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DIET!

July 2017 Kshs. 400.00

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We are proud to present to you this issue of Platinum Fitness Magazine.

Weight training started primarily with men. It has come a long way. Today, Women who embark on strength training view muscle definition as a fashion statement–the perfect complement to a sleeveless dress or a string bikini.

Platinum Editorial

WEIGHT TRAINING:

EVELYN : Evelyn Okinyi Owala

A sport for all

Photography by:

Being fit is not only healthy but FUN! Welcome to OUR WORLD. A couple of generations ago it was called weightlifting. Later on the toughness of the word was tenderized and changed to weight training. Then the term took on its literal meaning and came to be known as pumping iron.

Today, the fashionably correct like to call it resistance exercise. To use, the originators of the form, it has always been part of what we call bodybuilding.

By whatever name, it has now become one of the most popular forms of exercise. Besides competitive bodybuilders, with muscles chiseled like cut diamonds, today’s bodybuilder might well be an actor or actress shaping

Charles Owala

Bodybuilding or weight resistance training is for those who desire more defined muscle and strength—but it is also for those in aerobics, all sports, martial arts, dancing, boxing, wrestling—anyone who wants to improve their health and appearance.

up for the new look in movies. Or the postmenopausal woman preserving bone mass. Or one dieting in an attempt to shed an unhealthy bodyweight, or even a banker who just want to be fit and be alert mentally.

We know that dieting alone doesn’t work. A better combination is a low-fat diet paired with exercise to avoid the inevitable lowering of your metabolic rate that occurs with the sedentary lifestyle.

More recently, obesity experts say that the perfect weight-loss program is a

combination of two kinds of exercise: aerobics and weights, along with a low-fat diet. The effects of aerobic exercise—a confirmed fat-burner—is boosted with regular bodybuilding weight training exercise. Although running, stair climbing, cycling and aerobic dancing will burn fat, weight training increases the muscle mass, or specifically the number and size of muscle fibers that add to the body’s energy furnace: the metabolic factory that burns calories. You divert calories from being stored as fat to build and PLATINUM FITNESS

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Platinum Editorial maintain the expanded muscle tissue. More muscles means an increase in the metabolic rate, which continue to burn more calories while the body is at rest.

While high-impact aerobics like jogging and aerobic dancing on hard surfaces can cause bone and muscle damage, weightlifting properly executed is far less likely to cause wear and tear. In fact, weight training can prevent injury by strengthening and balancing opposing muscle groups and toughening the body in general.

Weights are a vital part of training programs of most of today’s athletes, no matter what the sport.

Weight training has a salubrious effect unmatched by any other activity. Strong muscles can prevent a host of health problems associated with aging. Exercise that builds muscle also builds bone. It wards off osteoporosis while preventing low-back pain by strengthening the muscles supporting the spine.

Studies have shown that people in their 80s and 90s have been able EVELYN : Evelyn Okinyi Owala

to discard their wheel-chairs and canes after a few months of weight training. With a combination of aerobics, good nutrition and weights, people in their golden years can put muscles into their immune systems, developing an immunity that functions at a level similar to that of people half their age.

Weight training started primarily with men. It has come a long way. Today, Women who embark on strength training view muscle definition as a fashion statement–the perfect complement to a sleeveless dress or a string bikini. They wear muscle like expensive gems.

Muscles make more than a beautiful body. Strength training is the most effective anti-aging method you can employ. It helps prevent muscle and bone loss, a flagging metabolism, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. We now know that life’s terms are flexible and open-ended. We are rethinking the “natural” limits of aging. Exercise leads us to imagine exquisite possibilities.

PLATINUM FITNESS is published monthly by DENVER HEIGHTS FITNESS CONSULTANTS LTD Incorporated in Kenya.

ISBN 978 9966 1909 25 Phone +254 731 835 955 +254 731 321 031 Publisher Denver Heights Fitness Consultants Ltd Director Noor Mohamed Editor Lowe Allen Creative Manager Benedict Mackenzie Marketing & Doreen Marete Customer Service Sales Laura Mbogho Accounts Faiza Chibule Contributing Mohamed Faraj Shawn Ray Miguel Randal Kristel Hope Wayne Curtis Michelle Noella Andrew Ron Advisory: Chris Omedo (Chairman KBBF)

ON THE COVER MR. KENYA 2016 RASHID ISSA

PRINTERS: Charles Owala

Platinum Script Print & Design Publishers Tel: +25431 835 955 Email: platinumscript@gmail.com

Photography by:

EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: We accept no responsibility for unsolicited proposals and submissions. Please make all editorial related- enquiries by email to denverheightsfitness@gmail.com ID STATEMENT Issue #4 of Platinum Fitness Magazine (ISBN 978 9966 1909 25) is published monthly, 12 times a year by Denver Heights Fitness Consultants. Mombasa, Kenya. Basic price Kshs. 400 per issues. All trademarks, designs, images, logos, slogans and copyrights are the exclusive property of their respective owners. ©2017 Denver Heights Fitness Consultants, All Rights Reserved.

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INSIDE

PLATINUM FITNESS MAGAZINE

JULY 2017 Volume 04

FEATURES 03 Editorial Weight Training: A Sport For All.

08 Diet And Nutrition 09 Lose Weight Faster 11 Monitoring Your Body Fat

13 Target Training 14 Buttocks-Hips Workout Routine 22 Alternative Training Program 24 Exercise For Better Body Image 25 Are You Self-Conscious In The Bedroom?

26 Family Matters 26 Marriage Break-Up: Why Divorce?

30 Health 31 How To Prevent Burnout At Work Place 34 Is Your Child On Drugs?: How To Tell 46 Recipes: You Are What You Eat And More Importantly, You Are What You Absorb.

36 Motivation 36 Leaders Or Bullies?

Understanding Management Spirit At Workplace

49 Taming The Monster Called Debts: Getting Out Of Debt Is Like Losing Weight. The Problem With Trying To Lose Weight Is That Nature Abhors A Vacuum.

40 COVER STORY 41 THE UNSTOPPABLE “GIFT” THE 2016 MR. KENYA RASHID “GIFT” ISSA: EXCLUSIVE! +TRAINING SECRETS 6

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Photography by: Charles Owala

49 Money Matters

Questions | Answers

THE SEATED DUMBBELL PRESS In a seated position with your feet firmly planted on the floor, grasp two dumbbells with both hands Curl the weight up to the shoulder area. Hold the dumbbells at shoulder level.

Keep your back straight and your head up

Beginner into Bodybuiling?

YOUR ANSWERS TO THE FITNESS QUESTIONS THAT ARE KEEPING YOU UP AT NIGHT. BY MOHAMED FARAJ

Francis Loti : Mtu loti

Make sure you rotate your palms so they are facing forward.

How many sets should a beginner to bodybuilding perform on each exercise?

One set of 15 reps for the first two weeks.

Then3 sets of 10 reps for the next

Q:

Every seasoned bodybuilder I meet has a training injury of some kind. How can I avoid injuries?

A:

Warm up with one or two sets using moderate weights for 15 to 20 reps. Then you are ready to give it all you’ve got for 3 or 4 hard working sets. Don’t show off by trying to lift a weight that is way heavier than you are used to lifting.

Q:

I have built a reasonable body but now I want to build some real strength. How should I go abaout it?

Q:

I want my 11-year-old son to weight train but I have heard that the strain of training will stunt his growth.

A:

Cut your exercises down to the basic multi-joint movements like squats, shoulder presses, rows, deadlifts, parallel-bar dips, flat and incline bench presses and high pulls. Perform 5 sets of 12, 6, 4, 2, 2 reps and don’t do more than three exercises per workout.

A:

Weight training cannot stunt growth. Inadequate protein can stunt growth. Kids strain all day long on the playground, at the school track and gymnasium. They run, climb, wrestle, dip and pull up on bars without adverse effects.

This is no different to the stress brought about by lifting weights.

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DIET & NUTRITION > WEIGHT Lose weight faster > PG 9

SUPPLEMENTS Beware of fake supplements > PG 10

Our approach to nutrition is to help you create a lifestyle; eating plan based on adding satisfying and delicious foods to your diet, and also to understand what to eat more of to become leaner and healthier. Plan every day, so you’ll:

BY DOREEN MARETE

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BODY FAT Monitoring your body fat > PG 11

eat eight or more servings of vegetables and fruits consume the equivalent of nine cups of water eat at least six servings of whole grains eat fish and legumes (mostly beans and peas) for at least one of three healthy protein sources choose healthy fats (from olive and canola oils, nuts, seeds, and fish) in moderation

consume three high-calcium foods, including one nondairy source eat more often (no less than every four hours!) get enough calories—at least 1,800 a day fill your plate at every meal with vegetables and whole grains, and small portions of protein and fat

Diet | Nutrition

DIET THAT WILL HELP

Lose Weight Faster

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT “DIET” IN THIS COLUMN WE DON’T MEAN AN IMPOSED REGIMEN OF DEPRIVATION. WE WANT YOU TO ENJOY NATURE’S BOUNTY IN ALL ITS INFINITE VARIETY. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON DIET? Many diets are based on myths that are counterproductive. To find your dietary pitfalls, take this quiz designed by Nancy Clark, M.S., R.D., a leading sports nutritionist.

Answer each question honestly, yes or no, to find out what mistakes you commonly make.

I get on track by eating a light breakfast I try to stay away from bread.

In fact, I rarely eat bagels for breakfast or sandwiches for lunch anymore.

I’m too busy to eat lunch.

