Sweat Room

From Miri

From Miri

This is my humble abode in Miri. It also doubles as my workout space. Just began experimenting with P90X workout program recently; beginning with the Ab Ripper X on the past Monday. This brief 17-minute session basically consist of abs/center-core rigorous routines (11 of 'em, namely Leg In & Outs, Bicycles motion, Crunchy Frog, Cross/Wide Leg Sit-Ups, Fifer Scissors, Hip Rock 'n Raise, Pulse Up a.k.a Heels-to-Heaven, V-Up/Roll Up Combos, Oblique V-Ups, Leg Climbs, & the Mason Twist) with enough repetitions to make you cringe in muscle aches & leaves you half-dead from the waist down by the time you're done. 3 days on, i still feel the burning sensation in my abs, my upper legs feel sore in a way i've never felt before; been having problems standing up right & walking properly for the past 2 days. I'd say it's workout well worth the pain & sweat (in a good kind of way); coz when it comes to working out, i'm a firm believer of the timeless quote: no pain, no gain... =)

Random Shots: spot the runner's pace

From Miscellaneous

Finally breached the 60-minutes mark! This staying on the treadmill at a constant pace of 8km/h for just an hour is already a grueling task requiring mammoth-like will power just to keep going with flailing legs & knees weakening by the minute. Having barely completed this, i still can't begin to imagine the intensity & focus required of a marathon runner, in preparing for a competition ~ 10km, 18km, 22km, 42km?? They must have had superhuman endurance & will power. Come to think of it, these superhuman attributes like these too, have to be built from scratch from the daily grind of rigorous endless trainings, gradually built over time by pushing the limits everyday... the big question is, do i have the discipline & passion to keep pushing the limits in the things i do everyday?

Why aren't you growing... (thanks for sharing, mate)

1. You overtrain and under eat. These are listed as the main primary reason because they go hand in hand and BOTH must be balanced or you can forget growth. The most perfect training regimen will fail miserably if diet is not there to support it. And conversely, the most perfect diet will be wasted if the trainee is doing more workload than they can recover from—most do WAY too much! ~ that sounds very much like me... -_-

2. The training workload is not varied. Doing the exact same lift the same way stops being productive for most trainees within 3-6 weeks. Once the body has adapted to the loading it must be changed if you are to continue to force the body to adapt. ~ when running out of new routines to shock-and-awe, go ask louis or chris...

3. Too much focus on isolation exercises, not enough compound work. You can do all the “small” lifts until you are blue in the face, but until you are moving big poundage’s in the big lifts you will remain small. Which brings up point #4.

4. You MUST squat and deadlift if you are going to reach your bodies growth potential. Think it through. Doing squats or deads activates 70-85% of the bodies overall musculature in one move. Doing a set of curls maybe 3-5%. Which sends a big signal that the body better get better at synthesizing protein and better at handling the need to grow as a unit? You will NEVER reach your potential without doing the squats and deads. ~ to think that i've been neglecting the mother of all workout til now... -_-

5. You constantly fluctuate between lifts that have bad carry-over. Here is an example: I have seen many times, and one I have done myself. The trainee burns out on benching and decides to do Hammer Strength Benches for a change. He makes the switch and is jazzed. His Hammer press is going up every week and he is stoked. After a time he has added 50 lbs to his Hammer bench and decides to go back and hit the bench, only to find it’s up a whole 10 lbs!!!!!
That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with Hammer Benches. It just means that the lifts are dissimilar enough that an increase in one may not necessarily help increase the lift on another. Use of stabilizers and inter and intra-muscular coordination are two primary reasons, along with neural recruitment pattern gains that don’t apply well to the other lift.

6. You don’t know when to de-load/cruise , or take time off. NO ONES body takes a constant pounding of hard training without periods of active or full rest recovery. Until you learn how and when to don this your training will never be optimal ~ timing is the key...

7. Your micro-nutrient support SUCKS! I can’t count the number of guys I have seen trying to build great physiques taking a “one a day” vitamin and thinking they have it covered. If you want great things out of your body, you need to put great fuel in it ~ great 'fuel' does not come in the convenient form of a 'one a day' pill...

8. You train with the intensity of a arthritic old lady. Nuff said. ~ well, sometimes... when motivation runs dry...

9. You have no clearly defined goals. Most people just “lift to get bigger”, and while this is a fine goal, not having and strength related goals will kill your progress in the long run. Your primary goal should be getting stronger on the big lifts on a CONSTANT basis. Setting short and long-term strength goals and achieving them is what equals a big strong trainee in the long run ~ my other non-work-related MBO... other than hunting for a steady

10. You are inconsistent. Getting excited about your training and killing yourself in the gym only to burn out and few weeks later and miss a bunch of sessions ends up being 1 step forward, 3/4 steps backward for many trainees. Getting and staying consistent and racking up sustainable gains over the long-term is what it’s about ~ this is where most people fall short... got to drum this point into my head & keep going forth =)

22 days & counting down to The much anticipated Phuket trip; i'm working my butt off getting into shape with my 6P-6W (6-pack in 6 weeks) program which, sadly has yet to yield enough result. Proper diet is turning out be the most difficult part of it all... -_-