HELP - American trying to transition to NZ bodybuilding

[fsabe]

Hey guys. Just moved here from Venice, CA. The mecca of bodybuilding.

Having a hard time finding supplements and gyms like I was used to in the US..was hoping to get some help so I can back into the swing of things.

GYMs....Ive read PowerHouse which is Downtown is where its at..but...I live in Karaka Bay area and its too far of a drive for me. I joined Club Physical in Kilbirnie which is alot closer....any other gyms near me I should consider joining...or is Club Physical the only decent one close to me?

SUPPS....Have had a super hard time finding supplement stores I can walk into with a big selection or online stores. In the states most people use bodybuilding.com for all there supp needs but shipping is way to expensive to NZ...so whats the best NZ site on par with bodybuilding.com

also....in the states we have stores called GNC or Vitamin Shoppe which are supplement shops only.....tons of stuff in there...havnt been able to find anything like that here...be willing to drive to find a place like those here in NZ. All ive found is pharmacy or grocery stores or sports stores like Rebel sports....I need a big selection of stuff...

any help is appreciated

thanks!

[GreekAdonis]

Club Physical is the closest decent gym to you. Powerhouse is a hardcore no-frills gym. Les mills is also reasonable but both are closer to the city.

There is a Gymeez store on the corner of Willis and Manners streets and the Protein Bar is out in Petone.

Check out sites like sportstrition, shotgun and punch supplements. :grin:

[fsabe]

Sweet....thanks for the help....been having a tough time finding places that sell Scivation Xtend amino supp...

that site you posted sportsnution has it though....was getting worried about finding it here....that stuff is big in the states....so thanks!

seems you have to get supps on differnt sites here depending on the brands...certain sites only have certain brands...for instance been looking for Universal animal packs and USP labs stuff...only been able to find it on this site...

http://www.nutratech.co.nz

anyone ever used it...they any good??

[teamfatboy]

There's really nothing that even comes close to GNC and Vitamin Shoppe (where I go when I hit the States). In Wellington, the only shop that comes close is Gymeez on the corner of Manners/Willis Sts (right close to the major bus routes from the Eastern Suburbs!).

The ranges in most major-chain stores (like Health 2000, Hardys and Healthy 10/20) are limited, are mainstream, and are not cheap, altho some stores do have loyalty cards or discounts for members of the major gym chains like Les Mills.

I've used Smart Nutrition, and (oddly enough) Netpharmacy for some things, but the others like Hennie's Nutratech, Moe's Xtreme Nutrition and BigKiwi's Protein Bar Shop in Petone are probably just as good. Hennie used to be a regular on here, not sure if he's still around.

[Dragon]

Hennie kind of disappeared from here after he sold nutratech.

Eat Me is just awesome for online whey protein http://www.eatme.net.nz

And Gymeez is good for everything else - they are a chain store with branches here in Christchurch, and one in Dunedin.

[GHOSTN]

also reactiv for protein powder it works out cheaper than eatme by a little bit..

i think you will find if you do a bulk order from bodybuilding.com it will still end up cheaper then getting stuff here.. depends what products tho

and quite a few are banned from nz which sux..

wont let me order animal pack, superpump, n.o xplode to name a few

[bj powerL]

yeah just look around mate, the guys below all have good prices

http://www.sportsfuel.co.nz

http://www.evolutionsystems.co.nz

http://www.nzmuscle.co.nz

[fsabe]

also reactiv for protein powder it works out cheaper than eatme by a little bit..

i think you will find if you do a bulk order from bodybuilding.com it will still end up cheaper then getting stuff here.. depends what products tho

and quite a few are banned from nz which sux..

wont let me order animal pack, superpump, n.o xplode to name a few

Wow your right on the money! I did some research today and all the products Im lookin at are marked up 20-40 NZD EACH!

So even though it would cost me 100 - 150 USD to ship....it might be worth it if I buy a big shipment worth that will last me a while.

Question is....Will I have to pay customs or import tax on my stuff being shipped in??

[SamWelly]

Les Mills in Welly city is the shit. Pitty the management are cunts and are only concerned with the $$ side of the industry it seems. Expect a fair bit of GF classes and cardio freaks walking around in bike shorts, and half assed lifters with training gloves the newest outfit from Rebel Sport

The weights part of the gym is epic, and until I got to California gym in Hong Kong (of all places...) it was the most equiped I'd seen. The floors on both weight levels are wood slats, so dont even think about ditching those 65kg dumbells to the side or bailing out of a squat without causing a huge noise and possibly breaking a couple of UV lights.

Powerhouse is the complete contrast, freindly guys really good equipment and a no frills attitude. Joining both would be ideal if you can afford it... Wait for a decent discount on membership before joining LM, there is ALWAYS some sort of promotion on - somewhere usualy between no join fee and 3 months for $99 or some free shoes etc..

