Me: Great to have you here today, Mr Hulk. So sorry that you have to sit on the ground. We have tried our best to find a chair you wouldn’t crush, but Magneto stole all our adamantium chairs.

The Incredible Hulk: Me no mind.

Me: So Mr Hulk, what are your stats?

The Incredible Hulk: Me is nyan feet tall, one thousand and nyanty pounds. Me lost weight after joining Avengers. Fighting baddies very catabolic.

Me: Ahh… I see. I see. I recommend you take BCAA the next time you go into battle. It really works. Mix the whole bottle withh.. ah screw it, you can just eat the whole damn thing. Anyway, let’s move on. Tell us, what workout plan helped form your 100% fat-free, beyond perfect, all chiseled tank of a body?

The Incredible Hulk: Mondays, me smash cars and bench press lorries. Wednesdays, me jump across deserts. Fridays, me throw tanks. Sundays, me Hulk Smash!

Me: Uh huh! So that’s your secret workout! There you go guys! What are you waiting for? Time to hit the gym… err, I mean scrap metal junkyard and deserts. Okay, so let’s move on to diet. What does your diet consist of?

The Incredible Hulk: Chicken, oatmeal, almonds, beef.

Me: Oh hey!! That’s what I eat! What a coincidence!! But how come I’m not as big as you? I eat a pound of chicken a day, half a pound of oatmeal and a handful of almonds. How about you?

The Incredible Hulk: Me eat five chickens, one acre oatmeal farm, one almond tree and a cow day.

Me: I knew it! I must increase my food intake from now onwards! How about supplements? You take any of those?

The Incredible Hulk: One scoop of Gamma Ray every morning and before sleeping.

Me: Ahhh… nice. And which brand is that supplement under?

The Incredible Hulk: Stark Industries.

Me: Hmmm… I wonder if they sell it here in Singapore. Lastly, do you have any advice for our readers?

The Incredible Hulk: Wear very loose and stretchable pants when you train. Train with rage.

Me: Thanks for that, Mr Hulk! And something just popped into my mind. Erm… hope you don’t mind me asking… but… do you like, erm… take any… steroids?

The Incredible Hulk: Steroids? Me no take steroids. Steroids for sissies, like Craptain America.

Me: Wow! So you’re all natural! See guys, who says you have to resort to steroids to obtain a body like that? So Mr Hulk, how could your fans get in touch with you? Or perhaps, approach you for personal training?

The Incredible Hulk: Add me on Facebook.

Well, my progress during the eighth week out was slowed down by too many outings with friends but since seven weeks out, dieting and training is full speed ahead! I’ve never felt so motivated to train before. Now, most of my workouts are early in the day because as soon as I wake up, I’m just raring to hit the gym and lift some heavy ass weights!

Check out my progress photos from 18th April to 6th May. My v-taper has improved and so has my quad and abs definition. And of course, my body fat percentage is lower as you can see from my leaner cheeks. Notice that my skin got a lot better too. And no, I did not get a tan. It’s just that in the before photo, I wasn’t sleeping so well, I had dandruff, my skin was pale and so on. But I got better after that. Overall, I think my progress was slow, but it will definitely speed up from now onward.

Weight wise, I got down from 76kg to 74kg and maintained all my strength. Not much weight loss, but I’m not planning to lose that much weight either. My main goal isn’t to hit a certain weight. It’s always to be as ripped as possible while holding on to as much muscle as possible. Weight is a very inaccurate measurement of progress unless you’re obese when you began.

As the saying goes, if you want to be the best, you have to learn from the best. So lately, I’ve been asking local champs for advice and modified my routine and diet accordingly.

Six Weeks Out Diet Plan

My diet has not change much, except that I have cut my calorie intake to about 2100 calories per day. Plus, I make sure that when I do take carbs, it’s in small portions so I won’t spike my insulin levels and make it harder for my body to burn fat. This is of course, not applied to my refeed meal, which is the fifth meal of every third day. However, I’m doing it according to the recommendation of Scivation’s Game Over Diet which states that almonds should be taken with the refeed meal to slow down digestion and insulin release.

