Workout Of The Day - 28th September 2009

WOD:
2 rounds for time

• 10 barbell thrusters
• 10 deadlifts
• 50 pushups

Time taken: 7min 42sec with 77# (28th September 2009)
 
So pooped tired from work!

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Workout Of The Day -26th September 2009

Had a brilliant volleyball training session today back in NUS - the sun was so hot that it made this in the sky:

Practice was fun - free flow of volleyballs and a court & net all to ourselves. After that we headed to NUS pool for a quick swim session before heading off for dinner

WOD:

• Volleyball training
• Swim 10 laps

This session is not timed.

Happened to catch the Formula One cars booming down the streets too - they sound really powerful!

I'll be heading back to NUS for more volleyball trainings in the future!

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Workout Of The Day -25th September 2009

Taking today's WOD easy due to the bad wrists - I realized its due to the improper 'rack' position when I do a barbell thruster.

WOD:
2 rounds for time of

• 15 backsquats
• 15 deadlifts
• 30 pushups

Time taken: 6min 14sec with 77# (25thSeptember 2009)


Tomorrow is volleyball training & a swim at NUS followed by an outing to town!

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Rest Day - 24th September 2009

Today is rest day - don't you wish you had this at home:

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Workout Of The Day - 23rd September 2009

Its back to sprints today, followed by a short session at the chin up bar.

WOD:

• Run 1.5km at 6min 56sec
• 3 sets of 100m sprints
• 3 sets of 4x20m shuttle sprints

Followed by:

• 20 pull ups

 It was a hearty dinner after that - chicken curry with beancurd and vegetables!

Mark (Grok On!) and his wife Carrie give me more reason to go on working out beyond my 20s, 30s, 40s and even 50s - they're both over 50 and look like they are in their 30s!

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Workout Of The Day - 22nd September 2009

It was either sprints or a barbell WOD for me but the soreness in my hamstrings made the decision-making process easy - no sprints today!

To avoid aggravating my bad wrists I stuck to front squats today, and also in an attempt to correct & practice my rack position.

WOD:
5 rounds for time

• 10 front squats
• 25 pushups  
  

Time taken: 10min 20sec with 77# (22nd September 2009)

I doodled this today at work - the overhead squat:

It'll be off to NUS Raffles Hall for volleyball sessions one of these weekdays after work!

And Paleo in a nutshell:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruits, little starch, and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat." -Greg Glassman

Finely tuned, a good diet will increase health, energy and sense of well being while reducing fat, packing on muscle and optimizing physical performance. Diet is critical to optimizing human function and CrossFit believes that Barry Sears' "Zone Diet" closely models optimal nutrition. CrossFit's best performers are on the Zone diet. The Zone diet accelerates and amplifies the effects of the CrossFit regimen.
Link

Here's my Paleo-supper!

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More Weights For (1) Deadlift (2) Squats

I'm putting off the purchase of rings as for now as I doubt the chinup bars around my estate don't have the necessary height clearance for muscle-ups. And because of that its making consider getting more weights for my barbell.



(Can anyone advice me how tall must the bar be for the necessary height clearance when performing a muscle-up?)

I should rightfully be front-squatting, back-squatting and deadlifting more than 15kg a side. But I still need to work on my overhead squats, so maybe a 2.5kg increment on each side (to 17.5kg a side) will be perfect. (See my previous purchase)

So right now its 2 x 5kg plates and 2 x 2.5kg plates from JiezFitt versus the gymnastic rings.


Advice anyone?

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Workout Of The Day - 21st September 2009

Wanted to go heavy and with some variation today but after the first set of 10 barbell thrusters, my right wrist was starting to hurt so there was a change of plan - which meant no more barbell thrusters, push presses, or even hoisting the bar to a front squat position.

WOD:

• 10 barbell thrusters
• 25 pushups
• 30 barbell deadlifts
• 25 pushups
• 30 barbell deadlifts
• 25 pushups

Time taken: 8min 17sec (21st September 2009)   

Now this is really Ironman, via Cross Fit:

Ironman [wmv] [mov]

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Workout Of The Day - 20th September 2009

Did a nice swim in the morning today back at NUS, this time as an Alumni! This means signing in from NUS Staff Club instead of the usual entrance most of us are used to.