Besides, skipping meals is a good way to save calories.

I crave sweets daily and fight the temptation to eat sugar.

I try not to snack. It’s better to save your appetite for real meals.

1 2

3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

I save calories from breakfast and lunch so I can eat a bigger dinner.

I’ve stopped having pasta, potatoes, or other carbohydrates with dinner.

I find myself eating too much junk after 8 P.M. I allow myself one “cheat day” per week, when I eat what I truly crave.

A girl can’t get enough protein.

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If you answered yes to questions 1, 3, 4, 6, or 8, you seem to perceive food as being the fattening enemy and put lots of effort into trying not to eat—that is, until you succumb to extreme hunger. Make peace with food and embrace it as healthy and lifesustaining.

If you answered yes to questions 4, 5, and 8, you’re dieting “too hard” and restricting your calorie intake too much. You

need to nourish yourself with healthful foods high in nutrients rather than “empty calories,” and curb your craving for sweets.

If you answered yes to questions 2, 4, 7, 9, or 10, you try to eliminate too many of your favorite foods. No foods are taboo, and you can lose weight and still enjoy your must-haves (whether it’s pizza, chocolate, even cheesecake) in moderation.

If you’re overweight, losing weight has many health benefits. Making small simple changes to what and how much you are eating and drinking and your level of exercise can really help you lose weight.

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Diet | Nutrition

BEWARE OF FAKE

SUPPLEMENTS

REMEMBER, A SUPPLEMENT CAN WORK THROUGH THREE DIFFERENT ‘MODES OF ACTION’:

by preventing or correcting a nutrient deficiency; by providing ‘optimal’ levels of a nutrient that a cell needs to perform at its best; and Finally, a supplement may work by providing a cell with a substance that it doesn’t require but which alters cell function in somewhat of a ‘drug-like’ manner.

TO GET IN SHAPE IT TAKES HARD WORK AND DEDICATION, BUT WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THE ‘EXTRA EDGE.’ BY ALLEN LOWE It’s widely accepted that active individuals, like bodybuilders and other athletes who exercise intensely, have greater demands for a number of nutrients, which makes it even that much more likely we will suffer deficiencies without supplementation.

And if you’re deficient in one or more nutrients, it’s quite possible your body may not be able to build muscle and burn fat properly.

For example, it is well known that the trace mineral chromium is essential for insulin to exert its anabolic effects. It’s also been shown that a great number of people may not consume the appropriate amount of chromium through their diets, thus leaving them in a deficient state. In this case, consuming chromium

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supplements may help build muscle.

Now, another mechanism by which supplements may exert a positive effect on your efforts to build a better body is by providing a nutrient that is ‘under-supplied’ to cells or not normally available in ‘optimal’ levels in the diet. In this case, a nutrient is required by an organism (like a muscle cell), and a specific concentration of this nutrient results in what I’d call ‘better-than-normal’ cell function. For a dietary supplement to exert a position effect under this scenario, normal consumption of the supplied nutrient must be ‘suboptimal’.

Let’s look at the very popular bodybuilding supplement creatine.

Very few athletes have what doctors

would call a ‘creatine deficiency’, but numerous scientific studies have clearly established that the amount of creatine an athlete normally supplies through his or her diet is not the ‘optimal’ amount.

Supplementing the diet with extra doses of creatine can very reliably enhance performance, improve recovery, and promote gains in lean body mass.

So, even if you don’t have a nutrient deficiency, it is absolutely, positively possible to benefit from using a supplement that provides optimal levels for a cell to ‘up-regulate’ its natural function.

So, despite what some ‘old-school’ dietitians, doctors, or other ‘experts’ might tell you, there’s indeed a very sound, scientific basis for supplementation.

IF YOU ARE GETTING FATTER, THEN YOU ARE CONSUMING TOO MANY CALORIES,

*Image source: www.bodybuilding.com

Diet | Nutrition

MONITORING YOUR

BODY FAT The easiest and most popular method of calculating the amount of fat you have on your body is by using a skin fold caliper, use it according to the directions supplied with the device.

By Michelle Noella

If you do not have a skin fold caliper available, there’s another test you can employ to monitor your body fat. This test will not provide you with percentage readout, but will let you know whether or not you are getting leaner or fatter. The test involves keeping periodic record of the difference between your relaxed and contracted upper arm measurements.

Record the contracted arm measurement.

Take the difference between the relaxed and contracted measurements.

If you are getting leaner the difference between your relaxed and contracted upper arm measurements will get larger. On the other hand if you are

getting fatter the difference between the two will get smaller. The reason for the difference is the fact that you can’t flex fat. Only muscles contain contractile tissue.

Most of your non contractile fat is stored directly under your skin with thick layers around your hips and midsection. When your percentage of fat is reduced, it is reduced to a greater or lesser degree from all over your body.

Thus by keeping accurate records of the differences between your relaxed and contracted arm measurement you’ll be able to monitor your fatness.

If you are getting fatter, then you are consuming too many calories, and you should cut back on your eating.

THIS TEST WILL NOT PROVIDE YOU WITH PERCENTAGE READOUT, BUT WILL LET YOU KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE GETTING LEANER OR FATTER.

If you do not have a skin fold caliper available, there’s another test you can employ to monitor your body fat.

In recording your relaxed and contracted arm measurements apply the following guidelines.

ITake the measurements before a training session.

Relax the arm and take the measurement midway between the elbow and tip of the shoulder with the arm hanging away from the body. Record the relaxed arm measurement.

Flex the arm and measure it at right angles to the bone around the largest part of the contracted biceps with the upper arm parallel to the floor.

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TARGET TRAINING > HIPS Buttocks-Hips workout routine > PG 14

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ALTERNATIVE Gym training Programme > PG 22

EXERCISE For better body Image > PG 24

SEX Fitness and your sexual performance > PG 25

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Target Training

EXERCISES

Buttocks-Hips Workout Routine

Why are we so critical of our behinds? I’ve noticed that even some among us who have buttocks that others admire insist that they can’t stand their butts and wish to reshape them. BY ALLEN LOWE Whether your buttocks are in really bad shape or whether you don’t like your buttocks even though you know you can get by with them the way they are, we have developed a routine for you that will once and for all reshape, firm, tone, solidify, and lift that dreaded part of your anatomy.

We suggest that you have someone take “rear view” pictures of you in a bathing suit and in pants; then hide the

pictures somewhere for three months.

Then take another picture. Wow! You’ll be very surprised to see the change.

You can take such a picture every three months for a year, and if you follow this routine strictly, we guarantee you’ll continue to see positive changes in your buttocks.

Some people avoid dealing with the issue by refusing to look in the mirror at their buttocks. But that will not wish the

There are five main exercises for the hips-buttocks area. You will do the same routine whether you are working at home or in a gym.

HOME AND GYM BUTTOCKS-HIP ROUTINE Standing hip hyperextension Pelvic lift Single-leg buttocks tightener Lunges Double-leg buttocks tightener Squats Glute Machine Leg Push

problem away. If you want to look good, you must do something about it.

Genetics do play a part in the shape of your buttocks. Some people have naturally bigger gluteus maximus areas than others. These people will always have a large buttocks area, but they can tighten, shape, and tone the buttocks to be more appealing, even attractive. But it does require doing the work.

Photography by:

Charles Owala

EVELYN : Evelyn Okinyi Owala

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Target Training It’s important to note that, a woman’s center of gravity is lower than a man’s, and her pelvis is proportionately wider.

GEORGE NJOROGE :

that fat likes to accumulate on this area, perhaps because our buttocks serve us as a natural cushion when sitting down. It seems the Creator was more concerned with safety, function, and comfort than with our vanity.

While you can count on seeing some results in three months, don’t expect reshaped buttocks until at least six months.

If you are overweight, chances are it might take a little longer to see your completely reshaped buttocks, because fat likes to accumulate there. But as you workout, the fat will slowly melt away, you will be able to see your newly reshaped, uplifted, muscular buttocks.

REPETITION

Your buttocks comprise a very large muscle group. Twenty repetitions for each set of each exercise is the ideal amount for best results. If you are not used to exercising this area, don’t push yourself too hard in the beginning. Just do as many reps as you can for each set until you work your way up to the suggested number of reps for each exercise. This may take you a couple of weeks or months. Set weekly goals. Say to yourself, “I got seven reps per set this week; next week I’ll get ten reps per set,” then make yourself do it and before you know it you’ll be doing the full program.

Then it will be time for another challenge.

TARGETTING THE BUTTOCKS AND HIP MUSCLES

The buttock muscle, the gluteus maximus, is located behind the hip joint.

It is the largest muscle on your body— and a very obvious muscle by virtue of its protruding position. It works to rotate the thigh, to give momentum for strenuous movements such as climbing, squatting, or dancing, and to extend the upper thigh from the hip joint.

The hip muscles consist of the other two, smaller gluteus muscles, the gluteus medius and the gluteus minimus. The gluteus medius rises from the hipbone just under the gluteus maximus. It works to raise the leg outward and sideways and to give balance when transferring weight from one leg to the other. The gluteus medius originates toward the front part of the hipbone and inserts

in front of the gluteus medius on the thighbone. It also raises the leg outward and sideways and helps to balance the body when shifting weight.

All exercises in the routine given below work primarily to shape the gluteus maximus, but the gluteus medius and the gluteus minimus are affected positively, too.

