Body Transformation Camp *Like!*

I'm very sure that DailyMuscle's readership far outstrips mine, but heck. I'm still gonna do this write-up anyway. DM is doing his most ambitious project yet, which is the DailyMuscle Body Transformation Camp.


Ever heard of 'bootcamps' where a group of people work together under the watchful eyes of trainers? Yeah, it's something similar to that but knowing DM, I know the methods he'll be using is whole lot more fun. It's primarily for those who have some weight to lose and also for those who are trying to get leaner.

So yeah. I'm won't be participating. But I might drop by on a Saturday morning to see DM and the crew in action. Oh by the way, classes are conducted at Taman Rimba Kiara in TTDI. The schedule goes like this:

TTDI (Taman Rimba Kiara)
Tuesday: 6.30pm - 7.30pm
Thursday: 6.30pm - 7.30pm
Saturday: 9.00am - 10.00am

But it's best if you guys head over here to know more about this cool new transformation camp DM is doing. He even has a teaser video up (my friends loved the video). I think it's still not too late for you to sign up. I'm excited as heck about this project. I hope a mass-gaining camp is on the works...

Break Week

I'm on a break between programmes now. No heavy workouts for me. Mr. Ferruggia's dire warning was if I ignore this instruction I'll be losing out on some serious muscle gains. So yeah, this is my lepak week. Pretty hard to do when there's a barbell lying around the house now.

Anyway, I think it's gonna be pretty much a 2-week break as I'll be off to Phuket this Sunday. Will try and fit in a few bodyweight exercises.

My barbell has arrived

Mwahahahhaa... It's finally here. My 6ft barbell and pair of 5kg plates (non-rubberized). Been testing it... I did some front squats, back squats and thrusters (thanks for the vid, Adeline). Neat stuff! Best part is I can use the plates from my dumbbells and put it on my barbell so deadlifts and squats can be more challenging because let's face it... a pair of 5kg weight plates don't add up to much.

Perhaps if I come into some extra cash I'll buy myself a pair of 10kg plates after this. Woohoo! But I have a feeling my cleaners will have a tough time moving all those weights out of the way just to mop the floor.

Screw it. Will cross the bridge once I get there.

Barbell Complex

In anticipation of the arrival of my barbell, I've been looking at various barbell complex workouts. As I've written in my earlier post, I'm not used to barbell exercises because I don't have a barbell in my arsenal of home gym equipment. Even when I was a member of a commercial gym, I didn't use barbells because I was intimidated by it.

But I know that having a barbell is pretty much necessary if I'm serious on gaining some serious strength. So invest in one I did and it's arriving this Sunday. In the meantime, I've been surfing YouTube looking at various barbell complex workouts.

For those not in the know, a barbell complex is a series of lifts using the barbell done back to back. You finish one type of lift then you move on to the other. Non-stop. You're done with the workouts fairly quickly as witnessed by the vids below.

Make no mistake, though. It's brutal. In a fun way. Makes a great finisher after a training session.



Like Mr. Ballantyne says... this is a great alternative for interval training. I'd do complexes any day over cardio. It's much more interesting.



Mr. Ferruggia completed this finisher in a minute! Bloody hell!

Bodyweight Challenge Workouts

If you're a fairly competitive person like myself, I think you'd love this kind of workouts. It's basically a challenge exercise where you're supposed to complete a series of exercises within a certain time period. It's a great way to gauge your progress. You know you've improved when you can complete the challenge quicker compared to previously.

There are many kinds of challenge exercises. One of my favourites is the Upper Body 10x10 Workout. Barbell complexes are also cool. I've never done one before since I only have dumbbells at home. That's gonna change soon though; because my barbell will arrive this weekend. But that's another entry for another day.



Back to the agenda folks. So the video above is the Bodyweight 100 challenge. I guess this one is a bit on the easy side but it's a good start. Mr. Ballantyne has created a lot of bodyweight challenges, from the basic Bodyweight 100 to the extreme Bodyweight 1,000. So if you like a bit of competition - doesn't matter if it's with yourself of amongst your fellow fitness enthusiasts, this would be a fun way to test yourself.

Best of all, you don't need to hit the gym for this. You can do it in a playground or at home. Cool, huh?

Butt-sercise!

Being naturally skinny makes me practically flat-chested since boobs consist of body fat and I have little body fat to my name. Yes, being naturally lean is way better than being naturally chubby but hey, I am a woman and a woman without curves is kinda sad. While some men may compensate their lack of ehem... size by pumping iron, I concentrate on my butt since my boobs are pretty much a gone case. There's not much I can do in that area.

And hence I have several butt-sercises that I consider all-time favourites. And they are listed below and in no particular order.

1. Squats - great total body move, not only works the butt but also the quads, a bit of the hamstring, your lower back, core and shoulder muscles.
2. Deadlifts - same as the squats, it's a total body workout in itself.
3. Dumbbell stepups - try holding a pair of dumbbells in each hand (make sure it's not too light and not too heavy) and step up onto a bench or a dining chair. Yeah, pain in the ass. Literally.
4. Dumbbell split squats - you can feel your glutes burn with this one.