Six Weeks Out Training Plan

Training wise, I still focus on the basic compound movements and not much of the fancy stuff. Right now, I’m training arms twice a week because in Malaysia, arms and legs play a big role in bodybuilding contests. Plus, genetically, most of the Malay bodybuilders have big limbs, so I must be prepared to at least be just as good.

I’ve changed all my cardio from slow cardio to HIIT to burn fat faster. I used to be concerned that on a low carb diet, HIIT will actually be catabolic. But from my observation of my strength levels, my carb intake is enough to fuel my HIIT workouts. If you’re planning to implement HIIT into your routine too, make sure that you have enough energy to last you through each session, cause it’s really intense and makes you feel really hungry afterwards!

Day 1 – Arms, Abs, Cardio

Day 2 – Legs

Day 3 – Rest

Day 4 – Chest, Abs

Day 5 – Arms, Cardio

Day 6 – Back, Cardio

Day 7 – Shoulders, Cardio

Day 1

Concentration Curls – 1 warm up, 4 sets (forced reps)

Barbell Curls – 3 sets (cheat)

Hammer Curls – 3 sets (last set is a drop set)

Rope Pressdowns – 1 warm up, 4 sets (last set is a drop set)

EZ Bar Skullcrushers – 3 sets

Parallel Dips – 3 sets (drop sets)

Decline Leg Raise – 3 sets

Machine Crunches – 3 sets

Seated Tucks – 3 sets

Day 2

Squats – 1 warm up, 4 sets

Straight Leg Deadlifts – 1 warm up, 4 sets

Lunges – 3 sets

Leg Extensions – 4 sets (last set is a drop set)

Lying Leg Curls – 4 sets (last set is a drop set)

Day 4

Flay Dumbbell Flys – 2 sets

Superset: Incline Bench Press, Incline Dumbbell Flys – 1 warm up, 4 sets

Dumbbell Pullovers – 3 sets

Parallel Dips – 3 sets (all sets are drop sets)

Push Ups – 3 sets

Cable Crunches – 3 sets

Vertical Bench Leg Raise – 3 sets

Decline Crunches – 3 sets

Day 5

Machine Curls – 1 warm up, 4 sets (last set is a drop set)

EZ Bar Curls – 4 sets (cheat)

Alternate Dumbbell Curls – 4 sets (last set is a drop set)

Dumbbell Kickbacks – 1 warm up, 4 sets (last set is a drop set)

Machine Triceps Extensions – 4 sets

One Arm Rope Pressdowns – 4 sets (forced reps)

Day 6

Underhand Barbell Rows – 1 warm up, 4 sets (last set is a drop set)

Deadlifts – 1 warm, 4 sets

Superset: Behind-the-neck lat pulldowns, lat pulldowns – 3 sets

Seated Cable Rows – 3 sets (last set is a drop set)

Day 7

Smith Machine Military Press – 1 warm up, 4 sets (last set is a drop set)

Smith Machine Upright Rows – 4 sets (cheat)

Dumbbell Side Laterals – 3 sets (flush sets, which means, after you’re done with normal reps, you hold the weight up in position as long as possible)

Front Dumbbell Raises – 3 sets (flush sets)

So that’s my update for six weeks out. Like Fabodylous’ fan page to find out how I will fare at Mr Kuala Lumpur 2012!

Now, this post isn’t about explaining scientifically how untrue the statements about bodybuilders in this infograph are.  I think that most of you could figure that to build muscle, you need to give your body what it needs and not deprive it. And although strength isn’t the main goal, most bodybuilders are definitely stronger than most people.

Instead, I want to talk about the maturity of the person who created such infograph. Firstly, why the hell did he do it for? I can tell the idiot who created it is pro-strongman. That’s more than ok. I’m not against strongman at all. In fact, I enjoy watching strongman events. BUT, this noob is giving both bodybuilders and strongmen a bad image.

