CHÚC MỪNG NĂM MỚI 2013 !!!

Happy Lunar New Years Everyone!! Since last week, I've been involved with the traditional cultural lion dance at my Kung-Fu school. This year will be my 12th years performing for the Lunar New Years and I haven't missed a year since I started volunteering.

Although, It took about 2 to 3 years of convincing me to get into it from the time that I started Kung-Fu. At first, I was completely uninterested in doing such thing. It just wasn't appealing to me. What REALLY got me into it, was that I was told i could use this opportunity to clock in my necessary volunteer hours to graduate from highschool. All my kung-fu brothers and sisters were doing it at the time, so I figured "Why not." Here I am today, 12 years later... still performing and doing what I can to keep the tradition alive while keepin' it old school. Although now, the main reason for my return each year is for the school, the people, and the good times :)

Not only am I helping my school but also this is helping me stay in shape. The amount of cardio, shoulders, biceps, triceps  thighs, neck, back and core muscles that i use throughout the performances is just as good as going to the gym. 

With the New Year passed , Valentine's Day over, and Family Day behind us... It's time to get "Back on Track!" :) Tonight I will be heading back to Kung-Fu for a nice work out :)

Enjoy the pictures :)

My Lion for Day 1

Last day of Lion Dance with my partner in our flashy  pants :)

Day 17 - 22

As I am getting closer to the end of my Back on Track project, I can't help but feel like I haven't quite pushed myself to the limits of my capabilities throughout this whole program. Then again, while reflecting on that thought... I  feel a sense of reassurance that I AM on the right path and that IS EXACTLY what I should be feeling and thinking. With that feeling and thought inside of me, it will drive me into my next program which will be MORE intensive, detailed, and focused. 

Day 17 - I didn't end up going to the Gym that day due to the crazy cold weather, so i ended up going straight to Kung-Fu after workd. I arrived at around 5:30pm and started getting ready for a good stretch and warm up, followed by intensive kicking drills. Then 2 hours of kung-fu training. 

Day 19 - Went to the gym and did 20 min of cardio (5 min of warm up and 15 min of running at 6.5 speed on the treadmill). Blazed through the cardio due to my new and improved method of distraction lol!

Then went onto the free weights. Same routine as the last few times... although my second set was extremely difficult this time around. While I was doing triceps extensions, I had to stop at 7 of 10, put the weight down, give myself a few seconds, pick up the weight again, and finish the reps. I actually shocked myself and immediately started to assess the situation. What did I do wrong for me to not being capable of doing my full 10 reps?? I started thinking "Did I not get sufficient sleep the night before? Did I do anything strenuous during the day? Did I not eat enough throughout the day? Did I not give myself sufficient rest in between the set? Am I lacking H2o?" After going through the process of elimination, there was only one possible option for me to try out and also capable of seeing immediate results. I gave myself 2 min rest between my 2nd and last set. I went through all of my reps for each exercise without putting the weight down. It still was a struggle to finish my last set but at least I managed it better than my previous set.

Day 22 - Yesterday was sparring day at my martial-arts club. Not a bad day at all, I might add. Everyone did exceptionally well. We also saw a lot of progress in a lot of the students... Visible differences that is. Anyways, i'm getting off track. Usually, I would go to the gym for a 30 min cardio...or at least I should go every monday, but the last two mondays... I haven't. I figured the one hour of sparring should be sufficient cardio for the day. The only problem I'm currently encountering is that from 6PM to 7PM, the school is running the northern shaolin class and during that time...the school is PACKED...literally PACKED... There is barelly enough space to stretch, let alone throw a punch without having it land on someones face. Now I'm faced with a new scheduling dilemma...I'm thinking of going to the gym and do core or something considering i don't ever do core or include core exercises in my program...yes... I am aware that the core is a major muscle that with proper training will enhances all aspect of my fighting capabilities... but I'm just not willing to spend that extra 20 min to 30 min when I've already been at the gym for over an hour. I guess the mondays and wednesdays would be a good core day... I still have lots of figuring out to do before the end of my program ends...

