New Blog

Recently couple of my friends have been asking me questions about what they should do in the gym if they've never trained with weights before. Stuff like which exercises they should do, how often, how many sets/reps, all those shit I've dealt with couple years ago when I first began my journey under the bar. Took me a long time to figure things out. In fact, my training has not been too structured before since as a competitive swimmer, I thought I didn't need to be too big or too strong to swim fast. (And I wrongly adopted the western linear periodization which was actually detrimental to my sports performance and also my gain in the gym) However I was wrong. You need to be strong in order to be good at your sport. Being strong and powerful doesnt mean getting huge and buff, look at Bruce Lee. A lot of work lies in neural adaptation and ability to accelerate, but that'd be another article for next time.

Having read extensively on Elitefts articles, especially those from the man Dave Tate himself, I've gained a different perspective on training and also, on training hard. Other stuff like nutrition and supplements, I've learned a great deal from John Meadows (Mountaindogdiet).

This blog serves as my training log where I'll put down my workouts for my readers' reference. I've gained 30lbs of muscle mass in the past 3 years which I consider pretty steady (given my huge aerobic output, swimming 5 days a week) while maintaining a 5-7% body fat. Now I'm half-retired from swimming because of the need to do well in my last semester at law school. The break from swimming enables me to re-think and re-plan my weight training regime thoroughly. I've experimented with the Westside maximum/ dynamic effort and some Defranco (for maintaining my athletic ability and John Meadows stuff (maintaing on accessory exercises to strengthen my weak links, i.e. delts, pecs, yes my pecs are weak). From time to time, I can't stop wondering whether I would swim faster if I had proper weight training before. A lot of trainers don't know what they're doing, let alone helping clients achieve their goals. Programming is an art with the single goal of meeting your client's needs. The linear periodization method I was trained with (hypertrophy->strength->power) is a thing that should've been left in history. It surprises me how so many trainers still live by this method and refuse to change. No wonder a lot of them I see in my gym cant even lift their own bodyweight in bench press/ squat/ deadlift. With that in mind, I hope I can help aspiring athletes and people who want to be strong to reach their goals.

Sometimes I find it difficult to understand how some people go to the gym simply for aesthetic reasons. I mean, I do like to have bigger guns and shredded abs. After all, I would be lying big time if I say I dont care how my body looks. But the reason I go to the gym is to get strong, in the hope of getting really strong. On the path to get stronger, the aesthetic aspects come naturally. But avoiding big weights and 'toning' this and that are signs that you are weak, most importantly, mentally weak. And going to the gym simply for aesthetic reason is like putting the cart before the horse. Perhaps because I'm an athlete, I pay a lot more attention on improving the body's performance, rather than how the body appears.

In the era we are living in, everyone seems to have forgotten the value of being strong, both mentally and physically, and have become complacent about their materialistic lives. It sickens me to see dudes who cant even load their suitcases onto the back of their car. And where's ur dignity when u see some guy pat ur girl's butt in a club, but ur only too scared to confront because you're not strong enough. (definitely not advocating a bar brawl here, but you get my point) And being truly strong transcends lifting suitcases and shit, confronting others who has stepped on ur tail; its about what you learn about yourself, your potential to surpass your perceived limitations, your ability to endeavor and your drive to become a stronger and better individual.

In the following weeks/ months, I'll put up articles and videos introducing some basic programming and training techniques. Stay tuned.