conversationally inept, which is why they are alone. Women use conversation as the main way to judge a man. Any man who can converse well is not alone. This is one of the key areas that the book deals with.

It does not matter if a man is an average-looking guy, it does not matter if he is shy or poor. What the guide does is helps any guy get an insight into the way a woman thinks and what a woman needs. All women, even the extremely attractive and unapproachable ones, need to be satisfied emotionally. This is the only way past their defenses. For that a man has to be confident and understand the woman. The book teaches how to do that. What women really want will never be a mystery to the man who reads this book and this will make him more confident in approaching the woman he admires and ask her for a date.

Of course this is just a guide. One has to go and make the first move alone and that can be a tough thing to do. But after reading the book, you will have the insight and invaluable information to help you do this with confidence and make the right moves.

We have seen it happen all around us. From celebrities to the guy you have been dating, all seem to have one thing in common. They all manage to move on quite fast while we sit around moping and weeping for them. Here are some of the reasons why guys seem to move on quickly.

Social conditioning
One can very conveniently blame the social conditioning that we all are given as we are growing up. Just like it most women believe that shedding tears when you get dumped is quite the acceptable thing to do, a man cannot be expected to do the same. He has his macho image to protect.

Appearance
A man also has to “appear” to be in control and fine at all times. It is again his conditioning and ego that makes him want to have a controlled and calm exterior. But since most people want to see through that he begins to date and exhibit that he’s moving on.

Coping mechanism
Both the genders have their own set of coping mechanisms. While women sit at home and cry men go out and get drunk. In all of this it seems that the guy is already moving on while the woman suffers silently.

Focus on the “tough” image
A man has to protect his tough image with religious fervor. It is an integral part of his being which he cannot allow to tarnish. In order to keep up his tough image a man portrays that he is moving on even though he might be hurting badly inside.

Fear
Men fear that people will see their vulnerability. While they do want some of the emotional time off they also fear that if they do so their vulnerable side will be exposed and all will see his insecurities and fears.

Emotional immaturity
Emotional immaturity also plays a big role in guys moving on quickly. A lot of men go by their primal instincts where they feel that they have to mate as many times as possible so that their existence is substantiated. These emotionally unstable men cannot be in relationships for long and also move on very fast since they are never really tied down to someone truly.

The pressure to prove
A lot of men also move on very fast because they want to prove to those near to them their desirable status. By replacing an ex very fast they are just trying to show their connection with their ex was easily replaceable and that he needs no time to grieve.

How to attract guys is easier than how to attract men, because ladies looking for guys usually do not have their sights set on a long term relationship. Their idea for the future, if developed at all, is very open and by no means imminent!

Guys are looking for a ‘good time’ not a ‘long time!’ This is not to say they are not available for a long term relationship, but it is definitely not of prime importance to them and if you start talking marriage you might just find him running away as fast as he can.

The 5 Rules of How to Attract Guys

1. Stay in the Present

Let the future of the romance take care of itself. Enjoy yourself, have fun.

2. Don’t Talk Marriage

Need I say more? Even older men run a mile at the mention of ‘marriage’ or ‘commitment’. Take each day at a time you have your whole life ahead of you.

3. Be Fun to be with

You have to be fun to be with. The more fun you are to be with and the more he enjoys your company the more he will want to spend time with you.

4. Don’t Take Advice from your Friends

This is the most difficult of the rules to follow and you will certainly be tempted at some point or other to break this rule. You can still talk things over with your friends, but try not to take their advice, because although they mean well, they are not professionally trained or even experience enough to give great advice. Your Mom might be better to get advice from, but try to ask someone who has successful relationships, someone you can learn from.

5. Be Yourself

You never know how a relationship might turn out. The guy you are meeting and dating today could very well turn out to be the guy you end up spending the rest of your life with. He could even end up being the friend or brother of the guy you end up spending the rest of your life with. Be true to yourself. There are countless women out there in miserable dead end relationships who can’t even figure out what is wrong or what it is that they want. They have no idea about how to attract men or how to keep them interested – don’t let this be you!

