Gym Happy Moments.

#2

When the gym is empty and all the weights, racks and machines are just for you :)

A little motivation

Never thought it would happen to me, after all the countless times I read up about haters and people putting down someone working towards a goal, it happened to me.

I always thought, if I got shot down, made fun of whilst working to build up my physique, it would most likely be from people who don't know me. Acquaintances, people you weren't on that good terms with or strangers - those were the people whom I thought would be the ones to put me down, to laugh at my "obsession".

The "obsession" of spending those hours, days, months and years at the gym, the cardio and especially the diet that I try hard to stick to.

But it struck me so hard the first time it happened, despite all the motivational quotes and videos I've watched - telling me to show the people who put you down how all your hard work isn't an obsession but a dedication and to use it as a motivation for yourself - the words that came out of their mouth still hurt.

I guess the worst part is that they are people whom you called friends, relatives or loved ones, people whom you trust that they got your back. It's like if the people whom you trust say such things about you, what more the people who don't know you that well, what worse things will they be saying about you.

For the rest of that day I was pretty moody but then I thought about it and those motivational posts I've seen and read came to me and I understood what it really meant.

People are going to put you down, be it out of jealousy or spite or just for "fun", only you can take those words and turn it as a source of motivation and encouragement or even strength. It just means that you have got to work harder and smarter. At the end of the day, it's you who reap the benefits of your hard work, it is you who will be accountable for your actions, no one else. Sure there might be spill over effects - your efforts and success motivating others or just creating more jealousy - but the only one to truly enjoy the fruits of labor is YOU!

Personally, I did take it negatively at that instance but then I turned it around and those words helped me break through my 6 month long plateau, where I just couldn't gain any progress in terms of my physique. In just 1 month, I saw myself making progress again and instilled in me a new found passion/motivation for what I'm working towards.

I would like to dedicate this post to all of you out there who are working hard for that dream and goal in your life, be it in fitness, career or your studies, whatever it is you are striving for... don't give up when others put you down, mock you or try to crush your hopes. Keep up the effort and in due time you will enjoy the results of your dedication.


p.s I'm not mad or angry at those who tries to put me down or make fun of me. I just wish that they'll understand what it is like to actually have a goal in life, something you're dedicated and passionate about. After all they are my friends and people I care about, so I definitely will not put down people I call my friends and loved ones. If not why call them friend?

The video can get quite crude and vulgar but I enjoy watching their videos because they are brutally honest with their advice, the Hodge Twins have been very helpful in guiding and motivating me in my workouts. I hope they can help you as much as they have helped me.

Till the next post!

Strength Gains

I think I've been training in my comfort zone too much. I'm still lifting weights that I've been lifting for the past 3-4months. Haven't actually increased it, so I've been thinking that I should have a week or two to work on my strength.

I recently came across an article on 5x5 workout, sounds good for strength gains.
Let's see how it works out in the next couple of weeks.
Hopefully I'll see myself gain a little more mass.

Gym Happy Moments.

#1

When you get the pump in your muscles and you look bigger than before you entered the gym.
One of the main reason why we workout.

Fun Fact!

Broscience Broscience is the predominant brand of reasoning in bodybuilding circles where the anecdotal reports of jacked dudes are considered more credible than scientific research. Examples: "Bro, you gotta slam 40-60 grams of waxy maize plus 20 grams of BCAA within 7 seconds of finishing your last set of squat rack curls. Otherwise, you'll go straight catabolic." HAHA, I'm sure we are all guilty of broscience! :) Definition and Example taken from: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=broscience

School.

Tomorrow is the first day of my academic life in NUS.
I wonder how it'll affect my workouts/routines, going to have to reschedule my workouts and places I gym at.
I hope the school gym would bring about a good plateau breaking change to my physique.
I've been rather stagnant for a couple of months, in fact my plan to gain mass is not even making a gram of progress..

