Correction: this was taken on April 24, not April 26 as stated in the video.
Squats @ 183 lbs x 1 rep (maintained)
Bench Press @ 150 lbs x 1 rep (went up +11 lbs)
Deadlift @ 260 lbs x 1 rep (went up +11 lbs)
I currently weigh 132lbs. An improvement from 4 weeks ago still. HUAH!
After this, I will be starting a new cycle of different work outs; it won’t be as strenuous as this one – not only was at the limits of my physical strength, I wasn’t making much improvements already and I was at the risk of falling sick.
However it will be compensated with a higher rep count for each workout.
Last night I shared the stage with 4 other entrepreneurs to speak for nearly 20 minutes about my early journey as an Internet Entrepreneur and Marketer to a crowd of slightly more than 100 people at MindValley HQ in Bangsar.
I’ve been looking to get into the speaking circuit again since the time I completed the Train The Trainer program. Unfortunately my nausea feeling stayed with me for months and actually prevented me from looking for any speaking opportunities – not cool to throw up on stage halfway through, you know. 😛
Gotta admit, I was still feeling a wee bit nausea last night even though I spoke for no more than 20 minutes. Been exerting my body too much in gym training, I bet.
But it was a great start to build some visibility in the offline world once again, thanks to Khai Yong recommending me to Incitement co-founder Zikry Kholil.
I was juggling between finishing my next BM course “Mesin Komisen” and later doing my presentation slides on the fly this whole week.
Then came the night…
I was off to a slow start as Natalia rigged me with the microphone… while the intro music played several seconds too early, haha! 🙂 Captured the crowd’s attention just in time. Hehe…
I started off with a quick survey and from my estimation, about 20% of the audience was already in a business of some kind whereas 80% want to learn how to start a business of some kind.
The right crowd indeed. 🙂
After all, this Incitement Episode was about Entrepreneurship.
So I spoke for the next 20 minutes about my early days journey before and when I took up the invisible mantel of an Internet Entrepreneur. 🙂
I wished I had more time though; would have loved to dive into some practical steps and tips really but that was taken care of by the subsequent speakers fortunately. (3 of the 5 speakers here are from MindValley themselves btw)
The atmosphere was energetic and the environment electrifying!
I was the first speaker, followed by others – Eugene Hennie (Internet Marketer); John-Son Oei (Founder of Epic Homes); Daniel de Gruijter (Co Founder of Incitement);Â Amir Ahmad Nasr (Social Entrepreneur and author of My Islam).
Should go without saying but still worth saying… it had been a great pleasure and honor to share the stage with these wonderful folks and I too learned heaps from them. The audience had been a positive bunch as well.
The slightly overdue night concluded with an Appreciation Round. I thank some of my friends who came over to support me and it was great to hear they came specifically for me. Nice!
Khai Yong (he’s already with MV so naturally he’d be there); Chon Giap and friend Chris; Elton Kuah; Shatish Rao (who also helped me record my presentation… video will be ready later!); and of course Elle 🙂On a separate note, I will be speaking again at another event, more on Internet Marketing this time. The date is tentatively May 1st and details are being nailed down (can’t set this on stone just yet; it might change due to the General Elections looming around the corner). More details to be announced later!
Right now I feel like I am at the brink of maxing out my strength at the current cycle of workouts. Currently I weight 59.5 KG – 60 KG (132 lbs max) and this is the first time I am lifting weights heavier than my body weight on a workout circuit. This is also the longest time I take for rest in between sets and workouts.
WEEK CYCLE 1
Day 1
Squats @ 150 lbs – 5 reps x 5 sets with 3 minute rest
Deadlifts @183 lbs – 5 reps x 5 sets with 3 minute rest
Wide grip Bench Press @ 106 lbs – 5 reps x 5 sets with 3 minute rest
Day 2
Squats @ 150 lbs – 6 reps x 4 sets with 3 minute rest
Deadlifts @183 lbs – 6 reps x 4 sets with 3 minute rest
Wide grip Bench Press @ 106 lbs – 6 reps x 4 sets with 3 minute rest
Day 3
Squats @ 150 lbs – 8 reps x 3 sets with 3 minute rest
Deadlifts @183 lbs – 8 reps x 3 sets with 3 minute rest (DID NOT FINISH EVEN ONE SET)
Wide grip Bench Press @ 106 lbs – 8 reps x 3 sets with 3 minute rest
I struggled at the finale of this cycle; I had to take one day off in between to work out alternate days for my lower back to recover and also to prevent lower back injury which I am prone to getting.
