Coaching Jay - 300 Crunch

Morning Coach!

Well I've done a week of the training and have to say that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was certainly much harder and I found myself sweating much more than in my previous routine, mainly as a result of taking shorter breaks and the increase in the number of new exercises. I've even got some additional exercises added as I like to now follow the principle of doing both wide and narrow grip sets for as many exercises as possible. The thing I really struggle with is the ab exercises. I'd say I'm more a 100 crunch than a 300 crunch. I find the hanging ab exercises the most difficult out of all as my arms struggle to hold on for more than 10 or 12 reps. Also, as I'm tall (6' 4", or 193cm) I can't find anything suitable to hang from as my legs are crunched up beneath me. I'll continue to work on this though and keep you updated.

Also, this week, as it's the first week of the Trey Workout I've maintained a steady series of weights rather than increase too much just to get my body familiarised with the exercises.

If you have any tips for next week I'd be pleased to hear from you!

All the best and hope you have a great weekend.

Bye the way, when can we connect, I would so love to see you again:)

Jay

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Jay,

Good Monday morning! It's good to hear you have been following the routine I gave you. So you have accomplished your first week. Congratulations. Keep the routine for another three weeks but increase the poundage each week. Tell me how your body responds to the exercises. Are you feeling some pain, or stretch, or contraction after a day workout?

The 300 crunch is easy to complete. If you can do 30 reps each set of one ab routine, you can finish 90 reps with three sets. So if you're doing three ab routines, that would be 270 reps total. You would need another 30 reps to accomplish the 300 crunch. You can add standing side crunch here without weights and if you do 3 more sets, that would total to 360 crunches!

This week's tip: Do not carry weights when you do crunches, especially on side crunch. It would build muscles and it would make them bulge.

My weekends are still busy. I could not find time to go online. I'll tell you when.

Trey

Coaching Jay: Training Coach?

I was chatting to this Londoner last Monday when he starts to praise how I look like. It was a webcam chat so he was looking at my body and admiring it. Impressed with what he was seeing, he started to ask for my training exercises. I was not able to make sensible answers because he was not the only one I am chatting with, so I asked him to email me. Here is the second email he sent yesterday. This is his reply to the training schedule I gave him.

Trey!!

First thing, Oh My God! you train hard, probably 2 - 3 times harder than I do. I currently go the gym 4 or 5 times a week but I think I'm waisting my time doing this judging from your plan. There are some things on the plan that I don't know what they are so I'll google them.

I have some more questions:
• How long do you spend in the gym each session?
• How much do you rest much between repetitions?
• Do you try and push the heaviest possible weights you can do?
• To give me a measure, how much do you lift for your bench press, BB curl, DB curl, shrug, lat pull down, squat, leg curl, leg extension?
• Do you think I could do the training on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays instead - will it make any difference? (that way I can go running on the other 2 days)
• How long do you think it'll take before I notice significant differences?
• You seriously don't use protein shakes?

I'm going put this plan into an excel sheet and montor progress over a three month period I think. You will see me grow!

I'm so glad I met you, you watch, I'm gonna have a hot body like yours.

I'd really like to chat again, the weekend seems so far away!! and you're 8 hours ahead of me. When is a good time for you to chat?

Look forward to hearing from you again - as you can see, I'm really serious about the gym programme!

Hugs

Jim

I replied focusing on his questions.

• How long do you spend in the gym each session?

i usually finish my gym in an hour or an hour and a half the most. it really depends on the availablity of the equipment. i worked out in our neighborhood gym so that means that during peak hours, the gym is crowded with people.

• How much do you rest much between repetitions?

i rest 30-45 seconds. again depending on the situation i mentioned above.

• Do you try and push the heaviest possible weights you can do?

right now, i am just maintaining my physique so i lift light to moderate. i do not want to grow bigger. my physique right now is just right for my height which is 168cm. or 5'6".

• To give me a measure, how much do you lift for your bench press, BB curl, DB curl, shrug, lat pull down, squat, leg curl, leg extension?

i could incline bench at 70 kilos, flat bench at 50 kilos, BB curl at 15 kilos, DB curl at 10 kilos, shrug/squat at 50 kilos, and leg curl/extension at 30 kilos.

• Do you think I could do the training on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays instead - will it make any difference? (that way I can go running on the other 2 days)

yes you can. but i would like to remind you that my current program is just for maintainance. if you want to gain more mass, you need to lift heavy and more protein intake.

• How long do you think it'll take before I notice significant differences?

i usually give 6 weeks of consistent training before a significant change could occur.

• You seriously don't use protein shakes?

i seriously do not take them. :)

There was a third email from him expressing his gratitude. He was really looking forward to the success of his goals. To quote, “when I saw you, you inspired me enormously. I really want a top body like yours. You look like a fitness model. My goal is to gain muscle mass and see my abs.” Lastly, he asked, “Will you be my virtual gym buddy/coach/mentor?” That is one pressure I can possibly take. The real question is, could he sustain it?

Three Unhealthy Days

Last weekend was a very lame one for me. There was no physical activity whatsoever and by “physical” I mean, no gym, no badminton, no running, no swimming, etc. I was not even able to get my haircut because my barber was on vacation for the All Soul’s day holiday. How I despise the non-activity?

