Fitness headset microphones take an awful lot of abuse. We sweat, scream, and spit into them. At the end of our class when we hit shower that poor mic is still out there doing another class. We work our mics so hard it borders on abuse. Is it any surprise we have so many problems with them? But you can help. With a little bit of care you can have of trouble free performance from your mic system.

Most group fitness headset microphones for are designed to sit at the side of your face about two finger’s width away from the corner of your mouth, or slightly in front and to the side of mouth, not directly in front as with most head worn singer’s microphones. This helps to avoid amplifying breath noises and blowing spit into the mic capsule as you teach.

If you need to confirm that the mic is working after you have turned on the transmitter and checked that the mixer and sound system are all set to go then, whatever you do, NEVER blow into the microphone to test it!

Blowing hard into the delicate microphone capsule is the easiest way to damage it.

A simple “test - one - two” is all you need to say and you won’t risk being the cause of expensive, unnecessary repairs.

After use, always remove the foam windscreen from the mic, gently wipe any sweat from the mic, and remove the body pack transmitter from your pouch belt. To store the system when not in use, hang the headset microphone on a hook 1m(3ft) above a shelf for the transmitter so that the headset’s cable is kept as straight as possible. Do not coil or kink the cable.

A few simple steps:

• Don’t put the mic capsule directly in front of you mouth.
  
• Never blown into the microphone.
  
• If your mic was design to use a foam windscreen then always use one.
  
• Always use a neoprene transmitter pouch belt.
  
• Always remove the windscreen after use.
  
• Always remove the body pack transmitter from the pouch belt.
  
• Hang the mic when not in use. Do not coil or kink the cable.

Feedback (that squealing or howling sound) occurs when the microphone is too loud, the music is too loud for the microphone or you are too close to the speakers. In most cases turning the microphone level down or moving away from the speakers will stop the howling so just adjust the levels to get the right mix of voice over music without the howls. If the problem persists you may need to reposition your speakers to make sure that they are not ‘firing’ straight back at you. We also find that better quality speakers are less prone to feedback.

If feedback persists because of the room’s architecture (full of mirrors, windows, a polished wood floor and brick upper walls) or your speaker types (ie: some horn tweeters) then there are a selection of feedback exterminator devices or 31 band graphic equalizers available as an add-on component that fits between the Wireless Microphone Receiver and the Mixer, that will filter out those annoying squeals.

When used correctly, headset microphones that were designed for group fitness use will give you many years of trouble free service. Take care of your fitness microphone and it will take care of you.

Kevin Dempsey is a professional audio engineer, sound technician and fitness buff. He is President and CEO of Fitness AV, The Fitness Audio Visual Experts, the leading supplier of sound and video systems to the fitness and recreation industry.

What’s the best muscle building supplement available today? You
might not like the answer. It’s not sexy, it’s not new, and it’s
not touted as a steriod replacement.

And if you don’t, you might want to consider getting away from
all those “steroid-like” results ads you are bombarded with in
all the magazines.

If you get a chance, take a look back at all the muscle
magazines from eight to ten years ago. What do you see?

I’ll tell you. You see a lot of ads for “wonder” supplements,
many of which were called the best muscle building supplement
available at the time. Only problem is, you don’t see any ads
for those muscle building supplements today. Why is that?

Because they just don’t work! Eventually, consumers figure that
out and the supplements stop selling. So the supplement
companies come out with the latest, greatest, cutting-edge, best
muscle building supplement for you to spend your hard earned
money on.

There are a couple of supplements that you still see ads for
today. But they aren’t sexy, they aren’t new, they aren’t
cutting edge, and they aren’t “drug-like” grey area supplements.
So I give two answers to the best muscle building supplement
question - protein and creatine.

If you want to make outstanding muscle building progress, you
must put together a solid weight training program, train with a
high level of intensity, add poundage to your exercises as often
as possible, eat six high protein meals every day, and make sure
you are out of the gym often enough to recover from your
workouts so that you can build the muscle you are triggering
into growing.

Oh, and add the dual “best muscle building supplement” to your
program - protein and creatine. Protein powders make it
extremely easy and convenient to eat six meals a day and to get
enough quality protein into your body.

Use Protein Shakes - This will make it easier for you to
consume enough calories and protein each day, as well as making
it much more convenient to have 6 meals a day. Who has time to
prepare six meals a day? Not anybody I know, that’s for sure.

Here’s a sample weight gain drink you can make up and use in
your muscle building diets:

100 grams of protein powder

2 quarts of whole or 2% Milk

2 cups of skim milk powder 2 cups of chocolate ice cream

4 tablespoons of peanut butter

1 banana

Mix in a blender and drink throughout the day, in addition to
your regular food meals. Add or subtract ingredients based on
individual taste preferences and number of calories needed.

