John's Favorite Things!

[John Stone]

I thought the suggestion to create a thread with links to some of my favorite things in the JSF Amazon Mall was a very good one.

I'll be adding to this thread on a regular basis, hopefully at least once per day. I'll try to include a good mix of books, CDs, electronics, fitness equipment and whatever else I feel like mentioning. I'll only include products that I own and enjoy.

If you have questions or comments about any of the items listed here, please put them in this thread. Thanks.

[John Stone]

Last week I mentioned that my grip was failing on very heavy deadlifts. I've done some research on various products that are used specifically to help improve grip strength, and have decided to purchase the Captains of Crush Trainer Gripper and also their No. 1 Gripper. I'm looking forward to working with them. My understanding is that the No 2. gripper is VERY tough for almost anyone to close even once, and only 110 people have ever manged to close the No. 3 gripper. The toughest is the No. 4 gripper: just three people in the whole world have ever closed a No. 4 gripper.

[John Stone]

One item that I've found absolutely indispensable in the kitchen is an electronic scale. I used to have one of those cheap mechanical scales with a small plastic tray, and it just sucked.

The scale I've been using for the past few months is the Salter 11 Pound Electronic Stainless Kitchen Scale (Round). It's 66 bucks and worth every penny (the same scale is also available in a square version for 60 bucks).

It has an auto-shutoff feature, it converts from metric to imperial with the touch of a button and you can zero it out as you add ingredients. For example, I put my PWO protein shaker with water on it, press a button to measure in grams, zero it out, add the correct amount of protein, zero it out and then add the correct amount of dextrose. After my workouts, the last thing I want to do is math!

It's also very handy when measuring for cooking or making sure you get exactly the right portion. It's totally accurate, and looks great sitting on the counter. Highly recommended!

[John Stone]

Today's item is something no home gym should be without: Power hooks!

Struggling to get into position with heavy dumbbells to perform pressing movements can be very difficult and tough on the shoulders. Power hooks solve that problem and make working with dumbbells much safer and more productive. I use mine every time I work my chest and they are wonderful. I don't know how I ever lived without them. Power hooks are definitely one of my favorite things! Check out the link for a full description.

[John Stone]

Today's "Favorite things" entry is a pretty big list of some of my favorite weight training CDs. I generally don't listen to this kind of music unless I'm lifting weights, but when I'm training I like this kind of stuff a great deal. I realize that most, if not all of it, is not to everyone's tastes, and you should also be aware that most of the music carries an "Explicit Lyrics" warning. That said, here is some of what's playing on my stereo when I lift. These are in no particular order:

Fear Factory - Obsolete
Fear Factory - Digimortal
Fear Factory - Remanufacture

Diecast - Tearing Down Your Blue Skies

Shadows Fall - The War Within
Shadows Fall - The Art Of Balance

Unearth - The Oncoming Storm

Stampin' Ground - New Darkness Upon Us

Dry Kill Logic - Dead and Dreaming

God Forbid - Gone Forever

Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage

Hatebreed - Perseverance
Hatebreed - Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire
Hatebreed - The Rise of Brutality

[John Stone]

Yesterday I featured some of my favorite motivational weight training music, so today I think I'll continue along those same lines. Over the next few months I'm sure I'll talk about my favorite DVDs and other items that have nothing to do with fitness in this space, but this morning I'm going talk about a couple of DVDs that really get me motivated and fired up!

First up is an obvious choice: Pumping Iron: 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD. This is a very entertaining and motivational film, and it's wonderfully presented on the 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD. This movie never fails to get me amped up and hungry to hit the weights. In addition to the feature film, there are a number of very entertaining bonus features on this DVD, such as "Iron and Beyond", which is a retrospective feature complete with current interviews with most the major cast members (who reunited for a screening of the film). Another great bonus feature is Raw Iron which documents the making of "Pumping Iron" and contains a number of rarely-seen outtakes. A candid new interview with Arnold rounds out the package. This is a "must-have" DVD for just about any weight lifter!

The second DVD I want to talk about is actually a boxed set: The Rocky Anthology. Chances are you've seen most of these films, but if you don't own them on DVD you should think about picking up the very reasonably-priced box set. I revisited the original film shortly after I began my transformation in 2003, and it had a major impact on me (even though I'd already seen it a dozen times). I love this film, and never tire of watching it. In fact, I'm probably going to watch it again today! The first film is by far my favorite, but the second film is also a true classic. The third film (with "Mr. T") begins the downslide of the series, but has a number of worthwhile moments. The fourth film is fairly weak, but still ranks up there as an enjoyable "guilty pleasure", thanks to the memorable training scenes and, of course, Ivan Drago ("I must break you!") Despite a return to the director's chair by John G. Avildsen (the director of original "Rocky"), the fifth movie was ultimately a let-down for most. Still, it's great to have the entire collection on DVD for such a reasonable price.