I'm quite irritated with myself, I mean there's no one else to blame but me.
I can't even get my own body to listen to what I want it to be.

Nevertheless, I'm still learning on this journey. 10 months and counting, hopefully this time next year I'll be looking at this post and be proud of the achievements/growth I'll gain in a year  :D

Can't wait to see what University life will do in building me up as a person, intellectually, emotionally, socially and definitely physically!


Modified words by Nelson Mandela from Marianne Williamson 
Till the next post!

Change of plans?

I've pulled out of the pageant I was supposed to join.

So now I've decided to go back to my bulking phase again.
But I'm definitely going to maintain the cardio I've added to my routines.
I was wrong before to believe cardio would do little towards being leaner and that pure weight training would suffice.
In just 4-5days I think I could see myself getting back the cut.

Now that my plans have changed, I'm going to rely on liquid calories to bulk up.

I'm looking at doubling my protein shake intake, blending healthy milkshakes and eating more lean meat.


Let's see how it turns out, with my goal set at 2 months to put on whatever muscle mass I can.

Till the next post!

One for the Ladies.

Inspiration for the ladies!

I know some of them are a little too bulky for your liking, but just like how I get motivated by the male bodybuilders, I definitely don't want to be their size.

It's the motivation and dedication I see from them, their hard work and results that in turn makes me want to achieve half of what they are.

I think that this one of the better female body building videos I've come across, so enjoy!


Till the next post!

4 weeks to get ripped.

Well I would like to keep a record of this phase of my body building progress.

I've been selected for my University's Pageant and I think it would help to have a good physique as will the other contestants.

I've got 4 weeks till D-Day and as of now I plan to try to get as ripped/shredded as I can while maintaining my current muscle mass.

I'll definitely add in a lot of cardio!

Diet wise.. I will try to cut down on junk food and soft drinks as much as I can :P

This progress picture was taken after a gym workout some where in the beginning of June.

The second progress picture was taken after another workout session about the 3rd week of June.

A rough guide for me to see how the end result will be like after 4 weeks with cardio thrown into my routine.

If you realised I don't have much, if not no cardio at all in my routines.
So I'm going to see what is the effect like when I start doing cardio 2-3 times a week.

    Hopefully I can lose 1-2% body fat!
 
    Stay tuned!



Till the next post!

Fun Fact!

Just browsing through the internet looking for things to blog about,

came across some quotes and an interesting fact!

Did you know:
The Greek word gymnasium means "place to be naked" and was used to designate a locality for the education of young men, including physical education (gymnastics, i.e. exercise) which was customarily performed naked, as well as bathing, and studies.

cool eh! :) I thought it was kinda interesting.


Oh! I don't know how accurate this is but I've found a new favourite quote,
No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training… what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable. — Socrates


So true, what a shame it would be to never know that you can achieve the best looking physique ever in your life time. 
This is the one reason I tell anyone who asks me why do I gym/workout.
I want to be able to for at least one period of my life, attain the best possible physique that I can have and not live my life with that regret. :)

Find your reason!

Till the next post!

Random Tip Of The Week.

Leave your ego at the door when you enter the gym.
If you are lifting for your ego then your body will never truly grow.
This is a sport where the only opponent is yourself.
The only one you need to impress and beat is yourself.
Don't give a sh*t about whoever else is looking at you or judging the weights you do.
The only person who gains from the workouts is yourself.
So don't give up and don't ever think you are a failure in the gym, because the only 'failure' in there is that last rep you push yourself to complete.

Hong Kong

I just thought I'll write about my trip to Hong Kong and Macau with my friends last week from the 1st to 7th July.

I was afraid that I'll lose my muscle mass again considering that I stopped my workout the previous week before my trip and then another for my holiday.

Our flight landed in HongKong(HK) and we made our way by ferry over to Macau for a 2 night stay.

The view from our Macau hotel room.

Beef Brisket Noodles, dinner on our first night at Macau.

Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, did some sightseeing.

