T+1's blog

Neuro Linguistic Programming

2006-12-25T04:13:00.000-08:00

Emotions lead to thought; Thought leads to actions; Actions lead to results.

By modelling certain state of mind (either ourselves or others), we can get the result we want by NLP.

The principle of NLP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming

NLP is based on the idea that with our senses we are able to percieve only a small part of the world. Our view of the world is filtered by our experience, beliefs, values and assumptions. We act on our perception of the world rather than the real world.

In other words, we feel happy when we recall something enjoyable. We feel moody when we get stucked with painful memory.

Temporary Airbrush Tattoos

2006-12-25T00:32:00.000-08:00

On x'mas eve, i was so bored that i went to try temporary airbrush tattoo on "the walk" of The Curve.
The result...

The pretty counter girl said it can last up to 7 days.
To me, gifted with super oily skin, it starts to fade on the second day morning. The fading effect is so ugly that i hv no choice but to remove it manually.

However i can see that temporary airbrush tattoos is quite a profitable biz. there r quite many youngsters looking on it curiously and some of them go to try it.

Lampe Berger, other side of story...

2006-11-23T07:51:00.000-08:00

Recently I joined Lampe Berger as franchisee, even through i knew that Lampe Berger is infamous as a con and scam (all credits go to SYN). I am neither blinded by greed, nor too foolish to believe in scam (i think so).

There are so many blogs (Lampe-Berger Help, Anti Lampe Berger) and forums (http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=323267) dedicated to the dark side of Lampe Berger. What are mentioned in those sites are definitely true and i do sympathize those victims.

What i would like to share is the brighter side of Lampe Berger.

Multi-level marketing (MLM) is just business model and it is neither good or bad. Usually it has tangible products to sell and networks of members. In fact, it is neither good or bad in nature.
In case of lampe berger, it is how SYN people recruits new members got criticized. They target on student by manipulating their lust to get rich.

Actually, Lampe Berger is a line quality product - natural essential oil. How It Works
However, I also don't believe in those extravagated miraculous effects.

Some facts about MLM:
99% or more lose money. However, there are some success stories where people really get financial freedom. It requires hard work, dedication, persistence, continuous learning and desire. Losing is a norm is any business, even losing money, people still can learn a lot from MLM.
What Can We Learn from Network Marketing?

Software Project

2006-11-05T06:12:00.000-08:00

I read a post in Lowyat http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=361736. Dunno its original, the picture describes what is software project. So real!

Personal Trainers

2006-10-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

i browsed a few pages of a book named "Scrawny to Brawny" in MPH. The author is a true hardgainer (ectomorph) who failed to bulk up in his young age despite all his hard work. Nevertheless, he was dedicated in helping others to achieve what the author could not achieve..

I was subconciously prejudiced against those skinny personal trainers in my fitness centre (celebrity fitness). However the reading changed my perspective. Those personal trainers are sure to understand that their physiques are less persuasive and they will be in disadvantages to get clients. Yet they are willing to take the challenges. I think it is plainly due to their enthusiasm in fitness/bodybuilding.

Although I still disagree with their method in training ; P , now i do respect those personal trainers.

Web 2.0 - new era of internet...

2006-10-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, when i heard "Web 2.0", i thought it is just a meaningless buzzword.

However the popularity of P2P (bt, eMule etc), blog, Wikipedia have marked a new era of internet.

In conventional web, the webpages are static and user can just view the pages. There is no two ways interaction.

In Web 2.0, it emphasizes in participation. more participation = more contents = attract more traffic = earn more $$

To participate in this trend, i am going to learn Ajax, which help improve user experience...

No Way Back!

2006-10-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

i found an interesting way to block user from "back" in IE & Firefox.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=574062

the idea is to auto forward (which counter the back effect) for every pages.

dunno why, the provided solution don't work in firefox. after some tries and errors, finally i found a combination to disable "back" in Firefox.

<html><head> <title> Foobar: Home </title>
<script> history.forward(); </script>
</head>
<body onunload="history.go(1);"> <h2> Home, Sweet Home </h2> <p>
<a href="foo.html"> foo! </a> </p> <p> <a href="bar.html"> bar! </a> </p>
</body></html>

the bold parts are the key parts to make it happen.

