Addiction?

Im finally back after a week long "hiatus" from the internet as my adapter for my modem got screwed up. During that week I must say its really boring without the usage of the net but hey I did suffer from any withdrawal symptoms!

I've finally started the smolov squat routine and am on the introductory week still. Cant wait till the base mesocycle for the tough shit to begin! My wrists still hurts and isnt ready for any pressing still... its been 2 months and this is really starting to piss me off.

Ok anyway.. Went clubbing on saturday(251008) with keat, Jh, Gerald and bokai accopanied by some of my ns friends -edwin,zhichen, joei, bx, beng&gf, hj &gf ,jon(shocking surprise)...didnt see wenyang and company though.. small club double O may be but with enough drinks and fun and people to get in the way you still can miss people out .. That day was my first time witnessing some punk ko-ed another on the dance floor.. drunk as the victim was he probably was having fun with the chap's girlfriend or something and he got what he deserved... but weak as the punch could have been he was probably drunk which sent him tumbling down and having his face bloodied upon impact. tsk... punks..

Went to cathay on sun with jh and spent the time there... dota = / Well thats about it... its time to head to the gym soon!

-Clement

181008

Played dota after quite a long hiatus from it... did pretty shitty against AIs.. O well.. Watched max payne as well after that at cathay and the action scenes are pretty good but there's one problem with it.. max payne's little pistol doesnt run out of bullets as pointed out by keat and jh. lol.. According to Gerald who played both max payne 1 and 2 he said that the "soldier's angel" creature flying around isnt in the game. Its pretty much just for the effect of the hallucinations of the drug.

After which we had dinner at meridian's food court when Joanne joined us and if memory didnt fail me we all had korean food. Played pool after that which is also something i have not done for months. Thats just about how i usually spend my saturdays after 5 days of wasting your life away in the office. 47 hours to be exact of total time spent in the office of a normal week. 47 hours that i can never get back! ugh.. damn.

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Anyway recently i have a friend who asked me what is the best way to increase his bodyweight pull up numbers.

The answer's pretty simple. By doing more pull ups. Not by doing some other fancy exercises trying to get better at pull ups but just by simply .. doing more of the specific exercise.

As Pavel Tsatsouline theory states that Success= Specificity + Frequency. For those who dont know who this guy is.. i'll give you alittle background on him.

Pavel Tsatsouline, Master of Sports, is a former physical training instructor for the Soviet Special Forces, currently a subject matter expert to the U.S. Marine Corps, the National Nuclear Security Administration/U.S. Department of Energy, and the US Secret Service. - Dragondoor.com

This guy here is one whom you should listen to when it comes to physical training. ok anyway .... Success here in this case means to get your pull up numbers up .. duh.. Specificity here means the exercise you want to zero into. and frequency... means how often you do it.

Pavel conducted a little experiment on this..and this experiment is done say on Person X. Person X can do 10 pull ups at max for example. So... what he is suppose to do is to perform 5-7 pull ups throughout the day as many times as possible without burning out. (Pavel is an advocate of not over training and taxing your CNS). This IS VERY IMPORTANT. You are NOT suppose to force out the last few reps just for you to get the number of pull ups required. You ARE supposed to feel just as fresh after performing each set of pull ups as compared to before doing them. So say person X does 5 pull ups for 20 times through out the day... he has completed a 100 pull ups and yet not feeling signs of fatigue.

There are other ways to go about this.. you can do sets of 7 or 8 even if it feels fine and doesnt tax your body. But then you will probably be doing fewer sets throughout the day. There is no hard and fast rule on this.. and only you and you alone will know which one is working best for you.

By doing this you're "Greasing the groove" on the lift and your body will be able to perform it with much greater ease.

Check this article out- http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/220/

Have fun with it and have your numbers sky rocket in no time.

-Clement

Just another day

Woke up early in the morning to head to work to do the same stuff as usual there. AND today I've finally hit my 1 year 4 month mark as soon as the clock strikes 12. God damn I wish this was over more quickly.....

Went home and did my usual stuff, weighted pull ups .. had a nap and just wasting my time away on the computer typing out my life's daily routine for this post.

Couple of things I would like to recommend.. I'm reading this book by Stephenie Meyer at the moment .. titled "The host." Its a pretty interesting read... and im on the halfway mark of it as of now. The twilight series by the same author was also recommended to me afew months ago and i've finished the 4 parts of it. My rating? I think you should go get it. Its basically a mix of romance with suspense as well. So its not all lovey dovey and it sure isnt boring. Personally I really enjoyed the series.

hmm... I had this thread on this forum at my work place discussing on something called the "20 rep squats" For anyone who doesnt know what the hell im talking about... its about this book called "Super squats" The book's main concepts are having a 20 rep squat routine and having to drink lots of milk a day to gain both mass and strength. O.. and for those whos thinking that 20 reps of squats are that simple.. i think we're not on the same page... These 20 rep squats are done with your 10 RM(rep max) weight. (For all the newbies out there this means a weight that you can do 10 reps at max) SO... now does it sound impossible to you? If it does.. you're still wrong.. its very possible and attainable. BUT these arent for the faint of heart. THESE ARE EXTREMELY TOUGH! not only physically but mentally as well. AND its really very very exhaustive. Fatigue will kick in like a bitch soon after you're halfway into it and you know the show must go on. Yes you can prepare a puke bucket just in case you decide your jelly legs cant get you to the toilet fast enough when you're done.

