[quote]sawadeekrob wrote:
I would post a picture of myself, but I am carrying a lot more bodyfat than I want at this time. I miscalculated my last bulking cycle and now I am paying the price. [/quote]
Hahaha. You ‘miscalculated’ your bulking cycle. That’s a great way to put it!
Many more readers than I expected living in Japan, though so far I guess I’m the only one in Tokyo to sound off?
I unfortunately teach English; I say unfortunately because it’s far from my dream job. Maybe because it’s so brain-dead that I became interested in the perpetual challenges weightlifitng provides. I don’t intend to be a skinny Shinjo type [if you don’t know him he’s the poster boy for H.I.S. and Body Wild among other things], I prefer strength and power to aesthetics. As someone else once said, “I’d rather be a fat monster than a skinny guy with abs.”
I had been fat all my life until I came to this country and started watching what I ate and exercising. Now I’m 180cm, 84kg about 13-14%BF I guess. I did buy some new shoes, maybe I’ll take a picture with them someday.
I speak decent Japanese, I think I could pass JLPT LV2. That’s why I study for LV1, which is so much harder. My girlfriend doesn’t speak nor does she have interest in speaking English, those are some things I like about her.
Anyway like you all said, supplements are expensive in Japan, hell almost all food is, it’s cheaper for me to order supplements online from the states and pay obscene shipping to get it here. Never used Biotest but I may. I agree with what a lot of you guys said, lots of things we take for granted in the USA are seen as really strange here. I’ve never found common foods like dextrose, turkey, cottage cheese or nonfat mozzerella. I do occasionally make it out to costco for my oatmeal, canned tuna and salmon etc. I enjoy Japanese foods, lots of fish and vegetables make it healthy, though like most readers here I cook the majority of my own food. “International grocery stores” never have quite what I want, and they often just buy stuff at costco and mark it up to sell in their own stores. I wish I had a friend in the US military so I could get onto a base and buy some American food.
[quote]hokkemirin wrote:
… I don’t intend to be a skinny Shinjo type [if you don’t know him he’s the poster boy for H.I.S. and Body Wild among other things], …
[/quote]
You must be referring to Tsuyoshi Shinjo, the baseball player/glamour boy. When that bag of bones was playing for the SF Giants a few years back, he said in a newspaper interview that he was very careful about what he ate because he didn’t want to gain any weight. Why? Because it was important for him to look good in his jeans! (WTF?)
I guess he hasn’t changed his tune since moving back to Japan…
BTW, does he still look like he has jaundice? That tan of his looks unnatural…
Sxio
Its a good way to say “I ate everything and everyone in sight” day in and day out! hahaha Honestly at least here in Fukuoka the prices for any type of meat is rather expensive. So you do have to rely on some type of carbs to fill the caloric quota.
Shinjo? Give me a break! They have life-size posters of him in the local Jusco and it is a joke. The sad thing is Japanese men look at his pictures like the perfect body.
Discusting IMO.
I live in Fukuoka City too with my gf and fellow T-Nation member geishagal. I coach rugby and teach English at a private boys’ high school. I usually work out there. It has lots of Olympic weights, lots of benches and squat racks, a pull up bar and a dip bar, but no machines at all, and the dumbells only go up to 20kg. You can get a decent workout there although sometimes I train at one of the Municipal gyms for variety. Wherever you are in Japan, there will be a municipal gym near you, as most of you will know. They cost from 200 to 350 yen depending on the gym. The quality varies wildly from rubbish to really goo.
The food over here is great, but the supplement selection in pathetic. I usually switch between the Zavas protein powder and a Weider one. Both taste… welll… very average. Some of the creatine over here isn’t micronized which can lead to some terrible farts and shits.
I’ve been here 4 years and also spent 2 years here in the 90’s, so my Nihongo is pretty good. I’m 185 cm, 100kg and have a shaved head, so get a few looks from the locals.
I would be keen to catch up with some other T-members for yakiniku and beer anytime.
[quote]sawadeekrob wrote:
Hey guys!
Reading all your stories motivated me to share mine. I am currently living in Fukuoka City in Kyushu.
I am fortunate to work in the local “bodybuilding” gym. The atmosphere is pretty hard core .[/quote]
I didn’t know there was a good bb gym in town. Is it the American Gym? Or Axion? Those are the only decent gyms in town that I know, except for the Chuo Ku and Higashi ku public gyms.
Ive been in Japan (Fukuoka) nearly 5 years. My first 3 were in a cushy JET placement, but now I have a real job working with little kids (still teaching English though).
