Donkey God

Nominated for 17 Emmys in its short four-year run, Soap premiered in the Fall of 1977 as one of the most controversial shows in American television history (and all before a single episode ever aired). The show was opposed by many groups who thought its subject matter would be too mature for a prime-time audience. But Soap never overstepped its bounds, and the show became an instant smash hit with its brilliant and satirical spoofs of classic daytime programming. Sporting an all-star cast and talented producers, the show spawned successful spin-off Benson in 1979, a series that launched Robert Guillaume’s career to a whole new level…

Set in suburban Connecticut, Soap follows the lives of two sisters - Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond), a wealthy yet dim elitist, and Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon), a housewife in a more traditional blue-collar atmosphere. But regardless of their social station in life, neither woman manages to escape the scandal and intrigue surrounding a typical soap opera family. Jessica’s daughter Corrine (Diana Canova) is smitten with a priest, yet they are both having an affair with the same tennis pro. Meanwhile, Jessica and her husband Chester (Robert Mandan) incessantly cheat on one another. As for the other side of the family, Mary’s husband Burt (Richard Mulligan) is certifiably insane, her son Danny (Ted Wass) is a mobster, stepson Jodie (Billy Crystal) is an out-of-the-closet homosexual, and all of them are caught up in a family filled with promiscuous infidelities and quite possibly murder! Throw in the insubordinate and sarcastic Tate butler Benson (Guillaume), and Soap holds its own as one of the funniest sitcoms in TV history…

The Soap DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the series premiere in which the audience learns the background of the two differing, yet similar, families. Jessica overhears Chester making plans to meet his mistress just before she meets her own lover, a local tennis pro named Peter. Jessica leaves Peter just before Corinne arrives for a lesson of her own… Meanwhile, the Campbells are beset by a rift between Danny and Burt, and Burt reveals to Mary that his inability to perform in the bedroom is a result of guilt from having killed her first husband… Other notable episodes from Season 1 include Episode 4 in which Jessica and Corrine encounter each other in Peter’s apartment, and Episode 25 in which Charles Lefkowitz (Sorrell Booke of Dukes of Hazzard fame) orders Danny to marry Elaine or else he will kill the entire Campbell family…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Soap (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Episode 1) Air Date: 09-13-1977
Episode 2 (Episode 2) Air Date: 09-20-1977
Episode 3 (Episode 3) Air Date: 09-27-1977
Episode 4 (Episode 4) Air Date: 10-04-1977
Episode 5 (Episode 5) Air Date: 10-04-1977
Episode 6 (Episode 6) Air Date: 10-25-1977
Episode 7 (Episode 7) Air Date: 11-01-1977
Episode 8 (Episode Air Date: 11-08-1977
Episode 9 (Episode 9) Air Date: 11-15-1977
Episode 10 (Episode 10) Air Date: 11-22-1977
Episode 11 (Episode 11) Air Date: 11-29-1977
Episode 12 (Episode 12) Air Date: 12-06-1977
Episode 13 (Episode 13) Air Date: 12-13-1977
Episode 14 (Episode 14) Air Date: 12-27-1977
Episode 15 (Episode 15) Air Date: 01-03-1978
Episode 16 (Episode 16) Air Date: 01-10-1978
Episode 17 (Episode 17) Air Date: 01-17-1978
Episode 18 (Episode 18) Air Date: 01-24-1978
Episode 19 (Episode 19) Air Date: 02-07-1978
Episode 20 (Episode 20) Air Date: 02-14-1978
Episode 21 (Episode 21) Air Date: 02-21-1978
Episode 22 (Episode 22) Air Date: 02-28-1978
Episode 23 (Episode 23) Air Date: 03-14-1978
Episode 24 (Episode 24) Air Date: 03-21-1978
Episode 25 (Episode 25) Air Date: 03-28-1978

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Soap (DVD).

Matching jewelry for mommy and baby is always a cute touch, and it can be a keepsake for when the baby is all grown up. The sentimental value that comes with baby jewelry cannot be measured. Sometimes certain items of jewelry come with memories; like this bracelet one was bought right after little Sarah took her first steps, or this pendant was bought soon before Davey started to say his first words.

When we say “baby jewelry,” we usually mean bracelets: the safest item of adornment for infants. Many baby bracelets come with letter-blocks that spell out the baby’s name. These may well be a baby’s first opportunity to learn how to read! Some baby bracelets also double as toys, and some charms come with rattles and colorful beads that could easily endear them to the infant.

