In the Gym today..

Gotten few personal email asking what's my typical routines in the gym.

I've actually posted some of gym routines in my previous post - catch it here:

Gym is a must?

Weekend Warrior

Yesterday Gym Session

Routines during Ramadhan

If you've been following my journey here, you'll know that I'm not much of a gym fan. Infact, I don't even have a gym membership whatsoever. The gym that I went on the weekend is a public gym that I pay for MYR2 per entry. It's at Kampung Pandan Sports Complex... simple stuff, nothing fancy. I tend to go to the gym on Saturdays is because on every (almost) saturday I would visit my sis-in-law (my ritual weekend family/relatives visits) where I would bring my little family (the wife & 3 kids) to visit them. While I'm there, in the evening, I needed to do my exercises, and found the sports complex seems to be the most convenience venue.

Anyway. Go and checkout the links above, and you'll get to see what have I been up to in the gym.

Oh.. today, this was my routine:

1. warm-up / stretching routines

2. incline push-up

3. chin-up

4. barbell deadlift 40kg

5. brench press 30kg

6. barbell front-squad 20kg
7. bunch of bodyweight routines like dumbell lunges, dumbell swings..

... and some more routine that I don't even know the official names of it - maybe I'll start posting my own personal youtube videos to share with you..

The trick is.. focus on multi-joint, multi-muscles routines. Forget the dumbell curl, or tricep curl, or even crunches. To melt the fat away, you need to increase your intensity level, focus on your routines to complete within 1hr max... i'm done within 45mins only (for strength)... half-dead already by then.

After the strength training - then go on and do interval cardio training - this is the key. Interval training will keep your mitochondrial level at it's maximum rate that will boost your metabolism at its peak for up to 24hours!

See my post on interval training:

No time, too busy to exercise (read about mitochondria here)

Cardio vs. weight revisited

why interval training is better

My exercise: interval & strength

Ok?..

well, you probably say - Sher, that's too much for me.. I'm just starting, a beginner. Well, trust me, I've been there. I've a sedentary lifestyle back then, and when I decided to get on this journey.. I've never look back. See how I started and figured this exercise thing here - My Exercise - Part 1.

So what have you been up to? drop me a comment.

Sher Khan.

What are you waiting for? let's go

Today is Saturday, the rain has stop, the sky is bright...

Stop surfing, and let's burn some calories fellas!

Watch this to pump up your motivation....!!

I've always love Sly.. and it's Rocky series.. !

Now that's an early videos of him, take a look at his upcoming movie - and at 62, he's as fit as ever!!

If that doesn't pump you up... i don't know what will. ;)

Sher Khan.

Crunches for fat loss?

I was at the gym yesterday, and doing my normal routine. There were these couple of fit and lean guys that would do a couple of biceps curls and bench presses, and then immediately after each set would stand infront of the mirror and started posing themselves.. comparing each other body... admiring each other..

Well no comments... :p

What caught my attention was - this kinda 'big' guy trying to workout (from the way it looks, he's a newbie), and these fit and lean guys saw him struggling with the equipment and started to teach/guide him of what to do. They put this guy through various crunches routines.. the traditional crunches, the leg-raises, the cable crunches, and various other crunches/sit-up routine that only focuses on his tummy..!!!

I pity the guy. From the look on his face - I'm sure that would be his last day in the gym!

I know, I know, I should have gone up to the guy and rescued him --- but who am I?.. who would listen to me? I'm not fit & lean.... (well at least not yet)

I'm also still too busy half way through my routine, and no time to go and have chit-chats (i know, another excuses..).

Seriously.. I just don't think I'm ready to start 'coaching' people.

But I did make some effort to 'show' him to follow the way I am doing it.

I was purposely hanging around close to him and did some of the multi-joint, compound muscles routines like dumbell squat, dumbell swing, burpees, deadlift, barbell front squat, jumping jack, dumbell renegade row, etc.. Instead.. I later saw him doing a seated-dumbell curl !!... hiish!

I left the gym, and went on the red stadium track, and did a 5 burst of interval sprint around the track to finish off my day.

Later that nite, I was thinking to myself - I need to share a lot more to the people out there in the real world (not just here in the cyberworld).

How do I do that? ideas welcome..

Sher Khan.

let's have breakfast

"Let's go for breakfast".

I get this invitation everytime when I reached office or any place if it's early morning... well, 9am is way too late for me for breakfast, my breakfast is about max 30-45mins after I woke-up in the morning. (i typically wake up around 6-6:30am daily)

So what's my typical breakfast? I've posted that a while ago here, and if you've not seen it. Here it is again. (My typical breakfast).

We need to take our breakfast as early as possible because our body really needs it. When we wake up in the morning, our body 'nutrition' level is at a very low level (6-7 hours without food/water).. it's craving for nutrition (our cells screaming for it!!), and if you're still running without, the brain will tell your body that you will not getting any (bcoz the brain doesn't know when would be your next meal), and the brain will start to instruct the rest of your bodily functions (especially your metabolism) to switch into survival mode... to start conserving energy, and lower down everything. Result? metabolism slows down, the body starts to store everything.... and guess what it stores as?... yup.. fat! (instead of burning it).

So, take your breakfast early - as the saying goes, eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.

Today for breakfast (at 7am) I had some natural low-fat yogurt, topped with ground flaxseed + handful of goji berries + raw almonds + raw pumpkin seeds + a pinch of raisins, and later a whole cut mango fruit. I'm full.

On the days I go for morning exercises - I will still take some breakfast - a quick one like some fruits and nuts, before pounding on the pavement. Then, I'll have a full breakfast.

What's for breakfast?

See my other options for breakfast:

Let's Juicing !

Bread - sabotaging your diet?

Away on the road, at the beach

Can I eat this.. that.. this?

Sugar Level

Treating/Indulging yourselves?

some questions, and tips..

Sher Khan.