DEVELOPMENT

It takes a while to see results in the hip-buttocks area. It’s important to note that, a woman’s center of gravity is lower than a man’s, and her pelvis is proportionately wider. This is connected with the biology of pregnancy and childbirth. So for a woman to try to narrow the hip-buttocks area is to wrestle with nature itself. But we can still minimize our maximus spread if we work at it. And then there is the fact

The Dumbbell Lunges Execution Lunge the right leg forward in a stepping motion to a position where your knee joint forms a 90 degree angle (roughly 3 feet). Your thigh should be parallel with the floor and your shin perpendicular to the floor.

Your back knee should almost touch the floor.

Using the muscles of the right leg, tighten your contraction and return to the standing position.

Repeat with the left leg.

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Target Training

ADDING WEIGHTS TO YOUR ROUTINE After you have achieved the goal of three sets of twenty repetitions for each exercise, you can add ankle weights. If you don’t have them already check and see if your gym does. If not, buy ankle bracelets that have slots for adding weight. You should begin with 1-pound weights for each leg and build up to about 3 pounds. No need to go much higher than that.

HOW OFTEN TO WORKOUT You should work your buttocks at least three times a week or you can choose to work them every other day.

WARM-UP/PRE-STRETCH Lie on the floor, flat on your back, and raise your hips up in the air, holding them up by seeping your shoulder-to-elbow area flat on the floor and supporting your waist-hip area with your hands. Now ride the bicycle: Wheel your legs around in a circular motion, ten times in one direction and ten in the other. You may want to do this for two or three minutes if you’re having fun. Try to bring your legs as close to your chest as possible each time you wheel around.

Now, if—and only if—you are flexible. keeping this position, extend your legs

STANDING HIP HYPEREXTENSION This exercise tightens and uplifts the gluteus maximus (buttocks) muscles, tightens and narrows the hips, and strengthens the lower back.

A

REMEMBER

B

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straight up in the air, then slowly bring them down behind you until you touch the floor behind your head. This will stretch your spine and your buttocks.

If you’re not all that flexible, sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Then bend forward, grasp your ankles, and hold that position to the count of ten. Repeat three times.

POSITIONING Stand with your feet a natural width apart and lean forward, bending over until your fingertips touch the floor roughly a foot or two in front of your feet.

Extend your left leg straight back, keeping your toes pointed as well.

THE MOVEMENT Keeping your torso angled straight to the floor at about 45 degrees, lift your left leg behind you, forming a tripod with your right leg and two arms.

Keeping your left leg as stiff as a board, lift it behind you as high as possible and simultaneously flex (squeeze) your left buttocks-hip area as hard as possible.

Slowly return to start and, without resting, repeat the movement until you have

Do not allow the knee of the working leg to bend; keep it flexed and tight.

Keep the nonworking leg as straight as possible, but don’t “lock out” your knee.

Flex your buttocks-hip area throughout the exercise, especially at the top of the movement.

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Genetics do play a part in the shape of your buttocks. Some people have naturally bigger gluteus maximus areas than others.

Twenty repetitions for each set of each exercise is the ideal amount for best results.

completed your set.

Perform the movement for the right leg.

Repeat the exercise until you have completed three sets for each leg.

VARIATION You can do this exercise from an “all fours” position.

While kneeling on a mat or padded surface, place your weight on your right knee, then bend your left knee and bring it to your chest.

Follow by extending your left leg behind you as high as possible while flexing your hip-buttocks area with all your strength.

Return to start position and repeat the movement until you have finished your set.

Repeat the exercise for your right buttocks-hip area.

Do not become discouraged if you lose your balance or feel awkward in the beginning, or if you can’t lift your leg very high. In time you will become adjusted to this movement.

Maintain perfect form to ensure proper peak contraction.

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Target Training PELVIC LIFT

Pelvic lifts perfects the entire buttocks area and the lower back, strengthening the erector spinae muscles in particular.

A

LUCY : Lucy Agango

B

POSITIONING Lie flat on your back on a padded floor or mat.

Raise your knees and position your feet on the floor somewhat back toward your buttocks.

Support yourself by placing your hands at the small of your back so you can feel your erector spinae muscles work and get firm with every rep.

THE MOVEMENT Raise your buttocks off the floor as high as possible while flexing (squeezing) your glutes with all your strength.

When you’ve raised yourself to the highest possible point, give your buttocks an extra hard squeeze.

Return to the start and relax for a split second.

Repeat the up/down movement

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until you have completed your set.

(Work up to a set of twenty-five reps.)

For muscle contraction specificity you can vary the positioning of your feet.

VARIATION Hold the up position on the fifteenth rep, and bring your feet and knees together for an additional five reps.

Then, keeping your feet together but separating your knees wide, do ten more reps.

Bring your knees and feet together as before, keeping your bottom as high and flexed as you can at the same time.

With your hips still raised, scoot your feet to within just a few inches of your body, and slowly bring your hips down to rest for a split second before raising them up again for

five last peak contractions. (This will give you an experience of muscle contraction specificity, which you can intensify by extending one leg straight up and supporting it with the other throughout the movement.)

REMEMBER Keep your feet on the floor throughout the movement.

Control the squeeze, and really feel the flex in your glutes.

Target Training SINGLE-LEG BUTTOCKS TIGHTENER

This exercise perfects the entire buttocks area and the erector spinae of the lower back.

POSITIONING Lie on the floor, face down, with your arms in a comfortable position crossed or extended in front of you.

THE MOVEMENT Flexing your right buttock as hard as possible, lift your right leg behind you as far as possible. (Use your hip area to originate the movement.)

Keep your right knee locked throughout the movement.

Give your right gluteus maximus muscle an extra hard squeeze on the highest point of the movement.

Return to start and, without resting, repeat the movement until you have completed your set.

Repeat the exercise for the left buttock.

You can apply the principle of muscle contraction specificity here, too.

A

B

DOUBLE-LEG BUTTOCKS TIGHTENER

A

B

This exercise variation tightens the entire buttocks area and strengthens the lower back (erector spinae).

POSITIONING AND MOVEMENT Do this movement exactly as the single-leg buttocks tightener, only instead of lifting one leg at a time, lift both legs together simultaneously flexing the entire buttocks.

On the up movement, extend your legs six inches apart in a scissorslike movement and squeeze as hard as you can, then immediately return to start.

Repeat the movement until you have finished your set.

VARIATION You can also apply the muscle contraction specificity principle to this movement, as with the singleleg buttocks tightener.

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Target Training LUNGES WITH BUTTOCKS SQUEEZE

This movement is great for perfecting the thighs, buttocks, and hip area.

POSITIONING 1. Place a barbell across your shoulders and let it rest on your trapezius muscle, holding it in a wide, comfortable grip.

2. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your toes pointed straight ahead.

THE MOVEMENT Keeping your left leg straight, step forward about two to three feet with your right foot.

Bend your right knee and, without moving your feet, “lunge” forward as far as you can.

At this position, “stretch” the extension of your left leg by tightening and flexing your left buttock and thigh muscles, pushing your left heel toward the floor at the same time.

Rise up on your right leg slightly and then lower again for a maximum muscle contraction in the buttock.

Raise your left heel to your first point of extension, then return to the start position.

Complete your set, then do the movement with the right leg extended back.

Alternate legs until you have completed the full number of sets on each side for the exercise.

You can apply the muscle contraction specificity principle here to vary the stress.

REMEMBER Since this is a compound movement with a shift in body balance, it’s important that you maintain concentration throughout the exercise.

A

B

OTHER GYM MACHINES THAT CAN ALSO HELP YOU WORKOUT YOUR HIPS AND BUTTOCKS EFECTIVELY

Adductor/ Abductor Machine

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Leg Press Machine

Glute Machine

Squat Rack

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Target Training

THE PREACHER CURL Execution

Alternative Gym Training

PROGRAMME START WITH 5 MINUTES OF BODY WARM-UP STRETCHING THEN 10 MINUTES ON TREADMILL / BIKE / CROSS TRAINER OR ANY OTHER CARDIO MACHINE BY MIGUEL RANDAL Gideon Banda : Gideon Banda

Curl your arms up to your chin and then slowly extend your arms back down. Do not bounce the weight at the bottom portion of the movement.

Raise and repeat.

THE TRICK TO PREACHER CURL EXERCISE IS TO MAKE SURE YOU SQUEEZE YOUR BICEPS ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE MOTION AND ESPECIALLY AT THE TOP PART. PLATINUM FITNESS MAGAZINE SUGGEST YOU PAUSE AT THE TOP FOR A MOMENT AND REALLY SQUEEZE, ESPECIALLY ON YOUR LAST COUPLE OF REPS. AN IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT BOUNCE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MOVEMENT THIS CAN LEAD TO INJURY.

When muscles are engaged in any kind of work, they demand an increased blood flow, or circulation.

Increased circulation is important for two reasons. First, it provides the muscles with the fuel and nutrients they require. Second, the flowing blood picks up and removes the lager- than-normal amount of waste that is being produced.

If the work continues for some

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time, the flow of blood into the muscles and subsequent outflow strike a happy balance. A feature of this balance is a slight enlargement of the working muscles.

However, if the muscles are worked at maximum intensity, as in a heavy barbell exercise, and if the repetitions are executed consecutively, the muscles produce congestion in their interior, thereby swelling the involved body part to

a degree that is often astonishing.

The process by which the muscles have become engorged with fluids is called pumping. A pumped upper arm or calf may gain a full halfinch over its normal size.

