Shoulder Shockers

Something new each workout, Military Press for shoulders today.

Back
Rows -3 sets x 40kgs x 10
Cable rows – 3 sets x 40kgs x 10
Cable pulldowns – 3 sets x 50kgs x 10

Shoulders
BB Military Press – 3 sets x 30kgs x 10 (struggled last set)
Lateral Raise – 3 sets x 15lbs x 10 (going for perfect form)
Seated rear lateral raise – 3 sets x 20lbs x 10

Biceps
DB concentration curls – 3 sets x 25lbs x 10
EZ bar – 2 sets x 25kgs x 10

* Compound exercises are the way to go. Chin ups on Sat!
* Article link

Dips and Flyes

Incorporating new exercises to keep things interesting.

Workout for Tues, 18 Aug:

Chest
- BB bench press (Free weights) 2 sets of 60kgs x 10, 1×5, 70kgs for 3 reps (spotter required for confidence)
- DB decline press 3 sets of 50lbs x 10
- Pec dec flyes – 3 sets at 40kgs x 10

Triceps
- Skullcrushers 3 sets of 40kgs x 10
- Cable pulldowns 3 sets at 12 x 10
- Dips 3 sets x 10 (legs fully extended)

New Shoes

New running shoes – Nike Air Max Moto+ 5 (US size 12).

Damage = RM379.

Broke them in today, 5 miles in an hour (21 mins @ 5.5mph, then intervals). Feels good.

Weight update: 95kgs

Chest and Triceps

Thurs 14 Aug 08 weights session is as follows:

Chest
DB press – 60lbs x 10, x 8, 50lbs x 10
DB flies – 2 sets of 20lbs x 10 , 25lbs x 10
DB incline press – 3 sets of 40lbs x 10
DB pullover – 3 sets of 45lbs x 10

Triceps
Cable pushdowns – 3 supersets at levels 8, 10, 12 x 10
Seated extensions – 3 supersets of 15lbs, 20lbs, 25lbs, 30lbs x 10
DB kickbacks – 3 sets of 25lbs x 10

* Getting tired way too fast on chest exercises
* Need to increase intensity for triceps

Back On Track

Current program:

Cardio = 4 miles x 6 days a week.
Weights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Mons & Thurs – Chest & Triceps
Tues & Sats – Back, Shoulders & Biceps

Today’s exercises:

Back pull-up – 40kg, db row – 55lbs, pulldown – 45kg
Shoulder db press – 35lbs, front & side raise – 20lbs
Biceps db curl- 25lbs, preacher curl – 12.5kg

Weight = 97.5kg

Never Take Another Puff – Day 21

“Your circulation has substantially improved. Walking has become easier. Your chronic cough, if any, has likely disappeared. Your overall lung function has improved up to thirty percent.”

A part of me still can’t quite believe that I’ve managed to quit smoking for three weeks now. When I question myself as to why I still doubt it, an instinctive response is that I will surely smoke again, that this “smoke-free” period will come to an end, that I’m not strong enough to quit for good etc etc. Such is the strong mental grip nicotine addiction has on you that these irrational thoughts and fears seem so real and inevitable… until you reaffirm to yourself that NO ONE or SITUATION can ever make you light up another cigarette ever again.

Quitting smoking has got to be one of the greatest things I’ve ever accomplished, the pride and satisfaction is hard to describe or explain. In some ways it’s like you’re travelling back in time to right the wrongs that caused you to pick up this stupid habit in the first place, be it your mindset or the people you chose to surround yourself with at that time. The flip side is that the future seems so much brighter, for instance, if you told me previously that I would be running the distance of a marathon every week for my cardio I would have said you’re crazy!

Yeah, I’m definitely happy and proud that I’m now an EX-smoker. Period.

The Three Tabernacles

This is the second message following last week’s opening message in our study on the topic “The Building of God”.