We may admit that baby jewelry is cute and fun to use, but some mothers are concerned: won’t jewelry be too dangerous to hold so close to the baby? Teething babies will tend to want to bite into their bracelets, or put them in their mouths — and won’t the baby swallow the charms, the item itself, or bits of it that may come off? Also, won’t silver, gold, and certain plastics be bad for the baby’s skin?

Baby jewelry is necessarily hypoallergenic, to keep from irritating a baby’s supremely delicate skin. The charms that come with baby jewelry are usually tightly woven in, so there is no danger of falling off or apart even if the baby is teething. Infant jewelry also has safe clasps. Pin latches or sharp clasps are definitely a no-no.

Toddlers, who are more capable of appreciating body accessories, may in fact enjoy sporting jewelry, especially ones they can play with and show off to other toddlers. Mom and Dad can have their toddler pick out his or her own bracelet. After all, babies and toddlers appreciate bright, sparkling and fun stuff that are visually stimulating and attractive. Baby jewelry is something they can enjoy, and it will be a reminder of that time that passes all too quickly.

Sam Serio is an Internet Marketer, musician and a writer on the subject of jewelry and gemstones. For more information on jewelry and gemstones, we cordially invite you to visit www.morninglightjewelry.com to pick up your FREE copy of “How To Buy Jewelry And Gemstones Without Being Ripped Off.” This concise, informative special report reveals almost everything you ever wanted to know about jewelry and gemstones, but were afraid to ask. Get your FREE report at www.morninglightjewelry.com.

Forget those Crystals

As an integrative medical practitioner, I keep an open mind to new modalities of evaluating illness and treating disease. My interest and pursuit of complementary or alternative medical therapies has led me to selectively incorporate some of what I have come across. For example, in my practice, I embrace acupuncture for the diagnosis and treatment of certain disease states. Also, Traditional Chinese Herbal medicine and western herbs have been quite helpful and marked with successful outcomes for many of our patients. However, there are many who claim to be practitioners of “alternative medicine” who pray on the gullible and ignorant. This fact hit home as never before when I attended and participated in a “Holistic Expo” in Atlanta in mid September this year. I was a guest speaker on the topic of super nutrients in health and longevity and had a presence on the Expo floor to promote my dietary supplement line and integrative practice in Savannah. After viewing over 160 vendor booths and reviewing the list of topics being lectured I was appalled and horrified at what I saw.

To my amazement the bulk of the “practitioners” present at this supposed health (Mind-Body-Spirit) Expo appeared to be charlatans, fakes and quacks. They offered no credentials and held no certification. There was no governing body that oversaw what they offered or preached. What amazed me more were the number of visitors to the expo who were duped into believing there was actually “healing” going on. I view these people as entertainers, but certainly not healers. Many of the vendors offered their services or wares for sale on the spot. A typical “Divine Psychic reading” could cost up to $35. A Channeling session with crystals was $5 per minute. And people were lining up for this. I was very uncomfortable and very out to place amongst this group. The vendor to my immediate left was comprised of three “healers”, a fellow who would sketch your spiritual drawing, and two females, one a psychic, the other a tarot card reader. Across from me was a vendor for a distance learning “institution” that offered “degrees” in nutrition, herbology, spiritual healing and Reiki. To my right was a “massage therapist/channeler/healer” who on several occasions had his victim on a table where he would rub them rather aggressively and wave rocks and crystals over their heads and chest. Yet another booth offered spontaneous healing where practitioners pranced around their victim chanting and waving their hands in an effort to expel the evil forces causing disease. They also showed a videotape repeatedly of a non-surgical way of extracting tumors from bodies seemingly through their skin with instantaneous healing.

Those at the booths (and in the lecture hall) purported to be able to deliver unbelievable health advice from celebrities on the other side (Celebrity Channelers). Many were divine psychics, and one booth offer “aromatherapy” for people & pets. One Native American fellow in Indian garb spoke of “Meeting your Totem Animal.” What’s more, others talked about “Sonic Angel music” and “Turbo Tantra.” A couple had people buying crystal balls set in a wooden box that could diagnose illness under the name of “Chakra Life.” While others offered means of “Accessing the Akashic Records.”