[John Stone]

For today's "Favorite Things" item, I've selected my camera, which I've owned for almost two years and absolutely love! Actually, my camera - the Fuji S7000 - is not made any more, so I've selected the replacement model for my camera: the Fuji S9000. The S9000 is very similar to my camera, but with some nice improvements. A few of the notable features include: 9 MegaPixel CCD, 10.7x optical zoom, 30fps movie mode with sound (movie length limited only by storage card), very little shutter lag, fast start-up time, many shooting modes (everything from several point-and-shoot auto modes, to full-on manual mode), built-in flash, a hot shoe for external flash attachement, ability to use different lenses and filters, great image quality and two macro modes. Every picture and video I've posted on this site and the forums since March 29, 2004 was shot with my S7000. I love it, and have never had a single problem with it despite years of daily use.

[John Stone]

I thought for today's "Favorite Things" entry I'd mention a few of my favorite holiday season films.

By the way, I'm a huge advocate of viewing film in their Original Theatrical Aspect Ratio (OAR). For most modern film, that's either 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 widescreen. Older films, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" have an OAR of 1.33:1 (which is the same as a standard US television). I created a page (with lots of screen shots) that fully explains the various aspect ratios, widescreen, the "pan and scan" process and how films are transferred to video. It's on my personal web site, and can be found here.

Christmas Story, A: Two-Disc Special Edition - A true classic. Spot-on humor that never misses.

Elf: Infinifilm Edition - I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. If you like Will Farrell, you'll probably enjoy it.

It's a Wonderful Life - Another classic film that the whole family will enjoy.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: Special Edition - I love all the "Vacation" movies, but this is one of the stronger ones. Great laughs, loaded with "quotable quotes" and very re-watchable.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles - One of the funniest holiday movies ever, but with a heart. Watch it after you put the kids to bed.

The Polar Express Gift Set (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition with Snow Globe and Toy) - Amazing, destined to be a classic. The whole family will enjoy this. The gift set comes with a train and a snow globe.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians - The ultimate Christmas cheese-fest. This movie is HORRIBLE. This film is best enjoyed with a gathering of friends and a few gallons of eggnog. Watch it MST2K-style. You'll be singing "Hurray for Santy-Claus!" for weeks.

Sound Of Music, The: 40th Anniversary Edition - I've been watching this film ever since I was a kid. Musicals are generally not my cup of tea, but I really love this movie.

[John Stone]

Today I'm going to feature a couple of items that I've used almost daily for the past few years: the Accumeasure FAT TRACK GOLD Digital Fat Meter and MyoTape Body Measurer.

The calipers are excellent once you learn how to use them. Keep in mind that working with the calipers takes practice, and you will get inconsistent readings until you get a feel for them. Once you get good with the calipers, though, you'll find that they are pretty accurate for a 3-point caliper - far better than any of the body fat scales I've used. The MyoTape is awesome. I use it to take all my measurements, and it's so easy to use and accurate that you'll never go back to a standard soft tape again. These are a couple of items no fitness enthusiast should be without!

[John Stone]

Today's Favorite Things entry is something very useful for those of you who own automatic watches: the Steinhausen Automatic Watch Winder in Burl Wood.

If you own more than one automatic watch, or simply don't wear your watch every day, then you already know what a pain it is to have to set the time and date after it's not been worn for a day or two. It also has an additional non-winding display window for a second watch.

These winders look great, are 100% silent and will keep your watches fully wound and ready to go. I couldn't be happier with mine, and it's proven to be a real time-saver!

[John Stone]

Today's Favorite Thing item is something that I think most you will enjoy. This is a book that Skip "Abdominator" Podar recommended to me way back in 2003. When Skip and I first "met", it was early in my transformation and I was still struggling to break the patterns of negative thinking that I'd developed over the past 10 years. Skip noticed this self-defeating trait in my forum posts, and recommended a book: The Magic Of Thinking Big. This is NOT a weight training or body building book. This book is all about the power of the mind. I believe the information in this book played a large roll in laying the foundation of who I am today. It's powerful, insightful and inspiring. I don't read or own many books of this kind, as they are usually not my cup of tea. This is one of the few "self help" books that I can recommend to everyone without hesitation.