Only upon returning to NUS did I realize how much I missed my Year 4 - I nearly went to school everyday with either my swim attire or shoes to hit the track for HIIT.

WOD:

• Swim 20 laps

This session is not timed.

The staff club is actually pretty comfy I must admit - nice air-conditioned lounge to hang around. But no time for that - it was down to Botak Jones at NUS for a hearty meal before commencing on the rest of my day - I had my Botak Burger with an Egg while my buddy had the Alaskan Pollock. I think I'll be taking the Alaskan Pollock in future!

On a sidenote - at around this age I'm beginning to notice a trend - everyone's all saying how fit they were back then etc and basking in the pride, but right now they've become just plain un-fit.

I don't see a point in that. Why brag when you're no longer anything close to what you were?

Let's all think twice about where we want to head down 5, 10 years down the road and into our old age. Do we want to be on a continuous decline right after NS / NUS?

And for the guys - do you remember how great and fit you felt as a trainee back then in the armed forces? You had more energy than you ever had before in your life. You did things you don't don't in your daily life.

That's why I work out. Because nothing comes close to that overwhelming sense of being powerful and strong.

Its never about the past but its about the now. What are you doing about it now?



And something similar from Practice Cross Fit:

On that long road away what keeps you motivated to return faster, or just return at all. The way u feel when your done? The sense of accomplishment? How you look? The sound of little footsteps behind you edging their way ever so close? Fear of failure? Whatever the case we are all better for it...so whats ur magic?

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Workout Of The Day - 19th September 2009

Did a quick run & sprint session today right after work - hopefully later tonight I'm feeling good enough for some barbells or another pull up session down at the park.

WOD:

• Run 1.5km at 7min 09sec
• 3 sets of 100m sprints
• 3 sets of 4x20m shuttle sprints

I'm feeling beat.

Jolie does a snatch at Catalyst Athletics 

Later in the night I did another workout - this time pull ups. And right now the soreness from the previous 60 pull ups are all gone!

WOD

• Do 60 pull ups

Time taken: 3min 44sec (19th September 2009)  

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Workout Of The Day - 18th September 2009

Decided to take it light today as I was still very sore from the 60 pull ups I did the other day - so I went for body weight training today - push ups and air squats!

WOD:

• 100 push ups
• 100 air squats
  

Time taken: 6min 30sec (18th September 2009)  

Check out the funny sock colors over at Cross Fit Invictus

Here's a report on why you should stop long cardio sessions if you're looking at slimming down:

In yesterday’s post, I explained that the notion of the fat-burning zone is a misunderstood concept, and that a higher intensity of exercise yields more results than a low-intensity session (when we look at it from the caloric expenditure standpoint). If fat loss is one of your goals, caloric intake and expenditure is something you should be mindful of, and burning more calories during exercise will help to increase that expenditure and subsequent weight loss. But since the majority of our workouts at Invictus fall under 20 minutes, many may think that doing longer steady-state cardio work might be the best way to really accelerate their fat loss. It is true that an hour on the treadmill may indeed burn more calories than some heavy lifting followed by “Helen,” but you will reach that conclusion only if you look at a very small piece of the whole picture.

To understand this, we need to address the concept of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC. Oxygen consumption serves as an approximation of your metabolic rate, and therefore how many calories you are burning in a given period of time. EPOC, then, is the effect seen following exercise in which the body is burning more oxygen (and more calories) for a period of time anywhere from a few minutes to more than a day. This results in an elevated metabolism and creates what Alwyn Cosgrove calls an ‘afterburn.’ A study performed in 2002 at Ohio University found that following heavy resistance training circuits, EPOC was significantly elevated over baseline for 38 hours.

