Did a SWF session with the Girlfriend and two friends from work on Friday - the two of them are really liking it - one's new to it and is experiencing DOMS now, the other is getting much better in his cleans, squats, deadlifts.
Today's WOD is more of targeting weaknesses - hams & calves namely. So today's WOD is a little different from the usual.
Am slightly sore in the hams from yesterday's assisted GHR's! I like this 'slightly crippling' feeling that arises from soreness.
WOD
30 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
15 toes to bar
15 barbell thrusters (50kg)
75 calf raises (50kg)
10 glute ham raises
30 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
15 toes to bar
10 back squats (50kg)
75 calf raises (50kg)
10 glute ham raises
My calves, hamstrings, quads are in a persistent, mild soreness. That rocks.
But it does make cycling from point to point in the yard pretty tiring.
Read more...
Today is rest day - my legs feel really really tired out! Working on GHR's, so I tried it on the bed, using the headboard as a support for my feet - and it kind of works! Which is good! I hope to feel DOMS tomorrow in the glutes!
Today's WOD is pretty decent. The same old. I really should plan my WOD's in advance so I don't end up doing the same things. Really want to grow mega-hams and mega-calves. Shall research more on that!
It'll be a lifting & sprint session later for the WOD. Work this week has been going quite out of hand. Forever in a rush, forever never supported by the other departments - spend all the time chasing Engineering, Purchasing, Contractors, Suppliers, Operations, Production all thanks to the newly implemented (failing) system.
I can't wait for Thursday, to spend time with my overworked Girlfriend!
I haven't blogged in a really long time, but that doesn't mean I stopped working out, just that I've been a bit too tired (read: lazy) to document my workouts.
WOD
30 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
15 L pull ups
20 front squats (50kg)
8 push presses (50kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
30 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
15 L pull ups
20 front squats (50kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
Walking lunges, approximately 3 minutes
Don't Eat Toxins - gluten, soy, sugar. Discussed in great delightful joy.
This picture means a lot to both me and the girlfriend - that we are continuously getting better and not getting sucked into mediocritcy.
Countless times I have heard others tell me to 'not train so hard, and just maintain what you've got. Or you'll hurt your back / grow shorter.'
So often I can see so many of my colleagues at work eating horribly, totally misguided in eating habits, getting more inches all over with time. In short, most people either (1) do nothing about their health, or (2) do everything wrong with it, thinking they're doing everything right with it.
Conventional wisdom is hard to break and it can be hard to accept (the cold, hard truths). But sometimes, like how the old wise men say, a picture says everything.
I'll do this every year. And Mark Sisson - he's the guy I want to be when I'm in my 50's. And every step counts, from now.
The Girlfriend & I - Sentosa! Loving our new look.
The past few days are just WODs after WODs. Its days like today when I wake up at 5.20am for work and get back home at 9.20pm and still do a light WOD - that I feel remarkably tired. Not physically. Just beat.
WODs these 3 days are a lot on squats, weighted push ups, L-sits (up to 20seconds!), calf raises, push presses. The simple moves. But heavy and as many reps as I can manage. Working along the lines of 'changing the intensity / volume'.
Back to work, back to workouts & cleaner food (lesser Chinese New Year goodies). The letdown today is that the foodstall that sells pretty decent 'clean' food is still closed for the holidays. That's rice for lunch. Crap.
That's me in the old Crossfit Hub premises. Really liked the big spaces there!
Today I took my Mum for an early morning (6am!) workout at the park, since she highlighted she always wanted to jog a bit but not sure how to really get about it.
WOD
Walk 1.5km
5 sets of 100m sprints
3 sets of 80m walking lunges
We finished up the workout and was home by 7am. Had a great breakfast (eggs with mushrooms and chicken fillet!) and I'm off to Chinese New Year visiting over at the Girlfriend's later.
Today being the first day of the Chinese New Year (read: more time to sleep - 9 hours!), means that I should really utilize today's free time to train really hard till it hurts so bad!
