25 yrs since Transformers ended

[Phil.Pastel]

I hope when you get to my sixty-three years old you can do the 4,000 crunches I do each of five days a week and work out with heavy iron on three. At my age, and with a 13, 10 and 4 year old that are my first three children, I'm like a shark -- I either swim or sink.

I can't do that many crunches now. Or at least I wouldn't attempt it. My lower back is my one trouble spot

I believe the keys to staying young is in the sun. Heavy tanning. And avoid eating food with artificial preservatives that the body was never meant to process. So far, so good.

[Captain Marvel]

But they were fine with it being in toy form all these years? I read that somewhere too and I didn't think it made any sense.

Beats me. It is odd that Volkswagen was apparently fine with the VW Bug being used in the Transformers toyline for several years and are touchy about it today. Perhaps the people that were running Volkswagen in the 80s to early 90s were fine with it, but those that came later and took on running the company in the late 90s to the present have brought in a truckload of political correctness.

From what I understand, "no war toys" has been Volkswagen's stance ever since the Alternators/Binaltech line of Transformer toys; (early 2000s). According to the wiki article for the Alternators line, Porsche also took the "no war toys" stance when Takara tried licensing the 986 Boxter to use as the basis for Jazz. And then there were some companies that were fine with their vehicles being used for the Transformers line just as long as the character "didn't have a gun".

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

I get it, I empathize and I sympathize. I suffered with a calcified disc and was in a brace for two years when I was a teenager. Agonizing. As you likely know, when you're having a time when the back is bad and is subject to spasms, the worst thing is when you sneeze. I recall it felt like a mule kicked me in the gut. No one can understand how tough severe back pain is unless they have had it.

As for my crunches, it took me three years to build up to four thousand a day. I use the twelve different exercises on the Sheena Easton video as the basis. It's really not necessary to do this many, but it gives me a good sixty-eight minutes where I'm completely away from the world and just in the physical zone.

I can't do that many crunches now. Or at least I wouldn't attempt it. My lower back is my one trouble spot

I believe the keys to staying young is in the sun. Heavy tanning. And avoid eating food with artificial preservatives that the body was never meant to process. So far, so good.

[Phil.Pastel]

I get it, I empathize and I sympathize. I suffered with a calcified disc and was in a brace for two years when I was a teenager. Agonizing. As you likely know, when you're having a time when the back is bad and is subject to spasms, the worst thing is when you sneeze. I recall it felt like a mule kicked me in the gut. No one can understand how tough severe back pain is unless they have had it.

About a month ago, I pulled something back there when I coughed. Spent a week unable to get up once I sat down for a while

As for my crunches, it took me three years to build up to four thousand a day. I use the twelve different exercises on the Sheena Easton video as the basis. It's really not necessary to do this many, but it gives me a good sixty-eight minutes where I'm completely away from the world and just in the physical zone.

I do a lot of straight-leg deadlifts. Great for lower back and back of your thighs. I also do those upside down "situps" where you hang suspended in the air. I hold a 35 lb. plate and do about 20 sets of them. I do a lot of lower back work (when I can), but I don't do abs as often as I should

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

You've got my admiration for doing gravity sit-ups -- and with a 35 pound plate no less! Sounds like you don't need crunches. That's awesome, Phil.

Boy, we're really getting off thread here, but I'll ask one last question: what's your post workout food? I religiously do a slice of whole grain, stone ground wheat bread dipped in tablespoon of olive oil for absorption and four heaping tablespoons of low fat cottage cheese mixed with a quarter can of kidney beans and a quarter cup of sunflower seeds. I could do it the easy way and just drink Whey protein with fat free milk, but I like doing all the prep, I like all the textures and I think it's a great carb/protein mix.

About a month ago, I pulled something back there when I coughed. Spent a week unable to get up once I sat down for a while




I do a lot of straight-leg deadlifts. Great for lower back and back of your thighs. I also do those upside down "situps" where you hang suspended in the air. I hold a 35 lb. plate and do about 20 sets of them. I do a lot of lower back work (when I can), but I don't do abs as often as I should

[Phil.Pastel]

You've got my admiration for doing gravity sit-ups -- and with a 35 pound plate no less! Sounds like you don't need crunches. That's awesome, Phil.

Thanks