Meals on 5/1/09:
Breakfast (7.45am): 4 tablespoon of oats + 1 tablespoon of pure honey, 1/2 scoop of whey, 1 banana, one mug of green tea
Brunch (10.30am): 2 egg white
Lunch (12.10pm): minced pork tofu, Chicken cooked in soy sauce, 1 cup of stir fried cabbage without rice
Afternoon Snack (4.00pm): Cajun Chicken Caesar Salad and a little bit of thousand island dressing
Pre-workout (6.30pm): 1 banana + 1/2 scoop of whey
Workout @ (7.00pm - 8.15pm)
Post workout (8.20pm): 1 scoop of whey (approx 24g of protein)
Dinner (9.15pm):
Supper (11pm): 1 egg white + 1 whole egg + 1 slice of cheddar cheese
Sleep (12am)

Exercise on 5/1/09:
Squats 5x5 - 170lbs. I did 5/5/5/5/5
Bench Press 5x5 - 70lbs. I did 5/5/5/5/5
Inclined bench press - 70lbs. I did 12/10/8
Push-ups - I did 4/4/6
Reverse Crunch 3x12 - I used 15lbs as counter-weight. I did 12/15/13.

Now you might wonder why my bench press dropped by 15lbs (85lbs==>70lbs). Here's what happened.....One friendly person pointed out my mistake in bench press. It turns out that I have been partially using my shoulders to lift the weight for the past 7 weeks! So, I have to drop the weight in order to match my current capability.

@pizzaboy
I will give it a try and see how it goes. Thanks for you help.

Meals on 6/1/09:
Breakfast (7.45am): 4 tablespoon of oats + 1 tablespoon of pure honey, 1/2 scoop of whey, 1 banana, one mug of green tea
Brunch (10.30am): 2 egg white
Lunch (12.30pm): 1/4 Roast chicken with coleslaw
Afternoon Snack (4.00pm): Cajun Chicken Caesar Salad and a little bit of thousand island dressing
Pre-workout (6.30pm): 1 banana + 1/2 scoop of whey
Workout @ (7.00pm - 7.45pm)
Post workout (7.50pm): 1 scoop of whey (approx 24g of protein)
Dinner (9.00pm): Chicken breast cooked with button mushroom and onion in brown sauce, stif fried bok choy
Supper (11pm): 1 egg white + 1 whole egg + 1 slice of cheddar cheese
Sleep (12am)

Exercise on 6/1/09:
HIIT on stationary bikes for 7 reps.

Today's HIIT was horrendously difficult due to flu . I was totally exhausted and about to past out by the time I finished all 7 reps. Sat on the bike for about 5 minutes before I managed to gather enough strength to stand again.

I think I really need to take a break for tomorrow and continue my workout on 8/1/09(Thursday). I will replace the exercise I missed on 10/1/09(Sunday) if possible.

This post has been edited by Nokia convert: Jan 6 2009, 10:24 PM

Meals on 7/1/09:
Breakfast (7.45am): 4 tablespoon of oats + 1 tablespoon of pure honey, 1 banana, one mug of green tea
Lunch (12.30pm): 1 maggi mee + 1 whole egg
Afternoon snack: 3 pieces of potato bun
Dinner (9.00pm): 1 maggi mee + 1 whole egg, 2 pieces of potato bun
Supper (11pm): 1 egg white + 1 whole egg + 1 slice of cheddar cheese
Sleep (12am)

Diet is pretty messed up today as I am recovering from flu. Rest assured everything will go back to plan once I have recovered from flu.

Workout on 7/1/09:
Rest.

Suffering from flu. Will hit the gym again as soon as I recovered. Maybe tmr la

Dude, take warm water. It would help on your flu. Eggs? Hmm, I am not sure whether it's universal to everyone but for my case, taking eggs will make my flu even harder to recover.

P/S: today is your maggi mee day, huh?

No choice lo...my throat hurts whenever I try to eat normal solid food. Maggi mee is soft enough for me to swallow.
kinda lost my appettite today.

