 |
| JANUARY 2023 |
Due to all the strain related injuries by now, started to re-examine my volume/ intensities and rest day periods. Total days doing absolutely nothing remains low but have had a few more days which I only do some pullups
Spreading out the pulling reps a little more "evenly" was still able to maintain a base monthly level which is on par with last year's monthly average.
Almost hit the next IGP, Intermediate PullUp Goals of 40 in 3 sets (< 8 mins)... Been stuck at 39 this month....
Write-up in Monthly Reflection series for Jan reflects my state of mental battle with the Self as I embarked on a change-up to my routines... not sure if all of that is brought on after recovering from last month's Covid infection... but certainly I am starting to reflect more on ALL other fitness components I'm weak in. Just thoughts, no action plan yet on...
- Flexibility
- Mobility
- Proprioception (Balance)
 |
| FEBRUARY 2023 |
Lots of short work trips to the factory this month... Spread out my pulling more evenly but also drop the overall numbers slightly. No crazy pull days of 80-150 reps.
Haven't been doing muscle-up training for a while.. did it a few days here. Bad idea.. the shoulder and elbows is still not up for it with those explosive movements. Muscle up training is back to KIV status.
But more importantly is starting to focus on all my lacks and over-training after coming to terms with these realization in Jan, Monthly Reflection series for Feb sees the start to paying more attention on weaknesses like Mobility, Flexibility.. and later on adding Balance (Proprioception) into the overall fitness package.
 |
| MARCH 2023 |
Stuck largely to February format... average and spread out. Had another week long work trip again, to UK this time. Manage to cram out more pushups, squats and dragon flag this trip in the gym and hotel room.
Yet again, another darn hotel gym with no pullup bar :( Miss pull days (The 40 pulls on 18 Mar were done at home before heading to the airport)
Monthly Reflection series -March largely details a lot of re-structuring and mapping out on the training path to come for 2023
 |
| APRIL 2023 |
SOMETHING NEW! Now that my base strength is relatively ok, The lack in other areas of fitness is really getting apparent. Namely mobility, flexibility and BALANCE the last one is also known as PROPRIOCEPTION.
Began to re-evaluate my fitness journey from here and decided to change from my initial goals of last year. Yes I will continue doing pull ups and try to improve just like all the other daily staples. But at the same time will be splitting up training with more well rounded activities.
Starting this month-- added unilateral squats like Shrimp and Pistols... First few attempts was ugly as hell of course-- Just have to push on.
Also re-start a little more on my running... aim to breakthrough from my last years reached goal. Aim to now do my usual 6km route at average 130 heart rate but move the pace to <6min! A tall order to fulfill.
More details of this running "re-start" in Monthly Reflection series for Apr.
 |
| MAY 2023 |
Decided to test my 1 rep max and friend gladly offered his private gym setup and spot me. I have not gone back to a proper gym or done any actual bench press in over 28 years! Deadlift wasn't even something I do when younger during my gym days!
06 MAY 2023: Dead lift - 140kg, BenchPress - 95kg
Started to add more weighted pullups and dead-hangs into daily routine. Overall definitely require dropping the pulling numbers. Decided not to go super heavy with weighted pullups but stick with just 10kg until i can pull similar to my body weight routine. Which is 40 in 4 sets under 8 min ( but I had to revise this later on as weighted pulls are a lot more difficult to achieve... 40 is more doable in 6-7 sets... for quite a while longer as I found out)
Month Reflection series for May covers various stuff I have been trying out. Not that everything will make it into my daily routines. There is so little time for so much to cover-- it just means after trying, how are these distilled and condensed into the most efficient packages if I do find them worthwhile to dedicate a set amount of time to train further with any regularity.
 |
| JUNE 2023 |
Efforts put back into running + new shoes paid off, although mileage is reduced in comparison. Did a 5'41" pace for my usual 6km route. HR at 140... but this would improve in Jul. Pull up numbers back up a little closer to usual monthly average. Added more abs and flexibility volume this month.
The Monthly Reflection for Jun is a "report card" of sorts as it marks the end of the first half of the year (1H 2023) with my repeated rambling of everything I do. Wordy and boring as usual for anyone that bothers to read
 |
| JULY 2023 |
A lot going differently for July 2023. First I signed up for a gym membership. Not so much for the weights but anticipating the haze coming later this year especially with the forecast of an extreme El Nino may mean I cannot run outside very much. As much as I hated treadmill-- that would be the only way to get my cardio.