Street stall, Pork Porridge. Had to try the street food to truely have the Macau experience.

Portugese Egg Tarts at Margaret's Cafe in Macau, piping hot and super yummy. 

 The Venetian, hotel/shopping mall/casino


After the 2 days in Macau we then made our way back to Hong Kong.

Our Hotel in Hong Kong

View from our hotel room.

Hong Kong! - Avenue of Stars, the first 'tourist' destination we visited.
 Famous Bruce Lee statue.

Temple Street - Night Market, where things are cheap and everything is for bargaining.

Ocean Park - The Dragon(Roller Coaster)
 To be honest it was my first time taking a roller coaster that went upside down. :x

Mak's Noodles, highly recommended. (the branch at Victoria's Peak)

Dessert at Tsui Wah. Please eat at Tsui Wah(it's a restaurant/cafe) if you're in Hong Kong, they've got a few branches.

See the rounded toast? that's drizzled with condensed milk and the square one with condensed milk and peanut butter. It's like taking a bite out of heaven :).

Sunset at Victoria's Peak

Dim Sum, the Char Siew Baos(pork buns) are to die for. Queued almost 1 and a half hours for this! 

7-Up with plum and lemon and Ribena with lemon

Milk Tea and Yuen Yang(coffee w tea)
These two with the two drinks above are a really good, must try. :)

Loot from shopping in Hong Kong :D

I really enjoyed my week at both Macau and Hong Kong, kinda miss the food there. Shopping wise there's nothing much in Macau and Hong Kong is almost comparable to Singapore in terms of prices and some of the men's style in HK is quite different from Singapore's.
Commendable transport system in Hong Kong, moving around was pretty easy and fast.
These are just some of the things that I did while on holiday, didn't really cover every sight, sound and taste. Hopefully it'll still be able to interest you to visit Hong Kong too!
(think I spent about 1,400SGD for the entire trip of 7 days)


Now that I'm back, it's going to be an all out effort to work towards the fitness goals I've set out for myself this year. Can't wait to see what the rest of 2012 has in store for me :)

Till the next post!

Getting Lazy.

Damn I'm getting lazy..
With the back to back breaks on my workout, I've definitely lost the momentum and starting to lose the habit.
I'm still hitting the gym but my workouts aren't as fulfilling.


I've got 4-5 posts saved in draft, because I can't find the motivation to research, write and complete them..


But I'm still passionate about this 'task' I've undertaken 8 months back and I definitely won't be quitting any time soon.

I'm going to try to keep this blog as updated as often and with regards to my workouts, I'm starting to pick up from where I left off before my break.


Little setbacks like lean muscle mass have definitely been lost, the cutting as well..
Body fat should have gone up as I took the 'cheating' method of putting back on my mass.
Yeah, I ate more macs than I should and more late night supper too.
Still maintaining 62kg but not the 62kg I had a month ago!



So for all of you out there who are facing setbacks and plateaus with regards to workout at fitness,
don't give up just yet, keep at it! DO SOMETHING! It's better than just giving up all the efforts you've put in.

A reminder to myself and all those with a goal fitness or physique, No Excuses!


Till the next post!  
                                            

Reboot Workout

I was away from the 15-20th June for my University's Faculty Camp.

Got a good tan, made many new friends and had loads of fun :)

However during these 5 days, I didn't have the time to hit the gym. Adding on to it, the intense games we played and the lack of sleep resulted in me losing more than 2kg of muscle mass. I also fell sick which further prevented me from hitting the gym.

Currently I'm still stuck at 60kg, down from 62kg before my camp.

I thought I'll like to share with you guys a workout which I do whenever I take a break off of training, usually a week or more. It could be for many reasons (i.e holiday, falling ill, too busy).

You can also follow this workout if you're a beginner and want to do a full upper body workout.

I like to call it the "Reboot Workout".

Just warming up your muscles for the week's routine.