[John Stone]

I haven't updated this thread in a while, but I have a new favorite thing that I'm pretty excited about!

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I forgot to mention that while Lisa and I were cleaning last weekend our vacuum cleaner blew up. It literally came apart inside, and parts of it broke off and were ejected at high speed. It's a good thing none of them hit either of us or the dogs!

Anyway, I've been wanting a Dyson DC14 Animal for a while, but couldn't justify spending the money on a new vacuum while our old one was still working. I'm not the kind of guy who gets worked up over a vacuum, but with two dogs and the dusty Florida air, I was hoping the Dyson would live up to its claims. It does, and then some. It was worth every last cent. When I re-vacuumed a floor that had just been done with the vacuum that exploded, it picked up a full canister of dog hair and dust that our old Hoover couldn't get. The engineering and features of the Dyson DC14 Animal are awesome. Highly recommended if you like a clean, dust-free house like I do!

So what does a vacuum have to do with health and fitness? Plenty! Lisa and I have both been sleeping better at night, and we've noticed less dust on the furniture since we started using the Animal. Less dust and contaminants in the air makes for easier breathing and cleaner air.

[John Stone]

In honor of the JSF Amazon Mall reopening, I've decided to update my Favorite Things thread with a new item.

I bought this item a few weeks ago after seeing a post on the forum about it. It's the Men's Bodygroom by Phillips/Norelco. This thing is great for shaving and trimming all areas (and I do mean ALL AREAS) below the neck. I've cut myself in some not-so-fun places using lesser products, but this one really delivers as advertised.

The web site for the Bodygroom is hilarious, so be sure to check it out if you have not seen it.

[John Stone]

Today's Favorite Things "item" is Magazine subscriptions.

Did you know that Amazon offers great prices on all of your favorite magazines?

I'm kind of a magazine junkie, and usually have 6-10 subscriptions to various magazines at any given time. Click on the above link if you want to browse the entire selection of available subscriptions (the categories are shown on the left, or just do a search if you know what you are looking for), or you can head directly to the Health & Fitness magazines.

[John Stone]

I mentioned my PDA in passing yesterday, but today I'd like to add it to my Favorite Things thread.

I'd be lost without my PDA. It's an iPAQ model 4355. It has a thumb keyboard, wireless, Bluetooth and a large, bright screen. I keep all my contact information and appointments in it, and it's great for surfing the web, sending emails or even administering servers (there is a pocket version of SSH). Before I owned a car with a built-in satellite navigation system, I used my iPAQ along with a small Bluetooth GPS receiver and a powered car mount. The system worked great! You may not need GPS on your handheld, but I'm mentioning it just to show how flexible and handy these little devices can be.

[John Stone]

I have not updated my Favorite Things thread in awhile, so here's something cool!

Modern day photo printers are absolutely amazing. With good paper and a decent digital camera the prints are as good as any photo lab. I've saved a ton of money thanks to digital cameras and photo printers. I only make prints when I need them, and I get to choose which photos are good enough to print. Gone are the days of getting back dozens of prints from the lab, and only finding 2 or 3 that are worth paying for.

I've always had very good results with Cannon's line of Photo Printers. Check out the Canon PIXMA iP6600D Photo Printer. It's on sale right now for less than 150 bucks, and this thing is loaded with features: up to 9,600 x 2,400 DPI, borderless, glossy 4x6 and 8.5x11 prints, 3.5" LCD screen, print directly from a memory card, Bluetooth compatible, and much more. I also like that all the inks are individually replicable, as needed. This package comes with everything you need to get started, including a sample pack of 4x6 Photo Paper Plus. This is definitely one of my Favorite Things!

[John Stone]

I have recently purchased an item that I'm totally in love with. In fact, I stare at it for several hours every single day. I'm talking about the Viewsonic VX2235WM 22" widescreen LCD computer monitor. Here's a picture of mine in action:



The price on this monitor (currently on sale at the JSF Amazon Mall for $324.99) is outstanding, especially considering all the great features: native resolution of 1680x1050, fast 5ms response time, 700:1 contrast ratio, integrated speakers (I don't use the speakers, but they are a nice extra feature if you need to take the monitor somewhere and don't want to bring your speaker system or just need basic 2-channel sound) and Digital DVI + Analog inputs.