Astonished to see such a large number of people interested in such “alternative” healing claims lead me to ask the questions. Where did modern medicine go wrong to force people to accept or believe in the irrational? What have we done as physicians to push people to embrace such silly notions and odd alternative therapies? Why is the traditional physician despised by these people? Yes, there is genuine dislike of allopathic medicine and its practitioners. The rhetoric one overhears at these booths is ridiculous. Many complaints about medical doctors are based on misguided or casual observations, anecdotal horror stories with a lot of “spin”, and those with an axe-to-grind. Some complaints have legitimate grounds, I must admit, but never bad enough to consider the alternative.

Have we sold or souls to the pharmaceutical companies as we have been charged? Have we been caught up in pressures placed upon us by the current atmosphere of managed care? Have we been embittered by our feelings toward governmental and private insurance reimbursements and the medical malpractice litigation? I am still hopeful in our ability to turn this trend around and salvage our reputations with these people and dissuade those seeking health from wasting their time, money and energy on such quacks and charlatans. Should we chose to ignore our patients, we will only worsen this movement away from what we as physicians know to be effective medical care and push them toward the circus of sometimes harmful “caregivers.”

As one who subscribes to substantiated complementary medical therapeutics, while not turning my back on traditional allopathic medicine, I believe I have a license to be a critic and to write this article. I only embrace what has been shown, after careful scrutiny, to be effective and helpful as a treatment. Charles T. Sprading once said, “Knowledge consists in understanding the evidence that establishes the fact, not in the belief that it is a fact.”

Therefore, this is a call to those out there seeking healing and wellness. Don’t give up on the medical establishment just yet, despite a lot of negative press, we still offer the best health/patient-care around with a proven track record. And despite the disseminated misinformation many of us do subscribe to and uphold our Hippocratic Oath. Even a few of us are open minded enough to realize our Allopathic education does not give us all the answers and we continuously seek new and better ways to take care of our patients.

JP Saleeby, MD is an Integrative Physician and Medical Director of LCNHC in Savannah, GA. He also co-directs the Emergency Department at LRMC in Hinesville, GA. He can be reached for comment at jpsaleeby@aol.com. More info visit http://www.saleeby.net or http://www.docsaleeby.blogspot.com

What has happened to all the renters? Well, Let’s examine what has happen in the last few years in the housing markets.

First of all, interest rates have dropped to all time historical lows. This means that many renters have taken advantage of this and went out and bought a house. The second thing that has happened is that most real estate values throughout the country have gone up a lot in a short period of time. Because of this, many more people have decided to start to invest in rental real estate. More landlords, fewer renters equal a soft rental market.

When the market is soft, you have to be better at finding renters.

It’s the mission of all business to get and keep customers. Well, the business of owning and managing investment real estate isn’t any different. You must have a system and plan in place to find new tenants and keep you old tenants.

Typically owners of small rental property only do one or two things to find tenants. They may run an advertisement in their local newspaper or they may put a sign on the property that says “FOR RENT”. This is fine in a good rental market, but if you want avoid vacancy you have to do more.

Here are five simple ideas to help keep those vacancies filled:

>1. Put together a property feature sheet explaining the features and benefits of your property and distribute it to local real estate offices.

>2. Offer bonuses and incentives to your other residents if the refer anyone to you that rents. As an example: gift certificates for dinner out, tank of gas, microwave, etc.

>3. Use the apartment rental services in your area. They can be found in your phone book and will list your property in their “properties for rent list” that they give to residents.

> 4. Make up some cards that say “Properties For Rent - Houses, Duplexes and Apartments. Call Me” and leave them all over. Put them in the envelope when you pay your bills, leave them at restaurants or post them on bulletin boards at stores. Leave them anywhere, be creative and get the word out.

> 5. Create a waiting list. Keep a list of all callers on any rental that you ever had available. When a new unit comes up for rent, notify the people on your list and see if they might have an interest. If you ever get calls from someone looking for a rental and you don’t have any available now, put them on you waiting list.

Even though the above list is short, it should give you the idea that you need to have many ways to find renters. I’m sure that if you sat down and thought about it you could create a list of 50 -100 ideas. Once you have your list created, you should now test the ideas and see which ones gave you the best results. By doing this process you will fill your vacancies fast and have a constant stream of new tenants wanting to rent from you.

