I'm very weak at leg extensions. Maybe cause I always do them last in my leg workout. But so far, I feel front squats hit the quads the most among all the exercises I've tried including leg press machine, back squat and leg extension. It's been a day since last night's leg training and it's pretty painful for me to get off my chair

Btw, what happened to your lower back? did you injure it? If you can push so much weight on the leg extensions you should work on strengthening your core and lower back so you can do those big lifts and improve your overall body strength. Just my opinion

edit: on deadlifts, i have bad form aka i don't realise that i'm rounding my back. i don't think it's because the weight is too heavy cause my form looks the same even though i'm using warm up weight. guess i'll have to really emphasize on chest out and arched back the next time.

This post has been edited by kege: Jul 9 2008, 12:17 AM

maybe i shud take a pic of that machine next time hehehe...btw

@kege,
i have the same pain too, and i barely can get off my chair for a few days. The @ss hurts the most hahaha

haha. really? i don't feel anything there. my quads hurt like shet. even more today when i woke up. i don't wanna work on my glutes i scared become too big haha. already gained quite some size there

Not sure when I injured it. My 2 free sessions PT suspected I injured my lower back when she assisted me in post-workout stretching.

oh.. sorry to hear. better work on recovery and strengthening your lower back then. tried acupuncture therapy? my dad is doing it full-time. i can help u arrange an appointment if you're interested.

WEDNESDAY, 9.7.2008 - ARMS

warmed up with: ez curl 20 reps, rope pushdown 20 reps

CGBP
20kg x 15 (44lb)
30kg x 12 (66lb)
30kg x 8
20kg x 10

supersetted with:

EZ CURLS
22.5kg x 15 (49.5lb)
22.5kg x 10
22.5kg x 8
22.5kg x 6


SKULLCRUSHERS
25kg x 13 (55lb)
25kg x 12
25kg x 10
25kg x 9

supersetted with:

REVERSE EZ PREACHER CURLS
17.5kg x 10 (38.5lb)
17.5kg x 8
17.5kg x 6
17.5kg x 6


ONE ARM REVERSE CABLE PUSHDOWN
2 plates x 10
2 plates x 8
2 plates x 8
2 plates x 8

supersetted with:

CONCENTRATION CURLS
20lb x 6, drop set 17.5lb x 5
20lb x 6, drop set 17.5lb x 4
20lb x 5, drop set 17.5lb x 4
20lb x 4, drop set 17.5lb x 4


DB WRIST CURL
20lb x 20
20lb x 15
20lb x 12

supersetted with:

PLATE REVERSE WRIST CURL
2.5kg x 20
2.5kg x 15
2.5kg x 12

Strength dropping. Been feeling sluggish and weak lately. I think I'll take a week off to deload and recover.

This post has been edited by kege: Jul 10 2008, 03:03 PM

waahh very fast la u gain weight...good 4 u!

well u did have a good start with very low BF
haha...damn u all ectomorphs

haha. now fat already. i'm taking one week off weights this week. thinking of diet/cardio -ing to cut around my belly area. any advice anyone? thanks in advance.

go jogging with me. lets go! HIIT! gungho!

here are some basic facts for muscle building, for anyone who's starting out:


"Fast twitch fibers (A) are capable of a greater force but tire more easily than slow twitch fibers. Fast twitch fibers (B) are capable of the greatest force output but also have the least endurance. Fast twitch fibers are those used in explosive activities such as sprinting or power lifting. Weight training with heavy weights will develop these muscle fibers and potentially produce significant gains in muscle mass (think of the huge legs you see on world-class sprinters).

To build muscle and gain weight fast you must focus your training on stimulating the growth of your fast twitch fibers. This means training for strength, not endurance - training with heavy weights and low reps, not light weights and high reps.

Genetics determines the proportion of slow twitch fibers to fast twitch fibers a person's muscles contain. Those with a higher percentage of fast twitch fibers will gain muscle mass more readily. Hardgainers typically have higher percentages of slow twitch fibers and therefore experience a tougher time with building muscles. "

" In other words, you have to make your body believe that it needs more muscle, that it needs to get to work on building muscles when it has the chance (while you're resting). You make the body believe this through your training (progressive overload). Then, through your diet, you must prove to it that you can consistently provide the materials it needs to build and sustain this muscle.

