[abcollins1]

Never said TM was on trial. I am weighing the sides of the case. I have a degree in legal studies, decided not to go to law school. So i look at the case based on the merits presented.

This is a kid who had a lot more issues than is usually talked about, he was kicked out of his mother's home and expelled from school for drugs and bad behaviour. This was not allowed in court so i cant take that into consideration. So i consider what the jury saw.

What did they see??  What they did hear was testimony and proof that Zimmerman was on the ground under Martin, that Zimmerman had the injuries to back up his side of events while the only injury that Martin had was the gun shot wound. Tapes were shown in court of Zimmerman walking the the police through what happened and this shows where Martin had to have circled back around to confront Zimmerman, rather than to go home.

Martin had a violent and well documented past with the police and his friend acted crazy and childish on the stand, rolling her eyes, making faces at the attorneys, coping an attitude, and like usually follows like. That is not the actions of a person who is taking the situation seriously nor of someone who friend was murdered and wants to see his "killer" punished..

I can tell you that my best friend was killed and that is certainly not how i acted when talking to prosecution.

And i dont know very many people who would be on the phone with their friend, say "i am being followed by someone" and not call the police and get home as quickly as possible to get help.

I actually think they were both in the wrong, but carrying a gun is not illegal, following someone and observing their behavior is not illegal, calling police about suspicious people after a string of burgularies is not illegal.

Honestly, who ever esculated the fight to the physical is the responsible party here, and no one really knows which one struck first (assault is illegal). Zimmerman claims he believed that Martin saw the gun and went for it, and that is the point where he shot him.

But with all of the evidence, i can not say that Trayvon was an innoccent bystander who just happend to walk by a vigilante cop wanna be and get his self shot for no reason. Apparently the jury didnt see it either. The case must be proven and there wasnt enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman was guilty of anything illegal.

Maybe he should have stayed in his truck, but the kid should have gone home… so under the law, there is no proof that meets the criteria.. again i am going by the legal definitions of what the jury had to look at and the evidence presented in court.

I could care less about race, i have briefed cases much worse than this….

[abcollins1]

The thing that gets me is, if this kid thought that he was being followed and was afraid, why did he not call 911 to say he was being followed, why did he not go straight home, and why circle back around to confront the "crazy" person??

This is all my questions according to what was shown in court.

Also, i think his friend acted horribly in court, and if that is what his friend acts like in a court room after her friend had been murdered, it leaves me wondering how he acted while alive and if he in fact did esculate the incident.

[abcollins1]

Wanting to add protein to your diet does not make you an athlete. I mean, if i want to add more chicken or beef or hemp powder to my diet, does that make me an athlete??

Protein is not divided into "hobby" and "athlete". Protein is just protein and powders are pretty much just a convienent and expensive way to add it. That person had no clue what they were talking about.

We see this a lot from bodybuilders, they say if you are training for the bikini division, you are not an athlete. Even though those girls work their tushies off. I hear it a  lof about crossfitters not being real athletes, because none of their "games" are real life scenaros. I hear it from crossfitters about cardio bunnies.. because they dont lift hard core…

I wish people would just accept that their way isnt every ones way and what makes you an athlete is the work you put into your sitation. I consider pole a sport, as it combines lots of the things that make fitness as a whole. Strength, flexibility, cardio training, functionality, etc…

Besides if someone tells you you are not an athlete, i think an appropriate response is to tell them to hold their entire body weight sideways in the air and then tell you you are not an athlete or "exercising"

seriously, outside of pole, how many people can do flag or iron x????  What we do is amazing, even if we dont think so sometimes, and others may not understand the level of training that goes into it, They think we just swing around a pole ;D

 

[abcollins1]

If you are not losing weight, its because there is a discrepency somewhere. And there could be many reasons why.

If you have been doing the same routine for a while, your body may have adapted, become more effecient at it (burn less calories than before) and you may need to change your exercise routine.

If you start with super low calories, again your body may adapt to that quicker than you think causing you to hit a plateau sooner. At that point you need to take a diet break, bring cals back up to maintence for a bit, then start over by slowly lowering cals again.

If you have been dieting a very long time (more than 4 months), again your body may have adapted and you would need to take a diet break, come to maintence for a few weeks, and then start lowering cals again.

There is no "super food" no "magic" pill or potion that will cause you to lose weight any faster. RBK's may help to a degree, but its a very small percentage and its not the end all be all of weight loss.

Ketosis also isnt the way to lose weight, Atkins and all those fad diets work for a bit because they all use the same underlying principle of eat less/move more, its just packaged a bit differently each time…..

I have yet to see a client.. human or animal… that was unable to lose weight by following the eat less/move more mantra..even those with medical conditions. Some people may have a harder time of it due to some of the above reasons..but all "diets" are based on the restriction of calories at their core. Most even come with the disclaimer of "when used with proper diet and exercise"…why would they need to put that in if their answer was the miracle we have been waiting for??

 

[abcollins1]

I pole in my garage too. Basically i have a whole gym set up going on in there. What i do is to open the garage door a little (maybe a foot or 2) while i am home. This allows the air to circulate and keeps it much cooler in there. I also have a fan that runs while i am home to help. I usually pole at night pretty late, just how my sched works, but it gets cool enough for me to work out.