Copyright 2006 David Schneider

Dave Schneider has been investing in real estate for over 25 years and is devoting to helping landlords make more money!. For free audio seminars, tools and information on real estate investing and being a landlord, visit this site now: http://landlordtools.com

Stock Market Myths

1. You can tell if a Stock is cheap or expensive by the Price to
Earnings Ratio.

False: PE ratios are easy to calculate, that is why they are
listed in newspapers etc. But you cannot compare PE’s on
companies from different industries, as the variables those
companies and industries have are different. Even comparing
within an industry, PE’s don’t tell you about many financial
fundamentals and nothing about a stock’s value.

2. To make Money in the Stock Market, you must assume High Risks.

False: Tips to Lower your Risk: Do not put more than 10% of
your money into any one stock Do not own more than 2-3 stocks
in any industry Buy your stocks over time, not all at once
Buy stocks with consistent and predictable earnings growth Buy
stocks with growth rates greater than the total of inflation and
interest rates Use stop-loss orders to limit your risk

3. Buy Stocks on the Way Down and Sell on the Way Up.

False: People believe that a falling stock is cheap and a rising
stock is too expensive. But on the way down, you have no idea
how much further it may fall. If a stock is rising, especially
if it has broken previous highs, there are no unhappy owners who
want to dump it. If the stock is fairly valued, it should
continue to rise.

4. You can Hedge Inflation with Stocks.

False: When interest rates rise, people start to pull money out
of the market and into bonds, so that pushes prices down. Plus
the cost of business goes up, so corporate earnings go down,
along with the stock prices.

5. Young People can afford to take High Risk.

False: The only thing true about this is that young people have
time on their side if they lose all their money. But young
people have little disposable income to risk losing. If they
follow the tips above, they can make money over many years.
Young people have the time to be patient.

To learn more visit: http://www.choose-to-be-rich.com/

For most people, hair removal creams are a safe and effective way to remove unwanted hair and can be used on any part of the body. Consisting of a texture similar to body lotion, hair removal creams are applied directly to the skin in the area of unwanted hair growth and are then wiped away only moments later. While not a permanent solution for hair removal, the effects of creams can last 4-5 days longer than shaving.

The question most people want to know about hair removal creams is: “how do they really work?”

Hair removal creams are depilatory agents, meaning that the hair removal occurs at or above the top layer of skin. Essentially, hair removal creams are composed of chemicals that weaken and dissolve the hair follicle, much in the same way that cleansing agents dissolve dirt. Any part of the follicle that is not completely dissolved will be so weakened by the hair removal cream that it will be easy to simply wipe the residue away with a warm towel, thereby leaving the skin smooth and hair free.

In general, the best method for applying hair removal cream is to wait until after a hot shower. The steam and hot water will loosen the hair follicle and actually have the effect of stretching it further past the layer of the skin than if the hair removal cream were applied to skin that is body-temperature.

Apply the hair removal cream liberally across the skin in the affected area. Dab the cream onto the skin; don’t rub, as rubbing will force the hair removal cream into the pores of the skin, thereby risking the chances of the cream becoming unduly invasive. Let the cream sit for 5-8 minutes, or as directed on the packaging.

Once the allotted period of time is over, use a warm washcloth to completely remove all traces of the hair removal cream from the skin. Rinse the skin in warm water to cleanse the pores. If necessary, you can even step back into the shower. Avoid using any other chemical products on the skin, including lotions and makeup, for 2-3 hours. If the skin becomes dry and red, it is okay to apply a small amount of mineral oil in the affected area.

It is important to note that while hair removal creams are effective, they perform the same basic functions as shaving, but with considerably more need for precaution. It is advised that one never leave the hair removal cream on the skin for longer than the amount of allotted time on the packaging. If the hair removal cream is left on for too long, the user runs the risk of damaging and even scarring sensitive skin. Therefore, it is also advised that one purchase and use a cream that has a mineral oil component, as hair removal creams containing mineral oil tend to be less abrasive to the skin.

It is also not advised that one uses a hair removal cream while also on other medications, such as Retin-A, as the chemical components of the two medications may interact. One should never use a hair removal cream around the eyes, even in small dabs. Using a hair removal cream on the face is generally not a great idea.

Hair removal creams are safe, effective and a great method of removing unwanted hair. The effects last for up to 3-4 days longer than traditional shaving and are often less time consuming to apply than shaving. If you haven’t tried this hair removal method yet, take the plunge! You’ll love the results of smoother skin.

Tamra Cantar is a freelance writer on topics of interest and has a website dedicated to providing the visitor with useful information and resources for hair removal. Visit GoHairRemoval.com for more information on creams and other hair removal techniques.

