Muscleman at full stre-e-e-tch
QUESTION
Does anyone still use the exercises popularised by Charles Atlas? I stIll practise the dynamic tension technique developed by Charles Atlas. He got the idea from watching apes in a zoo continually pushing and pulling on the bars of their cage to keep their muscles supple and strong.
He popularised the Bullworker, which sold in its tens of thousands, but you don’t need one of them. Just stand in front of a mirror and interlock your fingers, then press your palms together and push as hard as you can and begin stretching forward and back, left, right, up and down.
Counter this by curling your fingers, swivel one hand to face away from you and interlock. then pull as hard as you can, again in all directions. You’ll feel the benefit straight away. Clever monkeys!
Andy Seaton, Leek, Staffs. CHArles AtlAs was born Angelo siciliano in sicily in October 1892 and migrated to New York as a teenager.
He became involved in physical exercise and bodybuilding in the thirties and developed a mail order business as Charles Atlas, named after the Greek mythological figure condemned by the god Zeus to bear the weight of the heavens on his shoulders.
His business was backed up by a highly effective ad campaign, where a 7st weakling reacts to having sand kicked in his face on the beach by bulking up using the Atlas method to exact his revenge.
the cleverly designed Bullworker is essentially two overlapping metal tubes with sturdy plastic ends and a springloaded device inside.
Its two plastic coated stretching metal cords attached to either end offer resistance for exercises.
Isotonic exercise means using the Bullworker to do stretching and compression movements. Isometric exercises can be done by holding a fixed muscle position.
I bought a Bullworker when I was a teenager in 1971 and still have it in its battered original cardboard box.
I paid £8 and have used it continuously ever since, though I have always had more enthusiasm for the arm and chest exercises than those for the legs and
back. My Bullworker is still going strong, showing far fewer signs of ageing than I do, and I am sure it will outlive me.
J. Hemsworth, Selby, N. Yorks.
QUESTION
Does caviar come only from Russia?
MOre than half of the world’s caviar comes from China. Caviar is the saltcured roe (fish eggs) of the Acipenseridae or sturgeon family of fish. sturgeons appeared in the fossil record 250million years ago and have remained unchanged since the Upper Cretaceous 100million years ago, earning them the status of living fossils.
sturgeon keep growing during their lifetime and, as this can be more than 100 years, they can reach remarkable sizes. the world record for a beluga female was one caught in the Volga estuary in 1827, weighing 1½ tons and 24ft long.
there are 27 species of sturgeon, 26 of which contain edible roe. However, only three — the beluga, osetra and sevruga — are considered true caviar.
these live in the Caspian sea, which is bordered by five nations: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, russia and turkmenistan. they are also found in the Black sea and the nearby sea of Azov.
russia’s long association with caviar comes from the fact that the northern portion of the Caspian once contained the highest concentration of sturgeon in the world.
Caviar’s premium price, coupled with demand, have seen decades of overfishing. this is most evident in the Caspian sea, where belugas have declined
by more than 90 per cent. the depletion of wild sturgeon has resulted in a dramatic increase in fish farming.
China supplies 60 per cent of the world’s caviar with one company, Kaluga Queen, producing 60 tonnes annually.
Martin Ivey-Lewis, Southampton.
QUESTION
The joke is that Nasa means No Aliens Seen Anywhere. What other amusing acronyms are there?
FUrtHer to earlier answers, my favourite acronym is BIBle, which is Basic Instructions Before leaving earth.
Terry Bell, Newport, Gwent.
BrItIsH West Indies Airways (BWIA) was referred to as But Will It Arrive.
Terry Caldon, Thanet, Kent.
BrItIsH Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was called Better On A Camel.
Chris Holloway, Burghead, Morayshire.
WHeN I worked in local government, I referred to the trades union NAlGO as Not A lot Going On.
Sue Thelwell, Wirral, Merseyside.
POlICe refer to the ClOC (Centre lane Owners Club) and MOlls (Members of the Outside lane lemmings society.
Roy Ellis, Newport, South Wales.
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