The secrets to faster gains

2006-10-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

in "Defy your genetics; nature designed you to hold as little muscle and as much fat as possible" http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_3_21/ai_n13504303/pg_1 it mention 3 interesting tricks to building muscle mass fast.
1. Spread your wings: stretch your muscles after workout
2. Go partway: cheating by partial range of motion
3. Break the taboo: active recovery on consecutive day

I practise 1 for long time already. It is effective.
Not quite interested in 2.

What more eye-opening is 3.

The related info can be found in http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_4_21/ai_n13667732/pg_2
Instead of resting for recovery, Chad Waterbury in the article recommended trainees to do workout with very light weight and high repetition (30-50 reps) on any day except the heavy weight day. The logic is reasonable - pumping the muscles will greatly increase the blood (bringing nutrients) to the muscles for repairing the damaged muscles.

IMO, high reps training will mostly train for muscle fiber type-I whereas muscle fiber type-II are recruited in heavy weight training. Therefore, it won't cause further damage to the damaged muscles.

benefit?

Faster Recovery
Increased Muscle Size
Reduced Muscle Soreness
Better Muscular Endurance

for the workout, KISS principle is applied. So, i can do the active recovery workouts at home.

a simple step to better life...

2006-10-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

[Simple Steps by Dr Arthur Caliandro]
Settle with the Past and Move On

We are products of everything that has ever happened to us -- a sum total of all our successes, failures, disappointments, and triumphs. Our childhoods are still with us every day. So are our mothers, our fathers, all the people who had a part in raising us, and -- to a greater or lesser extent -- every person we have ever known.
Who we are today is a combination of all the experiences we have had and all the reactions we have had to them.
Yet does our past determine our futures? To some extent, but not entirely. There's something even more important than the past we've had. It's our reaction and response to those experiences.
In other words, what counts is how effectively we are dealing with the past.
Many of us run a real danger of becoming crippled by the past, unable to move beyond it. And if that happens, we become its prisoner. I am continually amazed at the number of people I have talked with -- people in their seventies, eighties, and even nineties -- who remain stuck in their childhood traumas.
That needn't happed to us. As we grow and mature, we have a choice to make. We can choose to remain victims of the past or learn to deal with our earlier lives in a way that serves us, not cripples us. We can find ways to learn and grow from everything that has ever happened to us.
Whether your past has been happy or sad, troubled or calm, today is a new day. It is a chance to move on.

******
This is so true in an important aspect of my life... I am totally crippled by my past, unconsciously...
... today is a new day. It is a chance to move on.

JSP Parser

2006-09-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

I was required to write a program to parse JSP for texts in the JSP. Googled for "JSP parser", most results are either irrelevant or a module in servlet/JSP containers. So i decided to write my own simple JSP parser. Initially, I tried with a naive regular expression:

>([^<>]+)<

It seems that this solution is simple enough with resonable results (about 10% of errors). Regular expression is such a powerful and handy tool for string manipulation. It is popular in scripting, yet not many java programmers know or learn it.

So i decided to refine the pattern to more complicated pattern, in order to reduce the error rate.
Then i found this pattern <([A-Z][A-Z0-9]*)\b[^>]*>(.*?) from http://www.regular-expressions.info/examples.html. This is the first time i learn backreference (\1 in the pattern). I thought it really solved my problem as it can scanned for matched tags. While this solution works most of the times, it does have a minor drawback- it cannot handle nested tag (such as <td>...<td> ...</td> ...</td>).
It seems that although this is acceptable, it is not perfect solution. Tedious human verification is required.
...
...
...

Finally i found HTML Parser (http://htmlparser.sourceforge.net/) which can solve my problem elegantly. What i need to do is just to extend org.htmlparser.visitors.NodeVisitor (actual implementation is just modified from org.htmlparser.visitors.TextExtractingVisitor).
After trying it, it leaves a final issue to solve...

HTML Parser cannot handle properly handle tags </tag between <SCRIPT> </SCRIPT>. HTML Parser assumes that first </tag marks the end of <SCRIPT>. Although this is hardly a issue in normal HTML, in many JSPs, JSP tags such a <logic:present ... can appear everywhere, including between script tags.