Its the first day of Chinese New Year and I spent the day over at the Girlfriend's. We managed to squeeze in a WOD in between the dinner and the food preparation.
WOD
4 rounds of
40 push ups
15 pull ups
3 sets of 10 sec L sits
40 air squats
15 KB sumo deadlift high pulls
Its past 1AM and its really time to sleep! I shall try to WOD heavy tomorrow.
Read more...
This makes body weight lunges a lot less tiring, yes?
Today is an active recovery / rest day. Feels good to have one after all these lifting. Makes body weight exercises feel so much easier. Otherwise I'll usually never be able to go for 5 rounds for anything that involves a barbell. Overload training (the barbell) is really more than just medicine.
Active Recovery
5 rounds of
10 L pull ups
20 alternate leg lunges
The ON Whey is depleting. And I ought to get 2 more pieces of 5kg's for the barbell. Like how I always tell myself - I can only be better. And I will. I lost quite a bit of weight during my last Army Reservist (no opportunity to train, Faileo meals). I'm still not yet crossing my 60kg body weight mark. Its a personal milestone for me - it'll be the heaviest I've ever been my entire life.
2012, lets rock. Lets see how this year will turn out for me! With the Girlfriend motivating me always, I shall PR my way through the year.
Read more...
Took off 'earlier' from work today - which means no excuse to go easy on today's workout. Its back to the basics - push ups, squats, calf raises (I hate my calves and I'm going to make them awesome. Just wait and see)
WOD
4 rounds of
30 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
10 front squats (50kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
Came across this somewhere. Its a MRI scan of 3 persons. What's important is to note their age and their physical lifestyle. If it looks so different on the inside, I'm sure it'll look even worse on the outside.
So, look at the 3rd image and don't stop working out!
Its been a while since I blogged, finally got my ass down to this again. Its 2012. Its all about goal-setting and goal-achieving.
Which means I have to work even harder. It'll be shit-tiring, but, mediocrity, I can't accept.
Let's go, 2012! Let's get stronger than the year before, more powerful, more muscularly-denser, work more on my weak points, eliminate routine, eat cleaner, eat a larger variety of foods, spend more time with my Girlfriend, blog more, achieve more at the workplace!
WOD
2 rounds of
30 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
10 L pull ups
15 front squats (50kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
Milk & Insulin - not really what I wanted to hear about milk.
Today is more of an active recovery day. I still haven't gotten back the routine of work.
Active Recovery
2 rounds of
20 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
10 front squats (50kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
Spent the evening at home watching The Incredible Hulk. That is one ripped beast. What else can I say - I can only get better with time.
An Open Letter To Kids and Teens About Lifelong Health - wish I discovered all these when I was back in Primary school. Like most (I reckon), I'm using my 'older days' to catch up. But truthfully, I am stronger now than when I was at any point of time before this age.
Read more...
My triceps are sore from yesterday's (pretty heavy) barbell thrusters! Went a bit easy on today's WOD as I'm feeling pretty pooped from work too. Changed the routine today a little - I must say this slight change feels pretty good. And for a personal best, I can do a 10 second L-sit with good form!
Its the day after Christmas today, weather-wise I must say it is less rainy, but cloud cover is still persistently thick. I can't wait for the skies to clear up again so the Girlfriend & I can make our way to the sands of Sentosa to catch some Sun!
It was a great Christmas gathering at the Girlfriend's place - lots of food, and nearly overdosed on meat! We had quite a good deal of cakes & cookies too.
And of course, its back to the WOD's today! The barbell thruster felt mercilessly heavy. Couldn't get myself to do it in the third set.
WOD
20 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
10 L pull ups
10 deadlifts (50kg)
10 barbell thrusters (50kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
20 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
10 L pull ups
10 deadlifts (50kg)
10 barbell thrusters (50kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
20 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
10 L pull ups
10 deadlifts (50kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
Its back to work tomorrow, shall have a long day at work to catch up and make progress so that I can 'even out' my other days! Read more...