Using this data, let’s go back to that treadmill example. Suppose the machine tells you that you burned 300 calories in your hour spent on the treadmill. EPOC occurs as a result of aerobic training as well, but the magnitude and duration of the increase is less than that seen with resistance or interval training. Now let’s say that at the same time you were on the hamster wheel, your friend did the aforementioned heavy lifting followed by Helen. It’s likely that he didn’t burn as many calories as you in his exercise session, but let’s now look at the whole picture, i.e. all of the time following the workout. If your friend worked hard enough to bump his EPOC up to where he’s burning a paltry eight additional calories per hour, 38 hours later when his oxygen consumption returns to normal, he’s burned more calories than you, and he accomplished it in a much shorter workout. And then think of how it would affect him if he went and worked out the next day too! Would EPOC go even higher? It is not certain whether EPOC is cumulative, but even without an additive affect, the benefits are easy to see. Would you rather be burning more calories in the 23 hours a day you’re not at Invictus, or just burning the same old amount as usual in the 23 hours you’re not at a traditional gym (not to mention that you’d only be running and not developing your strength, flexibility, accuracy, etc.)?

If you have a weight loss goal, don’t resist your strength work. Stick to the program and talk to your coaches about making minor modifications to your fitness and nutrition programs to help you achieve your results most efficiently.

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Rest Day - 17th September 2009

Today is my rest day, and fortunately my right foot is nearing recovery, less the pus. Totaling the effects of the past 4 days of WODS, I crashed only 2 hours after dinner and to find myself awake slightly past midnight.

But the soreness from everything (especially considering how long since I last did pullups)? Deep, delayed, and priceless.

 Kate does a Muscle Up

Its fun reading Cross Fit affliate blogs, and sometimes the pictures in them make you want to convert your rest day into another WOD day.

Here's a list of new finds, and they've been added to the Cross Fit column as well!

Kate's Attempt At Cross Fit

Cross Fit Unlimited - Nutritionize

Explore Cross Fit

Cross Fit Newport Beach

Cross Fit East Bay

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Workout Of The Day - 16th September 2009

Meant to have a rest day today but in the end I went to the chin up bars below and cranked out 60 pull ups - feels absolutely brilliant!

WOD

• Do 60 pull ups

This session is not timed.

Has anyone got any idea if Muscle Up rings can be used on regular chin up bars you find at the neighbourhood?

And check out this firebreather over at Cross Fit One World

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Workout Of The Day - 15th September 2009

The workouts are making me hungry at work but not as hungry as before as I'm missing out on the sprints due to the bad cuts on my right foot. But I really love eating 3 meats & 1 vegetable chinese rice at work (though I can still manage more!)


WOD:

• 20 overhead squats
• 20 high pulls
• 50 pushups
• 15 overhead squats
• 15 high pulls
• 50 pushups
• 10 overhead squats
• 10 high pulls
• 50 pushups

Time taken: 13min 20sec with 55# (15th September 2009)   
Time taken: 13min 00sec with 55# (10th September 2009)  
Time taken: 13min 58sec with 55# (9th September 2009) 
Time taken: 15min 33sec with 55# (5th September 2009)


Check out this video that relooks at Ring Dips - are you making the same mistake when you do parallel bar dips as well?

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Workout Of The Day - 14th September 2009

My right foot has swollen due to my safety boots which have been rubbing against the cuts on my foot. Now it really hurts to walk and it sure is going to hurt tomorrow if I'm going to be walking a lot.

WOD:

3 rounds for time

• 10 barbell thrusters
• 10 deadlifts
• 50 pushups

Time taken: 11min 30sec with 77# (14th September 2009)  

Time for a good chocolately reward!

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Workout Of The Day - 12th September 2009

Hit the beach for a good game of beach volleyball, and some beach soccer which totally tired us out.

Good weather, a court to ourselves, and good friendly people to play against! And a chance to do something very Grok - I climbed the palm tree to retrieve a stuck volleyball. And of course right now I've my fair share of cuts and abrasions all over my feet and shins from the climb.