The body is not easily convinced of anything. You must be consistent. It is when you put together a program that accounts for all of the above that big muscle gains start occurring. "

source: http://www.gain-weight-muscle-fast.com/building-muscles.html

Muscle building is not that all complicated. All that's needed is solid training (enough to make your muscles hurt for the next few days), a good diet (at least 4-5 meals a day containing sufficient protein for recovery), and sufficient rest (at least 7-8 hrs sleep every night). Lack of either one of these three factors will hinder the speed of your progress significantly. Since December 2007 to this date, I have used myself as a guinea pig to test my research from various sites and to improve my understanding on muscle building. Don't listen to fads, muscle mags and what not. Listen to what makes sense, and ultimately, your own body. Good luck

This post has been edited by kege: Aug 16 2008, 03:55 PM

About FAT LOSS

All you need to lose fat:
1. CARDIO
2. DIET

About CARDIO
-----------------
Cardiovascular exercises include anything that gets your heart beat up, i.e. running, swimming, cycling, sports etc. The main factor that affects how fast you burn fat doing cardio is the total amount of calories burned. There are generally two types of cardio that are highly debated about: steady pace cardio vs HIIT (high intensity cardio/"fast cardio"/interval training)

I quote the following from an online forum:

"Steady state aerobics

Pros:

1. Depending on the intensity, steady state aerobics tends to burn more calories during the exercise bout than interval training.
2. More appropriate for beginners.
3. Can be done more frequently, daily or more often (if desired) although this depends on the duration, intensity and frequency as well as the setup of the rest of the training program.
4. Some research finds suggests that regular exercise helps people stick to their diet better. In that interval training can't (well, shouldn't) be performed daily, low intensity activity may help people stay on their diets.

Cons:

1. Most indoor aerobics modes tend to be boring, especially for long durations. Exercise can, of course, be done outdoors but this raises a whole separate set of issues (bicycle safety, running outdoors, traffic, etc) that are beyond the scope of this article. This is a big part of why gyms have music and televisions; I have seen one with a cardio movie theater.
2. An excess of endurance training, especially at higher intensities (too close to lactate threshold, a topic for another newsletter) seems to cause muscle loss, decrease strength and power, and cause overtraining. This is major issue for bodybuilders and strength/power athletes but can be avoided by keeping the intensity and duration under control.
3. Too much repetition of the same mode of aerobics can generate overuse injuries, both runners and cyclists are prone to knee problems, swimming causes rotator cuff issues (and the cold water tends to increase hunger), etc. This can be avoided by non-endurance athletes by rotating the type of activity being done.
4. Unless people are tremendously aerobically fit, it can be difficult to burn a huge number of calories unless the duration of each workout is just ridiculous. So, at moderate intensities, the average person might burn 5-10 calories/minute; a 145 lb person burns about 100 calories per mile walking or running. So over an hour aerobic session, you might achieve 300-600 calories burn. While this can certainly add up if done daily, it's still a fairly small expenditure. The people trotting along on the treadmill or spinning on the bike at low intensities, often for only 30 minutes, are burning jack all calories. Which are usually more than compensated when that person figures that they must be burning at least 1000 calories and rationalizes that cheeseburger and milkshake because of it. This is one of those weird ironies: very high caloric expenditures through aerobics are reserved for trained endurance athletes, and they typically don't need it. The people who need to be burning a lot of calories through aerobic activity usually aren't able to, at least not initially.


Interval training

Pros:

1. For a given time investment, interval training leads to a greater fat loss and this occurs despite a smaller calorie burn during activity. This is because interval training generates a much larger EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) which are the calories burned post exercise.
2. Interval training may improve the muscle's ability to use fat for fuel more effectively than aerobic training (note: recent studies have also suggested that interval training can generate very rapid improvements in endurance performance in a very short period but this is beyond the scope of this article).
3. Time efficient: Not everybody has the time to devote to an hour (or more) of aerobic training per day. A properly set up interval workout may only take 15-20 minutes.
4. Time seems to pass faster: Compared to regular aerobics, which can be mind numbingly dull (especially if done indoors), the change in intensity with intervals seems to make the workout pass faster.

