If you’ve ever wanted to look like you could grate a carrot on your midriff, or crush a block of granite by pinning it in between two of your abs; boy do we have a workout for you.

If this sounds like something you aspire to, check out the below workouts from Matt Bassetta.

Bassetta is a police officer, certified personal trainer, core specialist, coach and athlete who has trained thousands of police officers and civilians in high-performance fitness.

He explains: “While in the NYPD academy, I started to develop a unique style of training that incorporated weight training, functional fitness, strength training, and tactical training.”

The goal of this is “to become as powerful and explosive as possible while still getting shredded of course,” Bassetta says on his website.

Enter: the following video. In it, we’ve compiled some of Bassetta’s most gut-busting, recent workouts, which – all being well – will endow you with a set of abs Cristiano Ronaldo would be jealous of (either that or leave you sore for a week and put off of working out for a year).

Extreme Core Workouts To Get You Shredded.

From alternating leg kicks and V-ups to L-sits with massive weight plates balanced on his legs (and then “windscreen wipers”), to reverse crunches while holding himself in the air (with a huge weight on his feet) and the most technical version of a plank we’ve ever seen (where he holds a pole and walks his hands up and down it), he truly knows how to blast a set of abs.

According to Very Well Fit, “The V-sit ab exercise builds core strength by working multiple areas of the core at the same time, while also challenging your balance.”

Very Well Fit also states: “The V-sit an effective way to target the rectus abdominis, external obliques, internal obliques, and hip flexors while improving core and trunk balance,” and that “you are not alone if you are unable to do more than 10 to 12 of the V-sit ab exercise before you reach failure,” (or in the case of Bassetta’s extreme V ups, 1 or 2, we’d wager).

Common mistakes for the V-Up include rounding the back and shoulders, and swinging the arms.

As for L-sits, Shape explains that their benefits go way beyond sculpting abs: “Unlike many core exercises that just work the core, the L-sit works your abs, obliques, hip flexors, quads, triceps, shoulders, pecs, and lats.”

“It doesn’t take long to fatigue a number of different muscles with this one, so you’ll get a big bang for your buck with this exercise,” Kari Pearce, 2018 Fittest Woman in the U.S. told Shape of L-sits.

“While working all of these muscle-groups is great, the best part is that you’re working them isometrically—aka holding them in one position for a period of time,” (Shape).

Got it? Now go shred. A world of pain awaits…

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The post Insane Core Workout Will Turn You Into A Shredded Beast appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Formula One cars are the fastest regulated road-course racing cars in the world. A typical F1 race will see cars average around 200km/h, reach top speeds of 360km/h, and drivers will pull as much as 6 G’s in corners. There’s a reason not just anyone can be an F1 driver.

That’s what young IndyCar phenom Pato O’Ward discovered earlier this week when he tested a McLaren MCL35M F1 car – the same car that Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris drove this year – during post-season testing at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The 22-year-old Mexican race car driver was blown away by his F1 test, sharing on Twitter that “these things are like rocket ships on wheels” and that it “was the nearest experience I have ever had to possibly having my head fly off into space.”

The fact that O’Ward’s already used to driving some seriously quick, intense vehicles and was still gobsmacked by the ferocity of an F1 car speaks volumes.

Check out Pato O’Ward’s first time driving an F1 car below.

O’Ward, who races for Arrow McLaren SP in IndyCar, had made a deal with McLaren CEO Zak Brown that he’d get to drive a modern F1 car if he won at least one IndyCar race. O’Ward held up his end of the deal by winning the 2021 XPEL 375, and Brown made good on his deal.

He actually did O’Ward one better, as he also gave him the chance to drive Mika Häkkinen’s 1998 World Championship-winning MP4/13 at the iconic Laguna Seca race track earlier this year in November.

Brown, who’s widely regarded as one of the best and nicest team bosses in motorsport, has become famous for making wagers with his drivers as a way to spur them on to success.

RELATED: Daniel Ricciardo’s Former Renault Boss Finally Delivers On His Infamous Tattoo Bet

Brown made a bet with Ricciardo that if he got a podium, he’d let Ricciardo drive Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR (one of many rare cars in Brown’s collection) – which the Aussie got to do after his win at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.

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A post shared by Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo)

Brown made a similar deal with Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert, offering him a drive in Supercars legend Alan Moffat’s Chevrolet Monza – which Mostert agreed to, only if runner-up James Moffat (Alan’s son) could also get a go, too. Brown was more than happy to oblige.