Day 15 - 16 of Back On Track

Monday was day 15 of my Back on Track project. I ended up just going straight to Kung-Fu. Started with a nice stretch warm-up and then went on to some punching and kicking drills. My training continued with an hour of Sparring, 2 minutes sessions with 5 to 10 min breaks in between. Finished my day with an hour of forms and two man drills.

Yesterday for day 16 I went to the gym. Started with 25 min cardio on the treadmill. This time, I uploaded my fight videos from Malaysia into my phone and while running on the treadmill, I watched them and studied them. It made time go by SOOOOOOO much faster. 5 minutes felt like 1, so from now on i'm going to upload ALL of my fight videos that i have on my computer into my phone and watch them when running on the treadmill.

I then moved on to free weights.

3 sets of:
10 reps of Rows with 25 lbs
10 reps of Bench Press with 45 lbs
10 reps of Triceps Extensions with 45 lbs
10 reps of Hammer Curls with 25 lbs
10 reps of Shoulder Raises with 25 lbs, and
10 reps of Upright Rows with a 50 lbs bar

This time around, it definitely felt a lot easier although I still struggled to finish my weights with proper postures on my last set. Hence, I know I'm not ready to go back to 4 sets just yet.

My diet currently consists of :
9AM - 2 toast with cheese and a coffee
1:00PM - Chicken, Lettuce, and Swiss Cheese Sandwich
5:30PM - Protein Drink
9:30PM - Meat and Veggies (It varies every night)

Day 10 - 13 - Back On Track

Sorry for the late post, it's been a ridiculously busy weekend. Anyhow,  the following day I ended up going back to the gym. I started with a good 20 min run on the treadmill which included a good 5 min warm up, by the time I hit 10 minutes I was already dying...it was EXTREMELY difficult to continue the jog on the treadmill for a continuous 15 min on 6.5 speed. I even tried watching an episode of Family Guy on my phone while running, but that only distracted me in the beginning...closer to the end of my run, i couldn't focus on anything else but the time.

I then hit the free weights. I didn't go straight for the weights that I use to do before my break, I didn't want to cause to much trauma to my muscles, so I started light with 25lbs and 30lbs weights. My routine for now consist of 3 sets of:

10 reps of rows with 30lbs,
10 reps of bench press with 30lbs,
10 reps of shoulder raises with 25lbs,
10 reps of triceps extentions with  30lbs.
10 reps of hammer curls with 25lbs, and finish with
10 reps of upright rows with 50lbs bar

With a 1 min break between each set.

I usually do 4 sets but considering it was my first day back...I started again with 3 sets. My body wasn't as sore as I had anticipated so i'm pretty happy with the fact that I was smart with my routine. Since i don't exactly have a deadline to attain, i can pretty much take my time without making my body suffer too much :) Right after the gym, I went to Kung-Fu class which is about medium lvl intensity for a good 2 hours. I took a protein drink before the class to last me until dinner, or my body would've probably started to eat itself lol!

Day 11 and 12 were rest days for me, as I was getting my body back to 100% to go snowboard all day on day 13, which I may add was AMAZING and a great way to burn calories all day!!! :) Although I probably gained it all back with the food and alcohol i had at the cottage...was all worth it :) :) On a more serious note...I really need to take my diet more seriously lol! Damn you good food!!!!

Day 9 of "Back on Track"

Seems like I overestimated myself. I went to the gym and after I ran on the treadmill for not even 2 minutes, I stopped, got off the treadmill, went home. 

My body was aching from the night before. I could have pushed myself beyond the discomfort that I was feeling, but I knew it would only contribute to longer healing time and less training sessions. So yesterday ended up being a rest day for me after all  Hopefully I will be good to go to the gym tonight and start lifting weight again. 

"Back on Track" - Day 8

Yesterday was the day  that I had assigned myself to go back on a healthier diet. Here is my intake log:

9 am: 2 toast with a slice of cheese and a coffee 

11 am: Wasabi flavored nuts and a cup of water

1:30 pm: 1 sandwich (2 slices of bread, slice of cheese, lettuce, turkey, and mustard) a cup of V8 Tomato juice, and a Babybel. 