Sore in the hams and glutes today after yesterday's lift - not forgetting it has been over two weeks since I lifted consistently, due to Army Reservist. So today is more like an active recovery day.
Rest Day
20 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
10 front squats (50kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
20 weighted push ups (12.5kg)
50 calf raises (50kg)
I seriously believe I can have damn nice legs as long as I train really hard at it. All the years of long runs have left me with sinewy legs. I will squat, lunge, calf raise, sprint heavily, till my legs become like steadfast buttress roots. 6 months - by mid 2012 - is my dateline for this intermediate goal. Plus, my Girlfriend has damn strong legs. I don't see why I can't have strong legs for her too!
Finally, I'm out-processed from my Army In-Camp Training. Met great commanders and riflemen, great jokers, and new friends too. I am fortunate to work with a bunch of great commanders and riflemen too. So I know it won't suck too bad, knowing that the next In-Camp Training is in August.
The downside to this is that: (1) there is a lot of gluten and non-Paleo food served in the cookhouses, and (2) there is no 'proper' place to workout - i.e. no Olympic barbell, no parallel bars - just a slope and a pull up bar.
Was feeling really down and upset so I just had to workout to get it out. I don't feel totally okay actually, but at least a tad better than just now.
Haven't been working out hard enough, due to dinners and celebrations of late. December is an easily non-paleo month indeed! Me and the Girlfriend did something very Mark Sisson today - we toured the Horticulture Park, hand in hand!
Tomorrow marks the start of my High-Key In Camp Training. Something really new for me. I hope I don't screw it up!
Had a feast (BBQ grass-fed beef) yesterday with the Girlfriend, and more beef today, leaving me really psyched up for the workout. Plus, seeing the Girlfriend working out just makes me want to get stronger for her - had a great workout with the barbell at home!
Had a good day at KeppelGames yesterday - am thankful for my really fast-running relay team, bringing us in at 1st place. Finished up the day's event with 20 bar muscle ups before it was lunch and dinner with the Girlfriend! Her exam will be over and we're celebrating it with a workout at Singapore Weightlifting Federation tomorrow!
Its back to some barbell work - giving my body a break from the sprints I've been having. Upped the weighted push ups to 12.5kg - via more sticky tape!
Its back to the barbells for today - simple, light, and pretty 'standard' stuff since I don't want to bust my legs as the race day is this Sunday. Thinking of it alone is so stressful!
WOD
3 rounds of
20 weighted push ups (10kg)
10 L pull ups
10 deadlifts (50kg)
10 front squats (50kg)
About Mark Sisson - Role model for all of us teenagers, young adults, middle-aged adults, or even retirees! How do you want to be when you're 55?
Full hip extension, powerful shrug, and the barbell goes weightless for a moment - and make a quick transition to bring your elbows up so that the bar comes to rest in a rack position.
Scapula, back, hams, quads and glutes are really sore now, due to Monday's WOD at SWF. Today is plenty of push ups and air squats to aid the recovery process. Tomorrow's the last training for the 4x400m, of which the race day is this coming Sunday. We haven't really tried baton passing yet.
Paleo - probably one of the best articles I've read so far.
Read more...
Its down to SWF for a workout today. Its back to deadlifts, front squats, and squat cleans. I like how the environment lets me go as heavy as I want - I'm only limited by myself.
WOD
30 deadlifts (80kg)
30 front squats (63kg)
20 (I lost count?) squat cleans (63kg)
6 sets of 6 kettlebell swings (20kg)
Its back to track & field training tomorrow, and another on Thursday. Friday better be some damn good barbell WOD at home. I'll be so busted tired by the end of this week!
Back to the barbells again before heading out to meet the Girlfriend! This WOD must be like my 'standard' WOD or something, but I hope the lack of variety doesn't kill me.