RELATED: Daniel Ricciardo Trolls Teammate At Brazil’s Formula 1 Grand Prix

O’Ward finished third overall in the 2021 IndyCar Series, and has previously been tipped to make the leap to F1 – indeed, he used to be part of the Red Bull driver’s academy. Brown has said that he’s open to O’Ward eventually making the move, but that he’d have to win the IndyCar Series championship for McLaren first.

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The post Driving A Formula One Car For The First Time… What It’s Really Like appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

What possesses someone to buy a top-of-the-line muscle car and then leave it wasting away in a shed, up on blocks, for 36 years? Utter madness.

Well, we’re glad this family’s done just that, as it means that in 2021, we’re blessed with this beautifully preserved piece of Australian motoring history.

This 1971 Ford XY Falcon GT, which is about to go under the hammer with Lloyd’s Auctions this weekend, is easily one of the best barn finds in recent memory (which is really saying something, as we’ve had some crackers recently).

Resplendent in its ‘Yellow Ochre’ paint job and nursing a big, fat 351 Cleveland V8 under the hood, we reckon this car will break auction records. Check it out below.

The car is largely in original condition, with just under 161,000 original km’s on the clock. The main detail worth noting is that it started life with black interior and it is believed that sometime in 1972 it received a white makeover – thankfully, the interior update was done to a high standard.

Otherwise, it’s mostly rust and grime-free – it’s mostly just dusty. Theare’s a few dents here and there, but blink and you’ll miss ’em. It’s really hard to overstate just how good condition this old Falcon is.

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That’s why we think it’ll fetch a pretty penny. There’s another Yellow Ochre XY GT on Carsales with an asking price of $290,000: that one might have been cleaned up and restored, but it’s an automatic – this barn find’s a manual. We can definitely see it going for over $300,000, if not more.

As of publishing, the highest bid is sitting at $165,000 with just under three days left to go. Check our this rollin’ gold at Lloyd’s Auctions website here.

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The post Ford XT GT Barn Find In Sydney appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Qantas has announced it will be adding direct flights between Perth and Rome, starting in June 2022.

The news came days after Western Australia announced it would be opening its borders in February. The non stop flight from Perth to Rome, which will run three times a week, will start on the 22nd of June 2022, “to meet demand over the European holiday peak season,” Qantas says.

The Perth-Rome flights will complement Qantas’ double daily flights running between Perth and London (which are due to resume in April), meaning customers will be able to fly in and out of Europe via different cities on one return Qantas ticket through to October 2022.

The new flight will slice more than three hours off the current fastest travel time to Rome using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the cabins designed specifically for long haul travel.

Watch tourists exploring some of Rome’s coolest attractions in the video below.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said of the move: “Italy is the largest market for us in continental Europe for people visiting family and friends from Australia and we think customers will love flying direct to one of the world’s great cities to spend time with loved ones or enjoy Italy.”

Looking back at Australia, the new route is predicted to attract more visitors to Western Australia, both from European holiday makers looking to visit Australia, and Sydneysiders looking to visit Europe (via Perth). To that end, Qantas is partnering with Tourism Western Australia to promote Perth as an ideal stopover.

“Australia’s global reputation as a friendly, safe and unique destination is already an enormous tourism drawcard and adding Rome to the Qantas network means visitors will experience the Spirit of Australia before they even arrive,” Mr Joyce said.

Fares for the new Sydney-Perth-Rome flights are on sale now, starting from $1785 return, and Qantas says it will operate two Points Planes (bookable until 21 December 2021) for Frequent Flyers with every seat in every cabin available to book as a reward seat on the first flight to Rome on the 22nd of June (and on the first flight leaving Rome on the 23rd of June).

The route will be seasonal, operating from the 22nd of June until the 6th of October. Qantas will also offer connections to 16 European destinations including Athens, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Nice, Madrid and Paris and 15 destinations within Italy including Milan and Venice.

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The post Qantas Brings ‘La Dolce Vita’ One Step Closer With Direct Australia To Italy Flights appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Digging your knees into the seat in front of you. Putting down someone else’s window shade. Smoking. There are a lot of things you shouldn’t do on a flight. 

But there is a special place in hell reserved for the people who commit one particular sin – and believe it or not it’s quite common. You could even go as far as to call it the pet peeve of regular flyers. 