Scripture Reading: Exo. 25:8-9; 40:34; John 1:14; 2:19-21; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; Rev. 21:3; 22

The three tabernacles – the type of the tabernacle, the reality of the tabernacle, and the consummation of the tabernacle – reveal the goal of God’s economy to have a corporate people to be His dwelling place for His expression and representation in eternity.

We went through the type of the tabernacle in the Old Testament, together with all the furniture (the two altars, laver, showbread table, lampstand, the Ark) and their respective significance.

We then saw that the incarnated Christ was the reality of the tabernacle in the New Testament. Through His death and resurrection the individual Christ was enlarged to be the corporate Christ, the church, composed of the New Testament believers as the temple, the house of God, the Body of Christ.

Ultimately, the consummation of the tabernacle as the conclusion of the complete Bible is the New Jerusalem.

Throughout the week we covered the two Life-Study messages on Psalm 84 which is the secret revelation of the enjoyment of Christ as the fulfillment of the type of the tabernacle so that we may be incorporated into Him to become the reality and consummation of the tabernacle. Wow, quite a mouthful.. Anyhow, the portion I enjoyed the most is as follows:

“Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; / They will yet be praising You. Selah. / Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, / In whose heart are the highways to Zion… For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand; / I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God / Than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” (Psa. 84:4-5, 10)

Leg Week – Day 2

Leg Press up to 220kg now, still a lot more in the tank.

Squats feel ok at 70kg, a bit wobbly at 90kg, aim for 100kg by the end of this week.

Cardio: 9 more miles since Monday for a total of 16 miles so far this week. Managed to go 30 mins @ 5.5mph non-stop yesterday, another PR for me.

Left wrist has not healed, so looks like Leg Week might extend for another week.

Reading the Bible – 2

This week’s lesson (continued from last week’s) started with an overview of the Old and New Testament and the different sections that the books are divided into therein. Then we delved into :

How to Read the Bible
Since the Bible is the word of God, its nature is divine and spiritual. We must read it with every part of our being.

A. First, Reading It with Understanding
“Then He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45)

B. Then Reading It with Wisdom
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom…” (Col. 3:16)

“God…the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him” (Eph. 1:17)

Ephesians 1:17 shows us that wisdom is joined to our spirit. This wisdom is not what we have naturally but what we obtain through prayer. Such wisdom in our spirit is deeper and higher than the understanding in our mind. We understand the letter of the Bible with the understanding in our mind, and we apprehend the truth in the Bible by the wisdom in our spirit.

My personal experience on this will have to be the charge for us to Always Rejoice, Unceasingly Pray, In Everything Give Thanks. Though we might understand the letter with our mind, it is only by the wisdom in our spirit may we apprehend the truth of this part of Scripture as it is illogical to our natural thinking.

C. Finally, Receiving It with our Spirit
“And receive…the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit” (Eph. 6:17-18)

After we understand the text and receive the truth therein, we still must exercise our spirit to turn what we have understood and realised into prayer that it may be assimilated in our spirit, becoming our life supply and the basis of our spiritual experience.

D. Pray-reading
I confess I need more practice in terms of pray-reading ie that act of taking the Bible text as prayer and pray-read with it.

Leg Week

I injured my left wrist working out last week. It’s still smarting today so I’ve decided to dedicate this entire week to catch up on my lower body workouts, especially squats. Given the poor start to my new routine, who knows, I might just take the rest of this month to catch up on my legs and then start off the new routine in September. We’ll see how it goes.

Cardio : 7 miles (2 sessions)

Did a combination of LISS+HIIT in the 1st session and HIIT in the 2nd session. Felt pretty good, managed to go 25mins on 5.5mph, a personal best for me, I know it’s weak but for a heavy smoker (ex-smoker I should say!) who couldn’t even go 5 mins in January, I’m pretty happy.

3 x 6 x Leg Press (120kg, 160kg, 180kg)
2 x 5 x Squats (40kg)

I felt like a complete idiot squatting 40kg but my outer left thigh is still smarting from last week and besides, better to hit perfect form before increasing the weight.