I would suggest adding a legs day after this "Reboot Workout" to make it a total body workout, especially for beginners or anyone who is looking to use this as their weekly routine.

If you were to do it as your weekly full body workout, I suggest doing the upper body twice and lower body once or twice depending on your schedule. (per week)

Completed this workout in 45mins, so no excuses that you don't have time to do it.  :)

Hope I can gain back my loss mass soon and put on some more.


Till the next post!

                     




Special thanks to my camera man and best friend Anthony :)

My Fitness Goals.

This post is in lieu of my previous one about my 6 months progress. In fact I wrote this post first but kept in my drafts because I was still editing it. A little follow up to my personal fitness goals, serving as a comparison as to how far I've come and how close I am to reaching them.

Weight
My goal weight would be approximately 65-67kg. I'm currently at 62kg and have been so for 2 months, it's my diet to blame, I don't have the habit of eating much. But recently I've been trying to stuff myself with (clean)food as often as I can. However, I've just started a temporary job, thus my meals are getting irregular and I'm not able to eat as much or as often. Hopefully I can better focus on this goal when I'm in university.


Bodyfat
I've never actually measured my body fat percentage, but by 'guestimate' I would say I'm at about 10-11% body fat. My ideal body fat would be at 8-9% where the 6 pack abs would be obvious even without flexing.


Build
I've mentioned it before, my ideal build is that of Nick Auger. Fitness model-ish but not to that extreme. Something approachable and not daunting.


Strength
To bench 1.5x my body weight for Flat Bench Press.
Deadlift 120-150kg.


Cardio
For most Singaporean guys, I suppose my aim would have to be below 9.45 for 2.4km run. But ideally I'll like to be able to finish 10km run in 45mins. Though I'm not really training my cardio in any way as of now.


Lagging body part
For many alike, the rear deltoids. I feel that it's the most neglected body part.

Most Important body part to train
Chest! All guys should have a well defined chest. Chest > Abs.

So motivational! :)

Till the next post! 

My 6th Month Progress

Well, I thought I'll do a post on my progress so far since Nov 2011. It's been just over 6 months since I started working out and the pictures in this post are the results I have gained in this 6 months.

In terms of weight, I was approx. 57kg in Nov 2011. Currently I am maintaining my weight at 62.5kg which is almost a 6kg gain, mostly lean muscle mass. I've yet to accurately measure my body fat %, but by ''guestimate'' I think that I was at 12-13% in Nov 2011 and about 10% now? 

One of the most obvious gains are those little finger-like muscles at the rib cage area just below the chest muscles, inter-costal muscles they're called from what I know. Very good gauge for body fat %, if you can see it you're probably at 10% and below. Likewise one of my happiest gain is my abdominal region, though I probably need to lose another 1-2% body fat to see my lower 2 abs.

Arms wise, definitely had gains, never did measure it (regrettably). If I were to estimate, probably an inch? Hitting the triceps hard really did show, arms look so much bigger and it makes one especially happy when your arms fit your t-shirt sleeves.

Next body part would be my legs, biggest biggest growth by far. My girlfriend used to say I had lady thighs cause my legs were really skinny. I started legs routine about 4 months ago but the progress far exceeds my other body parts. Haven't really targeted the calf region but will keep that as one of the main goals in time to come.

As for my chest, much more developed. Of all the muscle groups, I favour the chest muscles most. I think that it's a must have for all men. You can have nice arms, 6 pack, monster legs, sick back muscles or rock solid shoulders but if your chest is not developed, you just look weird. I'll rather have chest muscles over 6 pack abs.

I really put a lot of work into the lower chest muscles to attain the fuller look. Currently working on the upper region now so there'll be the "3D effect"(as my friend termed it).

Finally, my back and shoulder muscle group.