Gymeez is good, but like you said there isn't much variaty in NZ for supps in general... How much of a rip off is the meat over there!!! :roll:

Cant wait to hit up the states to see how the BIG boys train

[Hennie]

I am still around, not selling supps anymore..., damn busy with work, anyway Nutratech still operating as always, I still get some of my stuff from them.

Anyway, I moved place, not to hijack the thread but I am thinking of getting into things again and enroll at revitalize....?

Are they any good?

[fsabe]

Speaking of meat....

In the states one of my lean protein foods was Turkey. I cant find it anywhere over here in NZ so far. I ask all the stores and they look at me funny. Its like chicken but tastes differnt and is very lean.

In the states all of our stores have whole turkey sections with ground lean turkey, lean turkey cutlets, and turkey bacon. Im not talking about a whole turkey bird like we cook at thanksgiving which everyone seems to think im asking for.....not lookin for deli turkey either. Too many preservatives and nitrates for me.

So any places in North Island of NZ to get any turkey like that??

[Hennie]

Speaking of meat....

In the states one of my lean protein foods was Turkey. I cant find it anywhere over here in NZ so far. I ask all the stores and they look at me funny. Its like chicken but tastes differnt and is very lean.

In the states all of our stores have whole turkey sections with ground lean turkey, lean turkey cutlets, and turkey bacon. Im not talking about a whole turkey bird like we cook at thanksgiving which everyone seems to think im asking for.....not lookin for deli turkey either. Too many preservatives and nitrates for me.

So any places in North Island of NZ to get any turkey like that??

Nope , Nope, not like in the US.

You will have to adjust to quite a bit.

[fsabe]

Bummer...ok how bout this.

In the states our ground red beef is labeled by how lean it is like for example the cheap stuff is only 80% lean ..so its very fatty. Then we have extran lean which is like 90 or 93% lean...so very little fat. So far all ive found over here is beef mince or premium beef mince with no indication of how lean or how much fat there is in it....

any places sell ground beef (sirloin) that is very lean?

[Optimass]

Bummer...ok how bout this.

In the states our ground red beef is labeled by how lean it is like for example the cheap stuff is only 80% lean ..so its very fatty. Then we have extran lean which is like 90 or 93% lean...so very little fat. So far all ive found over here is beef mince or premium beef mince with no indication of how lean or how much fat there is in it....

any places sell ground beef (sirloin) that is very lean?

I used to grind my own --- its the only way to be sure of what you are getting.

[GreekAdonis]

Turkey and Bison are pretty hard to come by over here.

Just gotta get used to chicken. Once you lose the skin its pretty freakin lean. :grin:

[teamfatboy]

Don't know about Karaka Bay, but other suburbs still have real Butchers who'll mince up whatever you want, often at no extra cost. Even in the big Thorndon New World, they still have trade-trained butcher's who'll cut to order/ mince/ etc.

For turkey, you could try Moore Wilson's in Tory St, but I'd be surprised. They do have a lot of exotic meats.

When I lived in the States I really noticed the lack of chicken...found it hard to buy a whole chicken to roast outside of a boutique or organic deli, but turkeys, turkey halves (just the breast and wings), turkey breasts, turkey drumsticks, turkey salami, shaved turkey, the whole nine yards.

Have you considered venison - farm-raised, not feral, often marketed under the Cervena trademark? Real lean, high in iron, and actually not that expensive.

[bj powerL]

I am still around, not selling supps anymore..., damn busy with work, anyway Nutratech still operating as always, I still get some of my stuff from them.

Anyway, I moved place, not to hijack the thread but I am thinking of getting into things again and enroll at revitalize....?

Are they any good?

When did you sell up mate?

[Mrbig]

I dont get why americans eat turkey like we eat chicken turkey just makes you wanna go sleep

[Gym rat]

I have offten wondered about that myself why Americans eat lots of turkey compare to us Kiwis eat lots of chicken also turkey makes fall asleep and the only time that us Kiwis have turkey which would be for xmass dinner.

[fsabe]

Well if you eat a ton of turkey like we do at Thanksgiving it makes you sleepy...but if you just eat like 4 or 6 oz of it like one servings worth...It doesnt affect you.

Its just another alternative lean protein that is more variety then chicken....got sick of eating chicken all day long. Turkey is great!

I dont eat it as much as chicken...but its nice to have a few times a week.

[laurasaur]

i wish you could get turkey here i love it...

[teamfatboy]

Bet your avatar would like it too... turkey breast is available here, I'm fairly sure I've seen it in Moore Wilson's most of the year. Of course, that only works if you're down here!