Moar multivitamins!

been taking it every morning since I started this program. Just that I lazy to put it into my log only .

Getting better already today. I think I will resume gym today.

Meals on 8/1/09:
Breakfast (7.45am): 4 tablespoon of oats + 1 tablespoon of pure honey, 1/2 scoop of whey, 1 banana, one mug of green tea
Brunch (10.30am): 2 egg white
Lunch (12.10pm): minced pork tofu, Chicken cooked in soy sauce, 1 cup of stir fried cabbage without rice
Afternoon Snack (4.00pm): Chicken Caesar Salad and a little bit of thousand island dressing
Pre-workout (6.30pm): 1 banana + 1/2 scoop of whey
Workout @ (7.00pm - 7.45pm)
Post workout (7.50pm): 1 scoop of whey (approx 24g of protein)
Dinner (8.30pm): Chicken breast with beans, stir fried broccoli, cauliflower and long beans, a bit of scrambled egg + green peas without rice
Supper (11pm): 1 egg white + 1 whole egg + 1 slice of cheddar cheese
Sleep (12am)

Exercise on 8/1/09:
Squats 5x5 - 175lbs. Stalled. I did 4/5/3/5/5
Overhead Press 5x5 - 65lbs. Stalled. I did 5/5/3/3/3
Deadlift 1x5 - 120lbs. I did 5
Pull-up - machine assisted using 47lbs counter weight (was using 54 counter weight last time). I am still not strong enough to do it without assistance. Managed to do 10/10/9
Prone Bridges - 3x35secs

Performance seriously suffered today. I guess the effect of flu is still there. My workout is pretty weak in general. The only improvement I noticed was pullups whereby I was able to squeeze in an extra 3 total reps compare to my previous attempt.

I am going to use back the same weight for squats and overhead press in my next attempt.

One thing I wanna ask you guys.....I noticed that I tend to skew to my right side when I push myself up during a squat. Will this problem disappear after my core and muscles get stronger? Or there is some problem with my technique?

If you watch elite weightlifters cleaning a maximal weight, sometimes they do that as well. Their butts move to the stronger side while they sorta "snake" their way upwards. That's normal to happen with maximal weights, and if they are "slammed" by the weights.

However, in lighter weights, this should NOT happen. So learn to get up straight and not skew left and right.

In a weightlifter's POV, we try to "bounce" out of the lowest position to get out of the "hole". This, done by amateur lifters will also cause the butt the skew sideways.

If you want to use the "bounce" to help you out, I suggest learning how to hold the contraction and explode powerfully upwards. Don't lose the tension, find yourself at the bottom and having a hell time getting up. Not smart.

Do you mean 'holding' the tension of my hips while going down and use it again on the way up? Wat I do was squeezing my glutes, holding the tension in my hips and do watever I can to push myself out of the "hole".

I hardly have any problems on lighter weights (about 0.5x -0.6x bodyweight). The tendency to skew only happens when I am approaching my maximum squatting weight (>0.8x bodyweight). Is that considered maximal weight?

Another thing, is there a specific guideline on how wide I should spread my feet apart when squatting? Currently I spread it slightly shoulder width apart (a position where I am comfortable with).

Again, thanks for your advice!

Let's put it in the simplest but a rather crude way of saying it.

You're still too weak.

I'll give you a description of it in my sport.

Squatting

- Find leg position. No matter what, point your toes outwards if you're hoping to squat deep. If only to parallel, then it's okay. Toes can point straight.

- If you're like me, I experience knee pain if I squat to parallel. I CANNOT squat to parallel. I can only squat deep, so the weight rests on my hips. If you prefer to just squat to parallel, then just squat to parallel.

I'm only going to explain, in the ass to grass terms cuz I only squat ATG.

1. Don't arch your back excessively.
2. Keep back tight but the bulk of the weight MUST be on your thighs.
3. Breathe, hold air, as you lower your body, increase the tension on your muscles. Remember these. Quads, Hams, Hips, Back, tension.