Since HTML Parser is subject to GNU Lesser General Public License, so it is legal to modify it ; P
After trying to understanding its code, i modified its org.htmlparser.lexer.Lexer.parseCDATA(boolean) parse for matched ending tag to opening tag. It works!

Lesson learnt: a good software is easy to understand, modify/fix (without breaking the code) and test. Its related behaviours are put into a single place (i.e. cohesive).
HTML Parser is a good example of quality software which undergoes continuous unittesting, enhancement and refactoring.

shoulder injury again...

2006-09-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

After performing last rep of seated dumbbell shoulder press, during rotating downwards dumbbell to side of hips (may be due to muscle fatigue, it is somehow uncontrolled), a shoulder subluxation happened on my left shoulder.

A shoulder subluxation is a temporary, partial dislocation of the shoulder joint. The shoulder is a ball and socket joint. The ball of the upper arm bone (humerus) is held into the socket (glenoid) of the shoulder blade (scapula) by a group of ligaments.

I could feel that my left shoulder had gone "in and out of joint" and a sound of bone rubbing was clearly heard, followed by pain and numbness in my shoulder.

Since shoulders are always recruited in upper body workouts and further exercise will definitely worsen my shoulder injury, it's time to focus on lower body workout and cardio exercises...

After my shoulder recovers
- my injured shoulder has full range of motion without pain
- my injured shoulder has regained normal strength compared to the uninjured shoulder,
my top priority will be to strengthen my rotator cuff (internal & external) muscles, bcoz strong rotator cuff help prevent shoulder injuries.

Grips

2006-09-03T05:44:00.000-07:00

Overhand grip, underhand grip - the way to hold the handles
Wide grip, narrow grip, medium grip - the distance between left & right hands
T-bar grip, V-bar grip - handle/bar used to grip

After today experiments with pull-downs and cable seated rows, I found that different grips stimulate slightly different muscle groups. Certain muscles (such as back, biceps & triceps) can benefit significantly from varying the grip styles (such as in supersets)...

how to get "male cleavage" : P (inner chest development)

2006-08-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

after months of workout in celebrity fitness, i can see that my chest is developing...

eh.... wait, it seems that outer chest is the only part developing. There is literally no mass in inner chest. Anything go wrong!?

...There are a lot less muscle fibers at the sternum insertion points compared to the outer part of the pec...

sadly, it seems that inner chest is much more difficult to build up. It may even take years...

btw, full chest development requires attack from all angles. My current chest workout includes (inclined, flat) bench press with barbell & dumbbell, chest dips and inclined & flat dumbbell flyes. Searching from internet, i found that there are a few chest workout good for inner chest development.

Close-Grip Bench Press (not too useful for me. In super strict form, squeeze the pec muscle and relax arms. However, my triceps are still get tired faster than the inner pecs)
Flyes (i think this is valid for machine flyes only. Dumbbell flyes has almost zero resistance at the top)
Cable Crossovers- this one really worked for me. I could feel the piercing pain in my inner chest when i crossed the handles. This is the first time that the inner chest got stressed. As this was my first time doing cable crossovers, so i spent some time in studying its form. I 'pulled' the handles moving in semicircular arc but i observed that many guys prefer to 'push' forward heavy weight. By pushing, some load is taken over by triceps & deltoid. I think both forms are fine, as long as it achieves the objective of execise.

how to get bigger arms?

2006-08-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

i always see a lot of guys doing biceps curls in the gym. from my experience and reading from various resources, doing biceps curls only is not effective in getting bigger arms.

arms' size is predominantly determined by our genetics. To get bigger biceps, we need to have stronger triceps. If we have strong biceps but weak triceps, muscle imbalance happens. If there i too much muscle imbalance, we will be prone to injure. Our bodies are smart enough and do not allow this to happen. To have strong arms, we need to have strong shoulders. To have strong shoulders, we must have strong chest and back muscles... In short, we must have strong overall body muscles to builder bigger arms.