Ok back on the topic.. what I was trying to find out was whether being on the usual low rep scheme .. doing heavy singles, doubles and triples as compared to a 20 rep squat routine would have a difference and how much of a difference in strength gains there is. Well ... Im guessing the 20 rep squat routine will work once you're plateau-ing from regular heavy low reps. But then again there are many other ways of going about a plateau. Stuff like taking a week or so off training, deloading, changing up your intensity, rep scheme etc etc.

I can say that having a solid low rep programme will ensure gains for as long as you train.. 20 rep squats wont be a long term thing as it will probably have your CNS fried too soon.

There's this other programme called the "smolov squat routine" which im gonna try it out soon.. and its even more intensive than the 20 rep squats.. crazy volume and intensity .. its about 11 weeks long this routine.. and all hell breaks loose after the first week which is an introductory week. Well I will review this once im done with it.

well ok this is it for now... you should get to the gym to start squatting as well.

-Clement

Training through injuries

I came across this article on www.t-nation.com and its a pretty good read.. well lots of stuff on that website is great. Anyway the article's at https://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/creating_a_training_effect_when_youre_injured.
Check out the fourth picuture from the top... girls with a nice posterior chain are that damn gorgeous and so you ladies out there should be putting more extra effort in the exercises that train them and not just use baby weights to "tone" them. Enough of that nonsense and time for some real work dontcha think?

Im sure most people will have an injury be it minor or a major one in process of training or doing sports especially contact sports at one point of time or another in their lives. How we deal with it varies from each indivdual and the passion for the sport. Heck I've received my fair share of injuries from training and im proud to say im still going strong and far from stopping. The part of that article above which is very true of most people who have a minor injury and stop training altogether giving the excuse that they cant get a training effect because of a minor setback can be labeled the clinical term as being pussies.

What my specialist used to tell me whenever im at his clinic with some injury is to "listen to my body." Sounds simple enough right? Pretty common sense to NOTgravate an injured body part when training huh? It can be frustrating not doing some lifts for training to avoid getting the part injured again.

Ice also does wonders to an injury. Most people should know about this R.I.C.E method. Rest, Ice, compress and elevate.

So when you're out there in the gym grinding out rep after rep .. do train smart and keep safe.

-Clement

A guide for newbies on weight training

I've decided to come up with this small Q&A post for anyone out there who decides to start on a basic weight training programme and has those common questions you'll hear from just about anyone at all. So here goes....

Q: How much protein should i consume?
A: For starters since u are new, 1 g / lb of bodyweight will be the optimum. After u have some lifting exeperience u can try cosuming more probably 1.5g /lb of bodyweight and so forth. If u still happen not to gain weight when bulking it will most probably be ur diet. (Note, u will want to gain 1lb per week or so to ensure less bf is gained)

Q: What about Test enhancing supplements?
A: At a young age fof 16-22 u are at ur peak of hormone production and having an extra will just be a waste. Earliest i will say to take it will be 23 years of age.

Q: How do i make my arms bigger?
A: The way to make your arms bigger is to work them out. Do 2 workouts a week for your Triceps and Biceps. Use low Volume workouts with arms. Use Rest Pause training during this. Do simple exercises like Barbell and Dumbbell Curls for Biceps and Reverse Grip bench Press and Dips for Triceps. But of course I'll suggest that you skip the curls and do more pull ups and rows to get those huge biceps you want.

Q: Should i get creatine?
A: Most of the starters wont have much mass for creatine to take its full effect. For some, creatine mono will simply not cause a response at all. So taking creatine, be it mono or CEE will entirely be up to u and its not a must have. Probably u can try it out after months to a year's of training. Stick with the basics of whey protein and multivitamins.

Q: How do i gain mass fast?
A: Simply.. u dont... gaining solid muscle mass takes time and you may experience beginner gains in the start but it will not be all that fast once u've been lifting for a longer period. The best way to get solid muscle mass is to have firstly a good solid clean diet which will be made out mostly of (rice, oats, milk , lean meats and so forth) and to have a solid training routine. This will gurantee you gaining mass in months. You can expect gains of a lb of muscle per week ... too much above that will mean gain of some bf.