4. At lowest position, DO NOT FCUKING STOP. Get UP immediately.
5. As you get up, consciously put effort on legs while shouting out loud. This increase tension on torso.
6. Done!

Some weightlifters, "BOUNCE". I CANNOT for the life of me understand how to get it, some people can, most cannot. This is what I pretty much define as perfect squatting;



Another fellow is Chakarov. No-no-no squats. You'll see what it is, just google.

The definition of maximal weight is different per person. I define maximal weight as 2.2x my bodyweight. My coach and most elite weightlifters, defines max weight at 3.5x his bodyweight. Cuban weightlifters especially, define max at 4x bodyweight. I don't know how they get that strong, but it's not without medical "assistance".

Crude but short, simple and direct answer..just the way I like it .

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely do that on my next attempt and let you know about it. Just for your information, I always squat deep.

yeah, pizzaboy u're right
if i pause at the bottom, i will lose most of my strength

from your video, that fellow seem like move his hips 1st

when i squat heavy, my hip will goes 1st then either one side of my leg will bengkok to side abit to drive me up, dont know how to decribe it...and last rep rely alot on my back to lift the weight up

@yeah_guyz
exactly the same problem as I experienced.
But I use mostly my thighs to lift it back up. Normally my face will be very red after each set.

Meals on 9/1/09:
Breakfast (7.45am): 4 tablespoon of oats + 1 tablespoon of pure honey, 1/2 scoop of whey, 1 banana, one mug of green tea
Brunch (10.30am): 2 egg white
Lunch (12.10pm): Pork in soy sauce, 1 cup of stir fried cabbage and tofu with minced pork without rice
Afternoon Snack (4.00pm): Chicken Caesar Salad and a little bit of thousand island dressing
Pre-workout (6.30pm): 1 banana + 1/2 scoop of whey
Workout @ (7.00pm - 7.45pm)
Post workout (7.50pm): 1 scoop of whey (approx 24g of protein)
Dinner (8.30pm): Stir fried chicken breast with soy sauce, stir fried bok choy without rice
Supper (11pm): 1 egg white + 1 whole egg + 1 slice of cheddar cheese
Sleep (12am)

Exercise on 9/1/09:
HIIT on stationary bikes for 7 reps.

The HIIT workout was a breeze today. I was quite tempted to add another rep but restrained myself from it coz I am still recovering from my flu. Will make the HIIT harder on my next attempt.

Obviously. You lose your strength reflex the moment you pause. That stretch reflex is vital for speed and power. And if you remove the tension, you also risk injury as your "frame" is unsupported. It's like a rubber band (once again, I like this example).

If you tighten the rubber band around a bunch of matchsticks, it stays in form. The moment you release the tension, the matches fall apart.

Usually, if I can do 5 reps, I'll do four. If I can do two reps, I'll do one. Then I'll break it up to about 5-6 sets. And on the final set, I'll try to do one extra rep. The purpose of this is so that you can maintain the neural "ability" and strength to finish all the reps and sets in good form. On the last rep, it's considered "alright" to mess the form, as long as it still looks like a squat.

Slow down, explosive up. Simple as that. You tend to mess your form going down fast, so slowing it down and exploding upwards works well.

Try as much as you can to use your thighs. The squats is known as a posterior chain exercise, yes I know. I used to think that using my thighs, would then cause my hams to be missed out. Heck I was wrong alright. Using the quads still stressed the crap out of the hams as you straighten up. And seeing a 69KG man squat 230KGs in real life...you tend to believe what they say.