although the arms' size is difficult to increase without significantly bulking up, it is possible to make the arms appear bigger by using some techniques.
1. reduce body fat- well toned arms appear much larger.
2. doing various biceps and triceps exercises - curls, reverse curls, hammer curls, inclined bench curls, concentration curls, triceps extension, triceps push down, bla-bla-bla... by hitting the arms from different angles, it adds the 3-D effect of the arms muscles.
3. don't struggle to lift heavy, but lift in correct form to maximize muscle tension. slow and controlled movement, maximize contraction at the top, stretch at bottom...
4. stretch between sets

Training Hard and Training TOO Hard

2006-08-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

A young boy traveled across Japan to the school of a famous martial artist. When he arrived at the dojo he was given an audience by the Sensei
"What do you wish from me?" the master asked.
"I wish to be your student and become the finest kareteka in the land," the boy replied. "How long must I study?"
"Ten years at least," the master answered.
"Ten years is a long time," said the boy. "What if I studied twice as hard as all your other students?"
"Twenty years," replied the master.
"Twenty years! What if I practice day and night with all my effort?"
"Thirty years," was the master's reply.
"How is it that each time I say I will work harder, you tell me that it will take longer?" the boy asked.
"The answer is clear. When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the Way."

I think this is not only applied to martial arts, it is applicable to every other sports, including weight training.

lats training

2006-08-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

I always thought that i was genetically cursed with tiny lats.

it changed...
after i read this article Form: the difference between bodybuilding and weight lifting, i realized my form was terrible.
yeah, within two weeks, i find that my lats is GROWING.

actually, it came with lighter weight with better form:
good form formula = stretching + squeeze + contraction + tension - momentum - EGO

i may not be genetically blessed with well developed lats, it is neither a curse too. just need training with correct form.

corrupted page

2006-08-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

i was forced to delete my last post because of it corrupted my blog @#$%^&*
It seems that my last post somehow caused exception in blogger's server. Therefore the response is incomplete html. This happens if the response is sent back in chunks and the exception happens after first chunk.
I wonder y did it happen... nothing abnormal in the post...

unexpected injury

2006-08-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

today is leg & lower back workout day. so i did deadlift.

unfortunately, on last set, during second rep, ughhh, i felt short sharp pain. so i took some rest. after a while, i thought it is not a big deal (great mistake, should listen to my body...). so i continued the last set and managed to complete it.

5 mins later, i found that i couldn't bend my back to pick up a dumbbell! oh holy sh1t, my lower back became stiff. as a tough man, i decided to continue my leg training, doing some dumbbell lunges & dumbbell squats. omg, i found that my back pain became worst. now i think i cannot get out of my bed tomorrow. God bless me...

edit:
i was reading this article
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/schultz35.htm

Tips For Injury Prevention
Do not pull when you have a pinch in the lower back. It's only a twinge. Yeah right, I have had so many lower back injuries that I have learned my lesson and watch for warning signs that my back could go at anytime. There were times when my pain was so intense that I couldn't even get out of bed without biting the pillow to death. So, I have become accustomed to recognizing that specific feeling. The feeling that something in my lower back is on the verge of making life miserable.

so true... now i have learnt my lesson.

Nothing changes if nothing changes

2006-08-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

"Nothing changes if nothing changes", this applies to every aspects of our lives, definitely including weight training.In order to build a bigger & better chest, i decided to change my chest routine.
Dips - there r two variations of dips, namely chest dips & triceps dips. chest dips put more emphasize on lower chest muscle, and therefore is good for shaping up the chest.

4 x 12 chest dips...

hehe, i really could feel the sore of my lower chest muscles on second day.

龙虎门

2006-07-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

好不好看？见仁见智。。。
动作精彩，剧情老套，就如70年代的李小龙电影（多了些电影特效）。
有一些意犹未尽的是，王小龙的降龙十八掌太强了！

p/s: 片尾王小龙建议石黑龙改名石黑豹，那么他们三人就成为“龙虎豹”（香港土产黄书《龙虎豹》）。

Periodization (cont.)

2006-07-30T06:23:00.000-07:00

I joined celebrity fitness on the first week of June and start workout since second week of June. After 8 weeks of 'high' intensity cycle ('high' is in relative context, since i don't like to push myself to the limit, kekeke), today is the last day of this cycle. Tomorrow, a 2-weeks low intensity cycle will begin for recovery...

