The 30 days Project Mayhem experiment

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by as5tx

2. What is zazen ? What exactyl do you do in zazen ?

For zazen see this...

Definition: Zazen or sitting meditation is a form of meditation widely practiced. The idea is to let go of thoughts and concepts and let the Buddha nature emerge naturally from within. Paradoxically, one shouldn't strive to attain anything otherwise the original pure mind, the Buddha nature, will remain obscured.

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ken... I don't know what to tell you... here is what you wrote six days ago... here is what you committed yourself to...

So to demonstrate extreme self discipline I'm going to conduct a 30 days experiment where push the mind and body to it's max and I'll be here to post pictures and updates

Starting Monday, May 28, I'm going to do the following:

Wake up 4:00 AM every morning and mediate. Waking up early is the hardest part for me, doing it daily would be a test of will power.

- Go to the gym three times a day, doing high intensity calisthenic exercises, including Ninja-like exercise. Hardcore running. Do shadow fighting and harden my fists, shins and elbows on the punching bag.

- Eat more. Double the amount of what I eat and get more muscle mass.

- Hardcore meditation, two hours a day of zazen (a Zen form of meditation) A hour before waking up and an hour before sleeping.

- Pretty intense Japanese learning, including vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

- Any activity that is even perceived to be unimportant will be cut off.

The point of this 30 days is to have a strengthen concentration of the mind instead of letting it go on auto pilot. Strengthen of concentration means more discipline, will power and consciousness.

The body is equally important also, hence the extreme exercise. The goal is to fuse body and mind to show the unlimited capability as a human being.

Do you feel that you are still on purpose... that you are doing what you promised yourself that you would...???

Now, that is your challenge... it's your quest... and it is none of my business... however if I was your Sensei... you and I would be having a talk...

I don't mean any disrespect when I say that... and I do want you to come out of this ordeal bigger and stronger, both mentally and physically, so, that's why I butt my big nose where it does not belong...

Best of luck to you... and keep posting...

.

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 7

I found myself using the computer less and less. Looking back at my original post from day one, I'm seriously lacking.

I know, that's okay because I'm gradually working my way up to that standard. A brutal look at my original goal for the 30 days trial, I'm doing like 1/5 of the intensity in terms of work out and meditation.

Well well, this is end of week one. Tommorow is week two, I'm going to UP it more! Will report tommorow.

Thanks Shamou for the reminder.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by ken nubo

PM experiment, Day 7

I found myself using the computer less and less. Looking back at my original post from day one, I'm seriously lacking.

I know, that's okay because I'm gradually working my way up to that standard. A brutal look at my original goal for the 30 days trial, I'm doing like 1/5 of the intensity in terms of work out and meditation.

What I would do is to set up a form of punishment for the times when I am not satisfied with a day's accomplisment... like walking five miles... or doing 300 push-ups or whatever... that would keep you on your toes...

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[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 8

The exercise is so taxing on my body, it's only 8 in the evening and I'm ready to sleep! I kinda cheated last night by meditating 2:30 in the morning until 3:00, before promptly collapsing into the realm of unconsciousness.

Almost lifted weight today, mainly doing barbells with bench preses, some dumb bells and cable machines. I can feel my progressive in weight training cause I have better form when doing bar bells.

Also ate a lot today, let's see if I bulk up at the end of the month!

One thing I noticed last night that is that I start hearing voices in my head when I'm about to go to sleep, I can hear the voices if I try not to tune into it.

Sounds kinda weird? I mainly hear voices of men, children, sometimes they speak English, sometimes they speak in a foreign tongue. One time I remember vividly listening to some beautiful classical music , I know I'm not dreaming because if I open my eyes and be alert, the music goes away. When I slowly drift back to sleep I can hear the talking and (rarely) music before I sleep. I'll probably hear the voices again tonight if I'm meditate before sleeping.

Anyone else experience this? I'm sure it's a normal occurrence to those who pay attention when they're sleeping.

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, day 9

Worked on chest, arms, back and shoulders muscle today, didn't do much cardio because my legs are really sore from Sunday's paintball session.

Ate a lot, until I'm bloated. Not sure where all the food goes to.