Cons:

1. The intensity of intervals makes them inappropriate for beginners. One exception is a style of training called aerobic intervals which I mentioned above. But high intensity interval training is simply inappropriate for beginning exercisers, for the same reason that high intensity weight training is inappropriate.
2. Intervals are high intensity training, this has implications for the overall training setup (discussed in more detail in part 2) and integration with the rest of your program (i.e. weight training). Simply put: if you think you can train legs in the weight room 2-3X/week and do intervals an additional 2-3X/week on alternate days, you are incorrect unless you are deliberately trying to overtrain or get injured.
3. Higher risk of injuries: this depends somewhat on the type of activity with high impact activities such as sprinting carrying a higher injury risk (especially for heavier individuals) than intervals done on the bike or stair master.
Limited in how many days they can be performed. Two to three days per week is about the maximum for interval training, most endurance athletes won't do intervals more than twice/week. Have I heard of people trying to interval daily? Yes. Do I think it's a good idea? No.
4. Intervals hurt, especially intervals in the 60-90 second range where muscular acid levels are very high. If you're not willing to push yourself, you won't get much out of interval training. You know the warnings on most aerobics machines, that tell you to stop if you feel signs of exhaustion or fatigue; that's what a properly done interval program should feel like. Sensations of burning in your legs (from high acid levels in the muscle) along with extreme discomfort are not only common but expected. Some people also report nausea initially, this can be made worse if they have eaten too close to training."

read the rest at: http://weight-loss.fitness.com/topic/19606...eady-state.html

That subtopic is a great read. Check it out if you have time. In a nutshell, make your cardio fun, do it consistently and increase resistance/intensity whenever possible. Push yourself to your limits, do it regularly and expect to see results! Just DO IT. SLOW MOTION IS BETTER THAN NO MOTION.


And about diet, have a basic bodybuilding diet of 4-5 small meals a day rather than 3 gargantuan meals to keep you full throughout winter. Reduce things like excessive carbohydrates and sugars. Eat lots of fiber, healthy fat, vegetables and protein. Eat till you're not hungry, instead of being stuffed. Over time, steadily reduce your total daily caloric consumption and you should see results in your waistline.

Btw, I'm not a fitness pro, so please correct me if I'm wrong. I am still learning just like everyone Hope my post helps someone.



more links on HIIT vs steady pace cardio:

http://www.weightlossinsider.org/blog/stea...ctive-than-hiit
http://www.bodybuildingweb.net/blog/compar...o-for-fat-loss/

This post has been edited by kege: Aug 16 2008, 04:25 PM

RECENT PIC:



Am currently in Melbourne for studies now for a year. Haven't been updating, but I have been working out. Stopped last November for about 2-3 months and lost alot of strength and weight. Took a month or two to gain both back. Am now doing a 3 day split:-

Chest/Biceps
Shoulders/Legs
Back/Triceps

Has been working pretty well for me! From now on I'll only update if I've tried something new or made a new lifting record. Here are some of my current ones:

DB Flat Bench : 2 x 24kg for 10 reps
Smith Front Squat: 60kg (excluding bar) for 6 reps
Leg Press : 120kg x 10 reps (6 x 20kg plates, 3 on each side)
Lat pulldown: 130 lb x 10 (sucks)

Have been focusing more on form rather than poundage now. Scooby is my idol! Here's a link to his website:

http://www.scoobysworkshop.com/

Very nice progress! Nice lats too!

hehe... wat bout front pic?

haha. maybe another time. my chest is still lagging and i'm quite round around the tummy area.

New personal record today:
2 x 28kg dumbbells x 6 reps



This post has been edited by kege: Jun 3 2009, 01:40 PM

wat workout is this for? haha

My guess is chest.

bicep curl.

haha. flat dumbbell bench la. sorry forgot to put that in.

Some easy to make meals in my diet:

Tuna mashed in peanut butter + mayo, rice, tomatoes. Sounds gross, but it's pretty good!
~ 30g protein, 70g carbs, 15g fat = ~540 cals



Basic oven roasted chicken drumsticks with olive oil.
~ 15g protein, 6-10g of fat = ~150 cals per drumstick



3 slices of bread, 4 scrambled eggs. Portable food!
~24g protein, 40g carbs, 24g fat = ~ 430 cals


So far consistent with 5 meals a day, supper usually just peanut butter and tuna/milk.