When pumped to that extent, an arm or calf will feel very heavy, which is not surprising, since its actual weight has temporarily been increased. It will also feel stiff, since its flexibility will be

Target Training

...the effects of pumping usually occur without being noticed.

temporarily reduced. In most cases the degree of muscularity will be decreased. The muscles will look much larger and will be much larger but will appear less defined than they normally do. In a few cases, particularly in a bodybuilder with an extreme degree of muscularity, a pumped muscle may actually appear more defined.

In most forms of everyday activity the effects of pumping usually occur without being noticed. For example, few people are aware that their calves are usually a quarter-inch larger at night than they are early in the morning. Their calves increase in size during the day as a result of the pumping that occurs naturally from normal standing and walking. During the night, when the calves are resting, their circulation requirements are reduced greatly, and their size is decreased.

ALTERNATIVE GYM WORKOUT ROUTINE EXERCISE

Reps

Sets Weight

EXERCISE

1. Calf raise

8. Pulldown behind neck

2. Leg Curl

9. Incline press

3. Calf raise on leg press machine

10. Shoulder shrug

4. Leg curl

11. Trunk curl

5. Overhead press

12. Side bend

6. Chin-up

13. Leg extension

7. Bench press

14. Leg press

Reps

Sets Weight

If you are new at BENCH PRESS exercise, it is advised that you use a spotter. If no spotter is available, then be conservative with the amount of weight used.

PLATINUM FITNESS

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Target Training

To get your self oriented toward physical performance rather than appearance goals:

EXERCISE FOR A BETTER BODY IMAGE

Think differently. Don’t visualize yourself as a sitting person— see yourself as a moving person.

Define success in terms of what you accomplish daily. Is even climbing the stairs easier?

Avoid the scale, especially if you’ve started weight training.

It may lie about your progress.

Don’t measure success by looking in the mirror.

Allow yourself setbacks. They’re inevitable. Remember, you’re in it for the long haul.

Balance fitness goals with life goals. Define what you’re excited about achieving in other areas of your life. Living a passionate life that brings you satisfaction can keep exercise and body- image goals in perspective.

There may be no magic bullet to make you love your body more, but getting healthy and strong by becoming active and taking good care of your self comes close. By Shawn Ray The problem is that many people approach exercise and fitness with the wrong goal in mind.

When you ask most people to define their fitness goals, most of us will rattle off what we’d like to lose: weight, saddlebags, tummy bulge, back fat, cellulite. But ask what we’d like to gain, and many of us can’t say for sure. We miss out with this approach because there’s so much to be gained: the joy of transformation, the thrill of accomplishment, the pleasure of awakening to your physical nature, and the satisfaction of taking care of your body—including getting the rest you

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need and feeding your body healthfully.

Too often we force near-impossible expectations upon ourselves: to squeeze into a certain size or look like some TV star. And in doing so, we deny ourselves the pleasure of appreciating our bodies: as they are, what they actually can become, and the joy we can have in the moment.

It may be more effective for those who want to shed pounds and inches to forget about weight loss as a goal.

Action-based goals may be just what they need to succeed. “Professional athletes approach goals from a performance angle, focusing on what they need to do,” says

James Loehr, Ed.D., president of LGE Performance Systems in Orlando, Florida.

They don’t judge effectiveness by standing in front of a mirror. When you’re focused on achievement, and when you measure and meet performance-based goals in increments (such as walking an extra half mile, or increasing weight on your lat pulldowns), weight loss will take care of itself.

As you set specific, concrete exercise performance goals learn to give your body what it needs to attain them. It feels good when you’re building a body that’s faster, stronger, and fitter. And with all the training, a skimpy green salad for dinner won’t do.

“Health and nutrition are very much connected to performance,” says Loehr.

“If you do anything that jeopardizes your health, the whole thing comes apart.”

Achieving what you set out to do with your body begins with the first simple act of respecting it. Treat it well, mentally and physically, and it will reward you in return.

Target Training When you move your body, you feel better about your body. Improved body image can go a long way toward making you feel more comfortable and confident in the bedroom.

ARE YOU SELFCONSCIOUS IN THE BEDROOM?

FITNESS AND YOUR SEXUAL PERFOMANCE Exercise can play a big role in improving your sex life.

Exercise keeps those arteries open, more blood flows to your sex organs, preventing age related sexual complications such as impotence and lack of desire.This increased blood flow can also increase desire and sensation.

Those same chemicals that boost mood and energy in your brain can also boost your sexual desire. Also each bout of exercise gives you a temporary boost

in the hormone testosterone, which has been linked with sexual desire.That might be one reason why many people tend to feel frisky after an exercise session.

Finally, when you move your body, you feel better about your body. Improved body image can go a long way toward making you feel more comfortable and confident in the bedroom.

Regardless of whether they’re thin or overweight, a third of young married spouses worry about their appearance during sex, according to a survey of more than 200 college women published in The Journal of sex Research. Such body-image anxiety can result in less satisfying sex, and in some cases, avoiding physical intimacy completely, say researchers.

Those who feel the most self-conscious may be victims of those unrealistic cultural standards for beauty, good body and sex appeal.

Fight-back strategies youcan work on: Try to appreciate all sizes and shapes of bodies, including your own, and resist the urge to darken the room totally and hide yourself under the covers. And bear in mind, you’re probably more critical of your body thanyour partner is.

Try to appreciate all sizes and shapes of bodies, including your own.

PLATINUM FITNESS

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Family Matters

*Image source: meatmarketmiamipr.com

PEOPLE ARE SHOCKED TO DISCOVER THAT THEIR DIFFICULTIES CONTINUE TO HOUND THEM IN SPITE OF THEIR SINGLE STATUS OR THEIR CHOICE OF A NEW PARTNER.

MARRIAGE BREAK-UP WHY DIVORCE? “Divorce Is The Only Way To Solve My Terrible Situation” These goals are not always accomplished through divorce. Some people do go on to enhance their lives, but the price they pay is often higher than anticipated.

Few adults anticipate accurately what lies ahead when they decide to divorce.

Life is almost always more arduous and more complicated than they expect. It is often more depleting and more lonely for at least one member of the marriage.

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At the time of divorce, people are set to getting rid of their unhappiness, and they find it difficult to conjure up understanding for something they have never experienced. It is hard for them to imagine the multiple changes that divorce will bring in its wake. Eventually they do learn, however, that the changes we make from divorce are hard-won.

“It’s My Spouse’s Fault That I’m Unhappy” Desperately unhappy people search for ways out of their unhappiness. They start by trying to determine the cause

There are two main reasons people divorce: “One is to escape a relationship that has been painful, loveless or destructive and the second is to seek a more satisfying life with a new partner or alone.

BY ALLEN LOWE of their misery. As they look around, married people often see their spouse as the culprit. Blaming your spouse for your unhappiness is easy to do.

Everyone does it, often supported in this kind of thinking by friends and relatives. “I would be happier if he were more attentive”; “If she didn’t nag so much, I would enjoy my life”; “He’s gone so much, of course I’m miserable” are some of the more common spousal complaints. Underlying each of these statements is the belief that the person’s unhappiness is caused by his or her mate. Logic then dictates that

Family Matters

Few adults anticipate accurately what lies ahead when they decide to divorce. divorce is the solution: “If I get rid of my spouse, I will get rid of this problem and then I will be happy.”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. People are shocked to discover that their difficulties continue to hound them in spite of their single status or their choice of a new partner. Some disillusioned divorced people say, “My spouse’s habits really irritated me, but now I can’t cope with this loneliness.

The silence in the evenings is killing me.” Or “The new guy I married seemed so sensitive and open, the qualities I missed in my first marriage, but as I’ve gotten to know him better he now seems more like a clone of my first husband.” Or “I thought leaving my wife and all of her demands would make me happy, but oddly enough I am still unhappy.”

Diagnosing your spouse as the problem means that your microscope lens may be too narrowly focused. You are failing to notice how the habits you both have developed and the roles you’ve both played have contributed to your unworkable marriage.

Unfortunately, you take those habits with you when you go.

If getting rid of one’s problematic spouse was a solution, why would 60 percent of second marriages end in divorce? If divorce were truly an answer, people would learn from the mistakes they made in their first marriage.

Their second marriage would provide them with opportunities to apply what they learned.

Sometimes this is the case, but more frequently, people are not prepared for the complexities of second marriages or blended families. Sometimes the trials and tribulations of the previous marriage with all its aggravation seem mild by comparison.

But the results of this sort of comparison come too late.

People dis-cover that the grass isn’t any greener on the other side after all. Then the decision

to divorce a second time is often less agonizing since there’s familiarity with the process.

“You Are The Cause of All These Arguments” Many people leave their marriages expecting the arguments to stop. Divorce does offer a temporary reprieve from the tension and or arguing, but when children are involved, marital debates frequently do not cease with the divorce decree. Most divorced couples are unable to resolve child-custody, visitation and child-rearing issues.

They give new meaning to the words “hostile” and “angry.” That these two human beings once shared a cordial or loving relationship is almost unthinkable because all that remains of their shared history is hatred.

What also continues to amaze me is how even many years of physical separation fail to free these couples from intense emotional bonds. Their inability to resolve certain child-rearing issues reflects their inability to let go of each other.

Alice and James, a divorced couple, arrived in a counseling office for divorce mediation since they were unable to resolve major disagreements over the visitation schedule. Like many couples needing mediation, Alice and James’s interactions were characterized by animosity and lack of respect. Even when addressing each other, they maintained eye contact with the counselor. They frequently interrupted each other with accusations or alternative versions of the truth. When requested that each person be allowed to speak uninterrupted, “loud” grimaces took the place of verbal attacks.