I'm not sure about meditating at 3 in the morning anymore, it seems kinda useless. Meditating just before sleeping or in the morning seems optimum.

Didn't learn much Japanese today, it must be one of those lazy days, but I did read "The 4 hours work week", by Timothy Ferriss. Recommend that book to everyone.

This experiment is wearing me out, but must push on!

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 10

Laziest day ever! In terms of physical exercise, don't feel motivated to run, especially when it's 7:30 in the morning and I'm just slugging my ass (read: speed walking/jogging) around the tracking track for an hour.

Half ass effort, but it's the illusion of exercise! I can feel my body wearing and tearing down, it is like there is no energy left. All the movement is a test of will power (cue dramatic music)

But I'm spending more and more time learning Japanese. Learning basic things like direction, verbs, modifying the verbs, sentence structures and the like. A good place to learn basic Japanese is this website.

I learn that the best method of learning is listening to the audio for proper pronunciation, watching audio/visual on youtube and remembering the words using romanized Japanese.

I'm not bothering to learn how to read Japanese right now, speaking is cool enough

[Shamou]

ken nubo... Out of curiosity, how long did you plan that "experiment..."

Was it a long thought out affair or a spur of the moment thing...???

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[silicon toad2000]

I might be spouting stuff you are already doing.
I'd suggest that you may want to put as much effort into your nutrition as you do into your workouts and put some thought into recovery also.
As a minimum a good vitamin supplement to complement your diet.
work out the carb, fat and protein content of each meal and ensure as the day progresses that the carb percentage of meals decreases and the protein content increases.
for example breakfast should be a high carb, low GI meal, just before you workout a high carb, high GI snack and a high protein meal after your workout.
As far as other supplements go, I use L-Glutamine pre workout as it help sustain the amino acids and hydration of the muscles throughout the workout and helps them recover after the workout. I have a low calorie protein powder in water before bed. if I workout in the morning I'll have this drink after the workout in milk/soy.
with the workout, warm up, do the weights, then stretch those muscles after weights not before (But do make sure your are warmed up before the weights), then cardio only after weights, ensure you cool down and stretch after the cardio. Do try to avoid working on the same muscle group two days in a row.
Again, sorry if this is stuff you are already doing, just sharing some knowledge.

[ken nubo]

It was a spur of a moment thing, Shamou.

Thanks for the heads up Silicon Toad, it's a good post for other people who might not know that.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by ken nubo

It was a spur of a moment thing, Shamou.

That us what I thought... that is probably why you are having problems sticking to your original plan...

Before you embark on a quest like that... at least one month of mental preparation is necessary... first, you have to determine exactly what you are going to do... next, you have to program yourself mentally for the ordeal that you will be going through... and, finally you must crystallize that commitment into every fibers of your being... so that the only possible outcome is the realization of your quest...

When you do it that way... the experience marks you for the rest of your life... you see yourself as an iron man that can surmount the very worst of situation... a very good boost for your self-esteem...

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[ken nubo]

PM experiment, day 11.
Posted by Ken Nubo

I forgot what happened. Oh yes, I had to help out some stuff, and was gone all day.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by ken nubo

PM experiment, day 11.
Posted by Ken Nubo

I forgot what happened. Oh yes, I had to help out some stuff, and was gone all day.

I think you were right... this experiment is total mayhem...

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[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 12


Picture+076.jpg (image)
Picture.jpg (image)


(Oh wow! I went from a scrawny chicken to a semi-scrawny chicken in just 11 days)


Today worked out great! You know what's strange, I woke up and seem to be very lucid, very aware of my thoughts. It's strange, because I usually wake up zombie like. Perhaps this is the effect of all the accumulative meditation time?

Went to the gym at 3 in the afternoon at worked on shoulders and arms with free weights, because I need to build the stabilizer muscles first, instead of doing cable exercise. I surprised myself a bit today because I can bench half my body weight with ease. It wasn't pretty at first because I barely bench 1 / 4 of my body weight!

Ate a lot today, usually when I'm bloated. Not good, but ate lots of healthy good, no junk food here!