6:30 pm: Protein Drink

10 pm: 2 Breaded Chicken Breast stuff with broccoli and cheese topped with tomato sauce and a cup of milk

My work out consisted of a 30 min interval run on the treadmill at the gym, then a 15 min stretch, an hour of sparring session, and ended with an hour of kung-fu hand forms and staff forms.

I weighted myself yesterday morning at 163lbs, which is a 5 pound gain from my peak of 157 lbs before I left for Malaysia. 

Onto the mental aspect of my training. Staying motivated on the treadmill was getting more difficult this time around. If it wasn't for the fact that I was doing interval training... I would've been bored out of my mind. 30 min felt like 45 mins...and I can already predict that by tomorrow, I will be dreading going on the treadmill. I believe that the best way for me to counter this feeling, is by watching a movie or a show on my Tabphonelet ( I have a Galaxy Note, hence the name given). Hopefully that will distract me long enough that I won't feel the time slooooowly pass by and before I realize it...30 min would have just zipped by. 

Going back to Kung-Fu was definitely exciting. It's been about...2 months? since I started my "winter hibernation" mode. Going into my first sparring match, I felt refreshed and pain free :) My mind was clear and open to new tactics...it felt truly...rejuvenating :) 

As for the aftermath, I do feel a bit of soreness this morning but nothing that I wasn't expecting and should still be able to continue my workout after work today. Today I plan on doing 20min of cardio with a full upper body work out with free weights. I'll give you guys an update on how that went tomorrow. 

This concludes day 7 of 31 for my "Back on Track" Project. Until next time! :)

Project "Back on Track" Day 5

That. is. IT! The holiday shenanigans are FINALLY OVER!

After a few crazy hectic months of work lunches and dinners, Christmas parties, New Years parties, eating, shopping, family gatherings, and etc...everything is now slowly returning to normal. I have to admit, everything that I worked so hard for "pre-tournament" is now all gone :( I've lost all my muscle definitions, gained weight, and eating whatever I want whenever I want it. I didn't do ANYTHING since end of November. No gym, no kung-fu, no healthy eating, NO NOTHING!. I told myself at that time: "I work damn hard all year long, so screw it! I'm going to dive in this head first. The holiday insanity is coming anyways so I'll be consistently exposed to bad food and no time to work out...why even stress about it? I'll deal with it when all of this is over"

Well Ladies and Gents...it's now over LOL! Mid January, it is now and I only got back into the gym on Monday. I can't tell you how EXCRUCIATINGLY HARD it was for me to get my mind back in the healthy zone. A simple pair of forgotten socks would've gotten me home instead of the gym. I would've found ANY excuse to NOT go to the gym...ANY!! After years of studying my own behavior and how to counter it's bad habits, I unfortunately had packed a pair of socks, shoved them in my shoes which I ALWAYS leave in the car in case I ever forget to pack my socks into my gym bag. So Monday was my first day back to the gym.

I find it easy for me to go into it slow, consistent, and progressive. For example, on my first day back all I did was run on the treadmill for 30 min (5 min of light running, 4 X 5 min intervals at high pace with 30 sec rest in between, and 5 min cool down.) You know you are out of shape when your body gets sore the next day from a simple 30 min run LOL! So I took a few days off until my body felt no pain...2 days to be exact. Yesterday, I went back to the gym and did the exact same routine. Today. No soreness. I also forgot to mention that I have not yet changed my eating habits. Throughout the week I have been keeping in mind to eat somewhat healthier and at more appropriate times, but I still indulge in eating out and whatever left over I might have from eating out. Today I shall be returning to the gym for another 30 min run...and it shall be so for the next month. Next week, I shall kick start a better eating routine as well as returning to Kung-Fu.

I know A LOT of people just dive right in like an ON and OFF switch...but I find it to hard of a shock on the body and therefore need more time to rest and heal before you can continue your work out regime on a consistent basis. But as they say..."To each its own." that IS as long as they actually do it.

In the meantime, I will continue to log my progress and my routine for whoever wish to follow as well as for myself to read the next time i have to do this all over again.