And this is exactly one of the reasons why Cross Fit isn't just a workout - it prepares you for things you'll need in real life. Getting a ball out of a tree is certainly very trivial now, but you'll never know when you'll need to be climbing up fast, sprinting to safety as quickly as possible, or carrying someone who has just lost consciousness to the nearest muster point located 300 feet away.


And drop the pink dumbbells already. Get heavy and fast - increasing your power output. Oh gosh, I really should get my hands on the Muscle Up rings soon - I should be getting them from Kettlebells.sg

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The Evils Of Undertraining

This artcle from Again Faster is so truthful and raw, that it can hurt those who've been doing it wrong all along but thought they were right. I quote:

Contrary to the popular ideal, working out three days a week is a shitty path to fitness. While a tri-weekly program will sustain weight loss, muscle size, and (perhaps) strength, it will not enhance recovery ability, metabolic capacity, and power output beyond set levels.


Keep in mind that “as hard as possible” may vary from day to day, based on accumulated training load, but your perceived intensity must always be at 100%. Simply, you need to give every ounce of your being every time you’re in the gym. It may not result in world-record times every day, but it will result in progress.

“As often as possible” is easier. Get out of bed and get to the gym. The effects of consistency are absolutely astounding. You’ll make progress, even if you neglect just about everything else. I’ve seen this first-hand. Those who climb the record boards at CrossFit Boston are those who show up. They may drink their weekends away, supplement a solid Zone lunch with Twinkies, and sleep six hours a night, but in the end, they’re in the gym. They have great gym days and bad gym days, but most importantly, they have gym days.

So now, do you think you've been undertraining?

I'm sometimes making the mistake of not going hard enough because of numerous 'reasons': I'm tired from work, I'm feeling sleepy, etc.

This just have to stop. Time to ramp it all up seriously and I'm targetting to get more weights for my barbell in a month or two's time.

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Workout Of The Day - 10th September 2009

My back had a deep nice (though slight) sore in my back, and as a result I kept falling asleep non-stop at work! Decided to have another go at the same workout today!


WOD:

• 20 overhead squats
• 20 high pulls
• 50 pushups
• 15 overhead squats
• 15 high pulls
• 50 pushups
• 10 overhead squats
• 10 high pulls
• 50 pushups

Time taken: 13min 00sec with 55# (10th September 2009)  
Time taken: 13min 58sec with 55# (9th September 2009) 
Time taken: 15min 33sec with 55# (5th September 2009)

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Workout Of The Day - 9th September 2009

Back to the overhead squats and high pulls today, with the highly under-rated pushups!

WOD:

• 20 overhead squats
• 20 high pulls
• 50 pushups
• 15 overhead squats
• 15 high pulls
• 50 pushups
• 10 overhead squats
• 10 high pulls
• 50 pushups

Time taken: 13min 58sec with 55# (9th September 2009) 
Time taken: 15min 33sec with 55# (5th September 2009)

And I love this picture, and thanks for helping me take it too!

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You Are Beautiful

This is something I agree wholeheartedly. But this is something most males & females here in Singapore (and Asia) would never agree - they're probably think its mad, crazy, sick? I quote:

Beautiful women are strong and powerful. They are athletes, capable of every feat under the sun. They have muscles, borne of hard work and sweat. They gauge their self-worth through accomplishments, not by the numbers on the bathroom scale. They understand that muscle weighs more than fat, and they love the fact that designer jeans don’t fit over their well-developed quads.

They know that high repetitions using light weights is a path to mediocrity, and “toning” is a complete and utter myth. They refuse to succumb to the marketers that prey on insecurity, leaving the pre-packaged diet dinners and fat-burning pills on the shelf to pass their expiration date.

Beautiful women train with intensity. The derive self-image from the quality of their work and their ability to excel. They don’t wear makeup to the gym, and they wouldn’t be caught dead with a vinyl pink dumbbell. They move iron, they do pull-ups, they jump, sprint, punch, and kick, and they use the elliptical machine—as a place to hang their jump rope.

Now, this obssession with being skinny has spread to the males in Singapore too - horrible! (Think: tapered jeans and slim fit tees)

I think the media has a lot to do with how we all aspire to grow up looking like. Now, everyone has a morphed and confused idea on what 'beauty' is, as well as their definition of 'fit'.