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DESPERATELY UNHAPPY PEOPLE SEARCH FOR WAYS OUT OF THEIR UNHAPPINESS. THEY START BY TRYING TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THEIR MISERY...

Although they were kept focused on the task at hand, finding solutions to the visitation problems, eventually the conversation turned to the disappointment they felt about unmet needs in the marriage.

Alice wept as she told of her close relationship with her father and how James failed to live up to the memories she had of her childhood with her dad. James felt that Alice never really respected him due to their cultural and socioeconomic differences. He thought he was never good enough in the eyes of Alice’s family. The sadness of their failed relationship was fresh for both of them though they had been divorced for five years.

What upset Alice the most was that, since the time of their divorce and James’s subsequent marriage to Sue, James was taking a more active parenting role. Now each time James sought more contact with the children, instead of feeling pleased for the children that they were important to their dad, she felt betrayed and manipulated. “Why, if the children are so important to you, didn’t you make time for them when we were married?” she challenged him. His requests for increased visitation were often denied because of her resentment over thwarted dreams.

James never took Alice’s criticism about his priorities seriously when they were married because, according to him, Alice criticized him about everything. Alice’s pleas for more involvement

Family Matters

with the children were seen as just one more item on Alice’s long laundry list of James’s inadequacies. So James had resisted more involvement with the children, not because he didn’t love them or want to be with them, but because of the tug-of-war with Alice.

Once separated from her, he missed the children and saw that his relationship with them was important to him. This explained his recent desire to spend more time with them.

Although an agreement about visitation was reached during that session, Alice left crying. I believe she cried all the way home. James also showed signs of feeling drained emotionally. They both had hoped that their divorce would free them from disappointment, arguments about the children and criticisms of each other, none of which happened. Clearly, their unresolved relationship issues kept them super-glued to each other, making it impossible for them to cooperate as parents.

If you have children and are considering divorce, you must remember that your spouse will always be your children’s parent, no matter what you do. Unless he or she decides to sever ties entirely, you will continue to have contact with that person for the rest of your life! This contact serves as a constant reminder of the past. Children can also be ghosts of failed marriages when, because of their looks or personalities, they remind a parent of an estranged spouse. This can have deadly consequences for the parent-child relationship.

If divorce were truly an answer, people would learn from the mistakes they made in their first marriage.

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HEALTH > BURNOUT How to prevent Burnout at the work place > PG 31

RECIPES Nutritious and fulfilling classic recipes > PG 46

DRUGS! Is your child on drugs? > PG 34

Platinum Health

Image source: Shutterstock

In order to suffer from burnout,” ... “you must first be on fire.”

HOW TO PREVENT

BURNOUT

AT WORK PLACE

Philip was exhausted. working day and night, he had recruited 130 employees within four months. He was the sales manager for a new branch of a major supermarket chain in East Africa, and in his efforts under pressure, he had employed people who failed to meet the standards he expected. BY WAYNE CURTIS

T

hey fought each other and complained about their lot. On top of that, a male employee ran away with a female employee. Philip was having headaches every day. Soon he could not go to work, and on the days he forced himself to go, he would come home immediately. He was burned out like a match that has finally gone out.

Full-time housewives also experience burnout. After two years of being at

home with her three children, Deborah became very impatient with them. “I felt as if I was doing and doing and doing, but it was just a bottomless pit,” she said.

When a mother works and rears children, the possibility of burnout increases. Leah, in her 40’s, found herself in the situation of balancing motherhood and a career, trying to fulfill both roles to perfection.

She tried to please everybody— her husband, her children, her employer, and her colleagues. Her blood pressure was

up and minor incidents irritated her. She suffered burnout.

Burnout hits unlikely victims as well.

Bernard, a capable social worker, was full of vigor and ideals. He went to help in an area where there was a great need for teachers. Within a few months, however, he felt exhausted, and he shut himself in his bedroom all day long. He felt as though he were in a tunnel with no way out. He had difficulty making decisions, even about what to eat for lunch. He did not feel like doing anything. He was completely burned-out.

WHAT IS BURNOUT? Herbert Freudenberger and other researchers took up this term in the mid-1970’s, and it came to describe “a state of exhaustion resulting from involvement with people in emotionally demanding situations.” Also, “Physical or emotional exhaustion, especially as a result of long-term stress or dissipation” (American Heritage Dictionary).

There are, however, depending on the researcher, shades of difference in the definition of this term.

Although burnout has no precise PLATINUM FITNESS

31

Platinum Health medical definition, victims are identified by symptoms such as fatigue, lack of enthusiasm, helplessness, hopelessness and malaise. The victim feels extremely tired and gets irritated over minor incidents. Nothing will ignite him to action. Everything seems overwhelming and he may desperately seek help from whoever comes his way. All efforts in the workplace and at home may seem pointless. A sense of hopelessness prevails. If you have these symptoms coupled with a lack of enjoyment in anything, then you could well be experiencing burnout.

This condition is debilitating because it has the power to weaken, even devastate, otherwise healthy, energetic, and competent individuals. Its primary cause is unrelieved stress, the kind that goes on day after day, month after month, year after year.” (The Work/ Stress Connection: How to Cope With Job Burnout, by Robert L. Veninga and James P. Spradley).

Imagine yourself as an office worker with a family. Work is piled up on your desk. The phone rings incessantly with customers’ demands that are next to impossible to meet. Your supervisor is displeased that you are not meeting the quota. Your son is in trouble at school. The teacher wants to see you immediately. Your pleas for help to your spouse are met with indifference.

The situation seems out of hand, stress turns into distress, paving the way for burnout.

Is burnout caused by overwork? Ann McGee Cooper, a brain researcher, said that burnout is “the result of living out of balance, typically in an all-work/no-play spiral.”Overwork, however, is not the only factor; under the same pressure and circumstances, some burn out while others do not.

Just as there are people who are more likely to be infected with certain diseases because of the environments they live in, there are people who are more likely to burnout. “In order to suffer from burnout,” says Elliot Aronson, professor of social psychology at the University of California, “you must first be on fire.” So those prone to burn out are afire with high goals and ideals, often a company’s best people.

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Summing up the personality traits of likely victims of burnout, Professor Fumiaki Inaoka of the Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing, wrote in the book, Moetsukishokogun (Burnout Syndrome): “Those who are inclined to bumout have strong tendencies to be sympathetic, human, delicate, and idealistic. They are not machine oriented but ‘human oriented,’ so to speak.”

Asked to develop a test to screen out those who are likely to burnout, a specialist said that the test should instead be used as a hiring standard.

“What companies need to do,” he said, “is find the people who care enough to burn out...and then develop programs to combat burnout.”

Those who eagerly try to help people, giving of themselves to improve the lives of others, may burn out when they realize they are not achieving the sometimes unrealistic goals they’ve set for themselves. Caring mothers can also burnout for the same reason.

When problems remain unsolved, frustration simply builds up and leads to burnout.

The second factor noted was lack of support, not having someone to confide

SYMPTOMS OF BURNOUT Job burnout refers to a debilitating psychological condition brought about by unrelieved work stress, which results in: Depleted energy reserves Lowered resistance to illness Increased dissatisfaction and pessimism Increased absenteeism and inefficiency at work in. Thus, a mother who isolates herself from other mothers is more likely to burnout.

The third factor is feeling helpless.

Those in middle management may burnout when they feel their greatest efforts are not taking them things anywhere. As a human resources manager said, burnout comes from being “frustrated by trying to make an impact and not being listened to.”

CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ISSUE >

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Platinum Health Bob Seger, in his hit rock album “Night Moves,” sums it up by singing about teens as being “young, restless, and bored.” That is the most accurate appraisal of our teenagers I’ve ever heard.

IS YOUR CHILD ON

DRUGS?

PART 1

THERE IS NO SINGLE CAUSE NOR SET of conditions that clearly leads to drug abuse. However, the reasons usually given for drug-taking are: to feel in with the group; to feel good; to win the admiration of friends; to escape boredom; to have fun; to escape pressures; and to satisfy curiosity. By Don Allen

TEENAGE DRUG MENACE WHAT’S THE CAUSE? Although we know much today about the dangerous and damnable effects of drugs and their abuses, the drug user himself still remains a mystery.

No one sets out to become dependent on drugs, but it eventually happens to millions who thought they could just take it ‘for the thrill of it’! What the so-called social user may consider “harmless” is actually a dangerous trap.

Those enslaved by drugs exhibits strong psychological dependence (habituation) and physical dependence (addiction). Usually the junkie began to use drugs for the thrill, but now he is hopelessly dependent and does not believe he can function apart from the drug scene. His main objective in life

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is getting a continued supply, and this obsession frequently prevents him from continuing his education or job. He is often in trouble with his family, friends, and the law. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports that drugs will cost the addict a loss of fifteen to twenty years of his life.

The great “turn-on” among millions of teen-agers can be attributed to several factors. Using the acronym PEACE, Jay Strack helps us understand some of the most frequent reasons for drug-taking given by teens.

Pressure Escape Availability Curiosity Emptiness

PRESSURE

Psychologists tell us that many youths turn to drugs for the sole purpose

of belonging to the group. Clyde M. Narramore convincingly argues that teens desire peer-group approval more than parent or adult approval. They are preoccupied with being accepted by the gang, particularly since this is the age when family relationships may be strained. (Dr. Clyde M. Narramore, Counseling Youth, p. 38). It is evident that today’s youth has substituted role conformation for goal attainment.