Keep the today (30 July 2006) workout log for future reference...

Flat bench press
warm up sets:
bar only: 8 reps
+ 10kg: 8 reps
working sets:
+ 30kg: 8 reps
+ 40kg: 8 reps
+ 50kg: 6 reps (i was cheating for last 2 reps, as the bar did not touch my chest (no full ROM))
+ 50kg: 4 reps

some dumbbell flyes (on flat bench & declined bench)

Pull up (body weight)
3 x 8 reps

Bent over barbell row (with EZ bar)
25kg: 8 reps
30kg: 8 reps
35kg: 8 reps
40kg: 8 reps
47.5kg: 8 reps
27.5kg: 8 reps

some Arnold presses
some cable tricep pressdown
some dumbbell curls & hammer curls

The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) - A training principle that concludes
there are three main stages in physical stress:
The Alarm Phase - The body will not like the overload stress placed upon it and begins to take drastic measures to combat it.
The Resistance Phase - The body will try to resist the stress.
The Exhaustion Phase - The body will become exhausted if it doesn't receive rest from the stress.
This principle leads to the belief that there must be periods of low or no intensity between overloaded stresses that work the body.

Preventing Shoulder Injuries

2006-07-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

Summary from Preventing Shoulder Injuries and Cracking the Rotator Cuff Conundrum

Impingement syndrome describes the pain originating from compression of the rotator cuff tendon or the biceps tendon between the head of the humerus and the bony arch just above the glenoid. One of the major causes of narrowing is an upward migration of the humeral head when raising the arm. This is usually because the rotator cuff is not strong enough to effectively pull the humeral head down and into the glenoid.

INJURY PREVENTION
Simply put, the secret to preventing shoulder injuries is to strengthen the rotator cuff and scapular muscles to allow for coordinated and stable shoulder movement. Yet these muscles are often overlooked in many strength-training programs.

Why Should I Train the Rotator Cuff?

Strength: Weak external rotators of the humerus are limiting factors to development of internal rotator size and strength, as the body will not allow progress to continue in the presence of an imbalance that could lead to injury.
Safety: The rotator cuff (particularly the external rotators) is of paramount importance in injury prevention. Internal rotator dominance is extremely common among bodybuilders, powerlifters, and athletes for whom the pecs and lats are prime movers. Strengthening the rotator cuff and the resulting improvements in glenohumeral stability significantly decreases the occurrences of humeral head subluxations, dislocations, and nagging overuse shoulder injuries. It goes without saying that injuries are one of the greatest barriers to progress in the gym; if you're in too much pain to lift weights to stimulate growth, you won't be doing any growing! By giving the muscles of your rotator cuff the attention that they deserve, you can eliminate the loss of valuable training time to injuries and increase your training longevity.
Size: In addition to all the indirect ways that direct rotator cuff training can lead to size, let's not forget that the four muscles of rotator cuff themselves are capable of hypertrophy! Unfortunately, hypertrophy in the subscapularis and supraspinatus is unlikely to be noticeable due to their positions behind the rib cage and deep to the upper trap, respectively. Growth of the infraspinatus and teres minor, on the other hand, will certainly further one's back development by enhancing the "V-frame." When an individual is quite lean and possesses good external rotator development, the separations between the posterior deltoid, infraspinatus, teres minor, teres major, and lats are readily apparent and quite impressive, especially during the back-double biceps pose.
Posture: Several factors can lead can lead to tight internal rotators. Many athletes and lifters who utilize these muscles extensively without attention to the external rotators can experience a marked shortening effect of the internal rotators due to tightness. Over time, poor posture can place considerable stress on the skeletal and nervous systems, leading to injuries and decreased performance in the gym. A combination of internal rotator stretching and external rotator strengthening has proven successful in decreasing the anterior inclination of the thoracic spine.
Improved Range of Motion on Mass Builders: Simply stated, exercises performed through complete ranges of motion yield superior gains in muscle mass. If your internal rotators are tight, your ROM and, in turn, potential for mass development will be greatly diminished
Confidence: Some might debate me on the psychological carryover of a physiological change, but I'm a firm believer that you'll have a lot more confidence supporting big weights if you know your stabilizers are healthy and strong. You wouldn't want to get under a squatting bar unless your core and lower leg muscles were comfortable supporting the load on your shoulders; the same is true of benching, chinning, and overhead pressing. Confidence is an often-overlooked component of strength training performance, even if it is only confidence that your humeral head is going to do what it's supposed to do during your set.

