Tuesday, October 04, 2016

Ticker Tracker: Suunto Ambit Run

I've got this decent $300 fitness watch called the Suunto Ambit Run that does a good job of tracking what I've been up to. It's not exactly what I wanted: it really is heavily geared for running rather than the cross-training I invest in, and while it's fun to get the GPS going on the rare occasions I'm able to get out trail running (when I'm back in the ol' 819) Geo-positioning is kinda pointless on a hockey rink :D

Below are two recent displays. The first is from yesterday afternoon's gym session, the second day of my new more cardio-centric regime, and the second is a typical 80mins Hockey Night in Jakarta session with the #JakartaDragons

GYM: Eight spikes to 178bpm for the intervals and then a range between 118-152bpm when I got stuck into three Supersets for Back and Biceps. Average bpm 135; total burn was 626cals over 72mins.

HOCKEY: We're on-ice 80-85 mins including warm-up. Three team round-robin of two-minute shifts; if you score you remain on the ice and the opponent changes, so read the 'valleys' as bench time. If you read it closely you'll divine that between 30-42mins my team choked, only managing to stay on ice for a couple of minutes, and then woke up for the next 15 minutes. Ave 155bpm, peak at 191bpm; total burn 1,086cals 

Monday, October 03, 2016

Grinch Preps Assault on Mt Geezer



A couple of people recently asked what I’m doing for exercise.
Aceh 2009
This week I’m kicking off a pre-Christmas assault on Mt Geezer with a new three-day plan (plus regular Hockey Night in Jakarta). I went on a tear a couple of months back, dropped cardio from my regime (except for hockey), started moving a lot of heavy dumbbells and packed on muscle (I tipped the scales at 95kg the other morning up from 88/89) in fairly rapid order which ain’t bad for a geezer. But now it’s time for a change.
My goals are to increase cardio stamina, carve off some of the visceral fat choking my internal organs, and build strength while experimenting with a low-weigh/high-rep approach to weight training for the first time.
So where to start… Virtually all the shouting about fitness on YouTube and elsewhere on the internet machine is targeted at 18-35 y/o men, the same demographic the PTs focus on: there’s almost nothing useful for 50+ men and women who face completely different issues of metabolism, diet, muscle and bone deterioration, lifestyle etc. (Oh, and abdominals? Fuck you and your ab-sessions: I do a bit of ab work so I don’t double over when my six-year-old son punches me in the gut but I’ll leave the sub-8% body fat for emaciated under-25s)
The routine I’ve cooked up is based on what I’ve learned in the six years I’ve been exercising regularly, and what I’ve picked reading and watching others.
Jakarta 2016
The big change for me is that each gym day starts with a solid cardio commitment (like I used to, frackin’ frack da frack) of 3.5km of intervals increasing gradually to 5km to get the metabolism amped up and build resilience so I’m not a heaving sack of shite at the end of every shift on ice. Some people prefer cardio as a closer; me, I know if I don’t do it going in it ain’t gonna get done. Besides, closing with sprints means I’ll be sweating for the next two hours.
I know that once I’ve got my metabolism ticking over I can sustain a heart rate of 135-155bpm through 40-50mins worth of supersets (time permitting), which’ll cumulatively burn 600-750 calories/session or roughly five brewskies.
(For those unfamiliar, supersets involve completing two full exercises in tandem before moving on to the next superset. For example, 15 Preacher Curls + 18 Lat Pull-downs, rest 30secs and repeat x more times/sets. If you stick to the 30-sec cycle it is by far the most time-efficient way of really stressing out your muscles while keeping your heart rocking)
The other thing that’ll change is I’m dropping the weight and increasing the reps (except for things like dead lifts & squats). Why?
1.       Pragmatism. The gym only has DBs to 20kg and that hasn’t been enough for quite some time. I really prefer dumbbells to barbells bc they force you to make all kinds of tiny adjustments during the lift which contributes to stressing the muscles. They also force you to focus on proper form which is something I’m obsessed with.
2.       I’ve never worked out with “low weight/high reps” before and I’m curious to see what the effects will be on the new muscle mass. There’s growing research that the old orthodoxy about lift “heavy for mass and light for definition” is hogwash but I’d like to see for myself.
3.       Finally, geezers are more prone to injury. As cool as it feels to juggle 18/20kg DBs with ease & max out the stack of weights in a seated row, it also feels like I’m living on borrowed time. So, except for the squats and deadlifts (ok… and maybe the seated row), no more heavy weights.
Food
For me exercise is the easy part. Eating right and staying off the grog is much harder. So, I’m recommitted to nutrition and smart eating the way I used to be, six times a day, lots of water to knock back thirst-masquerading-as-hunger, veggies and lean proteins, cut out the Siren Song of deep-fried deliciousness that I find every day when I get home from work, ration the chocolate and allow the booze once-per-week.
I’m supplementing my food (see, I don’t use the word diet) with Whey protein powder every morning, Creatine for strength and mass, and BCAA to improve recovery time and prevent muscle loss due to the leaner diet (doh!).
Timing
Efficiency is the goal. Ninety minutes from the moment I enter the gym till the time I leave, so call it 1:15 total. I expect I may have to drop one Superset from each routine until I can streamline things a bit. More reps means more time than I’m used to, there’s probably too many one-arm movements, and the layout of the gym has changed a bit adding 30secs to many of the sets I’ve designed, and incrementally chewing up time I don’t have.
Anyway here’s what I’m going to get up to (with tweaks as I learn where I’ve screwed up)

Day 1: Chest & Triceps
Cardio: Sprint Intervals                                  20-30min            
Superset                             Set x Rep
1.                          DB Bench Press                  5 x 15/18
Skull crusher                       5 x 15/18

2.                          One-arm DB Bench Press   4 x 15/18
One Arm Pushdown           4 x 15/18

3.                          Seated Chest Press              3 x 15/18
Cable Pushdown                 3 x 15/18

4.                          Cable Fly                            3 x 15/18
DB Kick Back                     3 x 15/18             

5.                          Hanging Leg Raise              3 x TBA
DB Woodchopper                3 x TBA

Day 2: Back – Biceps
Cardio: Sprint Intervals                                  20-30min            
Superset                               Set x Rep
1.                          BB Deadlift                         3 x 6/8
Concentration curl               5 x 15/18

2.                           Lat pull-down                      4 x 15/18
One Arm Preacher Curl        4 x 15/18             

3.                           Seated DB row                    3 x 15/18
BB curl                                 3 x 15/18

4.                          Horizontal Pull-up                3 x TBA
Hammer Curl                        3 x 15/18

5.                          Side Plank                             3 x TBA
Lying Leg Raise (bench)       3 x 25

Day 3 - Legs & Shoulders
Cardio: Sprint Intervals                                  20-30min            
Superset                                Set x Rep
1.                         Front Squat                             3 x 6/8
           DB Plie Squat                         3 x 6/8

2.                        DB Curl and Press                  5 x 15/18
           Lunge                                      5 x TBA

3.                      DB High Pull                            4 x 15/18             
          DB Step-Up                              4 x TBA

4.                      Front Cable Raise                     4 x 15/18
          Lateral Lunge (‘goblet style’)  4 x TBA

5.                     Glute Bridge                             3 x TBA
         Plank                                         3 x TBA

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Fault Lines - Seafood Slaves




It has been a year since AP broke open the fisheries #slavery story here. Much has been written about what was happening in #Benjina and later, #Ambon where our ops were based.
#AlJazeeraAmerica came late to the party but put together a quality 30-minute piece about the issue that's really worth a view here.