The back is the "hardest" muscle to train, because you can't see it! haha, it's really hard to focus on it in the gym because you have to imagine engaging your back muscles without the ability to see it with your own eyes. But it's my favourite of all the gains I've had, 'cobra head' back as the bodybuilders like to call it. I don't know about you but I feel that the back muscles have so many different groups that all the definitions just makes it look so kick ass.

My shoulders have seen it's fair share of growth as well, especially the rear delts. Never knew that I had to work it till like 3-4months ago. Since then I've been focusing on the rear delts to complete the full shoulders look. My traps have also grown significantly, personally I don't like too big traps cause it makes your neck look short, so I think as of now it's just about the right size for me.

Okay! So what am I looking forward to now would be to put on another 3kg. I plan to work on my calf muscles, getting the upper chest to be more developed and continue maintaining the other muscle groups. Also I'll hope to start a cutting phase if I get to 65/66kg and perhaps drop my body fat % to 8-9%.

Probably do another update of my progress in 3-6months time :).

Till the next post!

More Content!

I understand that one thing this blog lacks is more visual enticement.
Videos, pictures, images... But I need a camera man!
Hopefully come July I'll be able to make this blog more lively and visually pleasing.
July, cause that's when I end my temp job.
Work has been taking up most of my day but I'll try to find time to make more detailed posts.

I'll also most probably be getting the new Samsung Galaxy S3 in June, so that'll mean a handy video cam/camera which I can use to supplement my blog with videos and pictures :)

I'll try to get a partner to work with me on gym days so that I can have someone help me capture my workout routines.

In the meantime, press on with your workouts and diet!
Feel free to leave any questions or suggestions as a comment or on my blog's facebook page!


Till the next post!

Legs and Core, Don't Neglect Them!

Legs
Benefits of doing legs:
for upper body growth (works the whole body/ allows it to grow proportionately as your upper body can't grow bigger if your base is small),
fat burn/metabolism increase, stability, explosiveness,
increase muscle growth hormones throughout the entire body (anabolic)

Leg exercises: squats, lunges or split squats(walking/stationary), deadlifts, leg extension, lying leg curls, calf raises(seated/standing)

a sample leg routine:

Barbell Squats

(Variations: Dumbbell Squats, Front Barbell Squats)

Leg Extension Machine

Both the above exercises targets the thighs, also know as quadriceps
another good exercise is the leg press machine.
Squats also help with the gluteus, also known as the butt muscles, allowing you to build a firmer buttock.

Deadlifts

(Variations: Stiff-leg deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts)

A

B

Lying Hamstring Curls

(Variations: Seated Hamstring Curls)


The above two exercises works the hamstrings.
While deadlifts hits the hamstrings,
 it also emphasises a lot on the lower back and core to keep the body flexed and stable.

Standing Calf/Calves Raise

Do 3-4 sets of each exercise, 15-20 reps with no more than 2mins rest between sets.
Feel free to rearrange the order each session or vary the exercises/reps/weights.

Core

Benefits of doing core:
stability, strength, it's the centre of all our movements/center of gravity, prevent injuries (lower back, spine, pelvis, shoulders) with strong core muscles.

Core exercises: planks, deadlifts, squats, mountain climbers, crunch/reverse crunch, tucked L-seat/L-seat, tucked lever, oblique twists

a sample core routine:
         

          Start with

• Planks - 60 to 90secs

Side planks - 60 to 90secs for each side



         Do this

• Crunches - 15 reps
• Mountain Climbers - 20 secs
• Reverse Crunch - 15 reps
• Mountain Climbers - 20 secs
• Oblique twists/bicycle crunches - 20 reps(10 reps each side)
  Repeat 3 times as a circuit with 90-120secs rest.
  
  
  End off with
• Planks - 60 to 90secs
• Side planks - 60 to 90secs for each side

Mountain Climbers

Side Plank

Reverse Crunches

as always remember that these are all just template workouts, you can alter them according to what works best for you :)


















Girl power!  :)

Special mention to Val! who requested a post on core and legs routine.



Till the next post!