Intense Japanese learning and 1 hour of meditation as usual

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 13

Oh man, it's a Saturday and I still dragged my ass to the gym X(

Didn't lift weight much, did more push ups and sit ups, stretches and such. Spent an hour at the gym. Tried running on the thread mill but my knee and ankle hurts. That what happens when you run 8-10k a day 4 times a week without the proper work up.

Spent 8 hours straight watching this Japanese drama series about a girl dying from a rare disease that is worst then cancer :O

Not the best way to learn a language, but I did picked up some common words, slangs and correct pronunciations ....

Not much else, ate a lot of protein today. I had a steak and a ham burger ... at dinner, fruits and veggie and all that good stuff.

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 14

Decided to take a little day off from exercising cause it's Sunday ^_&

Busy playing poker, but still managed to learn some more Japanese. I just notice that for most things I do in life, I mainly follow my intuition on what to do. That gut feeling is never wrong for the most part.

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 15

From the start of the experiment, I have been eating an insane amount of food. This is what I had today:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, sausages, a bowl of fruits (grapes, watermelon, apples and pear) , 125 gram of yogurt and a bowl of cereal.

Lunch: A plate full of chicken fingers with fried veggie, with a bowl of fruits, and 125 gram of yogurt.

Dinner: A plate full of sausages with fried veggie, then another plate full of pasta. A bowl of fruits and 125 gram of yogurt.

(That's 375 grams of Yogurt a day ... heh) I don't eat deserts ought.

One thing I noticed is that since last year, I probably cut my junk food consumption by 95 percent. Nowadays I'll have a small bag of chips once in a while.

. Except on the weekends, when I like my bag of Hickey Sticks (best potatoes chips ever!)

I went to the gym and ran on the tread mill, running at 4.5 miles/hr with 14.0 incline setting. That's almost like running vertically. Yeah, it's part of the ninja training. Did it for 15 minutes before collapsing, err, getting off the thread mill, then did some hardcore stretching for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Stretching is my favorite exercise, because I like the feeling of the muscles tearing when I'm exerting just a little over the comfort zone (and no, I never pulled a muscle or injured myself from doing hardcore stretching)

Also learned Japanese and stuff, a Japanese girl said my accent is almost flawless

All in all, I'm half way through this experiment! 15 days more to go, I think I shall beat myself the last 7 days and do really really high intensity training.

We'll see.

[silicon toad2000]

I'm gonna pick on your nutrition again Ken.

I'm surprised all your energy isnt taken up by digesting all that.

try something like this

Breakfast: a bowl of fruits (grapes, watermelon, apples and pear) , 125 gram of yogurt and a bowl of cereal.

Brunch: 2 eggs, sausages, plate full of pasta

Lunch: with a bowl of fruits, and 125 gram of yogurt.

afternoon meal: A plate full of chicken breasts with streamed veggie,

Dinner: A plate full of sausages with steamed veggie, . A bowl of fruits and 125 gram of yogurt.

i just cut and pasted what you had with very little change.
if you do this you should find you have more energy throughout the day and might even find learning a little easier.

[ken nubo]

Pm experiment, Day 16

Rolled out of bed at 7:30 AM after 6 hours of sleep and head straight to the gym. Switched up the exercise today, instead of weight lifting I put on weighted gloves and punch the punching bag then I practice round house kicks and karate chops

So it was a good warm up exercise for some push ups!

Did 5 sets of push ups, with 25 reps.
Did 5 sets of sit ups, with 25 reps.
Did 2 sets of squats, with 50 reps
Did 1 set of 10 burpees before collapsing to the ground (burpees is a killer exercise, recommend it to all!)

I kept it high intensity with few breaks in between sets, by the time I did the burpees my head was throbbing and I was feeling nauseated.

I'm feeling low on energy. Is it because the body is using all the energy to digest the food? Could be, so I'm switching up my food intake.

Japanese learning progress okay. The sentence structure is a bit weird, it's Subject – Object – Verb instead o the English Subject Verb Object, plus there is these things called particles, which has no real English equivalent. I actually find Japanese to be easier, since there is only present and past tense. Eh, what else ... yeah reading Japanese looks complicated, but I'll get it patted down once I understand how to fluency speak Japanese.