Saturday. There should be a typhoon that day so I was expecting hard rain and flood on our street, but there was none. If I knew that there would be no rain in the morning, I could have set my early morning run. I have not felt the typhoon really. Am I disappointed? I would like to say yes but I thought I should be thankful because no calamity related incidents happened and no clamor of government negligence and incompetence. I really do not like people blaming others for something that they could control or avoid. What I hate that day was the gym was close and we were left on the couch watching horrorfilms on dvd with two quarter liter ice creams, red wine, roasted chicken and more carbs.

Sunday. Cloudless day, thus it was a hot and humid morning. We were able to go to church at nine and scheduled for a haircut afterwards. Unfortunately, our favorite haircutter was not around. Badminton should be in the afternoon but most of our badminton buddies are out of town. We were only three who were available so no activity still. Fallback, a round of tv series (Harper’s Island) on dvd. We went to Robinson’s Pioneer in between to re-string my badminton racket and buy ingredients for buko pandan. We saw the new flavor of Selecta gold, Vanilla Almond, so we bought a quarter liter and another quarter for Pistachio flavor. We were back to finish Harper’s Island and the two flavors of ice cream and buko pandan for dessert.

There was a scheduled date to go that afternoon but declined because I do not want to spoil a romantic date. Who says that three is not a crowd? Hehehe.

Monday. Attempted to contact other friends for a badminton game but got no replies from them. I was starting to hate the Halloween break. I took my camera and started to shoot anything. I saw Chrome, our adopted stray cat, and made him my subject. I finished the tv series I am watching. I finished the vanilla almond. I also tried to finish the buko pandan but there is so much for my appetite. I also checked my Farmville. I went online and installed my webcam to have chats with other nationalities. I went back to what I do best on cam just to kill some time. I did not eat my lunch but gobbled on a housemate’s pasalubong of ginataang halo-halo. This is another sedentary day, I thought.

Three days with no physical activity and I asked, what would happen if this is really my lifestyle. Would I get fat? Perhaps.

Arrrghh. I do not want this lifestyle. I would die early, and there should never be a next time to this.

First Tournament

Last weekend, we finally joined our first open badminton tournament. It was an immediate decision of joining because my partner was still busy with his fieldwork and we were not able to play for three weeks. Few days before the game, we submitted our entry and we get a Level D classification. That is the lowest level in the tournament.

Our first opponent was a pair of a middle-aged and a late twenties fellows. We thought at first that we can easily beat them because the older man was slow and had short endurance. His partner however was better than us and he was able to compensate his weaknesses. We lost our game.

Assuming that that was an elimination game, my partner thought of going home. I told him to stay for a while and watch the game of a friend. We just sat in one corner and look on the other teams play. I could just admire those skill each shows. After 30 minutes of watching, we heard our names from the speakers readying us for our second game.

We proceeded to the court and waited for our second opponent. To my surprise, the pair was a regular in this court and I saw how they play. I thought it is already in the bag. They would surely win our match and I was right. They won with a very big margin and we slump to our corner and waited for our last match. I guess it was after an hour before we heard our names again. Our opponent this time was a couple of gay players. We saw their game and once again thought we could beat them. Some people in the audience call one “Darna”. I could not tell why.

We performed better in the game during the first quarter but when we transferred courts because of the leak from the roof, our opponent took over the lead and never looked back. We lost the third game and we humbly accept our defeat.

After the three games, I evaluated our performance. I think each my partner and I do not lack the skill of a good player. We shared the same opinion that we lost because we still lack teamwork and coordination. Even our friend who is a veteran in tournaments noticed that. This is our first time to become partners in a very serious game. In our past inter-agency tournament, we were not even partners because he usually played mixed doubles.

Our first tournament could really be a big disappointment but I thought, it is just the first. There are still a lot of tournaments to join and we could already correct what needs corrected. Maybe next time we should play more often as partners. One game at a time. Hehehe.

Tip: Five glasses and more

I received this text message a while ago and I thought this is one very useful and helpful forwarded message that is worth sharing to everyone.

Correct timing to intake water will maximize its effectiveness to human body!

- 2 glasses of water 30 minutes before meal helps digestion.
- 1 glass after waking up helps activate internal organs.
- 1 glass before sleeping will help avoid stroke or heart attack at midnight.
- 1 glass after taking a bath helps lower blood pressure.

This is a very practical tip to a healthy lifestyle, I think. There is no literature backing this up but I think there is nothing wrong in practicing this. It is sensible actually. I have heard in a feature story that proper hydration throughout the day prevents the phenomenon “bangungot”, thus drinking water before taking dinner and before sleep is a very precautionary practice. Likewise, water intake just after waking up is a very relieving habit because we always feel dry in our throat after rising up from bed. I still have not done drinking water after taking a bath though.

Another good thing about this tip is that we would not find it difficult to complete the eight glasses of water that is required in a day. If we could make it a habit to drink during those times enumerated above, we just all need to insert three more glasses. If we are eating three major meals in a day and in each meal, we take two glasses before and one glass after; we are actually drinking nine glasses of water. In addition, drinking the three remaining glasses would make that twelve. Isn’t that too much water? Don’t worry, our bodies know how to balance our system. For now and beyond however, let us practice this simple and practical way of healthy living.

Enjoy drinking water people!