Siraaj Muhammad – Upgrading from 1.0 – 2.0 (part 2)

Strength Training

As I mentioned earlier, it’s essential to have a strength training program from someone who knows what they’re talking about.  Someone who trains people.  I have a routine which I picked up from Australian strength training coach phenom Ian King.  I mentioned in my previous post I dropped from 220 to 199lbs at one point, and it was using this guy’s routine that I dropped the fat and people were asking me if I was a fitness trainer (ha!).  Now, it can be argued that everyone has a different body type and will respond to different stimuli differently, and I would not disagree.  However, all beginners need a place to start, and a simple template like this is a great way to go.The plan that Coach King gives us is broken up into 6 phases as follows:

1. Phase 1:  Get Back in Shape
2. Phase 2:  Get Big
3. Phase 3:  Get Strong
4. Phase 4:  Get a Big Chest
5. Phase 5:  Get Big Arms
6. Phase 6:  Get Abs

The titles are pretty self-explanatory.  The first three phases are the foundation phases, and the next 3 phases are the aesthetic phases.  I’ve returned back to Phase 1 and will talk more about this phase now.

Phase 1:  Get Back in Shape
The goal in this workout is to prepare the body for the more heavy-duty weightlifting that will be coming future phases.  Coach King specifically states that one should not do Phases 2 – 5 without having done Phase 1 first.  So what’s so special about this workout?

Firstly, everything is either done through dumbbells or your own body weight.  That’s it.  Why dumbbells and not barbells?  Ever notice that one side of your body is stronger than the other?  The purpose of this is that both sides of the body can develop strength independently rather than one side helping out the other.  Another is that because the forms used with dumbbells are less strict than with barbells and machines, you have to recruit more muscles to maintain form and balance, and this in turn leads to better muscular development (this is very simple minded, there are experts who can explain this better).

Secondly, Coach King makes the person work out in tempos.  What’s a tempo?  Basically, you control the speed at which you lower and lift the weight.  For example, you might notice some people, when they lift dumbbells, only bring them down halfway to their chest rather than all the way and quickly spring  back up (I see this often at the gym).  With tempos, you’re expected to bring the weight down slowly all the way to your chest, pause for one full second with the weight on your chest, and then with proper form, push the weight up quickly.  Mainly because of pride and ego, many people would not even think of doing something like this because it will lower the amount they can lift.  I asked a good friend of mine how much he could bench with dumbbells just repping it, and he said about 70 lbs each hand, 10 reps.  So I asked him, how about with tempos?  He said he could only do 6 reps with 45 lbs in each hand doing tempos.  See the difference?  If you want to know more about tempos and how they help out, read this article:

Tempos

Thirdly, each workout in this workout is a total body workout, meaning each muscle group will be worked out at least once.  For the absolute beginner, one would do one set of 15 – 20 reps of the prescribed exercise and then move on to the next one.  If you can get 20 reps with one particular weight, then it’s time to put use more weight on the next workout.

Phase 1 lasts a total of 8 weeks.  The first 3 weeks, you do 16 exercises, one set of each exercise.  It takes approximately 45 minutes to complete.  Some exercises are familiar and fairly easy to do.  Others are fairly unorthodox and take some getting used to, like the King Deadlift (type in “King Deadlift” in the search bar to see a picture of it).  After the first 3 weeks, I get one week off.  Then the next three weeks, the 16 exercises are split in half, half being in Workout A, and half being in Workout B.  In both workouts, I’ll do 3 sets of 8-12 reps of each of the 8 exercises.  However, I’m not doing 3 sets of one exercise, then moving on to 3 sets of another and so on.  From the 8 exercises, I can do one set of each of the 8 exercises, and then go back and do them all again, and then again after that.  Once I’ve completed doing this for 3 weeks, I get one week off and can then move on to “Get Big”.

As expected, I’m already seeing the results of my workout.  I’m actually lifting a lot more than ever before, and I’m looking a whole lot better already.  Shoulders and chest have gotten big again, and I’m in need of a new belt.  I’ve almost finished the first 3 weeks, and I can’t wait insha’Allah to move on to the next 3 weeks (this is the part where things get really exciting).