When you have your post-workout muscle building protein shake,
throw in a serving of creatine as well.

High quality protein, aka, ‘the real muscle building supplement’
should be the center point of all your meals. Intense exercise
increases demand for protein, which support muscle repair and
growth.

When you train with weights, you should eat a minimum of 1.5
grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. If you weight 150
pounds, try and take in at least 225 grams of protein each and
every day.

I know this sounds like a lot and you could probably do okay
with 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. But if you find
it really difficult to gain muscle, this extra protein can help.

You don’t have to have carbs or fat at every meal, but you must
have protein. When I say protein, I am referring to high quality
protein derived from animal sources.

For getting bigger and stronger, the only protein you need to be
concerned with are those found in whey, casein (cottage cheese),
eggs, beef, poultry, and fish. This is the best muscle building
supplement around and should be the cornerstone of your muscle
building nutrition plan.

Throw in a high quality creatine product and you are good to go.
As for the rest, save your money and stick with the dual muscle
building protein/creatine stack for massive muscle mass gains.

Competition dieting is rather an individual matter as far as
success goes. Generally, if one is in a calorie deficit, while
maintaing a very high protein content and taking anabolics, that
person will lose minimal muscle if any at all while losing a
great deal of bodyfat. Add to that combo fat burning aids, and
one can achieve stage shape very quickly.

Below is a standard formula that I used succesfully on many
people. It is designed to make one in competition shape in
extreme time. The biggest change so far has been one person that
went from 21% to 4% bodyfat in the 9 weeks of the preparation.

DIET - Weeks 9 & 8

06.00 am training

08.00 12 egg whites, 1 apple, protein shake

10.00 100g rice, 1 apple, protein shake

12.00 red meat, salad (tomato, lettuce, cucumber), protein shake
with 10g flax seed oil

14.00 100g bread, 1 apple, protein shake

16.00 tuna or chicken or fish, protein shake

18.00 100g maltodextrin, 1 apple

18.30 pm training

20.30 chicken or turkey or fish, salad, protein shake

21.30 run (20 - 30) minutes

This diet is to be followed Monday to Saturday. On Sunday, as
many carbs as desired are allowed. Training is performed Mon to
Sat with Sun off. Running is performed every night.

This diet is the diet for the weeks 9 and 8, competition being
at end of week 1. The times on the diet are as an example and
they should be modified to suit ones needs. However, DO NOT miss
meals and DO NOT swap them around!!! The aim here is to only
have the amount of carbs outlined on the diet. Fat is
absolutelly minimal. Protein is at maximum. On this diet, you
should never feel hungry. If you do, eat more protein.

After 2 weeks of this diet, you will drop the maltodextrin carb
meal. Two weeks later, you will drop the bread carb meal. Two
weeks after that, you will drop the rice meal. That will leave
you 2 weeks on virtually no carbs. Don’t worry, by then, the
body is used to using fat for energy, so you won’t have any
problems. The hardest days will be the first week of your diet,
until you will get used to using fat for energy.

When you drop a carb meal, replace it with a protein meal.

On the weekends, you can have as many carbs as you wish, but
they have to be CLEAN carbs, so no McDonalds!

The last week, will be a full on carb week while you adjust your
water levels. I will detail that in another article.

TRAINING

MONDAY

AM TRAINING Biceps, Triceps

* Bicep curl B.B. - 2 x superset 10/15 * Preacher curl (mach.) -
2 x superset 10/15

* Rope pushdowns - 2 x superset 10/15 * Dips b/w benches - 2 x
superset 10/15

PM TRAINING Chest

* Incline press - 10, 8, 6, 12 (2min rest) * Flat flyes - 8, 6,
6 (1min rest) * Cable crossovers - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 (40sec
rest)

TUESDAY

AM TRAINING Back

* Lat pulldowns - 2 x superset 8/12 * Bent-over rows - 2 x
superset 8/12 * Shrugs - 2 x superset 8/12

PM TRAINING Shoulders

* Millitary press - 10, 8, 6, 12 (2min rest) * D.B. Press - 8,
6, 6 (1min rest) * Rear delt machine - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 (40sec
rest)

WEDNESDAY

AM TRAINING Hams, Calves

* Lying leg curl - 2 supersets - 10/15 * Stiff legged deadlift -
2 supersets - 10/15

* Standing calf raise - 2 supersets - 8/10

PM TRAINING Quads

* Squats - 10, 8, 6, 12 (2min rest) * Leg press - 8, 6, 6 (1min
rest) * Leg extension - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 (40sec rest)

THURSDAY

AM TRAINING Chest

* Incline press - 2 supersets - 8/10 * Flat flyes - 2 supersets
- 8/10

PM TRAINING Biceps, Triceps

* D.B. curl - 10, 8, 6, 12 (2min rest) * Concentration curl - 8,
6, 6 (1min rest) * Preacher curl (mach.) - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
(40sec rest)