Now, in terms of sports, I may only be into bodybuilding and I may have no idea what exactly an offside is, but I still have respect for athletes of other spots. I don’t insult them that they are not as big and strong as bodybuilders. Why would I? That’d be dumb. It’s like a golfer telling a basketball player “Betcha can’t hit a hole-in-one” or a sprinter telling a gymnast “Betcha can’t run 100m in less than 10 seconds”. They don’t fucking care!

Each sport has its own discipline and required skills. Some need strength. Some need speed. Some need teamwork. Some need physique. Wouldn’t the be boring if we only have one sport?

Thus, I would like to say that all of us should have respect for athletes of other sports and stop this “My sport is better than yours!” nonsense. Rivalry between sports is not needed. Forcing your sport onto others is like forcing your religion onto others. It’s a choice everyone is free to make on their own. Just love the sport you’re in, be proud of it and let others be proud of the sport they’re in. Nuff’ said.

Now like this post if you agree with me.

Mr Kuala Lumpur 2012 Information

Date: 17th June 2012

Time: Registration: 10am Showtime: 12pm

Venue: Wisma OCM, Kuala Lumpur

Diet and Training

Right now I am 76kg (167lbs) after a short and successful clean bulking program. Thus, in the photos you see here, I’m actually 5kg bigger than before, with little fat gained. And yes, my skin looks bad, but it’s because I’ve been sleeping really late lately. That will change. Anyway, why bulk when I’m so close to a contest? Well, one mistake I’ve regretted during my previous bulking routines is that I don’t watch exactly what I eat. I still estimate (instead of measure) portions and I eat out often. I had the mentality of “since I’m bulking, I can eat whatever I want, in huge portions”. This time, it was really a clean and detailed diet and I ate out only during social occasions (which is just no more than twice a week). In addition to that, since I was already lean at twelve weeks out of the contest, I thought, “Why not put on some size and go in the contest big and ripped?”.

So now bulking is over. I have 58 days left as of now to get in the best shape of my life to place well in my category and most of all, beat my 2010 condition by a mile (it’d suck if I just improved by just a little in two years). And this year, the competition will be tougher cause I won’t be in the juniors anymore. It’s time to duke it out with the big boys in the open category! So there’s no more time to play around. No eating out, no staying up late, no partying, no eating out. It’s dieting and training full speed ahead!

My goal for this contest is to come in at 71-75kg and leaner than I was in 2010 (where I came into the contest weighing 67kg at around 5% bodyfat) and get into the top three in my category. Plus, I want to improve some body parts specifically, such as my weak points, chest and arms. And lastly, no diarrhea on the morning of the contest this time. -_-”

So here’s my diet and training plan for Mr Kuala Lumpur 2012.

Mr Kuala Lumpur 2012 Pre-Contest Diet

For now, my calorie intake is still pretty high for cutting. I’m not going to repeat the mistake I made in 2010, which was to cut calories too much and too fast (I ate as little as 1 700kcal per day in preparation for Mr KL 2010). As the contest approaches, I’m probably going as low as 2000-2100 but that’s it.

Mr Kuala Lumpur 2012 Pre-Contest Training

Day 1 – Back, Biceps, 30 minutes slow cardio

Day 2 – Chest – 40 minutes slow cardio

Day 3 – Legs, Abs

Day 4 – rest

Day 5 – Chest, Triceps

Day 6 – Shoulders, Abs, 30 minutes slow cardio

Day 7 – 30 minutes HIIT

I keep my rep range between 8-12 reps. On squats and deadlifts, if I feel like it, I might go as low as six.