What is it? Overtaking people to leave the plane. 

It might sound innocuous. But if you think about all the other sins often involved – standing up as soon as the plane lands, waiting in a weird, hunched over position, waggling your backside in more patient passengers’ faces, rushing down the aisle even before the passengers in front of you have – it’s really quite annoying. 

So annoying, in fact, former flight attendant Kat Kamalani has taken to TikTok to express her approval of a video (by @karalenee47) which says “people who try to get off an airplane before others seated in front of them should be put on a ‘no fly’ list immediately.”

Watch the video, which shows a passenger trying to disembark a flight before others in front of them, below.

In the comments section of her video, a deluge of TikTok users agreed with her. “Seriously!! This common courtesy and people don’t get it!” one wrote.

“I totally agree with you,” said another.

Another said: “Seriously that is my pet peeve. I’ll stand in the isle and refuse to move to anyone behind me.”

Others, however, explained why they do it, or why there might be certain circumstances in which it’s acceptable.

“The ONLY time this is ever acceptable is if that person has a close connection to catch and then they should be let off first,” one claimed.

A couple of others asked probing questions like: “What if we don’t have a carry on????” and “What if you are ready to get off and the person is not ready to get off the plane and is taking their sweet time getting their stuff together?”

“If you have a tight connection flight you can let them know. I’ve done it twice and they made sure I got off first.”

Finally, some other social media users vented some frustrations of their own: “Or those in back that STAND IN THE ISLE THE SECOND THE PLANE PULLS INTO THR GATE. Sit down and wait.”

Similar condemnations and justifications were made over on the original video, on @karalenee47’s account. Some said the reason they do it is because they are tired of sitting, and others said it’s due to having a tight layover (or feeling justified in overtaking sluggards who have carry on luggage).

This isn’t the first time this topic has made waves. Business class passengers were singled out in 2020 by blogger Zach Griff, who said it was annoying at the best of times but even worse during a pandemic.

He said: “On both of my recent flights, passengers popped right up when they heard the ‘chime,’ despite repeated announcements to stay seated… Not sure exactly what airlines can do about it, but it needs to be addressed.”

DMARGE spoke to Australian Wellness Ambassador for Etihad, Kiara Graham, at the time, to get her thoughts on the issue.

She told DMARGE: “This is always such a hot topic and I think it’s understandable that a lot of passengers will do things that they’ve always done when travelling – and it does take a bit of time to adapt to a new way of travelling.”

“For me, communication is key here. We have to re-educate passengers on how to travel.”

From the looks of social media, it seems many irritated passengers would be wishing said “re-education” will take place in the form of cattle prods…

In the meantime though, you’ll probably have to settle for a dirty look.

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The post Man’s ‘Innocent’ Act Sparks Flight Etiquette Debate appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Tom Holland is the very definition of a short king.

The 25-year-old English actor has gone from strength to strength in 2021, continuing to wow audiences as Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as taking up the mantle of rugged adventurer Nathan Drake in the upcoming Uncharted film. Oh yeah, and he’s dating Zendaya.

Sure, he’s had to cop a lot of flak from the media about dating someone taller than him, but you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth.

Speaking of smooth, Holland’s just picked up a very smooth ride: a new Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge worth around US$500,000. Anyone would look small riding around in such a ginormous SUV, but we couldn’t resist making the comparison.

Check out Tom Holland’s new Rolls-Royce below.

First introduced in 2018 and named after the largest diamond ever found, the Cullinan is easily the biggest vehicle Rolls-Royce has ever made, weighing in at 2.6 tonnes and measuring 5.3m long, 2.2m wide and 1.8m tall. The Black Badge nomenclature refers to the high-performance version of the vehicle (Rolls-Royce’s equivalent to Mercedes-Benz’s AMG or BMW’s M divisions.

RELATED: I Was Chauffeured To Work In The Latest Rolls-Royce & It’s Ruined Me For Life

The Cullinan Black Badge’s 441kW, 6.75L V12 twin-turbo petrol engine can propel it from 0-100km/h in a shockingly fast 5.2 seconds – or about as fast as a Porsche Boxster, despite weighing twice as much. Our spider senses are tingling.

The easiest way to tell a Black Badge Rolls from a ‘regular’ one (although no Rolls can truly be called ‘regular’) is if the car’s grille and famous Spirit of Ecstacy hood ornament feature a black chrome finish. Additionally, Black Badge variants feature – you guessed it – plenty of black trim.