More details about these few months of running in my Monthly Reflection series for Jul.
But of course since there is a gym now--so let's get back to a bit of weight training. Ironically my first few sessions there-- I ended up doing more bodyweight/ calisthenics stuff than actually lifting dumbbells and iron plates :)
This was also the month before Aug's Spartan Sprint Race-- so my training had more variations and I tried out the Spartan 300 Circuit... what those actors did in their preparation for their roles in the movie. Tough!
Then there was also my physiotherapy sessions for the shoulders and elbows... Somehow I ended up with lesser total rest days but things were not so bad as everything is spread out more evenly especially my few heavier pull days with 80-103 pullups.
 | |
| AUGUST 2023 |
Everything in the red this month compared to July. But it was a little deliberate as I did a bit of winding down and de-loading for recovery. Continued focus on pace training on runs.
Also I'm again re-evaluating going forward how to structure my daily training as I'm definitely back more using weights at the gym now (which is concentrated on weekends). Additionally I'm also putting further emphasis on strict forms for even the most fundamental exercises like push ups.
Really pushing with the motto:
Make Reps Count. Don't Count Reps
Had a morning calisthenics session with a group on National Day organized by Han, everyone from 30s to 70s and its the oldest ones that are really impressive with their feats of strength and skills.
And had my first race event after more than a decade after my last, the Sundown Ultramarathon in 2012. Signing up for Spartan Sprint this time was really to test where I am after this ~1.5 years of calisthenics and cardio endurance workouts.
Ok, getting repetitive-- more details as usual in my Monthly Reflection series for Aug
 |
| SEP 2023 |
Finally! Been bitching about getting stuck at 39-in-3 since Jan this year.
Nailed this IGP of a 40in3 sets under 8 mins for PullUps during a worktrip to factory on 18 Sep and also a 18in1 set.
Covered most of the shortfall in Aug over July's numbers for the "Daily Salad"... but L-sit ChinUp and Dips are still double months red because I was just too bushed after Arms days at the gym on the last day of the month. Arms refuse to pull or dip at the end of the gym session on 30th.
With the upcoming long travel, its gonna be hard catching up with Dips again in Oct. Bringing the pullup bar to Anuga would help with the L sit Chinups though. Already tried out packing pullup bar to Turkey this month. 290 pulls and 78 L Chin Ups over 6 days...
Tried out different pushup variations to test shoulder strength and recovery...
Realized I still need a lot more work on hip mobility. While shoulder mobility has improved quite a fair bit this year, but for the advanced things to train, much more is still needed. Freak myself a little-- finally tried to "Skin The Cat" and found out I can't stick my legs past the gap between bar and my hands! Damn, this is something I use to do with ease as a kid. That's where the reminder came that my shoulder stiffness is still an issue.
Monthly Reflection of Sep is a collection of loose thoughts that pop up.
 |
| OCT 2023 |
Quite a few days with literally little or no time to workout due to work trip. But spreading out the "Daily Salad" --- nothing in the red for the month-to-previous month comparison.
Life doesn't always go as planned. Sure, I packed my portable pullup bar again for the Anuga trip but damn, the washroom doorway was too narrow to mount. Wish I was the other guy's room.. Managed to do only a small number of Attic Beam Pullups there...
Only significant thing was an impromptu Enduro-Pullup session on 29th Oct... 238 reps in 1 hour after discarding the no-counts.
Made a big ass decision as detailed in Oct Reflection as to why I've decided an alcohol-free life from now on. This year's Anuga (2023) will definitely be something to remember by for the rest of my life.
 |
| NOV 2023 |
Highlight of November is a consecutive 30 days of 30 dragon flag. Intention was just a self challenge to see how I can resist not breaking the momentum even with travelling and at some point was down with a flu... Funniest part was finding the only place to do a DF was in the hotel bathroom freezing cold floor! :) .. until I realize that they actually have a small gym that is open 24/7
Biggest take-way though was realizing how I had actually been doing it wrong for the past 1.5 years-- after almost completing this for almost a month... a new journey begins in re-setting the way I do the DF now.
------------------------------
So one of the things I thought of doing -- a 100Km Backyard Ultra did not materialize. In fact I was ~125km short of overall mileage target for 2023. Maintained the Pullup numbers and the rest of the Daily Salad though.
Not writing here as Monthly reflection of Dec is wrapped up together with the full year summary of things that came and went...