Exercises

Cuban Press: Grasp a barbell and perform a wide-grip upright row until the bar is about two inches below your clavicle. Once the bar reaches this level, hold the elbows steady while externally rotating the bar as if you were trying to touch it to your forehead. As the external rotation phase completes, press the bar overhead.
Lower the weight along the same path and repeat for reps. This exercise preferentially recruits the infraspinatus over the teres minor, and there's certainly significant contribution from the delts and traps as with any upright row or press. Be forewarned that the Cuban press isn't an ego booster; the external rotation phase is a limitation to moving big weights with the movement.
L-Lateral Raise: To finish off the infraspinatus, hold a dumbbell in each hand and perform a lateral raise to 90° with the elbows simultaneously flexed to 90°. Once your upper arms are parallel to the floor, externally rotate your humerus so that your forearms are perpendicular to the floor (as in the mid-phase of a military press).
Side Lying Dumbbell Abduction to 45°: Think of this as a single-arm, half-lateral raise while lying on your side. The two-second pause at the end of the concentric (lifting) portion of the movement really intensifies the exercise. For some individuals, performing this exercise on a flat bench may feel awkward; a low incline is an acceptable alternative.
Y lifts: Lie on your stomach on the floor with the arms 45° above shoulder level, thumbs pointed up towards the ceiling. Raise both arms up off the floor trying to initiate the movement with your shoulder blades. Start with hands only and progress to one- to three-pound dumbbells.
T lifts: Lie on your stomach on the floor with the arms 90° straight out to the side, palms down. Raise both arms up and rotate them as you do so by pointing your thumbs toward the ceiling. Focus on pinching your shoulder blades together. As with the Y lift, start with hands only and add weight as your strength increases.
One-arm, one-leg row: Stand on one foot with that knee bent 30°-45°. In the opposite hand hold the cord or pulley handle attached in front at chest height. Start with the thumb pointing down and perform a one-arm row as you straighten the knee. At the end position the palm should face up. Focus on pulling aggressively, bringing the elbow well behind the body. Repeat with opposite arm/leg.
Elbow pulls: Use a cord or pulley attached in front at waist level. Stand with the feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and with a slight forward lean. Hold grips with thumbs up and with elbows at 90° and close to the rib cage. Maintain the 90° elbow position and pull the cord straight backward quickly.
Side lying external rotation: Lie on your side with the top arm resting against the side of your trunk with that elbow at 90° and with the forearm resting across the abdomen. Hold a one- to three-pound dumbbell and rotate your upper arm outwardly to raise the forearm up and back towards the ceiling. Keep the elbow tucked at the side. Repeat on opposite side.
Scarecrow: Stand with both arms straight out to the sides at 90°. The elbows are also bent at 90° with the forearm dangling downward towards the floor. Simultaneously raise both forearms upward and backward by rotating the upper arms outwardly. Maintain a 90° position at both joints. Use one- to three-pound dumbbells.
Standing two-arm overhead medicine ball throw: Stand with feet shoulder width apart and hold a two- to three-kilogram medicine ball overhead in both hands. Throw the ball powerfully against a concrete wall or to a partner.
Alternating overhead dumbbell press: Stand with one dumbbell resting on each shoulder, palms facing each other. Alternately raise one arm up overhead rotating the dumbbell as you do so that the palm faces forward at the top. Alternate arms each repetition.

Software Design Patterns

2006-07-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Is software design patterns good?
Definitely.
Can design patterns do more harm than good?
Undoubtedly.
"Design Patterns" is just a "tool" for us to come out better designs. Like other tools, the outcomes depend on the person who uses the tools.

Most ppl who are learning design patterns will pass through a period of "pattern happy". We are so addicted to patterns that want to apply patterns in all our designs... The result is usually overengineering codes.

I did...