Day 1

Reverse Grip Barbell Rows – 1 Warm-Up, 4 sets (last set is drop set)

Deadlifts – 1 Warm-Up, 4 sets

Superset: Chin Ups, Lat Pulldowns – 3 sets

Seated Cable Rows – 3 sets (last set is drop set)

EZ Bar Curls – 3 sets

Concentration Curls – 3 sets (forced reps)

Hammer Curls – 3 sets (last set is drop set)

Day 2

Incline Bench Press – 1 Warm-Up, 4 sets (last set is drop set)

Lying Machine Bench Press – 4 sets (last set is drop set)

Weighted Parallel Dips – 3 (all sets are drop sets)

FST-7: Dumbbell Flys

Day 3

Squats – 1 Warm-Up, 4 sets

Leg Extensions – 4 sets (last set is drop set)

Hack Squats – 3 sets (last set is drop set)

Superset: Straight-legged Deadlifts, Lying Leg Curls – 4 sets

Lunges – 3 sets

Decline Crunches – 3 sets

Leg Raise on Decline Bench – 3 sets

Machine Crunches – 3 sets

Day 5

Superset: Bench Press, Push Ups – 1 Warm-Up, 4 sets

Superset: Decline Flys, Decline Dumbbell Press – 4 sets

Seated Machine Bench Press – 4 sets (last set is drop set)

Rope Pressdowns – 3 sets (last set is drop set)

Machine Triceps Extensions – 3 sets

One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensions – 3 sets (forced reps)

Day 6

Superset: Machine Shoulder Press, Dumbbell Side Laterals – 1 Warm-Up, 4 sets

Wide Grip Upright Rows – 1 Warm-Up, 3 sets

Seated Arnold Press – 3 sets (last set is drop set)

Bent-Over Dumbbell Laterals – 3 sets

Cable Crunches – 3 sets

Seated Tucks – 3 sets

Bicycle – 3 sets

I will really appreciate any constructive feedback on my diet or training. I’m not gonna be an ass and just do what I do cause I don’t listen to advice. Victory over ego. And if you have any questions about why I do certain things in a certain way, post them on my Facebook fan page!

From now onward, I will update Fabodylous with my progress every fortnight. Like my fan page to stay updated!

And if any of you guys do attend the event too, do introduce yourself and say hi. I have gotten a few of those during my last contest, it’s really encouraging and yes, I would love to get to know my readers.

Train hard!

It is called the Singapore Sling Flight package. Guests will enjoy a ride on the Singapore Flyer in a special ultra-classy club-like VIP cabin called the Champagne Capsule by Moët and Chandon (only two out of 28 capsules). In addition to that, guests will be served with a glass of freshly mixed Singapore Sling, Singapore’s national all-time classic cocktail on the flyer itself! That plus the BOSE speaker in the cabin playing the latest club hits (or you can plug in your own music player if you prefer Justin Bieber or erm… The Bee Gees) will make your experience awesome beyond level 9000!!!

Thanks to my good friend, Yong Wei (click here to read his blog), I was able to be a part of the launching of the new offering.

Enjoy the ride!

Fulvia briefing us on the launch of this new ride package.

Photos of the Moët and Chandon Champagne Capsule. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. Yong Wei did not tell me we were gonna go on the Singapore Flyer!

Again, sorry for the sucky photos. However, visualize yourself on a date with the person you love and after a romantic dinner at your favourite fine dining restaurant, both of you take a Singapore Sling Flight on the Singapore Flyer. Then, when the right song starts playing, the mood is right, the two of you are alone, high above the city, in your own private cabin, both of you start to      (fill in the blank with the activity of your choice)     .

For the launch of the Singapore Sling Flight, Singapore Flyer decided to make it extra special for us bloggers! So, for tonight, we got to MIX our own Singapore Sling!

Here is our bartender for tonight, Alice, with her arsenal of spirits and juices to create the world-famous concoction.

First up, we have Goh “I’m-Not-Fat-I’m-Bulking” Yong Wei as our first volunteer of the night!

Then it’s my turn!

Alice guiding me, the drink-mixing noob on the ingredients and portions needed to formulate the Singapore Sling.

*Trying to look like I know what I’m doing*

And… WALLAH!!

Enjoying my masterpiece with events, photography, contest, food and movie review blogger, Hong Peng. Click here to check out his blog!

So, wasn’t that fun?! Don’t you wish to experience it first hand? Well, then head on to The Singapore Flyer to enjoy this new experience today! Price is only $70 (RM175) per pax (worth the experience)! Click here for more information.

To learn more about the Singapore Flyer, click here!

