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 :)

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!

Calisthenics Circuit - Video

Spent half my Saturday doing up this video.
It'll show you how to do the Calisthenics Routine that I talked about and shared in my previous post.
Hopefully it can guide you with your workouts!

Till the next post! 

My Calisthenic Routine.

I began my body building journey with calisthenics (bodyweight exercises).
Some of the key exercises I always have in every routine are push ups and pull ups.
When available my other favourite exercise is doing dips on the parallel bars.
So here is a sample routine that I would recommend, effective for a good pump and getting your heart rate up.

1. Pull ups - 10 reps (you'll need to invest in a pull up bar if you're planning to do this at home)
2. Squats - 20 reps
3. Push ups - 20 reps
4. Crunches - 20 reps

Do this total body workout as a circuit in the order above with 2 mins rest between each circuit.
Go through the entire circuit for 5 times, 3-4 days a week for the first week. ( I used to do it 5 days a week)
For the second week, go through the circuit 8 times, 3-4 days a week.
From the third or fourth week onwards, go through the circuit 10 times, 3-4 days a week.

You can do this workout at a fitness corner near your home, if not you can do it as a home workout.
If you find difficulty increasing the number of circuits, you can take 2 - 3 weeks before you start on the next level.
This workout can be completed in 20-30mins, that's all you need in a day, just 30mins of committed hard work and I can most certainly assure you a good toned body in 2-3months.

Note: if you are unable to do pull ups, you can do it assisted if not hang from the pull up bar for 20-30secs each circuit or step up onto a chair and do negatives pull ups (i.e lowering yourself slowly from the pulled up position)
Also feel free to do variations of pull ups, push ups, abs exercises and trade squats for lunges.

Hope this helps and that you'll see positive results in no time :)

Till the next post!  

One for the Ladies.

Watching her video, I felt that she summarised really well the various aspects of keeping fit for the ladies.
I know many girls don't want to lift weights because they are afraid to become bulky. However, contrary to that belief, women don't bulk or build muscles like guys(you can if you want to but it'll take way more effort). In fact, lifting weights can actually help lose those fats all ladies complain about. It isn't all about cardio or running on the treadmill, especially so in Singapore where you see the ladies at the gym and all they do is run on the treadmill or cycle on the stationary bicycle.

Trust me ladies, pick up the weights the next time you go to the gym and leave your treadmill runs for after the weights workout. You'll see better results in lesser time as compared to the hours spent on those cardio machines. :)

Not too sure what's your goal body, girls, but here's one that'll hopefully be motivational to you  :)


Till the next post!

Burn Fats and Build Muscles at the same time?!

Hello! I wanted to do a short a post on burning fats while building muscles, because lately my group of friends have been asking me questions on it.
Just thought it'll be easier for everyone if I posted something on it to help them understand the process of how to do it and what goes on when doing it.
Keep the information out there for anyone to refer to :)

Here are some of the FAQs.

1. Can I burn fat and build muscles at the same time?
The answer to the question is, YES! You can build muscles and burn fat at the same time, I feel that it is the most efficient way instead of doing it one at a time.
In fact I like to call this process "a trade off". Trading fats for muscle, what better deal could one ask for :P .
I'll go into detail as to how the building/repairing of muscles help to burn the fats in your body in a later post :)

2.How do I burn fat and build muscles at the same time?
Hit the gym, do compound exercises such as Bench Press, Rows, Pull Ups, Squats, Shoulder Press. Movements that require a few muscle groups to work at the same time, unlike isolated exercises like Bicep Curls or Triceps Extension where only one muscle group is working at a time. If you don't want to gym, do bodyweight squats/pull ups/push ups. Limit your rest time to no more than 1 min, keep your heart rate up, but don't overtrain/overexert!