 

[abcollins1]

I currently work at 3 different gym facilities, plus know many other owners of studios. This time of year is tough for fitness, memberships and classes are down across the board. Usually things pick back up as school starts. People dont take as many vacations, they get a schedule going again, and some need to lose the summer "indulgece". January is the "good time" for fitness since loads of people make resolutions and they want to "try something new". You will probably see another decline around the halloween/thanksgiving/christmas times as well.

 

[abcollins1]

The truth is that supplements are just that, a SUPPLEMENT to good diet and healthy lifestyle. It should never be the basis of your diet and, as the others have said, anything you take should be researched throughly.

I take a few supplements as I said. I take a multi on DOCTORS orders. Found out a few years ago that i have a couple of nutirents that my body has a hard time getting from my foods. Even in a diet rich in those nutrients, my body just doesnt cooperate sometimes, leading to physical symptoms. I take a multi and much of those symptoms are alleviated.

I also take protein drinks at times. Sometimes i am running late, need cals and protein and dont have time to cook or make things. A protein supplement is useful at those times.

I also use a pre workout, because i teach a lot of classes and need to keep my energy high to motivate others in their workout. Other people count on my energy and motivation to keep them going in an hour long class. Sometimes that energy is hard to get when you have done 4 classes that week, plus lifted weights, plus pole classes, throw in the care of kids/home and volunteer work, and yeah i tend to get a bit tired!

So there are reasons to add supplements, but nothing will "tone and strengthen" and many supplements/products make a lot of claims that they cant back up. Top it off with lots of companies who use cheap products and charge crazy prices and you really need to know what you are taking and why before you buy.

Obviously, if i followed the advice of just eat, i would be not be able to function on a daily basis, nor would i be able to make a living.

[abcollins1]

Please know that the 10% is not correct. 10% body fat is BELOW  what is necessary fat for a woman. Most women will have flat bellies around 20 – 18 %. at 10% body fat, a woman is simply shredded and must take some pretty extreme (and not advised) methods to get there. That is body builder low…

http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages

This is one of the best descriptions WITH visual  pictures of body fat percentages for men and women.

If someone is trying to get rid of belly fat, then the proper calorie and nutrients need to be taken, as well as being at a particular body fat level. It is however, not so low as to be impossible.

 

[abcollins1]

I take some supplements. I mean what exactly is in this product for "strength and toning" (there is no such thing as toning anyways). Honestly, you dont really need any supplements for strength. The only thing that will build strength is to build muscles, tendons, ligaments etc.. and that is only done by eating proper nutrients and working out to break down the muscles (being on a progressive program).

No supplement is going to build mass or strength.

[abcollins1]

I second craigslist… there are 2 stages on sale where i am for $150 each. people are always selling their poles.

[abcollins1]

I second craigslist… there are 2 stages on sale where i am for $150 each. people are always selling their poles.

[abcollins1]

My experience has been that these ameature nights are nothing more than a ploy to find new girls to dance at the club. They really arent for people who are serious about poling.

If you want to compete, then look for the serious pole competitions… if you want to have some fun and "try out" the club… then go for it..

Besides, you start throwing out a bunch of pole tricks, then every one will know you are not really an amature.

 

[abcollins1]

I practice it and have 2 hammocks at my house as well. Right now I am using the TRX mount that I have on the ceiling, working on get a better mount set up. Im lucky in that i work at a gym that has the class, so free classes for me and the instructors that we have are really great.

All you need is the mounting and the hammock and enough room/high enough ceilings. I put up a video of a few things i had been working on and learning at the beginning of the month.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEln2salTh0

 

[abcollins1]

I should have updated this a while ago so thanks for bumping it!

We made some decisions on how to decorate the space and I am very happy with it so far, though i am not finished. But its a process, ya know..

Since we have decided that the space is a muli-purpose area, we went with the professional gym rubber flooring. Its easy to clean, protects the concrete floor and looks very good in the space. I also have found that I no longer need the rubber skid pad that Lil Mynx suggests under their poles, since basically the whole floor is a rubber pad. This stuff is not cushy though. It is rock hard. So now i am looking at crash pad options.

I bought mirrors from home depot, spent 150 bucks for their 3×5's and 1 smaller one. I have one set of curtains that i hung up to hide the "storage" area, bought at walmart, rod and curtain set around 10 – 15 bucks. I have a room screen that will go up to hide the tools, it needs new hinges though so I need to get on that.

I have added a TRX and mount, aerial yoga hammocks (from aerialempowerment.com), Spin bike, power rack, weights and 2 benches, and turned our old baby crib into a kids art center since I first posted. Im not done with it, i add something as i can. Overall i am happy with the space so far, though i have some more plans to work on. I will have to add a picture

[abcollins1]

Ok, is it me, or does that story not jive??

First MissPole, you stated that this Tina person (who i do not know) called the venue and asked THE VENUE if they wanted it open to the public. So you claim the VENUE chose not to have it open due to liability issues.

In your last paragraph, you tell CaseyKill to call the SPONSOR (who would be TINA) and ask, yet you stated that the Sponsor did not chose to close the competition.

Casey called the Venue, which in your story, was the one who closed the competition, why would they not tell her it was closed at the time of the call??

Plus, waivers dont take that long to draft, not to mention they dont hold up in court anyways.

On the other side, what is stopping someone from claiming they are from any other studio or that they are their own studio???

I just dont see the sense in the "rebuttal".