And meditating makes me hyper-aggressive, I don't know why :\

[ken nubo]

Thanks for the advice silicon toad2000, sounds good.

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 17

I think I'm feeling addicted to the feeling of being buff, that's why I keep on doing upper body exercise. Did weight lifting with bar bells and dumb bells, tried to stay away from the cable machines in order to build up the stabilizer muscles. Mostly did 4 sets of the exercise, with 4-6 reps to hypertrophy the muscles. Rwar, I'm going to be the hulk now!

Today I started learning Hiragana, so at least I can learn how to write in Japanese. There is over 30 some Hiragana symbols, which is like the Japanese alphabet. It's hard for me to remember it all, I'm using this learning method where you associate the word and the symbol with an image in real life. For example, the Hiragana i looks like “ ', so I associate the symbols with the mental picture of eyes and try to remember that it's, uh, the Hiragana i.

I'm not sure about meditate anymore, I usually work on the computer around midnight until I pass out. But! I'll still give it a go and meditate before bed time. And for the past two weeks, I have forgone waking up 3 in the morning to meditate, it's too hardcore for me

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by ken nubo

PM experiment, Day 8

The exercise is so taxing on my body, it's only 8 in the evening and I'm ready to sleep!

If you're trying to be up by 4 am and not doing at least biphasic, you likely need to be in bed by 8 pm anyhow, particularly since rest is essential if you want your body to have a chance of keeping up. Monks/others who operate with the level of intensity you're shooting for don't start at that level, they work up to it. Of course so far as it's just a test of will power, have at it, though it's not so different from putting your hand in a flame with a predetermined amount of time set for holding it there. Even if one fully follows through, it can take a while to heal afterward. Your slip ups are your body's attempts at self preservation. Also, if you're still growing physically realize that excessive physical stress can put a halt to growth. Best of luck though. I hope in testing your limits you manage to expand them.

Originally Posted by ken nubo

One thing I noticed last night that is that I start hearing voices in my head when I'm about to go to sleep, I can hear the voices if I try not to tune into it.
[...]
Anyone else experience this? I'm sure it's a normal occurrence to those who pay attention when they're sleeping.

I've experienced that for years, going into "dreams" within a minute or two of closing my eyes though I'm still conscious.

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 18

You know those days when you can’t think properly, where everything seems to be a haze? That’s what I hate about being sleep deprived. Woke up with 5 hours of sleep, got dressed and went to the gym. It was a test of will power really, because my body is really sore from working out the last 18 days with a couple of day break in between.

I flop around in the mat and squirm around for the illusion of exercise. Actually, I worked on my flexibility, stretching and stretching because it feels good.

I’m actually contemplating about going to the gym again, but I’ll save my energy for tomorrow’s 8-10 km run.

Learned some more Japanese, concentrating on the Hiragana symbols, need to remember it to type in Kanji.

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 19

I originally started doing the 30 days trial of hardcore exercise and learning Japanese was to rise the complacency level. Complacency is a major killer, almost literally sometimes when it comes to overweight folks.

Complacency is what keeps you at that boring job, year after year because of job security or a mediocre relationship with someone who you don’t really like anymore. Of course, this isn’t anything new, it goes back to the concept of Zen Kai, the Japanese term for continuous improvement.

So today I went to the gym to rolled around in the mat again and stretched … and stretched some more. My tendons and joints are taking a beating or something from all those exercise, because I can hear thing crackling. Oh boy … tomorrow marks Day 20 of the 30 days trial, I’m going to up it some more for the exercise.

Also learned some more Japanese today, concentrating on the Hiragana, the symbols that make up the Japanese alphabet. I’m around half way through memorizing the 45 Hiraganas, not bad of a progress.

For those of you who are thinking of learning Japanese, learning the Hiragana isn’t difficult. You have to memorize the symbol, the pronunciation and the romanized version (romanized is good for beginners)

That’s all for Friday’s update. Ja matte yo!

