Embracing Minimalism

Being the nerd that I am, I read a lot of fitness and training-related articles when I first started my gym rat journey.  And while I caught on fairly quickly about the philosophy of training, nutrition has always left me dumbfounded.

....Drink a protein shake post workout.

Eat 6 times a day....

....More protein, less carbs.

Anabolic window....

....You're a hardgainer, you can eat junk food to get more calories in.

And so many others I don't even bother to mention here.  The irony is, I made my biggest and healthiest gains when I tuned out all but the most basic of information.  All I do is:

....Drink a vegetable juice post workout

Eat only 3 square meals per day...

....Cut out soy drinks and reduce dairy intake

Follow a basic, natural supplement regime (probiotics and olive oil)...

To sum everything up, I am at my healthiest and at my 'biggest' when I:

1. Follow a good training programme
2. Eat clean as best as possible (although I am not nearly as stringent as most people)
3. Cook my own meals

Goes to show too much information can be counterproductive.  You're more likely to suffer from analysis paralysis.  

Back Squats revisited

I think I have not done any back squats for more than a year.  After the hiatus I have finally decided to incorporate them once again into my training albeit with much lighter weights than before; which is saying something because I never was good at back squats and  the best I could muster was 55kg for 5 reps.

I'm up to 40kg for 4 reps now.  Feeling steady and sturdy.  Knees aren't hurting.  That's a good sign.

One tip that I've started to follow is to do a few sets of leg curls first to get those hammies warmed up and pumped before I hit the squats.  It has worked like a charm so far.

Simple

So... it's been a while since I last updated this blog eh?  When I first started this blog, it was to write about my learning experience in my journey as a fitness junkie wannabe.  Initially I learnt a lot of stuff and was excited to share it with whoever that cares.

As my go forward with my journey, this particular quote from Bruce Lee came to mind:

"Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick, just a kick.
After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick.
Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick."

Not to say that I have learnt everything that needs to be learnt.  Far from it.  But I have come to realize that we often tend to overcomplicate things.  Life should be so much simpler.  If I were to summarize what matters to me (fitness-wise) in a nutshell, they are:

1. Incorporate some kind of squat, deadlift, pressing and mobility work in your programme and you're golden
2. Eat (or drink) your greens.  Raw is better.
3. Cook your own meals.
4. Spend less on unnecessary materialistic stuff and spend more on good quality food
5. Read a lot
6. Try not to take any sort of modern medicine.  Natural is best.  Refer to #2
7. Discipline