One of the teen-ager’s greatest needs is to be accepted, not different or left out.

The importance of popularity increases with the decline and fall of the family and home. It seems that every part of society is at war with the family. For example, big corporations move fathers to new jobs across the country, uprooting entire families. This makes the “new kid on the block” easy prey for sexual advances

Platinum Health

The way of drug use is like a crowd following someone with only half of a brain. and drug involvement because of the tremendous pressure to be accepted in the new place. With high rates of divorce and with millions of teen-agers living in broken homes, the drive to be accepted by teen-aged peers is increased.

When I was young, not knowing who my mother was and not being sure about my father either, I had seen the effects of alcohol firsthand in the streets.

Needless to say, I hated alcohol and swore I would never drink it.

But one day when I was in Standard seven, coming from watching an interestates football match, I was offered beer, along with the rest of the gang.

Yes, I made my stand and said, “No way!” but after being called “chicken,” “square,” and “sissy,” I gave in. Feeling as though I had lost my family, I was willing to try anything to be a part of the “in crowd.” Any weak-willed teenager will follow the crowd, whether it leads to smoking, drinking, drugs, or immorality. The gang became my god; it determined my hairstyle, my mode of dress, my friends, and my attitudes toward school, religion, and sex. I have spoken to thousands of teens, they all tell the same story—”I didn’t want to be a chicken.”

There was a cute little girl who liked to play hide-and-seek. Some little boys told her to hide under a blanket in the bathtub. As she waited in the excitement, the boys happened to find a gun belonging to their dad. Playing and laughing, one boy challenged the other to shoot the little girl. The boy hastily refused and thought the idea horrible. The name-calling began— ”You’re chicken; you’re scared,” over and over. The pressure of name-calling caused that boy to give in angrily, and he emptied the revolver, putting all six bullets into the unsuspecting girl’s body.

Rock concerts are good occasions to observe peer pressure and the tremendous need teens have to be accepted. Recently I went to a concert, and I found out things have changed much from when I filled my weekends with such concerts. These audiences are “families” where everyone is accepted their dress, their grades, and their hair didn’t matter.

Of course, the pretty, the successful, and the popular teens also attend these concerts, but the point is that everyone belongs to this “family” that loves and accepts them the way they are. In this teen-aged herd, kids will

do what everyone else is doing. Those who otherwise would never commit an immoral act or take a hard drug will probably do so here.

Dr. David Augsburger, in his relevant book So What? Everybody’s Doing It!, gives several examples of the herd instinct. Several years ago, a team of scientists were investigating the school instinct in fish. By a bit of skillful surgery, they removed a portion of a fish brain.

After recovery, the fish was placed back in the tank with his original school. Soon the whole school began to follow this strange-acting fish with only part of a brain.

The way of drug use is like a crowd following someone with only half of a brain. Most of us have felt the tug of the herd instinct. In fact, it is so common that the English language needs about two dozen words just to name this drive that causes creatures to cluster and conform to one another. We talk of a flock of sheep, a pack of wolves, a swarm of bees, a covey of quail, a pride of lions, a gaggle of geese, a bevy of women, a gang of boys, or a herd of cattle. All these are expressions relating to the herd instinct which, when it appears among people, makes them dress, walk, talk, look, and even think alike... continued on pg 48

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Platinum Motivation

“The Secret”

LEADERS OR BULLIES? UNDERSTANDING MANAGEMENT SPIRIT AT WORKPLACE BY KRISTEL HOPE

How you treat people who work under you can make the difference in whether your business takes off or falls flat.

You must treat them with honesty and integrity before you can expect them to treat you in the same way.

Most people have been so hurt and so disappointed by other people that they just can’t believe that human beings have the potential to be good. They only think “everybody’s out to cheat me; everybody’s out to take advantage of me. I’d better do it to them before they do it to me.” So many people are skeptical of everybody and everything.

Sure, there are some bad people in the world. But most of the time, the people you hire and deal with at your work are

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just as scared of being cheated by you as you are scared of being cheated by them. They’ve been hurt, too, and as much as you’d like to think they can tell you’re different, they are just as hesitant to trust as you are. The best way to turn that situation around is to start understanding people and treating them the way you’d want to be treated.

In Africa, management has gotten confused with intimidation. Instead of people feeling like their boss is the leader of their team, most people look on their boss with fear! The word boss is a big mistake as far as I’m concerned.

How many people can relax and do good work around someone whose job is to “boss” them?

Image source: Shutterstock

I call praise “the secret” because for many years this kind of motivation was one of the best-kept secrets in business success.

Somewhere along the way, business got the idea that the way to lead was through fear and intimidation. Nothing could be more misleading! Oh, fear works, there’s no doubt about that. You can make people work by threatening them with their jobs. But you can’t make them care about you and your business, and you can’t build a business long-term without other people who are loyal and committed to the same cause you’re committed to.

Management by intimidation is easy.

Most people go that route because that’s their idea of what a boss is “supposed” to do. It’s also easier to intimidate people into performing than it is to take the trouble to spend time with them and build lasting relationships based on mutual respect.

Nothing encourages people to work

Platinum Motivation

“Handicaps”

harder and produce quality results like having their accomplishments noticed and praised.

I call praise “the secret” because for many years this kind of motivation was one of the best-kept secrets in business success. This is often ignored in standard management practice, but successful leaders have always known its value.

People respond better to praise than to punishment. When it comes to motivation, adults are no different from children. If you criticize your children every time they make a mistake, you’ll build children who are unhappy and frustrated and who feel bad about themselves. Every child wants love and praise. If you praise your children and make them feel special, they’ll be happy, self-confident, and ready to conquer the world.

This principle works exactly the same way with adults. People want more out of a job than just money. They work for all kinds of reasons—to be their own boss, to make money for their families—but one of the main things they want from their job is praise.

I believe that part of treating people well is making them feel good about their work. The best way of doing that is by rewarding the positive things they do instead of dwelling on the errors they make.

If you want someone to succeed, you start by praising him when he begins to do things right.

Everybody wants praise for a job well done. If you start praising for successful behavior, the person will want to get the same kind of recognition again.

He’ll be anxious to repeat the actions that gave him such good feelings of accomplish¬ment. Then, you won’t have to make him go out and make more appointments. He’ll be eager to do it

much more important for these people to receive recognition than for him to receive it.

When your company or your department does something special, give all the praise and all the credit to your people.

You’ll get your share of recognition for any job done well because you’re the leader anyway. But your people may be overlooked unless you point out their contributions. That lets them know that you’re working for their success as well as your own. Don’t let your people think they are working just to help you get a promotion or make big money.

The real key to praise is that it’s got to be spontaneous. You can’t just say, “Well, I’m going to praise them once a week.” You must really look for a genuine reason to praise them. Don’t worry about overdoing it. You can’t praise your employees too much. Have a good word for people every time you see them, and let them know

How many people can relax and do good work around someone whose job is to “boss” them?

Image source: Shutterstock

Have you been dwelling on the “handicaps” and ignoring the progress? Everybody has at least one area in which he or she is really special.

again.

People will turn out the way you expect them to turn out. People have a way of rising to the level that you set for them. If you have faith in their ability to develop new talents and improve performance, pretty soon they’ll believe they can do it, too.

When you want to praise people for something they’ve done right, it’s great to tell them, but even greater if you tell them in front of other people. To the people you’re praising, it’s even more pleasant, and to the people listening, it’s motivation to do what it takes to get praise for themselves.

Recognition doesn’t have to be an elaborate thing, either. It can be as simple as a handwritten note to say, “You’re doing great. I’m proud of you,” or a phone call to say, “Congratulations. I’m glad you’re on my team.”

A great leader understands that it’s

PLATINUM FITNESS

37

Platinum Motivation whenever you notice something they’ve done well.

Praise has to be natural. It has to be sincere and come from the heart. If you really love people, and care about them, you won’t build a phony kind of relationship.

A primary mistake managers make is trying to change people. They focus all their energy on a person’s weakest area and try desperately to turn that weakness into a strength. You can’t change people. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses.

Are you guilty of focusing all your energy on how you would like people to be instead of accepting them the way they are? Have you been dwelling on the “handicaps” and ignoring the progress?

Everybody has at least one area in which he or she is really special. Find that area of strength, focus on it, build on it—and forget the weaknesses.

You can look for negatives, or you can look for positives. Looking for negatives builds an attitude of criticism and disapproval. Until you develop the ability to look for positives, you can’t build a productive relationship.

You must pick out positives consistently,

every day, all the time, until it becomes a way of life. It can’t be a part-time commitment.

Sometimes people do act in ways that aren’t good for the team or the business. Let them know that you don’t approve of their actions. You have to let them know that their performance isn’t what it should be. But you can do it without criticizing. This is “the other side of praise.” Just as people will do almost anything to get your praise, believe me, they will notice if they don’t get it.

People hunger for praise so much, they’ll do whatever it takes to get your praise and recognition again. And you haven’t been forced to say anything mean or make any threats that cause bad relationships.

You’ll never build a team by criticizing people. You can tell them ninety-nine positive things and one negative thing, and all they’ll remember is the negative.

The best way to get people to see your point of view and to improve their behavior is to “hint and motivate.”

When someone has a problem, sit down and talk together. Talk about your own mistakes and let the person see that you have done some things

“Hint and motivate.”

The best way to get people to see your point of view and to improve their behavior is to “hint and motivate.” wrong, too. Maybe you had problems in a similar area. Hint around about other times you’ve seen people doing things correctly.