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 20

After 20 days of this trial, it's taking physical and mental toll on me. Almost everyday when I wake up my body is sore and my mind is clouded. Could this be stress? It's Saturday and I went to the gym, doing some push ups, sit ups and stretches. Plus some weight lifting.

There isn't much intensity in the exercise, I over trained I think, can't even think straight anymore.

As for learning Japanese, so far I filled up 6 pages of Hiragana, learning the old fashion way by writing the symbols on paper instead of typing it on the computer. It's somewhat fun learning how to write in Hiragana because it's like the alphabet, where the Kanji is insane semi-complex characters.

All in all, I'm still alive, just pushing through this 30 days trial with my will power. Ja ne yo!

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 21

Took a break today.

I’m exhausted, really exhausted. But one excellent thing about this trial so far is that it gives me stamina to sit and play online poker for 7 hours straight before passing out 4 in the morning. In fact, it’s only 7:25 PM as of right now and I’m really to past out and go to bed, it’s going to be a long day tommorow.

Looking back, it has been 21 days since this trial so far, not bad. I have to find the resolve to finish the last 7 days with high intensity workout to make it memorable.

I also gained about 10 pounds of muscles (or fat) from the insane amount of food I eat from the past 20 days or so.

I thought I would become more lucid with all the exercise, but it’s the opposite actually. But I guess that's because of over-training.

I have to find a happy medium. I think by the end of this 30 days trial I’ll cut back to weight lifting at the gym 3 times a week instead of 6.

[silicon toad2000]

Ken I can't help but say this is a bit of an anti climax. I got a little bit angry after reading your last few posts and had to take a minute and delete my rant.
I guess I got suckered in by the Project Mayhem, ninja this, hardcore that...
You're not over-training, you're just under-prepared, ill-informed, misinformed or lazy or any combination of the above.

[Scipio]

I'm doing something somewhat like this. I am in Thailand training muay thai (kickboxing with elbows, knees and clinch) 2x per day, 6 days per week at a muay thai camp, taking Thai language lessons, and still hitting the weights. The difference is that I spent months ramping up my work capacity before leaving. I also was in excellent physical shape before my preparation started too. I've been here 1.5 months and have 2.5 left.

[ken nubo]

PM experiment, Day 22

Eight more days! I’m in the home stretch of this 30 days experiment. So for the first time I went to the gym twice today and did some weight lifting. I pump and pump the weight until I can’t do it anymore.

I did 4 sets of 6 reps for all the exercise for hypertrophy of the muscles. Note to self, don’t twist your back with a medicine ball while doing sit ups on an 45 degree incline, because it wrecks the back.

If I have any tips so far, it’s to warm up, and not do some esoteric exercise that is going to screw up your back like me. Otherwise take it easy, warm up before hand by doing some cardio, stretch some more, start lifting weights or whatever and cool down by stretching some more.

Still learning the Japanese symbols called Hiragana. I really want to read Japanese, so I’m concentrating real hard to get the flawless accent and getting the Hiragana down.

Damn, I need some ice on my back.

[ken nubo]

Originally Posted by silicon toad2000

Ken I can't help but say this is a bit of an anti climax. I got a little bit angry after reading your last few posts and had to take a minute and delete my rant.
I guess I got suckered in by the Project Mayhem, ninja this, hardcore that...
You're not over-training, you're just under-prepared, ill-informed, misinformed or lazy or any combination of the above.

Yeah seriously, the first 12 days was off to a good start but afterwards it's a decline on the intensity.

And the last 3 days (which was a weekend) was a joke, because I was just dicking around. But hey, it's good because I'm honest about it. I could've said I ran 30 KM while doing 500 push ups today, but that wouldn't accomplish nothing.

I'll try harder in the next 8 days.

But I'm still satisfied with the result after gaining 10 pounds with a definite cut down on the fat and hitting the gym almost everyday, something that I've never done before. Plus learning a new language.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by silicon toad2000

I guess I got suckered in by the Project Mayhem, ninja this, hardcore that...

Ditto here... I posted some comments after the first few days... then I decided to stop since I could not find anything positive to say...

I was in the martial arts for seven years... and that is certainly not the way we did it... when you said you were going to do something... you just did it... period... end of story...

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