Holland’s car has a white exterior and orange interior: a rather unexpected colour combination that contrasts well with the car’s black highlights and absurdly big 22-inch rims. Interesting choice, Tom – but it’s a nicer looking car than Kylie Jenner’s Cullinan, that’s for sure…

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The post Small Man Tom Holland Picks Up Very Big Rolls-Royce SUV appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are both on a major downward slide.

Bitcoin is down over 32.4% from its new all-time high on November 10 and is – at the time of writing – trading for US $46,756 (AU $65,828). 

Ethereum has followed suit, although it hasn’t fallen as sharply as Bitcoin, it’s down 22.6% from its November 10 all-time high and is currently trading at US $4,878 (AU $6,868).

Despite the recent decline in value, both cryptocurrencies have still performed extremely well this year. Bitcoin is up 144.2% year-to-date, while Ethereum is up an impressive 539% from January the 1st.

Investors and analysts are concerned that if Bitcoin continues to fall below its 200-day moving average of US $46,720, then crypto may be entering a sustained bear market.

So, where are Bitcoin and Ethereum headed? Should investors follow the strategy of El Salvador’s president Nayeb Bukele and buy the dip? Or should they strap themselves in for a few more weeks of downward price action?

If there’s one thing that crypto investors are used to, it’s volatility. However, what many crypto pundits don’t realise is that the crypto markets, where Ethereum and Bitcoin remain the primary movers, are actually highly correlated with activity in the broader global market. 

As the Fed scrambles to control inflation and the new Omicron variant slows economic recovery, investors in both crypto markets and global equities are proceeding with caution (though miners are still hammering away with their digital pick axes). 

Watch how Bitcoin gets mined in the video below.

As reported by Yahoo Finance: the Chief Economist from Goldman Sachs, Jan Hatzius has said: “Omicron could exacerbate goods supply shortages if virus spread in other countries necessitates tight restrictions.”

“This was a major problem during the Delta wave, but increases in vaccination rates in foreign trade partners since then should limit the scope for severe supply disruptions… omicron could also delay the timeline for some people feeling comfortable returning to work and cause worker shortages to linger somewhat longer.”

The other major factor driving down prices is the new Jerome Powell-led Federal Reserve, which is starting to take a different approach to fiscal policy, focusing on controlling inflation rather than providing support to assets.

Consequently, the Bank of America’s chief investment strategist Michael Harnett has sounded a bearish warning call.

He warned: “The 2021-22 investment backdrop is similar to early stagflation of late-60s, early-70s period of inflation & interest rates breaking higher on back of high budget deficits. The winners were real assets, real estate, commodities, volatility, cash, emerging markets, all of which held their own versus inflation.”

“The losers were bonds, credit, equities, tech, all of which ultimately struggled. We think we’re currently in the 69-71 period.”

Harnett is bearish for 2022, expecting a “rate shock” to slow down financial growth and keep markets on a gradual decline.

Despite this, many prominent investors believe that crypto assets, particularly Bitcoin, are actually safe-havens against broader market downturns and will eventually prove to be a long-term hedge against inflation. 

So, is Bitcoin really a safe place to store cash for the long term?

RELATED: Bitcoin Flash Crash: Is Now A Good Time To Buy?

Nigel Green, CEO of Devere Group who had previously forecasted that bitcoin could hit $100,000 by year end, says that he isn’t concerned by crypto’s short-term price action and is adding even more Bitcoin and Ethereum to his portfolio.

Per Yahoo Finance, Green said: “I’m confident that digital currencies are the inevitable future of money… in our increasingly tech-driven, globalised world, it makes sense to hold digital, borderless, decentralised currencies. In addition, adoption and demand are increasing all the time, whilst at the same time, supply is decreasing.”

Marc Chandler, the chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex has other ideas. According to Bloomberg, he said:

“The idea that as it matured, the volatility would ease has not really materialized… the volatility is deadly and its other supposed attributes, like a hedge against inflation, seems spurious.”

Ultimately, crypto markets will continue to be volatile, and the broader sentiment among crypto bulls hasn’t changed. If you’re a firm believer in crypto and you invest with a long-term price target in mind, buying the recent dip may prove to be a profitable investment strategy.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Never invest more money than you can afford to lose into any crypto.