Its a messed up, li' red dot over here.

Now, this is beautiful:

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Workout Of The Day - 7th September 2009

Went heavier on today's workout - am glad how I'm slowly improving, but 30kg of weights still feels really heavy. After I get decent timings I'm going to add more weights and build on strength again.


WOD:

• 20 barbell thrusters
• 20 deadlifts
• 50 pushups
• 15 barbell thrusters
• 15 deadlifts
• 50 pushups
• 10 barbell thrusters
• 10 deadlifts
• 50 pushups

Time taken: 15min 40sec with 77# (7th September 2009)
Time taken: 18min 35sec with 77# (30th August 2009)

And gosh my appetite's revved up all over again - grow grow grow! Time to nourish, rest, workout and grow!

And here's a brilliant video on deadlifts at the Cross Fit Games:



Totally amazing.

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Workout Of The Day - 6th September 2009

The cold and rainy weather really puts me into sleep mode today. Was a little too lethargic to be running properly in today's workout.

WOD:

• Run 1km
• Sprint 100m
• Shuttle sprint 4x20m

Its back to work tomorrow and its back to Sentosa the coming saturday followed by a feast or so!


Some more new Cross Fit affliates have been added to the side bar - Cross Fit Affliction & Cross Fit Long Island City

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Workout Of The Day - 5th September 2009

Took a nice dive at the pool since it was a sunny and warm day.Took an extended rest from the workouts as I've only recently upped the intensity of the barbell workouts and did some sprints lately.

WOD:

• Swim 1.0km

Now I'm beat and full from my protein heavy lunch. Will probably have a session with the barbell tonight!

Had another workout during the night

WOD

• 20 overhead squats
• 20 high pulls
• 50 pushups
• 15 overhead squats
• 15 high pulls
• 50 pushups
• 10 overhead squats
• 10 high pulls
• 50 pushups

Time taken: 15min 33sec with 55# (5th September 2009)

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Workout Of The Day - 2nd September 2009

Not a rest day today, planning to have it tomorrow instead. Its back to the barbell today - pushups, deadlifts and thrusters - possibly one of the best combinations you can have if you've got limited time.


WOD:

• 20 barbell thrusters
• 20 deadlifts
• 50 pushups
• 10 barbell thrusters
• 10 deadlifts
• 50 pushups

Time taken: 9min 40sec with 77# (2nd September 2009)


I just had dinner, and I'm feeling hungry again. Oh gosh. The wonders of exercise!


Here's Son Of Grok, an excellent read. He was obese just a year ago and right now he's a living, breathing Grok! I've added Son of Grok to the sidebar as well.

The emphasis in conventional wisdom on isolation exercise and training has led us down this path. I still followed the traditional isolation separations “Chest/tri day”, “Back/bi day”, “leg day” etc. even after going primal. I no longer believe this is the way to go. I am now all about full body circuits and compound movements. Train the entire body and let it do the hard work (or easy work when you think about it ) of symmetry and proportion. In my opinion, this is the ultimate way to a balanced, symmetrical, healthy physique.

Some disadvantages of isolation training:
- Sever DOMS (muscle soreness)
- Joint Strain
- Disproportionate muscle mass leading to discomfort and long term posture and pain problems
- Workouts get.. well boring

Advantages of full body exercise and compound movements:
- Athletic build
- Symmetry and proportion
- More entertaining workouts
- Body designed better to natural and functional movement

So, stop doing bicep curls. Do a pull up, or 50 if you can!

And is anyone keen on getting a Grok On! tee? Its printed on American Apparel tees, just like Threadless.

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Workout Of The Day - 1st September 2009

Came home from work and did a run with some sprints - it sure is nice running through the cool night air.

WOD:

• Run 1.5km
• 3 sets of 100m sprints
• 2 sets of 10m x 4 shuttle sprints

Tomorrow's my rest day - will be lifting again on thursday! Rest days are crucial to your ability to go hard & heavy in your next workout!

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