A good design is based on justified requirements. Over-flexible codes (as result of "pattern happy") is always more complicated than it should be, and therefore require higher maintenance cost.

I am lucky that i learnt the lesson in less bitter way- got critics from boss + learnt through "Refactoring to Patterns" by Joshua Kerievsky. This book opened a new pespective in software designs to me... in more than one year ago.

GoF's classical Design Patterns is damned hard to read, so dry and academic. But once i did understand it, it shows the beauty of good Object-Oriented Design. Be proud of myself!

overcompensation...

2006-07-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

The Overcompensation Principle
The body overcompensates in defense to the stress placed upon it. A muscle grows bigger and stronger when trained with heavy weights, just as your hand will develop calluses when friction is applied. If you do not change the form of stress the muscles will have no reason to further adapt.
When will overcompensation happens? Contrary to common belief, we grow stronger when we rest and not during workout.

Your goal should be to become stronger with each subsequent workout. Get into the gym, stimulate growth, and then get the hell out of the gym to go home and grow.

Most Powerful Bodybuilding Tip

Periodization

2006-07-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

learnt a new term in weight training today - periodization...

Periodization is the process of varying a training program (frequency, volume, intensity, duration/distance (endurance athletes), exercise selection, exercise complexity, speed of execution, accommodating resistances, asymmetrical loading, or range of motion) at regular time intervals to bring about optimal gains in physical performance. Some proven benefits of periodization are improved muscular endurance, strength, power, motor performance, and/or muscle hypertrophy. The goal of periodizing an exercise program is to optimize training during short (e.g., weeks, months) as well as long periods of time (e.g., years, a life time, or an athletic career). The same concept works if your goal is overall health and fitness. Periodization will help maximize results in a minimal amount of time!

According to some writers, "planned overreaching" is the most effective! one example is

4 weeks of planned loading (slightly overtraining) followed by 1 - 2 weeks of deloading (lower volume / frequency = recovery)

it sound so fascinating... and i m going to apply this in my routine, kekeke...

Shoulder Impingement

2006-07-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Shoulder Impingement syndrome is caused by compression of the tendons of the rotator cuff between a part of the shoulder blade and the head of the humerus. This can become a chronic inflammatory condition that may lead to a weakening of the tendons of the rotator cuff, a situation that may result in a torn rotator cuff.

i have been suffering reoccuring shoulder impingement. This problem is worsen by long hours of using mouse. I think it is time to do some rotator cuff strengthing exercises to correct impingement...

External Rotator on Knee
Propped External Rotator
Side-Lying External Rotator

http://www.bodyresults.com/E2RotatorCuff.asp

rows, etc...

http://www.mindandmuscle.net/mindandmuscle/magpage.php?issueID=40&artID=41

deadlift... first trial

2006-07-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

today, i tried deadlift with very light weight- 20kg. just to make sure that i performed the deadlift in correct form.
Each time doing a rep, return the bar to the floor under control. i think it enures that each rep is performed correctly.
The shins should be two to three inches from the bar and then when actually bending down and lowering the hips in preparation to lift, the shins will touch the bar. During the ascent, the bar will travel as close to the leg and shins as possible.
the head should be up, the hips down, and the back flat. Keeping the eyes and head up, aids in keeping the spine in proper position.

after the exercise, my lower back is very sore... simply because i have weak lower back muscle.
sadly, i have lightly scraped shins now. think positively, it shows that i performed the deadlift close enough to my body. I found someone said "Deadlift shins are manly", hahaha.

Bent Over Barbell Row

2006-07-16T05:04:00.000-07:00

just start doing "Bent Over Barbell Row" last week. only can perform correct form with 35kg (max). it is "the best exercise to develop thickness of the back". i think it is complement to pull-up which is "the best exercise to develop width of the back".

perfect form:

do NOT swing or use momentum to lift the weight
Head up, eyes forward, chest out (so that the upper back is little arch)
Squeeze the shoulder-blades together momentarily before lowering the bar
Concentrate on not using the arms to lift the bar, just imagine that "your lower arms are just a couple of hooks attached to your upper arms" (i like this vivid description)

born of my blog

2006-07-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

yeah, today is a memorable day - the born of my blog...