The monitor's picture looks amazing, as does the monitor itself. It comes with a nice looking stand, and can even be wall mounted (it weighs just 13 pounds). This is my first LCD computer monitor, and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to make the switch from CRT. The picture is crisp from edge-to-edge, and there's none of the distortion and glare that you find with regular CRT monitors. It's also infinitely cooler and consumes far less power than my old 20" CRT display.

You will love this monitor!

[John Stone]

Have you ever suddenly craved a food that you only sort of like? That happened to me last night, but not with food: it was with my lifting music. As you probably already know, normally when I lift I like to listen to hard stuff, such as Fear Factory, Diecast, Shadows Fall, Unearth, Stampin' Ground, Dry Kill Logic, God Forbid, Killswitch Engage and Hatebreed...

...so, last night I was about to train (delts/traps/calves) and for some reason I had the weirdest craving to listen to rap music. Normally rap is not something I enjoy very much. Sure, I like the odd rap tune here and there, but for the most part rap does absolutely nothing for me. My cable company offers dozens of digital music channels, so I decided to put on the uncensored rap channel and hit the weights. I had an incredible workout and, I have to say, I really enjoyed the music. I suppose I would describe the music as less fatiguing, more dynamic and more upbeat than my usual choices. Lisa, who absolutely dreads my workouts because she hates my usual lifting music, was completely ecstatic with last night's music choice! I peaked out from the gym a couple times and saw Lisa dancing around the house. This was great to see, because she normally curls up in the fetal position under her desk in the back office while I'm working out.

I think the reason I decided to try listening to rap music last night was because I watched Ronnie Coleman's The Cost of Redemption DVD. Ronnie listens to rap while he's working out, and as I watched the DVD I found the music oddly motivating. Maybe it was a combination of watching Ronnie lift and the music, I don't know. Anyway, the DVD is great--I highly recommend it. I was so fired up and motivated after watching it that I couldn't wait to hit the weights last night. While Ronnie's physique is not something I aspire to, his work ethic and positive attitude are things I admire a great deal. I have to say, his breakfast is disgusting. Watch the DVD and you'll see what I mean.

[John Stone]

Today I'd like to add a new item to my Favorite Things thread: The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding (Revised Edition) by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I wish I'd bought this book a long time ago, but I didn't get around to purchasing it until a few weeks back. Over the past few weeks I've been reading the book, and it's amazing! The book is over 800 pages long, and is packed with information and photographs. Reading about bodybuilding from Arnold's unique perspective is absolutely fascinating. Arnold covers everything from the history of bodybuilding to training equipment. There is also a comprehensive guide to nearly every weight training exercise under the sun--a great resource in and of itself. The book is loaded with photographs of notable bodybuilders, many of which I've never seen before. If you lift weights, this book belongs in your library!

[John Stone]

Today I'm adding the Logitech Harmony 880 Universal remote control to my Favorite Things thread...

This weekend I really put the Harmony through its paces, and it is a marvel. You program the unit through an easy-to-use web-based interface, and when you are done your custom configuration is downloaded to the remote via USB. If you change a piece of equipment in your system or need to adjust your macros, it takes mere moments to reconfigure the remote. Every last piece of equipment I own--including my lighting controller--was in Logitech's database. Even if a piece of your equipment is not in their extensive database (highly unlikely), the Harmony can learn the commands from your existing remote. You can customize every button on the Harmony to perform any function you like.

Where the Harmony really shines is preparing your system to perform an activity. For example, if you want to watch a DVD, you simply hit the "Watch DVD" button. The remote then powers on the needed equipment (TV, DVD player, Stereo system), switches everything to the correct inputs and starts the DVD. If you have a lighting controller, the remote will even dim the lights to the level you like! Lisa, who was always frustrated trying to remember how to set up our system to simply watch TV or watch a DVD, learned how to use this in about 30 seconds. You should have seen her face light up when everything worked as expected after hitting just one button!

There are a number of thoughtful touches, such as a "help" button that is actually very useful, and a motion detector that automatically lights up the Harmony's attractive LCD display and button backlighting when you pick up the remote!

The remote comes with a battery pack and charging cradle, so you never need to purchase batteries. The Harmony has completely and totally replaced all six of my old remotes (which are now sitting in a drawer): TV, lighting system, stereo, CD jukebox, DVD player and the HDTV Cablebox/PVR.

Here's a picture of the remote and the charging station:



If you are suffering from remote-overload, and are tired of hitting 100 buttons just to watch a DVD or TV, your problems are over. Get this remote!