* Rope pushdown - 10, 8, 6, 12 (2min rest) * Lying extension - 8
,6 ,6 (1min rest) * Dips b/w benches - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 (40sec
rest)

FRIDAY

AM TRAINING Shoulders

* Front raises - 2 supersets - 8/10 * Lateral raises - 2
supersets - 8/10 * Rear raises - 2 supersets - 8/10

PM TRAINING Back * Lat pull downs - 10, 8, 6, 10 (2 min rest) *
Bent-over rows - 8, 6, 6 (1 min rest) * Shrugs - 10, 10, 10, 10,
10 (40sec rest)

SATURDAY

AM TRAINING Quads

* Squats - 2 x superset 10/12 * Leg press - 2 x superset 10/15 *
Leg extension - 2 x superset 10/15

PM TRAINING Hamstrings, Calves

* Lying leg curl - 10, 8, 6, 12 (2min rest) * Stiff leg deadlift
- 8, 6, 6 (1min rest) * Seated leg curl - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
(40sec rest)

*Standing calf raises - 10, 8, 6, 12 (2min rest) *Leg press calf
raises - 8, 6, 6 (1min rest)

Abs are performed every workout. All days begin at 06.00 am.

This is the training set-up:

Bis, Tris Back Hams, Calves Chest Shoulders Quads Rest Mon Tue
Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Chest Shoulders Quads Bis, Tris Back Hams,
Calves Rest

This is a very intense program. It’s designed to give maximum
fat loss in minimal time with no muscle loss. It is VERY time
consuming, but it’s guaranteed to work and it’s only for 9
weeks.

GEAR (steroids)

Use normal bulking gear until 4 weeks out (test, a-50, d-bol,
deca, etc). 4 weeks out switch the test to test propionate or
suspension. Drop the Deca/EQ, etc. Add primobolan, tren, winny,
etc. One week out, only use tren, masteron, suspension, primo
tabs, winny.

Use GH throughout - as much as you can afford. No insulin.

Use Arimidex or Nolvadex every day as desired. To keep your
testes at a normal size, either use HCG every 4th week (2,000IU
on Mon, Wed, Fri) or 50mg EOD of Clomid throughout the whole
thing. Don’t use these for the last 4 weeks before the show
though.

Cutting compounds: Use a good ECA product like SyntheBURN twice
a day, every day. Use Clenbuterol at 80mcg/day for the first
week. Increase it to 160mcg/d for the second week. The third
week you add 25mcg/d T3. You add another 25mcg/d every week
following that, until you reach 150mcg/d. You stay on that until
the end of the diet. You stay on Clenbuterol thoughout as well.
Yes, you will be racing! But you will not loose any muscle, so
do not worry about that (as long as you take your protein in).

Last week do your diuretics program. That will be outlined in
another article. One hour before stage time use Synthelator. It
is the maddest vasodilator in the world. Within one hour of
administering it, you will have the absolute most insane
vascualrity you can imagine. The only place in the world that
you can get it from is http://www.synthetek.com

This program will get you in competition shape pronto while
keeping all your size on. If you appear to be losing muscle, eat
more protein!

You can discuss the above article at:
http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1157
Products that you might need in relation to what I have
discussed above or simply for the absolute best supplements
available in the world right now go to: http://www.synthetek.com
I can be personally contacted at: andecorp@yahoo.com

Lift chairs can be a boon to the elderly, infirm or disabled.
Along with stair lifts and scooters they can do wonders for
comfort, mobility and increased independence. Lift chairs can be
relatively inexpensive but as with everything, the price you are
prepared to pay will effect the number and the sophistication
level of the features available.

It is well worthwhile to research the market and to be clear

a) what you need and b) what you want your lift chair to do for
you

as the answers to these questions will help you decide on the
features that are most important to you.

You might wish to consider some or all of the following.

* Take into account your size. Height, weight, width. * Seat
depth & width required. * Right hand or left hand controls. *
Specific accessories like heat or massage. * Will you sleep in
your lift chair? * Do you want 2, 3 or infinite positions? * How
much time are you likely to spend in your chair? * What size is
your room? * Do you want your chair bespoke or off the shelf? *
Do you want your chair to be static or mobile? * Covered in
fabric, vinyl or leather? * How much can you afford and are
grants or loans available?

Armed with this information you can make a sensible informed
choice from the many available Lift Chair models.

Most lift chairs will work with weights up to 375-450lbs. A two
position lift chair has a lift position and a slight recline
position. As you recline in a two position lift chair your back
& thighs will stay at about 90 degrees. They do not recline
fully for sleeping.

A three position lift chair will recline fully. It gives a wider
range of positions and many allow the user to position their
feet above the heart.

Using the above check list should help you get what you want and
aid your internet search for suitable lift chair companies.