A very important point to consider while designing a website is proper navigation. You must ensure that potential clients or customers are able to find the information they are looking for without too many clicks. As a quick rule of thumb, visitors to your site should be able to visit all your pages by using, at most, 3 clicks. This is also important when considering search engine optimization (SEO) because search engines will only spider (or index) pages that are 3 clicks deep into your site. Not only does proper navigation allow users to find information they are looking for, but it also allows search engines to spider (or index) the information they are looking for. This is essential if you want high quality search engine traffic directed to your website.

Different types of websites employ different navigation styles, so it is probably best to visit websites similar to your own to see which navigation structure they have chosen. The most common locations for your navigation menu are either on the left side of the page or at the top of the page. When internet users view a website, they do so using what is termed as a “Z scan”. As soon as a page loads, most people scan from the top-left, across to the top-right of the page, then down to the lower-left, and eventually across to the lower-right of the page. So, it makes the most sense to locate your navigation menu in the area where the user is going to first look.

Smaller sites usually only require a static menu on either the side or top of the page. However, website that contains 10 - 15 topics on different pages may require a drop-down menu. These menus may use DHTM, _JavaScript, or some other programming language. When the user’s mouse moves over a main topic category, boxes containing subcategories will drop-down, allowing the user to quickly find the information they are looking for. I f this type of menu is used, it is best to also include text-based navigation in another location on the page. Older browser versions may not support drop-down menus, and therefore a small percentage of people may not be able to navigate your website. Even more important though, is the fact that search engines will not be able to navigate and index your site if there is no text based navigation.

Another concern is accessibility by assistive technologies. For example, blind Internet users literally read the code of your page. Therefore, if a navigation menu is image based or uses image maps, alternate text must be used to allow the user to properly navigate the website. To make things easy, no matter what type of navigation I choose for a client’s website, I always include text-based navigation links at the bottom of every page to ensure that they are accessible to all Internet users and search engine spiders.

A Few Important Tips

•Plan your site navigation structure before designing your website to ensure that you are not forgetting any page links. It may be cumbersome to fix every page you have created because you a missing a link or two.

•The navigation menu must be clean-cut and uniform.

•Do not make the user scroll down the page to see the navigation menu.

•If you have too many links, use drop-down menus or create a site map.

•The navigation structure should be flexible enough to allow the inclusion of a additional links at a later date.

•Use short, clear and concise words in your links so your customers know exactly what type of information that page will contain.

•Make sure every page has a link back to your homepage. This can be achieved by providing a “Home” link in the navigation structure, and / or linking your logo image to the homepage.

•For larger sites, breadcrumb trails can be used to let the user know what section of the website they are in. For example, at the top of a certain page, the user would see:

“Home / Products / Widgets / Green Widgets”

Paul Coulter’s company, www.cost-effective-design.com/“>Cost Effective Web Design provides low cost, custom web design services for small businesses in the Windsor Ontario area View the www.cost-effective design.com/services.html”>Custom Web Design services that Paul’s company has to offer.

Universal life insurance policies provide a flexible insurance solution for those seeking the protection of death benefits. The insured can flex the policy’s premiums and benefits during the life of the policy while the policy creates a residual cash value. This allows one to adjust the nature of their life insurance so that it remains consistent with their actual needs.

Whole life insurance policies offer insured parties a guaranteed interest rate on the cash value of the policy. Universal life policies do this as well. For instance, a universal life policy may guarantee a minimum interest rate on the account of X percent. That percentage will be paid regardless of what happens to the insurance companies actual earnings. However, if the insurance company is able to invest premiums in a way that allows them to exceed the X percent rate of growth, they credit the policy of the insured at the higher rate.

This seems like an absolutely winning situation for holders of universal life policies. After all, they are guaranteed a minimum rate of return on the policy’s cash value and may actually earn in excess of that rate, allowing them to pay less in premiums for the same level of life insurance coverage.

This feature of universal life insurance policies has contributed significantly to their popularity. However, despite the minimum guaranteed rate of return, interest rate levels can still impact universal life insurance policies detrimentally, making it necessary for consumers to consider all possibilities when evaluating universal products.

Although the insured is guaranteed a minimum rate of increase to the policy’s cash value, this perk is somewhat meaningless if an insurance company’s assumptions regarding interest rate behavior are proven to be wrong. All universal life policies are written with assumptions regarding the nature of interest rates in mind. If the company is unable to invest at a level producing the anticipated return, premium costs are forced upward to compensate for the shortfall.