Meal on 10/1/09:
Breakfast (7.30am): 4 tablespoon of oats + 1 tablespoon of pure honey, 1/2 scoop of whey, 1 banana
Brunch (10.30am): 2 egg white
Lunch (2.30pm): grilled chicken chop and gravy without rice
Afternoon Snack (5.15pm): Chicken Caesar Salad and a little bit of thousand island dressing
Pre-workout (6.00pm): 1 banana + 1/2 scoop of whey
Workout @ (7.00pm - 8.10pm)
Post workout (8.10pm): 1 scoop of whey (approx 24g of protein)
Dinner (10.00pm): roast chicken + coleslaw, 7 pieces of chinese sui kao
Sleep (12am)

Made a mistake in sizing my dinner portion and ended up eating a bit too much. I will be more careful with the portion next time

Exercise on 10/1/09:
Squats 5x5 - 175lbs
Bench Press 5x5 - 75lbs
Inverted Rows - 10/8/6
Push-ups - I did 12/10/7
Reverse Crunch 3x12 - I used 10lbs as counter-weight. I did 12/12/15.

You're right pizzaboy! I followed your advice and it worked splendidly! Managed to clean the squat easily this time (I stalled last time on the same weight). After the squatting session, my thighs are kinda sore...but hell it was sooo all worth it!

Managed to do real push-ups this time! My reps are higher too!

Reverse crunch was a bit hard today. I am gonna stick to 10lbs as counter weight next time.

Overall, I am very very satisfied with my workout today. Very obvious improvement!

This post has been edited by Nokia convert: Jan 10 2009, 11:16 PM

Congrats.
Don't worry about sore thighs. I've been doing this crap for 2 years and my thighs still hurt once in a while. It sucks, but "What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger"

The soreness keeps your ego in check. It's good stuff.

Btw, the benchpress, or whatever lift that has an eccentric/concentric (cept the deadlift) motion works the same as well. Hold the tension till the lowest point of the lift and immediately explode upwards.

Meals on 11/1/09:
Breakfast (10.00am): 4 tablespoon of oats + 1 tablespoon of pure honey, 1/2 scoop of whey, 1 banana, one mug of green tea
Lunch (12.10pm): Chicken cooked with mixed beans and dry chilli, stir fried sweet potato leaves without rice
Workout @ (2.30pm - 4.30pm)
Post workout (4.30pm): 1 scoop of whey (approx 24g of protein)
Afternoon Snack (5.00pm): Chicken Caesar Salad and a little bit of thousand island dressing
Dinner (7.45pm): Stir fried chicken breast in honey lemon sauce, 2 scrambled egg cooked with olive oil, stir fried sweet potato leaves without rice
Supper (11pm): 2 egg white + 1 slice of cheddar cheese
Sleep (12am)

Exercise on 11/1/09:
Badminton for 2 hours.

Meals on 12/1/09:
Breakfast (7.30am): 4 tablespoon of oats + 1 tablespoon of pure honey, 1/2 scoop of whey, 1 mug of green tea
Brunch (10.30am): 2 egg white
Lunch (1.00pm): Chicken breast in kam heong sauce, stir fried cabbage, tofu with minced pork without rice
Afternoon Snack (5.15pm): Chicken Caesar Salad and a little bit of thousand island dressing
Pre-workout (6.00pm): 1 banana + 1/2 scoop of whey
Workout @ (7.00pm - 8.10pm)
Post workout (8.10pm): 1 scoop of whey (approx 24g of protein)
Dinner (8.30pm): Chicken cooked with pineapple and carrot, stir fried bok choy, 1 piece of fried popiah
Supper (11.00pm): 1 whole egg + 1 egg white + 1 slice of cheddar cheese
Sleep (12am)

Maid cooked popiah today. Just couldn't resist it and ate 1 piece . Feel so sinful today.

Exercise on 12/1/09:
Squats 5x5 - 180lbs I did 5/5/5/5/5
Overhead Press 5x5 - 65lbs. Stalled. I did 5/5/5/4/3
Deadlift 1x5 - 125lbs. I did 5
Chin-up - machine assisted using 47kg counter weight Managed to do 10/10/7
Prone Bridges - 3x40secs

- Stalled again on overhead press. I somehow just lack the momentum to push the weight over the head. Oh well....more practice then.
- Squats was a breeze today...though I walk off with really really sore thighs.
- Increased prone bridges duration by 40 secs