I train in a public gym now. I had a membership at a sports club for a while - complete with onsen, sauna, jacuzzi, olympic sized pool etc, which was very nice, but as a few of you have mentioned already, as pricey as the facilities are here they are pretty lacking when it comes to actual traning equipment. Plenty of machines, but not so much in the free weight section. Its not so much of a problem for me as I dont lift as much as the guys (well I should a say you guys, cos I can match or better alot of the Japanese guys here), but anyway I packed it in at the sports club and now use the muni gym which costs only 260yen, and has everything I need.
Im usually the only chic in my gym, and definitely the only chic in the weight section. I get some odd looks, or should I say blantant stares sometimes from a few of the old guys, but there are also a few that have respect for a girl who lifts weights and doesnt loo like your usual japanese waif.
I buy my protein at costco and get other supps sent from home (NZ). Did a trip to the States last year and bought back a big box full of Biotest stuff, but unfortunately that has all gone now. For those of you that do order it online here, how much is the postage? Ive heard its crippling, but how bad is it really? I dont think a weider shake will ever be the same again after being spoilt by Grow!!
[quote]geishagal wrote:
I buy my protein at costco and get other supps sent from home (NZ). Did a trip to the States last year and bought back a big box full of Biotest stuff, but unfortunately that has all gone now. For those of you that do order it online here, how much is the postage? Ive heard its crippling, but how bad is it really? I dont think a weider shake will ever be the same again after being spoilt by Grow!![/quote]
My most recent order was 5 tubs of Grow!, 2 tubs of Surge and 2 bottles of HOT-ROX. $270 US. The shipping charge is $86. So I’m paying around 10,000 yen for shipping on its face. But then there is usually some sort of levy/duty tacked on after order. Usually 2 or 3000 yen. It’s high but I did a comparison with what I was paying for the lower quality Japanese sups (DNS) and the price was actually fairly close. I think it’s well worth the extra couple of thousand yen a month, for something you are putting into your body three times a day, every day. Plus it has never taken more than 5 days to arrive.
I will REALLY appreciate that free shipping when I do finally go back to the States, however.
[quote]sawadeekrob wrote:
I have been considering doing the same thing with the supplements, but have you had any hassle from customs? Last December I did an online purchase for some equipment (wrist roller and grippers) and they placed on surveillance for 3 weeks. Later they cleared it and gave it to me but it had passed almost 2 months since the purchase. . .[/quote]
I have ordered grippers (from Ironmind) myself, as well as many, many separate orders of various supps from online retailers and Biotest, and have never had any trouble. However, this most recent order of mine was opened, I noticed (they retape it with tape that indicates this). Still, all of my orders, especially from Biotest, arrive in a timely manner. No probs.
One warning to all of you, however. I would not suggest you order anything containing ephedrine of any kind in it, as it is classified as a controlled substance here and you can actually go to jail for it, same as meth, if I have read the laws correctly. I ordered it quite a few times from a site when I first moved here (while it was still legal stateside) and, luckily, none of those packages ever got opened. I had no idea until I tried getting ahold of it after the ban from some other countries and stumbled across the import laws here.
[quote]
Sorry the pics did not showed I used the original size. What size do you have to use for uploading?[/quote]
mods can tell you exactly. When I had problems in the past I just played at resizing it until the site accepted the photos.
[quote]hokkemirin wrote:
Many more readers than I expected living in Japan, though so far I guess I’m the only one in Tokyo to sound off?
I unfortunately teach English; I say unfortunately because it’s far from my dream job. Maybe because it’s so brain-dead that I became interested in the perpetual challenges weightlifitng provides. I don’t intend to be a skinny Shinjo type [if you don’t know him he’s the poster boy for H.I.S. and Body Wild among other things], I prefer strength and power to aesthetics. As someone else once said, “I’d rather be a fat monster than a skinny guy with abs.”
I had been fat all my life until I came to this country and started watching what I ate and exercising. Now I’m 180cm, 84kg about 13-14%BF I guess. I did buy some new shoes, maybe I’ll take a picture with them someday.
I speak decent Japanese, I think I could pass JLPT LV2. That’s why I study for LV1, which is so much harder. My girlfriend doesn’t speak nor does she have interest in speaking English, those are some things I like about her.[/quote]
I just took the Level 1. Am still waiting for the result (which takes 3 freaking months, for some unfathomable reason). My finance speaks excellent English but we keep it around 50/50. Most of my friends are Japanese, as I made a positive choice to stay out of Gaijinville as much as possible and to actually experience what I came here to experience, rather than sitting in my comfort zone. It has really paid off. I just finished making a 3 and a half minute commercial for my school last week in which I speak all Japanese.
You’ve just answered a question which has long nagged me. I guess it’s not just my small town. I’ve found cottage cheese but, true to most things here, there is only one brand and it tastes like styrofoam. As for cheese, I have found excellent cheeses (mozzerella and cheddar, among many others) around. Check out good liquor stores, sometimes they have some really good stuff there, interestingly enough. As for turkey and a whole host of other foods that are common fare in the US, no way. I am so sick of chicken breast and the single type of seasoning that I have actually been having my folks send me chicken seasoning.
btw, you might check out www.theflyingpig.co.jp. It’s all costco stuff but it gets delivered to your door in 3 days at whatever time you choose and the shipping is only 800 yen.