This can result in policyholders being forced into premiums they may not be able to afford. This phenomenon is occurring today for those who bought universal life insurance when interest rates were in double digits. Insurance companies based their universal life insurance policies on the assumption that higher interest rates would continue for some time. This has not been the case, and many insured parties have found themselves paying higher and higher premiums in order to maintain their life insurance. For some, these premium increases are unmanageable, forcing them to cancel their policies completely.

Obviously, the risk of interest rate fluctuations makes universal life insurance less predictable than whole life insurance coverage. However, this unpredictability is not necessarily a reason to avoid universal life. If one is cognizant of the risk of premium price upswing if earnings fail to meet predictions and is prepared to pay the increased premiums in such situations, universal life remains very effective.

This is especially true in light of the fact that the alternative would be to simply buy a whole life insurance policy, which would likely require higher premiums payments right away and with no opportunity for relief at any point during the life of the policy.

Universal life advocates argue that the possibility for cheaper premiums when investment out performs or meets projections makes it a more sensible alternative than agreeing to higher premium payments through the entirety of a policy (whole life).

Whole life advocates maintain that the unpredictability of the markets and of interest rates makes universal life insurance products too unpredictable.

In the final analysis, universal life insurance products seem like a winning solution for those who understand and are able to handle fluctuations in the required premium. If one necessitates complete predictability and is able to overlook the possibility of a cheaper premium over the course of the policy, they may decide that a whole life package makes more sense for them than universal life insurance.

Evan C. Davis works in Medicare customer service and is the webmaster and owner of Easy Insurance Finder. Find out about universal life insurance and online universal life quotes at http://www.easy-insurance-finder.com.

The game of Blackjack was introduced to the United States in the
19th century but the origin of the game is still much in
dispute. Blackjack can be traced back to several European card
games including the French ‘Vingt-Un’ (21), ‘Trente et
Quarente’, and ‘Chemin de Fer’ (Railroad), as well as the
Spanish ‘One and Thirty’, Italian ‘Baccara’ and ‘Seven and a
half’ which all have similarities to modern Blackjack.

When gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1934, Blackjack
screamed into popularity and was most commonly played with one
or two decks of cards. Roger Baldwin published a paper in 1956
which explained hot to reduce the house advantage based on
probability and statistics which was quite confusing for those
who were not mathematicians.

In 1962, Dr. Edward O. Thorp used an IBM 704 computer to refine
the mathematical strategy in Baldwin’s paper and also developed
the first card counting techniques. Dr. Thorp wrote a book
called “Beat the Dealer” which outlined card counting techniques
and the strategies for reducing the house advantage.

This spawned a huge increase in Blackjack players at the US
casinos who were trying to implement Dr. Thorp’s strategies,
much to the consternation of the casinos. The system was
difficult to understand and hard to implement and thusly
increased the profits for the casinos as more and more people
took to playing Blackjack.

Blackjack is the most popular table card game in the United
States today which was transformed from the one table game that
used to be stuck in the corner of most casinos. The term
Blackjack comes from the ‘natural hand winner’ of the earlier
versions of the game when a player was dealt the Jack and Ace of
Spades in his initial two card hand. The player was declared an
automatic winner and was paid a bonus. In today’s version of
Blackjack, any ace combined with any ten point value card-10,
jack, queen and king, counts as a natural Blackjack, except
after a split.

Blackjack is a widely popular game around the world and has only
seen an increase in players as the years progress. What once was
a game that was not popular and seemingly too difficult to play
with ’strategies’ and ‘counting cards’ it is now the most
popular card game to play at a casino in most of the world.

