Week 3.5

Shaved 1 second off my run, added 1 to my Lizard Crawl; dropped 5 from Rear Lunge to High Knee (because it’s really a mobilisation exercise).
I did it faster and better this week. It felt easier.
My next goals:

• Run continuously instead of taking short walking breaks in between. But damn, it’s not going to be easy.
• +1 to Lizard Crawl
• +1 to Pull Ups
• +2 to Push Ups
• +1 to Rear Lunges with Shoulder Presses

In other news, I’ve got a little twitch in my right inner hip abductor. It’s probably the result of doing those rear lunges. It worries me, and I’ll be incorporating stretches into my nights.
I’m thinking of buying 5kg weights to add on to my dumbbells. I know I’ve talked about joined a gym but at my current poundage, I’m lifting too light for the gym to be of any use.
In the meantime, I leave you with Deadliftz and Squatz. Which one do you prefer?

Training Routines

Front Day

Exercises (3 Sets)
Weight: 13.5kg/side

1. 10 X Squats
2. 20 X Push Ups
3. 5 X Reverse Lunge with Shoulder Press
4. 10 X Bicep Curls to Arnold Presses
5. 10 X Single Leg Calf Raises (+10 Double Leg Calf Raises)

Run

1. 2.4 km + Slope Running (4x); Timing: 35:06

Back Day

10 min set

1. 6 X Lizard Crawls (4 X to and fro)
2. 10 X Straight-leg Deadlifts
3. 5 X Rear Lunge to High Knee (per leg)

Exercises (3 Sets)
Weight: 13.5kg/side

1. 10 X Single-leg Deadlifts
2. 10 X Shrugs
3. 10 X Inverted Rows (4 sets)
4. 10 X Push ups (4 sets)
5. 2 X Pull Up (4 Sets)

Nightly

3 sets

1. Planks: side & front (30 sec)
2. Single leg bridge (15 sec Ea)
3. Stretches

Mr and Mrs Incredible

I have a knack for choosing and watching really bad films. First it was Monsters, then it was Shaolin, and finally Mr and Mrs Incredible. This Hong Kong flick -- starring Louis Khoo and the quirky and now svelte Sandra Ng -- is about a superhero couple who retires to a quiet village in the valley.

Of course a bad guy pops up (for all of 15 minutes) to disrupt the peace and our intrepid superheroes don their masks to fight him off. The rest of the movie is filled with much mooching and sweet nothings. The usual Hong Kong movie gags appear and put me to sleep amidst much polite tittering within the audience.

The bright spark in the movie are the trailers, they’re funny, candid and full of silly action. Best of all, it’s in Cantonese with plenty of “吃蕉”, “正啊!” all of which do not translate well into Mandarin.

Remember, only watch the good stuff.

Column Five: Lovely Infographics

Mein Gott! I’ve never seen such beautiful and yet useful infographics before! Column Five Media creates infographics that summarises everything that we ever need to know about the web, Yahoo!, FedEx and life in general.

Give them some love at http://www.columnfivemedia.com/category/infographics/ if you can.

Parkour: Why Do It?

“If I’m looking at a jump and my heart’s racing, I don’t enjoy that feeling. I enjoy standing there, looking at that gap and feeling calm…”

Well said, Mr Tim Shieff.

I first saw this video at http://rosstraining.com/blog/2011/02/02/imagination-is-everything/

Week 3

I’ve finally figured this out. One day will be Front Day, the next: Back Day.
During Front Days, I’ll work on my thighs, chest and shoulders. If I’m feeling up to it, I’ll go for a run up and down slopes during my 2.4km run. On Back Days, I’ll work on hamstrings and back. I’ll start off with forward and backward lizard crawls.
It doesn’t sound like much, but it seems to be working. I think I’ll need to up my poundage (hence join a gym) from Week 5.

Training Routines

Front Day

Exercises (3 Sets)

1. 10 X Squats
2. 20 X Push Ups
3. 5 X Reverse Lunge with Shoulder Press
4. 10 X Bicep Curls to Arnold Presses
5. 10 X Single Leg Calf Raises (+10 Double Leg Calf Raises)

Run

1. 2.4 km + Slope Running (4x); Timing: 35:07

Back Day

10 min set

1. 5 X Lizard Crawls (4 X to and fro)
2. 10 X Rear Lunge to High Knee (per leg)

Exercises (3 Sets)

1. 10 X Straight-leg Deadlifts
2. 10 X Single-leg Deadlifts
3. 10 X Shrugs
4. 10 X Inverted Rows (4 sets)
5. 10 X Push ups (4 sets)

A Fine Way to be Punctual

Charge them for lateness.

Like this PAP Kindergarten report by The Temasek Review which fines parents $2 for every five minutes that they are late to pick up their princes and princesses.

Here’s the notice pasted below.

I like this idea.

Singaporeans are afflicted with Chronic Lateness Syndrome. They’ll waltz in 10, maybe 20 minutes late – if you’re lucky. But being tardy an hour or three is often the case. Accompanying this lateness is a barrage of excuses ranging from: “my cat just jumped out of the window.” to “I got lost [even though they stay in the next block].” All promptly thought up and delivered in your face when a phone call (before the stars came out) would have been much appreciated.

The post’s comments rage and rant at the inhumanity (oh’ the inhumanity of it all!). Admittedly there are germs of truth. But by and large, the commenters are morons.

Would you be late for meetings or deadlines or surgery? I believe not. It’s all about making time and knowing how much time you need for each task. So please, be on time. Be a good example to your kids. After all, you wouldn’t want them to be late for life, would you?

If you think that’s not doable, read Paul Shankman’s post on Top Five Ways to Be Taken Seriously – Timing Edition. It’s a must-read for any tardy fool.

I think saw someone die

Quite a dramatic header, isn’t it?

I didn’t see the guy expire before me, but I noticed a crowd gathered around a prone man at a traffic light at Bukit Merah Central.

He had been lying there for a while, unresponsive to people pulling and prodding him. Nearby two over-the-hill ah-lians smoked and tossed cigarette butts onto the road.

A bald man in a tie had made a fist and pumped away at the man’s chest, while children and women gathered, watched and gawped. The bus came, an ambulance whirred to a stop beside the junction disgorging paramedics onto asphalt.

Who knew what happened to the man?