3.Can I just burn tummy fat?
Sadly no you can't just choose one area of your body to burn fat. Losing fats is a full body process, in fact the tummy is one of the last areas that fat is burned by the body. This is especially so for guys. So stop doing those 1000 crunches a day hoping for your 6packs to appear or belly fats to vapourise. Only through proper diet and exercise will you eventually burn the fats off.

4.What kind of diet should I have?
Diet is the most important part of burning and building. Not taking into consideration sleep/supplements/water/other factors, just between diet and exercise, diet would take up ~60-70% of the fat burning process and exercise ~30-40%. However you must understand that diet and exercise goes hand-in-hand, doing one without the other is ineffective. I would suggest switching simple carbohydrates for complex carbs food sources. Add lean meat to your diet like chicken breast meat which is a good source of protein, you can also have fish in your diet for the high protein. Protein helps with muscle repair and recovery. Try to avoid food which contains Trans Fat and Saturated Fat, go for Polyunsaturated or Monounsaturated fat sources usually in plant sources/nuts/fish.

5.Does cardio help burn fat and build muscles?
I like to see cardio as a supplement to your workout. Like how we can build muscles without taking protein shakes, we can lose fats without cardio as well. However, taking protein shakes will help build muscles better, just like how cardio can help burn fats better. So if you really want to add cardio to your fat burning workout, in my opinion it's best to do it after your gym or calisthenic workout for that extra burn.Use Low intensity steady state(LISS) cardio - i.e brisk walk on the treadmill for 20-30mins, slow jog(5km max.) If it's purely a cardio day, go for High Intensity Interval Training(HITT) like interval sprints or try fartlek though not exactly HIIT it is similar in nature.


These are just a few of the more common questions asked by my friends.
If you have any other questions related to losing fats and gaining muscles, feel free to ask me by leaving a comment :)

It's a short post nothing too detailed, I'll elaborate further in another post when I get the time to explain things in detail.
There's much more to it for each point mentioned so do stay tuned to find out more :)

Till the next post! 

Dorian Yates.

The above video shows the high intensity training endorsed by Dorian Yates, which I have adopted as my routine for the past 5-6weeks. The workouts and splits have been modified to suit my preference.

Here is another example of high intensity training for the back.

Words of wisdom and experience from Dorian himself. It's like all the knowledge of bodybuilding/working out compressed into a 15minute video. :)

High intensity training be it with weights, cardio or calisthenics is to me one of the best ways to lose fats and gain muscles.
Do check out the other videos covering shoulder,triceps and legs high intensity training.

Till the next post!

My workout routine.

For the past 5-6weeks, I have been doing a routine similar to that of Dorian Yates blood & guts as seen on Bodybuilding.com's youtube channel.
Ideally, the routine is about training with high intensity and to failure. Both training methods are two of the most effective and efficient ways of building muscles.

A rough guide on how my workout looks like, with a 3 day split.
Note: 1 minute rest between each set,2-3mins rest between each exercise and 5mins rest before doing the next body part workout.

Chest/Triceps (I always start this workout as the first routine usually on Mondays)
Flat Bench Press
- 1st warm up set : easy weight 45kg, 10-12reps
- 2nd warm up set: moderate weight 50kg, 10-12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 65kg-70kg, 6-8reps to failure(if a spotter is available)

Incline Bench Press/Dumbbell Press
- 1st warm up set: easy weight 40kg, 10-12reps
- 2nd warm up set: moderate weight 45kg, 10-12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 50kg, 6-8reps

Decline Bench Press/Dumbbell Press
- 1st warm up set: moderate weight 45kg, 10-12reps
- 1st workset: heavy weight 50-55kg, 6-8reps to failure(I usually like doing decline with DBs so I don't need a spotter and can just drop the weights when at failure)

Cable Crossovers(I like to call this the finishing touch, same for chest flys)
- 1st warm up set: 6.25kg on each side, 10-12reps
- 1st work set: 8.75kg on each side, 10-12reps

I alternate each week,
Triceps Pushdown/reverse grip pulldowns
- 1st warm up set: moderate weight 30lbs/13-14kg, 10-12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 40lbs/18kg, 10-12reps

I alternate each week,
Triceps rope extensions/Triceps cable kickbacks
- 1st warm up set: moderate weight 30lbs/13-14kg, 10-12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 40lbs/18kg, 10-12reps

If I have the time I'll usually hit my back and biceps the next day if not I'll give myself 1 rest day.