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The post Bitcoin & Ethereum Keep Falling. Is Now The Time To Buy The Dip? appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Whether you think more people just makes for bigger and better parties, or whether you are furious about the influx of visitors jacking up the prices of Byron Bay rentals, what is impossible to dispute is that Byron Bay has become a bit of a meme. 

Home to Australia’s Easternmost point and formerly a sleepy little village, Byron Bay encourages visitors to slow down and “chill out.”

But it seems that in other cities and towns around Australia, some people are getting sick of their friends returning from The Hinterland with disdain for footwear and punctuality. 

Enter: the following video. 

@brittanyobrienn Absolutely calling myself out here Missing that Van Life #byronbay #australia #pov #fyp ♬ morgen meditation – guidet meditation – Lisbett Wedendahl / LIFT YOUR MIND

Posted to TikTok in 2020 by @brittanyobrienn, the above video captures many of the phrases that many people (particularly Sydneysiders) are guilty of returning from Byron and saying, much to the mirth (or, in some cases, irritation) of those that overhear.

RELATED: Most Bondi Photo Ever Sums Up Australian Cafe Culture In 2021

Whether you think Byron Bay is the most unfairly maligned place in Australia (after Bondi), or whether you really truly don’t like the place, the following phrases ring true.

“The vibes there are just something else,” the skit begins. “I can’t really describe it to you because you haven’t actually been there. You have to spend a lot of time there – like I have. Look if I’m being honest coming back to the city was a bit of a nightmare, like, the lifestyle is just so different.”

“Everyone here is in such a rush. Like, just chill out. Do you know what I mean? Just chill out. I know it’s totally crazy but I kind of feel like I went on a spiritual journey… no I was only there for three days yeah… but I feel like a completely changed person.

“I think I might buy a van.”

Brittany isn’t alone in pointing out some of the embarrassing habits tourists pick up in Byron Bay. Instagram account @lordsofbyronbay made it its mission to expose the weirdest and most wonderful goings-on in the town, recently capturing (arguably) Australia’s spirit animal as we limped our way into the Christmas period.

Watch arguably the most ‘Byron Bay Act For 2021’ in the video below

The account has also captured such iconic moments as a surfer’s spiritual (we presume) warm-up, a ‘genius’ parking technique to avoid getting fined, and the town’s wild rental market.

No wonder the Hemsworths are (reportedly) quietly selling up and getting out… The Instagram Effect is in full flight and doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon…

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The post What NOT To Do In Byron Bay – The Worst Mistake Tourists Make appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Justin Hemmes, the billionaire founder of hospitality juggernaut Merivale Group and the heir to the House of Merivale family fortune (and a man who was once described by CNN as “Sydney’s ultimate playboy”), has made a killing out of owning and operating Sydney’s most exclusive and famous pubs and clubs.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that he’s made a huge profit selling one of his luxurious personal properties… Although the sheer scale of the windfall (as well as how much the original owner paid for the property 25 years ago) would surprise even the most desensitized property-minded Sydneysider.

Earlier this week, Hemmes successfully sold 32 Bona Crescent, Morning Bay – a waterfront retreat in the most exclusive part of Sydney’s Northern Beaches – for $5.5 million. Not bad, considering he bought the place only 5 years ago for $2.75 million.

The luxurious house had been sold to Hemmes by Laurence Eastwood, the acclaimed theatre production designer, realestate.com.au explains.

“[The Eastwoods] had paid $510,000 for the 1275sqm vacant building block in 1996, which saw Eastwood return to his architectural work. The home, with post-and-beam design, vast floating roof and large stainless steel box gutters that feed rainwater into a 50,000-litre tank, won Eastwood a number of awards.”

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The property is a stunner, with an eye-catching open kitchen, boatshed-come-waterside office and acres of glass. That the property has its own private beach and jetty is just icing on the cake.

But the really sweet part (or sour, depending on your perspective) is how much profit everyone’s made. Even if it cost the Eastwoods over $1 million to build the property back in the 90s – which it wouldn’t have – they would have made a tidy little profit selling to Hemmes.

Sure, it’s nothing compared to the $2.25 million profit Hemmes made just five years later… But both sale prices are demonstrative of how much Sydney property values have risen over the last quarter-century, and especially in the last 5 years.

RELATED: These Popular Australian Suburbs Are Increasing In Value By $50,000 A Month

The rich get richer…

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The post Justin Hemmes Pittwater House Sells appeared first on DMARGE Australia.