rantOgram

1 Been roughly two month since turning weekly "trainer/ coach" - conducting an hour plus of class each Thursday in office. Having literally no idea what to do initially.  My own daily exercising has never been any strict regimented programs; outlined with exact sets, reps etc. It has all been one big long experiment from the start. While my "Daily  Trinity" of Pulllups, Diamond Pushups and Dips forms the base of each day's load/ intensity with other exercises--truth is, even for these fundamentals, its been a never-ending series of changes and adaptations as new discoveries and observations/ realizations are made -- almost daily at times. Personally, being disciplined with core training has never been much of a regular affair either. Since definitions in these muscles comes naturally without much actual focused training. Most of my cores are indirectly trained because of the constant contractions applied while doing other exercises to maintain stability during ...

  01 Oct Pullup 10,8,5,5,3 + 8,7,6= 52 DIPS:  25, 25, 14(to failure) 💎PU: 3x30 Abs: 2 sets 8x DF + 15 mins various at home 02 Oct Break... PULLUP: 10 @ ECP 03 Oct Exercises for medial epicondylitis recovery Pullup 13, 9, 7, 8  💎PushUps: 25, 25, 25, 20  Air Squats: 2x30(+18lb), 2x35 04 Oct Pullups: 7,7,7,7, 5+1  DIPS: 25, 20 1.5hr Stretch & Abs in office 05 Oct 06 Oct Dinner, Rabo Bank  Pullup: 10 07 Oct Medial epicondylitis.. 99% recovered Pullup 14, 10, 8, 7, 8 = 47 PushUps: 10, 20   DBP: 35lb x 12, 44lb x 12, 53lb x 12, 6 10   DropSet-DBP:  53lb x 11, 44lb x 06, 35lb x 06, 27lb x 06, PushUps 10  💎PU: 30 x 3 Air Squats: 2x40 08 Oct Run: 6.78km + 9 Pullups 09 Oct L-sitPullups: 6, 9, 5 10 Oct Pullups:10, 10, 7, 5, 6 (as L-sit: 8,5,5,3,0) Dips: 25, 20, 20, 20, 20  💎PU/A-SQ: 3x 25/30  11 Oct Ride 18km Pullup: 6L, 10, 8 12 Oct Pullups: 13, 10, 9, 8 DBHC: 3x15, 18lb Compound DBHC/TPD: 2 x15/30@ 18lb/19kg TPD: 2 x 30 @19kg ...

The training log(s) tracks day by day changes and progression/ regression in terms of numbers. But how things look exactly is hard to picture. Not much of a photo person, it was hard trying to find enough to see the differences over time. Especially right at the start in Apr this year where my weight was down below 70kg but feeling weak AF.... which kickstarted started off this whole strength training since. Amazed at how fast I was able to pack on the muscles despite age and re-starting so late, but this time around I did do things in a much more scientific manner, after much reading and watching videos... Decades old knowledge gleaned from college days on gluconeogenesis, fat and protein metabolism.... and more... Yet I still couldn't wrap my head entirely around the exact "why" until after watching this video below. Then everything made sense when my over half century old neurons connected the dots this time. Trial and error or not-- I think the best thing that happene...

01-05 Sep Turkey- WorldFood Show Mornings: push ups and air squats only 04 Sep- Light Tricep/ Bicep @ hotel gym 06 Sep Pull up: 10 and 10,8,9 (evening) 4.77km run @ 7:13-7:17 pace (8.23-8.31km/hr) 07 Sep Decide to still go easy as tendonitis is just a tad from fully easing off. Weird that when arm is pumped.. actually feels better. Seems like subconsciously compensating is also working triceps harder than usual. Not pain but better contractions. Pullups: 12, 10, 8, 8, 6 = 44 Dips: 20, 20, 12+4, 18, 20, 6 = 100 💎PU: 20, 20, 20, 20, 14 = 94 08 Sep Pullups: 13, 5, 9, 8, 8 = 43 💎PU: 5x25 = 125 Dips: 20, 20, 20 = 100 Abs... flutter kicks, reverse crunch, contracted railing pressups. 09 Sep Abs: Flutterkick 2x120s, 1x100s CrossOvers 1x50, 2x40 ReverseCrunch 10x10sec  Core contraction rail pressup 3x10 Russian PU: 3x10 Pullups: 10, 9, 8, 7 = 34 10 Sep Break 11 Sep Right elbow tendonitis almost all gone. Only gets aggravated with exercise movements a little at the condoyle (medial side) ...

Started drafting this month reflections earlier. Re-reading what's was written, it seemed kind of repetitive to the contents of Jul Reflections . The progressions tracked on the daily log got to me somewhat. Ego? No, maybe close-- it was all about pushing harder each day with the various intermediate goals. But the ultimate goal remains :-  " To pack as much muscle mass while maintaining good flexibility and stability in combating the aging process. To optimally function in time, minimizing the possibility of being a burden to others by doing what I can maximally prepare from now on ".  Yet the initial Aug reflections was actually glorifying all about the intermediate goals... that's why it was deleted in case the fker, Ego, creeps up silently again.  Had to keep re-setting my intermediate goals almost at a rate of every 5-7 days in the last 1.5 months.  Max reps in pull-up sets went from 2, 4, 5-6, 7,8 to 10, then it was 12...13, until it was revised to "15in1...

1  01 Aug Breakfast at home. Mount 9 pullups in office... Pullup station hard to do properly. Will do before brekkie at home from now. 6 more before lunch 6pm- Pullups 8,5,5,5 - 23 weighted with 5kg vest. Total 38 pulls today... Bicep session... gone with all supination curls for incremental and dropsets... Harder than usual. Finish off with old fav, the "3-Seven-21" routine x4 sets with higher rep count for the first 1/3 💎PushUps- 20,30,30,30,20,10- 140..  last 2 sets to failure. Fk the dips... Done for day 02 Aug 10 Pullups  10 pushups. Breakfast.  Sleep score has been good lately but deep sleep still always low... try eliminate tea after dinner for a week. Hi-protein lunch.. carbing up at dinner for tomorrow... Dips in office -- 20 & 17 6pm: 3x30 TricepPulldown straight to Pullups with weight vest, 7,5,5,4...21  Can't seem to do the usual numbers. Feeling... .   Decide to forgo weight session today, just finish up with...  Dips: 20, 25, 2...

Recapping my journey of the past 2+ years late last month ,  it started as a daily log for Jun  on the last 6 days of the month.  Jul  is the first full month to understand and reflect how much improvements has been made and where further improvements can be explored. Convinced by now with the Training, Nutrition , Rest - Trinity ... all of which have to come in at the right amount for the whole equation to work/ be optimized. While not counting grams or calories to 3 decimal places, I do have a pretty good grasp of what goes in and out in terms of food, making things work out more or less. As for training, combining it with a self-imposed minimalist style in terms of equipment-- I still have not gone to any gym. That means no insane amount of weights lying around, which would be hard to work with without a spotter anyway.  But what's gleaned from all the reading and videos online is the importance of intensity -- and yes all the rapid gains of these few months ...