So this time I took longer rest in between sets and also a slight switch in the workouts – I did the deadlifts last so my lower back can recuperate in time. Thus I came back attacking this week…
WEEK CYCLE 2
Day 1 (16th April)
Squats @ 150 lbs – 5 reps x 5 sets with 4 minute rest
Wide grip Bench Press @ 117 lbs – 5 reps x 5 sets with 4 minute rest
Deadlifts @183 lbs – 5 reps x 5 sets with 4 minute rest
Day 2 (18th April)
Squats @ 150 lbs – 6 reps x 4 sets with 4 minute rest
Wide grip Bench Press @Â 117 lbs – 6 reps x 4 sets with 4 minute rest
Deadlifts @183 lbs – 6 reps x 4 sets with 4 minute rest
Day 3 (20th April – today!)
Squats @ 150 lbs – 8 reps x 3 sets with 4 minute rest
Wide grip Bench Press @Â 117 lbs – 8 reps x 3 sets with 4 minute rest
Deadlifts @183 lbs – 8 reps x 3 sets with 4 minute rest
YES! The entire cycle of workouts done with each rep and set executed flawlessly! No half-ass, no rushing it and no half-reps whatsoever – which have been my way of doing it for the longest time.
I’ll be doing an RM test again next week and after that my working out routine will change. I got myself sick in the last two cycles that affected me from doing my usual online business, so I could use some change this round.
Hey! This month marks two years of my fitness training with the coaching and guidance of my personal trainer Qunling Koay.
I’m particularly happy about today because the training paid off when I successfully smashed all of my best records from last year in a RM Test (or Repetition Math) – it basically is a fitness test to find out the heaviest weights you can lift in a single rep.
“Video Or It Didn’t Happen!” And yep, I was recorded when I gave my best today in all the three work outs.
RM TEST #1: SQUATS
I did Squats at 3 reps x 172 lbs; The theoretical 1 rep would be 182 lbs.
My previous records were 140 lbs (June 2012) and 134 lbs (Nov 2012). RM TEST #2: DEAD LIFT
I did Dead Lifts at 1 rep x 249 lbs; one set before this I did 3 reps x 216 lbs.
My previous records were 210 lbs (June 2012) and 158 lbs (Nov 2012).
RM TEST #3: WIDE GRIP BENCH PRESS
I did wide grip Bench Press at 1 rep x 139 lbs; I was aiming for 2 but accomplished only one as you can see in the video.
My previous record was 117 lbs (Nov 2012).
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
My body weight as of today is 58KG (127 lbs) or vs 63.1 KG (June 2012).
So in spite of the drop in body weight I am able to lift heavier than before! Now you know why I feel superbly happy and confident 🙂
8 years ago today, I was just starting out my online business on a second hand computer and 56K modem for Internet connection in the suburbs of Gelang Patah.
On this day, another list from my Dream Bucket was about to be realized.
The 15 of us had our early breakfast in the streets of Mongkok before taking a bus to Sai Kung with the Hong Kong airsoft players. We would later take a ferry across to an island – and damn, the jungle here is super dense! The last time anyone came here was 6 months ago.
I was nervous at first, in spite of being told that this is just a friendly match with no serious competition whatsoever. Probably because of the fact that 6 of my team mates came to Hong Kong last year only to get trashed badly in a series of CQB skirmishes.
And the fact that their average player has nearly 20 years of experience in airsofting – the ‘youngest’ player has 10 years of experience. I feel like a rookie now.
For most of the day, our Malaysian team pitted against the Hong Kong team Unicorn and its allies in over 4 rounds.
The outcome for each round is not that clear since each round timed out with survivors from both sides, but this much is clear: the Hong Kong players are superior in tactics. And of course, since we are fighting on THEIR turf they have the benefit of knowing the terrain already + they get to mod their airsoft guns, whereas for many of us our airsoft guns were stock.
I don’t know if this is something to be proud of mentioning but… we actually did pwn them badly in 2 of the fast, direct-confrontation matches – maybe thanks to us growing up in our Malaysian ‘samseng’ culture? Haha!
I’m pretty certain if they put in an effort they could beat us flatly but that wasn’t the objective. 🙂 At the end of the day, we forged new connections and friendships through the tactical sport – and we are now in touch through Facebook and WhatsApp. Will this be a great motivator for me to finally speak Cantonese?
And hey, the prospects are bright – since these guys are national players we are now in the loop whenever there are airsoft games or tournaments going on outside of Malaysia.
Alright I won’t bore you too much with the details, I’ll share some of the photos I took on this big day. 🙂
It was an expensive trip to Hong Kong – and a rushed one – but I don’t regret coming here at all. 🙂
ADDED 9th April 2013:
This is overdue… finally here’s the compiled video footage from my GoPro camera when playing Airsoft in Hong Kong. Enjoy! 🙂