After all, we only want the best for our bodies right?

What is the difference between high and low quality proteins?

High quality protein means that the protein is complete. It has all the essential amino acids for the body to utilize, recover and grow. High quality protein also have high Biological Value (BV). BV is a measure of the absorption rate of protein, ranking them according to how much protein will the body actually utilize. The higher the Biological Value of the protein you use, the more nitrogen your body can absorb, use, and retain. As a result, proteins with the highest BV promote the most lean muscle gains. Whey protein has the highest BV value, rating as a 104. Egg protein is only second to whey rating as a 100 with milk proteins being a close third rating as 91. Beef rates as an 80 with soy proteins a distant 74. Bean proteins, due to the fact that they are plant-based proteins, only rate a 49.

Long story short, high quality proteins are definitely essential and better for muscle growth and recovery while low quality proteins do less. That being said, I’m sure you want to know which proteins you put into your system, to help you recover and grow from all the hard work and intense workouts, are high of good quality, yes?

What are sources of high quality protein?

Common sources include:

Whey Protein
Egg Whites
Lean Red Meats
Chicken Breast
Fish

So before you learn that foods such as beans are packed with protein and start scuffing them down to account for your protein intake, not to say that bean proteins or vegetable proteins are 100% useless, but try to get the bulk of your protein intake from quality sources such as those mentioned above!

This is becoming such a cliche but…… “It’s not just the quanity, but the quality too”

This is Ashley Foo signing off, going to breastfeed once again. No joke.

This breast, of course.

This post is written by Ashley Foo. Ashley who? You might not have heard of him yet, but you soon will when he hits the stage in the years to come. For now, he’s just a 17-year old kid…

who benches 100kg for reps. And yes, Ashley is a guy’s name too.

For more useful nutritional tips, like our fan page!

As a nutrition coach, it always amazes me how much time athletes and bodybuilders focus on working out, performance, and performance-based nutrition yet often ignore the science of nutrition and muscle damage or muscle repair.

Every bodybuilder knows that the basic process of building stronger muscles involves breaking down muscle fibers so that they can rebuild and regrow even bigger and stronger. Yet when you look at 99% of bodybuilding supplements or nutrition tips for athletes, it’s almost always about performance.

I’m sure you’ve seen all the flashy ads about saying things like, “Take this creatine and GET RIPPED!” or “Drink this protein shake and watch your muscles BULGE!” and many of you have probably even looked into things like anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. THIS IS NOT HOW YOU BUILD A STRONG BODY LONG-TERM!

The very process of muscle growth should give you a hint about the role of nutrition in increasing muscle strength and performance. Think about it – your body literally has to tear muscle fibers in order to make them grow. Thus, the entire process of muscle growth is actually a process of muscle repair! It’s not really growth at all (in the sense of normal growth, such as when a child grows from 4’10 to 5’1).

Thus, if you really want long-term muscle growth and performance that will stand the test of time, you need to focus on nutrition for cellular repair, not on quick-fix solutions that may increase muscle size rapidly but cause massive organ damage to other parts of your body. What’s the point of GETTING RIPPED and sick? Why not get ripped and even healthier at the same time?

Preventing Burnout and Muscle Damage in Bodybuilders

The key to nutrition for protecting and helping muscle repair and reducing muscle damage is understanding oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is a dangerous byproduct of the process whereby your body burns food for fuel combined with oxygen at the cellular level to produce ATP (energy). In this chemical reaction, your body actually produces free radicals or oxidative radicals that are molecules missing an electron. Because they are missing an electron, these molecules are highly unstable and will damage any other molecules they come into contact with, creating a chain reaction of damage inside your body.

When free radicals hit your DNA, they can cause mutations. When they hit your blood vessels, it can lead to hardening of the arteries and heart disease. When free radicals damage your skin, it can cause wrinkles and fine lines. And when free radicals hit the proteins in your muscles, it can cause permanent muscle damage by creating protein carbonyls and other damaged proteins.