Today is Rest Day - my calves and hams are aching from yesterday's great 400m sprints. Weekends with the Girlfriend - an antidote to the lousy work week.
Read more...
Back to Track & Field training today. Took the chance to do the sprints in barefoot, and took my time trails for 400m - coming in at 1min 1.93seconds. Phew!
WOD
400m time trial
3 sets of 400m sprints
And in conclusion my strategy is to stay close behind the second / third runner and burst out max at the last 100m or so. I got to train so hard because I don't have much time left, race day is 2 sundays from now!
Weekend is nearing, which means I get to see the Girlfriend soon! She'll be busy mugging for her finals, so I want to be there alongside her.
My idea of how I want to be when I'm old. Its a journey, it starts now, so those who ridicule me will, sadly, pay for it in future.
Yesterday's plan to workout at the stadium with the Girlfriend was left cancelled due to the heavy downpour. Managed a bodyweight workout at her place instead - pull ups, push ups, air squats. Had the great fortune to have her press my back down during push ups - whilst I helped her with pull ups!
Working through the weekend always leaves me really shagged out - today's workout with the barbells is very toned down - too tired!
Nasty air quality onboard and ran out of water at work due to the heat inside compartments - it feels good to be home with proper air quality and natural ventilation. Its back to the barbells today. No clue how many squat clean and presses I did, I just kept on at it till I'm gassed.
Yesterday was my first WOD over at Singapore Weightlifting Federation (SWF) - it was a great new experience - plus I get to workout with my dearest Girlfriend, something for me to die for. But now she is down and feeling terrible with gastric flu. The best way one can describe me as spiritual is zero, but I truly pray for her to be well and back on her feet again, with her occasional knees and hooks to my face. I miss that.
WOD
Back Squat 5-3-3-1-1-1-1 (last 1 at 82kg)
10 squat clean and press at 40kg
5 squat clean and press at 60kg
Had a terribly long day at work onboard in that overly hot, stiff compartment, it must be at least 32 degrees Celsius there. And working with people who are just everything short of initiative - nearly losing my voice today at work.
Yesterday was being the 'stand-in coach' for the Track & Field, it was back to intervals, due to the rain - so it was back to burpees, air squats, sprints along the corridor, stair sprints, walking lunges, more burpess and air squats.
Pretty fun stuff, plus that workout left my body less sore than before it. And following that was blissful couple-time with the Girlfriend. Happiness is a very big part of living, no?
Today is back to the barbell at home. The skin on my right palm is still ripped but it has already 'dried up' so I can address the bar pretty decently - but no C&J or heavy cleans that will rip the skin out.
Today's WOD is more like a recovery - I am really sore in the hams and back and scapula - must be all that 1.5BW deadlifts on Monday. Tomorrow is the KeppelGames - Track & Field training session, and after that its a going to be a lovely dinner with the Girlfriend.
This was on the broadcast at work. Can you figure what's wrong with it?
Today is Rest Day - my hams, arms and back are pretty sore from yesterday's smashing WOD over at Cross Fit Hub. Did some push ups and air squats for recovery sake. Must be the 95kg deadlifts. I could never have imagined doing that at all.
Today's WOD is pretty heavy but it is really good - been looking forward for some really heavy lifts - and there you go, 1.5BW deadlifts. I sure grunted like hell just to hoist the weight up to a hang position.
And I really hate sandbags - sandbag runs really reminds me of the SOC run-down.All the more we should do it more. Attack the weaknesses!
Warm Up
10 sandbag front thruster & back thruster
50 meter sandbag run
8 sandbag front thruster & back thruster
50 meter sandbag run
6 sandbag front thruster & back thruster
50 meter sandbag run
4sandbag front thruster & back thruster
50 meter sandbag run
2 sandbag front thruster & back thruster
50 meter sandbag run
Sandbag run 6 floors
WOD
10 rounds of
5 deadlifts, 1.5 BW (95kg!)
10 pull ups
Eggs - Eggs for me and the Girlfriend for our breakfast!