To be honest, I don't really like lower body workouts. I prefer upper body workouts any day. But it is a necessary evil to have a nice, perky butt and great looking legs. Give these 4 exercises a try. But please, not all at one go. You might have trouble sitting down post-workout day. Trust me, I've been there.

Morning Training? Hmmm....

After much prodding and discreet psychological warfare, I finally relented and have registered to take the CFA exams and enrolled in the preparatory classes which would it up my Tuesday and Thursday evenings starting from next week.

One of the first things that crossed my mind after registering was "how the heck am I gonna fit in my training?" Now I know some of you would say that I still have five more days free. But hey, I have a life. I don't live life to just train and study, there are so many other things to do.

And so I thought that perhaps I could squeeze in my training in the morning before I go to work. I mean, my training has always been pretty intense but pretty quick so waking up an hour earlier on Tuesdays and Thursdays should be okay/

But it remains to be seen whether this is actually sustainable if not doable. Heck, it remains to be seen if I would stick to the classes in the first place. Pbthhhh...

About food

I noticed that I don't have the need to eat so much rice anymore. I can go for days without consuming rice, choosing instead to survive on grilled/roast chicken, salad, chick peas and potatoes instead. They're just as filling but they don't leave you feeling drowsy after a meal.

Yesterday though, I had a craving for the typical nasi campur and drove off to the friendly neighbourhood nasi campur stall and bought myself a packet of rice. Funnily enough, I had a few mouthfulls of rice and didn't feel like eating it anymore.

I think I've changed my preferences. But I still LOVE sushi and sashimi. They're healty anyway, so there's no harm there, I guess.

On another note, I noticed that consuming True Mass right after a workout makes my muscles ache less the next day. Has anyone else noticed the same thing? Or maybe it's purely psychological.

How To Gain Weight with One Exercise

By Jason Ferruggia

When people ask me how to gain weight the first thing I ask them is if they do deadlifts. If you are trying to get big but aren’t including deadlifts in your program you are simply wasting your time. There is simply no more effective exercise than the deadlift

From your neck to your calves, nearly every muscle in your body gets activated and receives a powerful growth stimulus from deadlifts

Not only is the deadlift the most effective mass building exercise there is but it is also the most basic and has the greatest carryover to the real world. There aren’t many times in life where you would lie down on your back and press a weight overhead like you would during a bench press. But hardly a day goes by when you don’t bend down and pick something up off the floor. And that is what you do when you deadlift. So it trains you for real life situations and helps to prevent the oh-so-common lower back problems that plague hundreds of thousands of adults

But the bottom line for all skinny guys and aspiring mass monsters is that if you want to know how to gain weight, you gotta learn how to deadlift

Although the deadlift works the entire body from head to toe, it is especially effective at building huge traps, upper back muscles, spinal erectors, glutes, hamstrings and forearms. Plenty of puffed up bodybuilders have the big pecs and biceps but a deadlifter stands out from the crowd, looking powerful and intimidating with the mountainous traps and thick, ruggedly muscled upper and lower back

To perform a proper deadlift, stand directly over the bar with your shins nearly touching it and feet approximately 8-14 inches apart. Squat down by breaking at the hips and pushing your glutes back. Keep your back tightly arched, chest up and head in line with your spine. Your upper body should be at a 45 degree angle in relation to the ground. Grab the bar with a vice grip and begin to pull up and back. As the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward powerfully, push your chest out and pull your shoulders back to lockout the weight

When you lower the weight, be sure to begin by pushing your glutes back before you squat down. After the bar clears you knees, squat down while maintaining a tight arch in your lower back, allow the weights to touch the floor and repeat

Remember- a lot of deadlifts lead to huge, muscular physiques. If there was only one thing I could teach you about how to gain weight that would be it. Now get to the gym and start pulling some big weights.

Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as humanly possible. He has trained thousands of clients during his 14 years as a professional fitness coach, including more than 500 athletes from over 20 different sports. Jason has written hundreds of articles for numerous top rated training magazines and websites and has authored four fitness books. He is also the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more great muscle building information, please visit http://www.musclegainingsecrets.com

Received: True Mass - Chocolate flavour

Yup, it only took a day for Fitnutritions to deliver my tub of True Mass to me. I had it sent to the office and my oh my, it received quite the attention. One colleague loved the red-coloured tub. Yet another one was amazed at how huge the tub was. Me, I am just pleased that it arrived on time.

As usual, I'm writing an entry right after a workout. Also had my chocolate protein shake. Tastes pretty darn good although I've to admit that I like the strawberry flavoured shake better. And is it me, or is the chocolate shake richer compared the strawberry-flavoured one? Hmm...

Oh well, whatever it is... I'm good to go for another 2 months at least. And the next time round I'll make sure I have proper planning in place when it comes to ordering a brand new tub of protein.