This process of oxidative stress is why so many athletes experience burnout or overtraining syndrome – because your body literally cannot repair the oxidative damage nearly as fast as you’re producing it in your exercise routine. In fact, exercising dramatically increases your oxidative stress load – so the more you exercise, the more you need to protect your body from oxidative stress.

The only way to reduce oxidative stress throughout the entire body is to eat more antioxidants from whole fruits, vegetables, berries and other plant sources. An apple, for instance, has over 10,000 phytonutrients or antioxidants – and those are just the ones scientists have discovered! There are probably tens of thousands more that we haven’t yet isolated. But what we know for sure from the research is that eating these nutrients from whole foods will reduce your levels of oxidative stress and reduce your levels of protein carbonyls and damaged muscle proteins.

That’s why the USDA recommends eating 7-13 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. And for serious athletes, you should be eating at least 13 servings a day. And that’s 13 servings of RAW, fresh, vine-ripened fruits and vegetables and it should be a variety as well – not just 13 apples.

Supplements For Muscle Repair

Because of the research on oxidative stress, muscle damage and muscle repair, the only supplement I take personally and recommend for athletes and bodybuilders is a raw food supplement – a fruit and vegetable juice powder concentrate. It’s the only supplement I’ve ever seen shown in a double-blind, placebo controlled study to dramatically reduce protein carbonyls and muscle damage in athletes. It’s also been shown to reduce sick days in elite athletes by as much as 50%. You can read more about the fruit and vegetable concentrate here.

This article written by Tom Corson-Knowles, founder of Authentic Health Coaching. You can get Dr. Candace Corson’s Top 5 Nutrition Tips Report for free at www.AuthenticHealthCoach.com

To stay updated with more great bodybuilding tips, like Fabodylous’ fan page!

Like my fan page for more photo shoots!

Guacamole

Ingredients

2 medium-sized ripe avocados

1 tomato, de-seeded and cubed

1 onion/spring onion, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped coriander

Lemon juice and salt (to taste)

Sour cream (optional)

Note: To differentiate between ripe & unripe avocados, look at their skin. Green ones are unripe, & brown ones are ripe. To open an avocado, run the knife around the avocado & twist the avocado halves. Once its open, use the end of the knife to stick the seed to the blade, twist it & remove the seed. Then, use a spoon to remove the flesh of the avocado.

Instructions

De-seed the avocado, scoop out its flesh and mash finely.

Mix all ingredients and season with lemon juice and salt.

Set aside.

Salsa

Ingredients

1 medium tomato, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped coriander

1 medium onion, finely sliced

2 teaspoons lemon rind

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 chilli, finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.

Set aside.

Quesadilla

(Serves 3-4 pax)

Ingredients

Guacamole

Salsa

Shredded cheddar cheese

Tortilla bread

Instructions

Heat a large, non-stick pan with low heat. Warm a piece of tortilla for about 30 seconds.

Spread a thin layer of guacamole, then top with some salsa and cheese.

Fold the tortilla in half, pan-fry each side with medium heat for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

Once cooked, take out the quesadilla and cut it into three triangular pieces and serve.

Author’s Info

My name is Win Sern, 23 and I’m from Klang, Selangor. I joined Fabodylous (created by Lai Wee Kiat) recently because I like to share cooking tips with all of you, as well as healthy recipes.

I enjoy cooking, baking or anything related to food. Currently, I’m a Junior Baker at BreadStory in Ikano Power Centre in Petaling Jaya. I’m pretty new to blog and still getting the hang of it.

When it comes to food, there’s no limitation to creativity & flavors. It’s all about having fun, creativity, knowing your ingredients well & how to cook properly. My ambition is to be a chef, regardless being a celebrity chef or not, I would like to share the experience & love of food to everyone.

So, if you have any questions relating to food, feel free to e-mail me at forest_winsern@yahoo.com or add me on Facebook (send me a private message & we’ll talk about it). I’ll see you next time!

Want to learn more delicious and healthy recipes? Like our fan page to stay updated!

Thanks loads, WeightTraining.com.

Like our page for more cool and fun bodybuilding info! Don’t forget to share this with your friends too!