Being yourself might just be the most important of the 5 rules of how to attract guys, simply because if you pretend to be someone you are not you can easily lose touch with the real you, with your wants and desires and it is harder to reconnect to them later on than you might think. Also, you will always be worrying whether the guy will like the real you or not. If he is not going to like you rather turn him away at the door, before you fall for him only to discover he doesn’t like the real you after all!

Always remember…

“Attracting guys should be fun!”

That way if you are not having fun and enjoying yourself, you know it is time to take a rain check, because you may be on the wrong track. If you are on the wrong track, this way you can get back on it without having to double back too far!

With gardening come routine jobs that are fun at first, but they might get a bit boring with time. Your challenge as head gardener is to keep children’s interest level high with a combination of education, games and contests.

It all starts with Knowing Your Bugs. There are “Good Bugs” – the 10 Most Wanted”. These are the guys you want to encourage to hang out in the family garden.

Then there are the not-so-good-guys – actually the “10 Most Wanted”. These bugs are wanted in the Wild, Wild West way – dead or alive. These guys eat or suck the juices out of your plants. What’s that you say? No such thing as a good insect? The only good insect is a dead one? Shame on you. These good guys eat the garden’s bad guys.

Teach your kids how to recognize the good bugs from the bad. Here’s a primer:

The Top 10 Most Wanted – The Good Garden Guys

1 Earthworms: They aerate the soil by tunneling, and their excrement fertilizes it. I call them “poopers”.

2 Pillbugs: poopers

3 Dung beetles: poopers (The name says it all!)

4 Bumble bees: pollinate plants

5 Praying mantises: eat bad pests

6 Lacewings: eat aphids

7 Ladybugs: eat aphids and other pests

8 Braconid wasps: eat hornworms

9 Butterflies: pollinate plants

10 Wasps: pollinate plants.

The Dirty Dozen: The Bad Garden Bugs

If you’re handpicking, you have two options: pick and crush (not for the faint of heart), or pick and toss into a jar half full of water and a dash of liquid soap.

1 Aphids (Spray off with water)

2 Corn earworms (handpick)

3 Tomato hornworms (handpick)

4 Squash vine borers (insert wire in hole in stem and skewer)

5 Cucumber beetles (handpick)

6 Cutworms (use cutworm collars – 2-inch sections of toilet-paper or paper towel rolls pushed into the ground around stems of transplants)

7 Cabbage loopers (handpick)

8 Mealybugs (spray off with water or swab off with alcohol)

9 Spider mites (spray off with water)

10 Snails and slugs (handpick, crush or set out beer traps)

11 Earwigs (trap and crush)

12 Whiteflies (spray off with water or set out yellow sticky traps).

In giving dating advice to guys on our dating women radio show, one of the things that we hammer men over is their ego.

A healthy ego and self-image can be a good thing but going overboard can hurt your cause with women.

Some guys, when they really like a woman, cannot see past their own interest level and ego.

“I like her, she has to like me back” is a chant sung over and over by some inner voice for them because they:

Pursue.

Pursue.

Pursue.

And then pursue some more.

Some guys cannot fathom a scenario when the woman just is not into them. They are generally shocked and surprised when the object of their affection gives them a hearty YAWN in the face of their advances.

Ever see the movie where the guy is FLAT REJECTED but keeps coming at her? By the end of the picture, she realizes what a great guy he is and how wrong she has been. They fall in love. Cue the sappy music over the freeze frame of them holding hands. Fade to black. Roll credits.

Go ahead and try that in real life.

“If you do not leave me alone, I am going to call the police.”

Worse yet, maybe she is the type that has low self esteem and she will go out with you and MARRY YOU because there was not a better offer. You are essentially the last man standing after a series of bad relationships.

That is enough for some guys because they cannot get past their own ego to see reality. In their twisted perceptions they figure that she really did finally see the light, just like in the movies.

Well, after the closing credits our “hero” is going to get tortured for the rest of his life, dealing with a woman who is going to punish him for not being Johnny or Hal (or whoever it was that was on her A LIST and got away).

Remember guys, when she rejects your advances, BELIEVE IT NOW. She is NOT interested.