Q: How do i get abs?
A: You ONLY have ur abs showing when ur bf% is LOW. SO .. that means doing thousands of ab exercises are just pointless. Stick to the usual way of ab training as to how u will train any other body part. Heavy weights low reps as abs after all is also a muscle not anything else.
Getting abs to show by having low bf% is accomplished by having a good diet which is 500 calories below ur maintainance diet(which is the amount of calories u need to sustain ur current bodyweight) This will ensure that u lose a lb of bodyweight(presumably fat) per week together with adequate protein consumption this will mean u will preserve most of the muscle mass u have. After cutting for weeks... probably 16-20 weeks depending on the amount of bf% u have. Your abs will show. One quote for this is abs are made in the kitchen not the gym. Ab training should not however be ignored as it can be used to strengthen the abs for other movements.

Q: I want huge arms/chest/abs. How do I go about achieving this? Nothing seems to be working.
A: This will only mean u have to include the big 3's and various other compound exercises in the routine. The big 3 consists of the bench press, squat and deadlift. Compound movements are the way to go in gaining mass not exercises which isolate the muscles like bicep curls which u see countless people doing. Dont get me wrong as it can also be done in the routine , but just stick to heavier compound movements in gaining mass

Q: How long should I work out for? Is it true that the longer, the better?
A: You only want to work out for 45 minutes to an hour. This is a good rule of thumb to follow as after an hour your testosterone will begin to drop and cortisol levels will increase. This hormone change is the exact opposite of what you want and training will become counter productive.

Q: Should I start taking steroids? I know a lot of people who do, and they look really good
A: NO.. absolutely under no circumstances that u should take roids.steroids are hormones Hormones control and regulate the body, hence them being able to control and increase muscle growth. It's impossible for them to do only this though. Adding hormones to an adolescent body is EXTREMELY dangerous.

Q: I want to get cut and defined. Should I start doing high reps?
A: NO.. The biggest misconception of all time. Working out a specifice muscle does not get rid of fat. The ONLY way to get defined is to adjust ur diet and do some cardio work. Doing high reps will waste ur time and and just not be effective. There is no such thing as a spot reduction.

Alright folks.. this is just about the mainstream really really common questions you get all the time.

- Clement

The prelude

A warm welcome to anyone who visits my site.

First things first, this site would be mainly on topics which would be more inclined to the strength and fitness enthusiasts out there be it ladies or gentlemen. Of course other topics besides the discussion of how rusty iron smell so good will also be part of this site.

And now for a little introduction on myself. I am one who has the utmost interest in sports and strength training. Well basically I am quite an active person. Gravity defying feats done in the gym are just a part and parcel of my life.

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I would like to touch on a topic or rather an exercise which I think is the most over-rated and the most over hyped ever in the history of weight training. You probably would have guessed it... its the Bench press. I dont know about you, but which ever gym I go that piece of equipment has never failed to be occupied by hordes of people awaiting its usage. Be it newbies or the "pros" its always the most talked about. Its an ego lift. There are people whom I know benching the over 300 lbs and probably alot more across the globe benching the 400s with the help of youtube videos this can easily be proven.

But what do these guys say... pull up? or squat? or deadlift? Probably a number far off the ratio for their almighty bench. Then why do people just want to have a "bar"(meaning big upper body and toothpick for legs) body? Just so they can flaunt it in the pubs?

I've heard about many cases where there are the few who can incline bench the 400s and when asked to do pull ups they only could hit a measly 4. A huge neglect on that big upperbody exercise a.k.a the pull up/chin up. This is totally not balanced and is absoulutely unacceptable in my books. I will rank the pull up of higher importance than the bench press any day. Overhead presses such as the standing military press is also pretty rare in most gyms. What most people are doing is just bench,bench and more benching. Very imbalanced and its only screaming out for an injury to take place.

Now as for the squat...the ass to grass(ATG)/Full squat is probably something you dont see at all almost everytime you go into any gym. In a commercial gym that I visit frequently in the past has probably a ratio of 1/200 people doing the squat but that is the half/quarter squat. Still no count = ). Why do people evade the squat? The main reason is, it is tough and not for the faint of heart. Besides that point I can list you a never ending spectrum of reasons here sso dont get me started. Most people are deluded into believing the most ridiculous myths on weight training and squatting. But IF I were to tell you that the almight squat will boost your testosterone levels, give you more upperbody strength/mass and boost whatever athletic performance you require be it to a sprinter, rugby player, football player... and the heres the best part...... if I told you that 70% of the muscle mass is below the belt ... would you want to neglect it anymore?

All in all no strength/hypertrophy/sport routine is complete without the quintessential exercises 1-Squats, 2-Pull ups, 3-Bench press(Yes you're reading right.. dont be overly happy and start benching a hundred sets now.. variety and balance is key) 4-military press, 5-Deadlifts

-Clement