Back and Biceps
Weighted Pull Ups w 7.5kg weight
- 3 sets all to failure, for me its usually 15reps/10-12reps/8-10reps

Lat Pulldown Machine(wide grip)
- 1st warm up set: easy weight 100lbs/45kg, 10-12reps
- 2nd warm up set: moderate weight 110lbs/50kg, 10-12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 130lbs/~60kg, 6-8reps to failure

I alternate each week,
Barbell rows/T-bar rows/Seated cable rows
-1st warm up set: easy weight 35-40kg, 10-12reps
-2nd warm up set: moderate weight 45-50kg, 10-12reps
-1st work set: heavy weight 55-60kg, 6-8reps to failure

Single arm bent over dumbbell rows
- 1st warm up set: easy weight 15kg, 10-15reps each side
- 2nd warm up set: moderate weight 20kg, 10-15reps each side
- 1st work set: heavy weight 25kg, 10-12reps each side

Bicep curls (dumbbell/barbell)
- 1st work set: heavy weight 7.5-8kg, 10-12reps
- 2nd work set: heavy weight 7.6-8kg, 10-12reps

Hammer curls
- 1st work set: heavy weight 7.5-8kg, 10-12reps
- 2nd work set: heavy weight 7.6-8kg, 10-12reps

I like to throw in every alternate week something I learnt from Rob Riches "surfing the rack" where I start with 10kg dumbbells(bicep full curls to failure) drop the weights, 7.5kg (hammer curls to failure) drop the weights, 5kg (side bicep hammer to failure)
1 day rest

Legs/Shoulders

I like to start with Squats

Barbell Squats(Quadriceps)
- 1st warm up set: easy weight 40kg, 12reps
- 2nd warm up set: moderate weight 50kg, 10-12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 60-65kg, 8-10reps
- 2nd work set: heavy weight 60-65kg, 8-10reps

Deadlifts (Hamstring/Lower back. Romanian/Barbell)
- 1st warm up set: easy weight 40kg, 12reps
- 2nd warm up set: moderate weight 50kg, 10-12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 60-65kg, 8-10reps
- 2nd work set: heavy weight 60-65kg, 8-10reps

Leg Extensions (Quadriceps) - 1st warm up set: easy weight about 7plates, 12 reps
- 2nd warm up set: moderate weight about 8plates, 12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 10plates , 10reps
- 2nd work set: heavy weight 10plates, 10reps

Rear deltoid flys(cable/dumbbell)
- 1st warm up set: easy weight 5kg, 12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 6-7.5kg, 10-12reps
- 2nd work set: heavy weight 6-7.5kg, 10-12reps

Shoulder Press barbell/dumbbell(seated/standing)
- 1st warm up set: easy weight 25kg, 10-12reps
- 1st work set: moderate weight 30kg, 10-12reps
- 2nd work set: heavy weight 35kg, 8-10reps

Side lateral raises
- 1st warm up set: easy weight 5kg, 12reps
- 1st work set: heavy weight 6-7.5kg, 10-12reps
- 2nd work set: heavy weight 6-7.5kg, 10-12reps

Total time taken for each routine: 45mins - 1hour

I'll throw in abs workout on random days, usually twice a week.

A long and detailed post, special thanks to my friend Jun Yong who introduced me to this particular method of training.
If you have any questions regarding the various exercises mentioned and routines I've shared, feel free to leave a comment so that I may clear your doubts to the best of my knowledge and abilities.

Till the next post!
Train hard, train smart.