I’m living in Gunma.Been here for a year this time.Moved here with my Japanese wife and 2 kids.Speak Japanese and am working at a gym as a instructor while also baking and teaching english.I work at a fitness centre but train at the local council gym it’s old and run down but does the job.I love the lifestyle here especially the bath and kotatsu this time of year!
I envy you all.
I’ve studied Japanese for a little over six months through my college (took intensive/immersion courses), so I have a pretty basic grasp. However, since I graduated, I find my speaking/recall ability diminishing. I’m using Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji to really learn how to read - do you have any specific self-teaching materials you could recommend?
Greetings…It warms my heart to know that there a few other T-Men here in Nihon…I live in the Kobe area for about 14 years…In terms of supps,I buy
ZAVAS Whey Isolate powder+ Glutamine which is pretty good.
Also I can order Power Bars Proten Plus…So I am covered in the supps dept…If you can speak Japanese,sports stores can order
stuff from catalogs for you…I have also used Drugstore.com international.
They have a good selection of protein bars,powders,MRP etc…Forget sports clubs…I set up my own gym at home…got a rack,lat pulldown machine.weights…
I am in total heaven here! Also Jpanese
women are hot! I will never leave!
Good luck with lv1, it’s so difficult my Japanese native speaker friends are often confused by it.
As for the flying pig, thanks for the info but my boss had already told me about it awhile ago. I actually don’t mind the occasional long train trip, it lets me get out of the same few cities I’m used to. Plus flying pig marks stuff up and they don’t offer 100% of what costco sells. I may head down there Monday [to costco].
BTW my gym is decent, a good selection of freeweights, probably the most in my area, checked them all out before I signed up. The other ones in town are very machine-centric. Plus mine is cheaper because it doesn’t have a pool, not that I miss that [I have a minor chlorine bleach allergy].
I’ll check out drugstore.com international. Right now I use nutritiondeals.com, their shipping is really expensive and it takes about 3 weeks to a month from when I order to when I receive the package, and that’s paying for uber-fast EMS shipping. But they are the cheapest of the few people I found willing to ship to Japan.
I don’t want to leave here either, but I do want a new job. I want to get out of eikaiwa hell and work for a real school or something. This not getting holidays or bonuses sucks.
Hey guy’s I am planning on going to tokyo around august or september this year. Anyone have any good recommendation’s on places to stay and to go ie, bar’s,gym’s,cultural places of interest thing’s of that sort ? I have looked and there are so many different districts I am clueless about what is what.
Eric
I think it depends on what you’re into. If you want to see Japanese culture, try Asakusa, ride the boat to Odaiba or Tokyo Tower afterwards. Ueno has plenty of good museums and a nice park.
If you’re into anime and games and machines and stuff, try Akihabara.
[quote]deanosumo wrote:
I didn’t know there was a good bb gym in town. Is it the American Gym? Or Axion? Those are the only decent gyms in town that I know, except for the Chuo Ku and Higashi ku public gyms.[/quote]
The name of the gym is LB gym. It is a small gym located in the higashi area. It lacks decent showers and some benches, but for that you get 2 heavy duty power racks, leg press, calf raise machine, seated calf, pulldown and cable row machine plus all the olympic weights you can handle.
The owner knows english too and he is very flexible with the time schedule.
Drop me a PM if you are interested in having yakiniku or genghis khan with nomihodai. I live near Jusco Higashi.
J
[quote]geishagal wrote:
I I dont think a weider shake will ever be the same again after being spoilt by Grow!!
[/quote]
If you think that is nasy try swallowing Savas XX with ice cold water. Somebody said “maggot juice!”
Ppphhtt! I’m all alone here in Taipei,Taiwan.
Or maybe not. Is there anybody in Taipei here? (Not you Tim, if you’re reading this, I know you’re here)
I’m not in Japan anymore, but I was studying at Hiroshima University for 4 months. Hiroshima University is in Higashi-Hiroshima city, in the town of Saijou.I can totally agree with the gym situation, everything rusted and from the 1960s. Also, a lot of these guys don’t have any idea about form, never hit a negative in their life, no supplements, but they get in the gym and do their workout. Funny story how some of my friends got kicked out for not having a change of shoes for the weight room. I joined up with a rowing club when I was there. We had practice on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Weekends would be like a morning rowing practice of 3hrs and night practice for 3hrs. Then during the week we would run about 3miles then follow up with circuit training or some lifting in the gym. So weekly, we had around 15-20hrs of practice a week. The most fit I’ve ever felt.