Then, at the end of the meeting, motivate the individual. Acknowledge the efforts you’ve seen; express faith in the person’s abilities. Leave the person with a good feeling. Build a great team!

So many business executives take their families for granted only to discover the heartaches of what happens when family takes a backseat to business.

You know deep down what your family means to you. Don’t treat it as something that will just take care of itself; it won’t. Give it the same attention that you give your working life; the success won’t mean much with no one to share it. “What shall it profit a man to gain all strangers and lose his own household?”

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The Unstoppable “Gift” After winning the 2016 Mr. Kenya and Mr. Kakamega, PFM caught up with the champ to get his thoughts on his most dominating win.

BY PLATINUM FITNESS MAGAZINE It is always assumed that most early bodybuilders begun their bodybuilding journey in Nairobi’s Eastland estates. Where did you start your bodybuilding journey?

It might be assumed so but if you look at the history of Kenya bodybuilding, most of the best athletes actually came from outside Nairobi. I for one relocated to Nairobi from Mumias in 2011.

Did you start weight training in a gym?

Yeah, I was fortunate enough to have started weight training from a gym. I’ve heard stories of those wh0 started their 40

PLATINUM FITNESS

bodybuilding journey lifting stones etc.

My journey started from a simple gym owned by Meshack and his brother Michael in Mumias.It was not the best but it was what we needed to start us towards the journey of fulfilling our bodybuilding goals.

Who motivated you to start weight training?

I was introduced to bodybuilding by MeshackOchieng, currently based in the USA. I think I got the best foundation in bodybuilding because he was one of the best.

The Unstoppable “Gift” Rashid Issa : Rashid Gift Issa (The Gift) Photography by: Charles Owala

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41

The Unstoppable “Gift” Who will you say is your bodybuilding favorite of all time, internationally and locally?

INTERNATIONALLY. Philip Heath, who we happen to share the same nick name ‘Gift’, is on top of my list of bodybuilding favorites and it was not surprising to me that he later broke Ronnie Coleman’s Mr. Olympia record.

LOCALLY, I think Evelyn Owala is doing great and rising steadily well in her bodybuilding endeavor. Within three years of her joining competitive bodybuilding she’s proved to be an extremely focused and promising athlete. Dennis Otieno is another great bodybuilder. To say the least, I’d rather meet anyone else in the bodybuilding competition finals than meet Dennis (laughter).

Is there any other sport you were involved in before eventually concentrating on bodybuilding?

Yeah, I played and still do play football (soccer). I do that mostly when I’m back to ‘upcountry’. I’ve also been involved in boxing and sprinting, which I still do once a week.

Were you always this big before you started weight training?

No, I was 75kgs when I started, then moved to 80kgs within two years of my weight training. Was 83kgs in July last year (2016) and now I’m 94kgs offseason.

How long did it take you to become this big?

It has taken me 10 years to reach where I am today. At some point, for lack of support I had quit bodybuilding for over 3 years, between years 2010 and 2014, during which I dropped from 89kgs to 79kgs.

What’s your favorite workout routine?

I don’t have any specific favorite workout routine. All the workouts I do while targeting different muscle 42

PLATINUM FITNESS

groups are favorite when I’m executing them. I approach each muscles group with the same spirit both mentally and physically. In fact each one of them is important during posing on the competition stage.

You mentioned “off season.”

What do you mean by that?

Off-season is the period when we train for muscle maintenance and not necessarily with a focus towards any particular competition. I use this time to try new supplements and training techniques.

What’s the difference between your earlier training routines and the current ones?

The Unstoppable “Gift”

Rashid spends Approximately

53,000

Photography by: Owala

Kshs.

on supplements and food when preparing for a competition Indeed, supplements play a big role when it comes to gaining muscle mass and getting ripped. From my experience, however, in the Kenya bodybuilding scene it is very difficult to access them both financially and supply.

When did you learn about food supplements?

I’m not exactly sure when, but I’ve known about food supplements for quite a while now. I first came in contact with them through friends who could afford them and/or those who had sponsors. My first supplement was given to me through my step-brother who has passion in bodybuilding as well and supports potential bodybuilders in Kenya.

What would you say to young people who are looking for Anabolic steroids to become big?

Trust me, I’ve never changed my way of training ever since I started weight training. And as they say: “If it’s not broken don’t fix it”.

How many times do you train per week?

I train for five days and rest for two but if I find myself in the gym on Saturday I’ll

train some more. Our bodies need good rest for recovery and growth.

Food supplements are known to play a big role in gaining mass and becoming ripped.

Is it easy for you to get the supplements you need for your bodybuilding needs and precontest preparations?

My advice to the upcoming bodybuilders is to stay away from steroids. I’ve just discussed this subject on my social media platform (facebook): RASHID GIFT HEALTH AND FITNESS CLUB. Nothing comes easy, you have to work for it coz’ any short cut in the area of health will lead to nowhere else but eventual grave.

It has taken me ten years to win Mr. Kenya and even though the road PLATINUM FITNESS

43

The Unstoppable “Gift”

was rough and tough, I’m happy I’ve achieved it in the right and healthy way.

Who knows where I would be today if I had chosen to use steroids? I think the best way to success is through hard work coz’ it makes you stronger and live healthier. Think about it. How did Micky Ragos win Mr. Kenya for Ten consecutive years and still lives healthy to-date? He never touched steroids!

Approximately how much do you spend on supplements and food when preparing for a competition?

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PLATINUM FITNESS

I use approximately Kshs.32,000 on supplements and Kshs.21,000 on food.

I’m thankful to my Brand the KENYA BODYBUILDING SUPPLEMENTS (KBBS) who now take care of all my supplement needs.

How does it feel to win KBBF’S top competition, Mr. Kenya 2016 Edition?

It actually feels great, though winning such a title comes with many challenges and responsibilities. People expect too much from you in terms of training tips, advice and some even think I can

RASHID ISSA “PRO”RECORD

2014 – Mr. Nakuru

May 2015 – Mr. Nairobi Dec 2015 – Mr. Kakamega Jul 2016 – Mr. Nairobi Oct 2016 – Mr. Kenya Nov 2016 – Mr. Kakamega

The Unstoppable “Gift” supply them with free supplements.

At the end of the day you realize you don’t have much to offer apart from the training and diet tips or just inspiration.

One thing I’ve realized is that winning a title is one thing but retaining it is quite another.

Who will you say is your most vicious competitor in the Mr. Kenya bodybuilding competitions?

I think Dennis Otieno.

You were placed in 3rd overall position in Mr. Kenya 2015 and Mr. Modern Fitness 2015. What did you do different to win Mr. Kenya 2016?

In bodybuilding you never know who will display what until they arrive on the competition stage. I do my level best both in the gym, kitchen and on stage and leave the rest to the judges.

And also, before Modern Fitness I’d never done dieting prior to a competition until I met Suleiman Shehan who taught me how to go about it just a week before the competition.

That really helped coz’ I now know the dos and don’ts of pre-contest training.

But I would also like to say that I just didn’t have the muscle maturity and size that is required of a Mr. Kenya.

What’s your advice to the upcoming bodybuilders if they want to be successful in bodybuilding competitions?

Firstly, I emphasis it here again, they must stay away from steroids. Secondly,

they need to understand their own bodies and what works for them, to get the right routines and train using the right forms. Consistency is important.

Thirdly, eat clean, supplement if you can, but if you can’t don’t stress yourself; many have made it without it. Lastly, always have good rest.

You must work for it if you want it that bad. Learning is a continuous process so be ready to be corrected.

Are you a gym instructor?

I do personal training (PT) at times.

What are your future plans as an East African celebrated bodybuilder?

My future plans are to compete abroad and be among the best the continent has to offer.

ISSA’S ARMS WORKOUT BICEPS

EXERCISE

SETS

Barbell curls Reverse curls Preacher curls DumBbell curls DumBbell hammer

3 3 3 3 3

REPS 12 12 12 12 12

TRICEPS

EXERCISE

SETS

Close grip bench Skull crasher Cables pushdown DUMBBELL kickbacks Dips

REPS

3 12 3 12 3 12 3 12 3 12

NOTE: DUMBBELL hammer CURLS focus on the brachialis and biceps of the upper arms as well as the brachioradialis of the forearms.

What’s your vision for the future of bodybuilding in Kenya?

I would like to see the industry grow so big to an extent that big cooperates will feel obligated to come on board and sponsor Fitness and Bodybuilding events. I would love it if Kenyan bodybuilders would be able to earn a living from the sport both locally and abroad. I look forward to a time when I’ll walk down the streets and see our athletes on billboards, on TV commercial adverts and on the cover of Top selling magazines. I look to the time when a Kenyan bodybuilding competition event won’t have a doping test because all the athletes would be clean and healthy.

PLATINUM FITNESS

45

Platinum Health

You are what you EAT and more importantly, you are what you ABSORB.

MASHED COW PEAS KENYAN FOOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN HARD TO DEFINE. WIMBI (MILLET) UGALI / SOYA WIMBI, MORINGA, PLANTAINS (MATOKE) ARE AMONG THE OFFERINGS MOST COMMONLY IDENTIFIED AS TRADITIONAL. HERE’S NUTRITIOUS AND FULFILLING CLASSIC RECIPE FOR

SMASHED COWPEAS. COURTESY

OF THE INDIGENOUS FOOD KITCHEN

INGREDIENTS 1 mug of cow peas 1 bunch pumpkin leaves/ spider plant (salga) or any leafy vegetable of choice 4 medium size irish potatoes or sweet potato 1 small bunch red onions or spring onion or shallots.