Welcome to article number five in our 5-part series
“Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts”. In
this article we are going to cover some basic, yet powerful
training principles that are often overlooked and are
responsible for nearly all bodybuilding injuries… If you missed
any of the previous articles, you can view them using the links
below. Here’s a breakdown of the articles to look for: 1.
Article #1 - Choosing The WRONG Exercises 2. Article #2 -
Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results 3.
Article #3 - Targeted Stretching 4. Article #4 - Targeted
Exercises 5. Article #5 - Rest, Recovery, and Injury Prevention
Article #5 - Rest, Recovery and Injury Prevention Many of the
injuries that bodybuilders suffer from could be easily prevented
just by allowing the body enough time to rest… While most
bodybuilders dread hearing the word “rest”, many fail to realize
that there is far more to rest than just avoiding overtraining.
When you perform a tough workout you not only stress that muscle
or muscle group, you also place stress on the cardiovascular,
neuromuscular and components of the immune system… For example,
many bodybuilders will train their chest 2-3 times a week and
spend an hour or more performing dozens of exercises just for
the pecs… While this may sound ok to some, when you add in the
stress of other workouts it can quickly add up to too much
stress in one or more ways. I hear bodybuilders all the time say
“I let my body rest by splitting up my workouts” and “I worked
chest yesterday so today I’ll train my back”… that’s NOT rest!
When you train your back, your chest still gets worked, stressed
and it also slows down your bodies ability to recover from
stress and repair damage from previous workouts… So don’t kid
yourself and think that you can train this way over the long
term… it may take years or just a few weeks, but sooner or later
your body will break down! Let me give you a real life example
from my experience… I, like nearly every single bodybuilder out
there, created muscle imbalance unknowingly by following the
workouts recommended in all the books, magazines, etc… I trained
4,5 and sometimes even 6 days a week and thought that I was
resting enough by splitting my workouts… to make a long story
short, after just a few years I had tendonitis in both triceps
because I worked chest, tri’s and shoulder too often, too
intensely and didn’t balance out my training… I also had lower
and middle back pain, knee problems and IT band tendonitis
because my lower body workouts weren’t balanced… I spent too
much time doing heavy squatting, too often and neglected
important muscles… These injuries stayed with me for months,
years and I still can have an occasional flare up if I don’t
stay consistent with a balanced training program. I was able to
create all this damage by the age of 22… I am now 28 and will
have to spend the rest of my life trying to prevent these old
injuries from coming back and causing more pain and problems…
Don’t do what I did! And if you already have, you better act
fast and take a serious look at your training and your goals
because if you don’t, you will spend the rest of your life in
pain and frustrated by all the injuries, big and small. So
here’s my… 5-Step Formula for Quickly Eliminating and Preventing
Aches, Pains and Injuries Step 1. Rest and Recovery The first
thing you need to do is REST! And no, I don’t mean take a day or
two off… I mean no workouts for at least a week or more… you
need to give your body a chance to reduce the inflammation
before you can begin work on eliminating or correcting the cause
of the problem. You may also want to use things like a heating
pad, hot tub or massage to help reduce the inflammation and
speed up the healing and recovery… Step 2. Identify Muscle
Imbalances The next thing you need to do is find out which
muscle imbalances have created your injury or are causing your
pain and work towards correcting them… you can do this quickly
and easily by performing physical assessments in which you are
looking for strength and flexibility imbalances in all opposing
muscle groups. You can do these assessments yourself and they
are covered in our Lose the Back Pain Video
http://www.losethebackpain.com Step 3. Increase Flexibility in
Tight Muscles with Targeted Stretching In order to correct a
muscle imbalance, you need to increase the flexibility and range
of motion in the muscles that are too tight and causing a
problem. As we discussed in the previous articles, you have got
to know what muscles NEED to be stretched before you start
stretching. General stretching may or may not help… it may even
make things worse! You have got to target the right areas and
the only way to ensure that you are, is to do assessments and
find out. Step 4. Strengthen Weak Muscles with Targeted Strength
Exercises The other major step in correcting muscle imbalances
is to strength the weak muscles that are being overpowered by
the strong and tight opposing muscle(s). The same is also true
for strengthening… you have to make sure that you choose the
right exercises and the only way to know for sure is thru
assessments… don’t use guesswork when choosing exercises! Step
5. Monitor and Modify Your Program The key to long term pain
relief and injury prevention is to consistently monitor your
progress and adjust your program… for example, as you work on
correcting and preventing muscle imbalances the strength and
flexibility of your muscles will change and therefore, you must
then re-assess and change your program and workouts accordingly.
You will typically see changes in your strength, flexibility and
bio-mechanics in as little as 2-4 weeks so I recommend that you
re-assess yourself at least every 4-6 weeks. So there you have
it… 5 simple steps that you can take right now to work on
eliminating any pain or injuries you currently have AND make
sure you never create any new ones to deal with in the future.
Following these steps will not only help you eliminate aches,
pains and injuries and it will also allow you to train more
intensely and productively to get you the results you want. Hope
you enjoyed and benefited from this article series and we look
forward to hearing of your success.