2 fresh peppers (optional) A table spoon extra virgin oil A teaspoon of salt to taste

METHOD Boil cowpeas until soft and ready Wash pumpkin leaves, pat with cloth to dry and chop into fine pieces Chop potatoes and boil in a pan together with the chopped pumpkin leaves Add salt to the mixture Add already cooked cow peas and stir Simmer for about 6 minutes Chop onion into small cubes and add into the mixture.

Sprinkle a teaspoon of extra virgin oil Mix and mash until a consistent paste is obtained Serve hot with a stew of your choice Serves three *source: PELUM-Kenya

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PLATINUM FITNESS

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Kids as young as ten years old are perceiving peer pressure to start using drugs. Even more alarming is the fact that 50 percent of the fourth graders believe their peers have experimented with drugs, and that 25 percent report “some” to “a lot” of peer pressure to try drugs or alcohol. (Carlton Turner, Ph.D., Drugs and the Kids—how to keep Them Apart, p. 11). Every being has the need to associate with other living beings in order to form social attachments.

Studies indicate that the urge or drive for affiliation is especially intense when an individual is un¬dergoing an anxiety-producing experience caused by problems at home or by physiological changes. This drive, also called the “gregariousness instinct,” serves as a defense mechanism that operates on the principle of strength in numbers.

Teenagers must be challenged to be different! Wear a “white” hat. Dare to be great! Any dead fish can float with the current, but only alive, fighting fish can swim against the current. Anyone can be dirty and guilty and rebellious; it takes no real effort or determination. I have noticed that great and honorable men don’t travel in groups; they usually fly alone. Geese fly in gaggles and ducks fly in flocks, but an eagle soars high in the heavens—alone. How do you want to go through life? Honking and quacking?

Or will you mount up with wings of strength and courage like eagles?

I am convinced that it takes more conviction to stand alone than to follow the crowd. Al the trouble I got into as a teen-ager was with my crowd. We all decided to break into a home, or to harass a teacher, or to get drunk, and everyone joined in. Nature provides us with a tremendous example of the difference our herd makes.

A few years ago National Geographic magazine had a fascinating article called “Locusts: Teeth of the Wind. The article depicted locusts as man’s age-old adversary. However, in 1921, Sir Boris Uvarov discovered that the terrifying locust begins life as a ‘harmless green grasshopper.

In dry years, when bush vegetation is sparse, the grasshopper prefers to poke around independently without any companions. But, when heavy

48

PLATINUM FITNESS

rains result in explosive breeding, the grasshopper’s manner and appearance change. The insects constantly touch one another, and the resultant craving for company changes the grasshoppers’ color to yellow, black, and red. Crowded together, they become aggravated and turn into veracious and destructive creatures.

In the Anti-Locust Research Center in London, an experiment revealed the change a touching herd causes in an individual grasshopper. A fan kept many tiny threads swirling inside a jar, simulating the touch of other grasshoppers. As the threads brushed the grasshopper, its color and behavior slowly changed. (Locusts: Teeth of the Wind, National Geographic, 1969, pp 200 – 213). Many a teen’s attitude and behavior has been similarly altered by the crowd.

There is another type of pressure on youth to try drugs; pusher pressure.

Most adults don’t realize that teenagers can obtain virtually any type of booze, drug, or sexual thrill at their favorite youth hangout. Almost every drug imaginable is available in the restrooms of our public schools and

in many private schools. These are startling statements, and I make them only after personally visiting many hangouts and schools across the country and learning the truth firsthand.

I’ve personally been approached many times by sellers of illegal drugs.

Dave, a teenager told me: “The first time I ever used marijuana was when my friends and I went to the corner market to buy a bottle of booze, and the man said he wanted us to try something better. He had been our usual supplier for all kinds of liquor, selling it to under-aged teens for a few dollars above retail. That is how it has started for millions of teens.

Most teens don’t realize that illegal drugs are a multi-million-dollar business that often involves the underworld.

However, it is important to destroy the myth that pushers are shabby, beadyeyed men in big overcoats who hang around the schools slipping drugs to our innocent little children. Most pushers are friends and contemporaries of teenaged users. Dave continued: “I began pushing by accident. I bought grass for myself, but soon discovered I could be popular with the crowd and make a few fast shillings by selling marijuana.

Most of us have felt the tug of the herd instinct. In fact, it is so common that the English language needs about two dozen words just to name this drive that causes creatures to cluster and conform to one another.

Image source: yooniqimages.com

continued from Page 37

Platinum Health

Money Matters Whoever says money can’t buy you happiness doesn’t know where to shop. ” —Gittel Hudnick

TAMING THE MONSTER CALLED

DEBT

Getting out of debt is like losing weight. The problem with trying to lose weight is that nature abhors a vacuum. by Andrew Ron Most people who eliminate (or sharply reduce) eating from their daily activities don’t replace it with anything. That goes against nature, for if you don’t fill the void, nature will fill it for you.

You know the drill: People who lose weight focus all their attention on the food they’re not eating. So as soon as they reach the weight they wanted, guess how they celebrate? By going out to dinner!

I find the same problem with those who are trying to get out of debt. Many people who want to eliminate their debt or save money try to do so by not spending — and as soon as they reach their goal, they reward themselves by, you guessed it, shopping — putting themselves right back where they started.

So if you want to get out of debt, the first thing you must realize is that “getting out of debt” is the wrong goal. For one thing, it’s not fun. Getting out of debt means you can’t spend money, and that’s no fun for the same reason dieting is no fun (for

dieting means you can’t eat, or at least you can’t eat the stuff you want to eat, or in the quantities you want to eat.

That means we must know how to set realistic goals.

1 Set a positive goal for yourself.

“I will save to buy a plot” is a positive goal, while “I will not spend money” is a negative goal. By focusing on the positive, you’ll quit spending money because you’ll be focused on your goal that you won’t notice you’ve stopped spending money.

2 Set a date for achieving your goal.

A goal is not a goal until you set a date for it. Many people living in Langata Estate in Nairobi, Kenya have always planned to visit the Animal Orphanage or the Bomas of Kenya right in their vicinity but they’ve never! Why not? Because they’ve never set a date. We have too many things to do in our fives, and

therefore only those with deadlines ever get accomplished.

So set a date for achieving your goal, and make sure your date is attainable.

If it’s not, you’ll become discouraged and quit. But don’t set a date so far away that achieving it is pointless.

“I want to be debt free by the time I die” is a silly deadline, because you won’t be able to enjoy the benefits of achieving that goal.

And don’t worry about missing your deadline, either. One of my friends is 38 and a millionaire. When I congratulated him on his success, he replied, “What Success? I failed miserably! My goal was to be a millionaire by age 36—I didn’t make it until I was 34!”

3 Write it down.

Until you see your goal infront of you, it’s not real. Stick your goal onto your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator door—and anywhere else you can see PLATINUM FITNESS

49

Money Matters it easily. Keep reminding yourself of your goal.

4 And fourth, stay focused.

Keep your goal in front of you. If your goal is to buy a home, tour model homes. Read House and Garden, Architectural Digest, and similar magazines. Design your own floor plan. By immersing yourself in your goal, you’ll find it easy to stop spending money, because you won’t regard it as “not spending.” You’ll regard it instead as “preparing to spend my money on something really special.”

Focus on the benefits you’ll derive by reaching your goal, not on the sacrifices you’re enduring. If you can’t perceive the benefits, you won’t achieve your goal, and even if by some chance you do reach your goal, you won’t sustain your victory.

These are the first steps in mastering the art of Taming the Debt Monster.

Set your goal, give yourself a deadline, write it down, and stay focused. You’ll be amazed how far this will take you.

WHERE TO START YOUR JOURNEY

What’s the first thing you do when driving to a place you’ve never been? You look at a map. And where’s the first place you look? Where you are. Only after

CHICKEN SCRATCH

finding your current location do you then seek the place you’re trying to reach. By comparing the two, you can figure out how to get there.

And that’s the first thing you’ve got to do with your debts: You must become an expert on where you are. Do you know exactly how much money you owe and to whom you owe it? Can you tell the cost of that debt—the interest rate and minimum payment?

Too often, people in debt have no idea how much they owe. If you don’t know the details, you can’t fix the problem.

Telling your mechanic that the car doesn’t work is not much help. He’s got to know exactly where the problem is—before he starts repairs. Similarly, if you don’t have a firm grasp of exactly what you owe, to whom you owe it, and what the payment terms are, forget about trying to eliminate your debts. So let’s start there.

It’s simple to do. Just take a sheet of paper and make four columns. In the first column, list the name of each creditor (who it is you owe). In the second column, list the amount you owe to that creditor. Third, state the interest rate each is charging you, and fourth, state the minimum payment you must make each month.

Now that you have your list, I’ll bet you

OR MADE FROM SCRATCH

Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal.”

—E. Joseph Cossman. wrote them down as you thought of them, in random order. So let’s do it again, this time in order. Which creditor will you place at the top of your list? Most people think the first debt to list is the one with the highest balance. Wrong.

When making your list, show first the creditor which charges you the highest interest rate. Place the 21% credit card above the 18% credit card, which appears above the 14% card and so on — even if you owe more to the 14% card than to the 21% card.

Seeing all your debts listed on a sheet of paper makes you realize that you need to pay off those debts. If you keep going into debt, you might set a new debt record.

You know the drill: People who lose weight focus all their attention on the food they’re not eating.

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