Siraaj Muhammad – Upgrading from 1.0 to 2.0 (part 1)

I go through this thing where I randomly take stock of where I am in my life and try to make some sense of what I like and don’t like.  More often than not, I find things about myself which I don’t like, which I think is a good thing.  I’ve spent a lot of time reading books on time management, leadership, organization, and other topics related to personal development for this very reason.

As I take stock of things, I try to look at certain basic areas:

1. Islamic Practice
2. Physical Health
3. Relationships
4. Career
5. Education

These days, the focus is on physical health.  Why?  Well, let me ’splain you a few things.  Back in the days when I was known as Sarosh Arunkumar (I’m not a revert/convert, so don’t ask), I was a free lad without a care in the world and a metabolism that basically made sure I could eat whatever saturated fat I wanted without worrying too much about the repercussions.  I entered college at 6′0″ and 160lbs.

After 8 years at Purdue (took a year off, switched majors somewhere in there, and worked as a researcher for two years), a few things changed:

• I got married
• I got a kid
• I got a car (came with the wife)
• My metabolism slowed down
• My weight went to 230lbs, but my height stayed the same

Now, I’ll be honest – somewhere in the last two years, I became more health conscious and began reading magazines and articles on weight-training and proper eating.  My weight went from 220 lbs to 199 lbs (I was approached by people in the gym wanting to know if I was a personal trainer) through weightlifting and proper eating (e-diets plans), and then back to 230 after marriage.  Since moving to Chicago, I’ve gone on and off to Lifetime Fitness and kept myself in some sort of shape, though not the kind I would like.  I’m currently somewhere between 217 – 220 lbs.

The key to attaining a great body, from my experience and reading, is the following:

• A strength training plan from a certified coach
• A moderate cardio plan that progresses in difficulty
• A simple, but healthy eating plan
• Motivation and Discipline

A lot of my previous stints at the gym have been lacking in one or more of the four categories above.  I’m past that point in my life now.  I know exactly what my goal is for my body and it’s the following:

1. 10% body fat within 6 months
2. 10% body fat at 230 lbs in 2 years

Notice that I’ve not cited any particular weight.  A lot of people focusing on losing weight without regard to whether this is muscle, fat, or even water.  I want that fat off my body, specifically the fat around the midsection.  For a guy like me, who isn’t really fat, but has a larger midsection than needed, this is a very bad thing – this could potentially be the cause of diabetes.  And considering that it’s very much in my family history, I have to be especially vigilant of this problem.

So how am I putting my principles into practice?  That’ll be in the next post.

Azhar Usman gets OWNED!

In response to Yvonne Ridley's scathing article directed at pop nasheed artists, brother Azhar Usman attempted a response before brother Sami Yusuf.  Unlike the other letters I covered between brother Sami and sister Yvonne, brother Azhar's letter was plain…what's the word I'm looking for…um…fluffy (not to be confused with fluffers)?  A lot of misinformation on sister Yvonne's conversion story, accusations of extremism, the cliched salafi burnout article (and where is the empirical data to back up any of the statements made in those articles?  Oh yeah, there aren't any), an incomplete reading of sister Yvonne's article, and much more silliness.  Was he trying to be funny?  I hear his comedy shows are pretty good normally.

Anyway, here's his article along with sister Yvonne's much funnier and cutting response.  In this case, I'd say from the tone of brother Azhar's article, he had it coming.

Brother Azhar's letter and Sister Yvonne's response

An interesting thing about Fridays…

So I'm in my cube at work, and I feel really awesome today, alhamdullillaah.  Of course, today is Friday, the best day of the week.  Numerous evidences in the Qur'aan and the Sunnah talk about the virtues of Friday, and that by itself could be a long discussion about why it's the best day of the week.  While thinking about, I just realized something – even the nonMuslims love Friday more than the other days.  Not that it matters, but it's just kinda funny.  How do I know?  One acronym.

TGIF – Thank God It's Friday.  Not Saturday, or even Sunday.  FRIDAY.  Is it the fitrah kicking out?  Allah knows best.  It's just an interesting observation (alright, so it's the last day of the week before work ends, but still, it's a fun thought to entertain ).

Final Analysis

It's very easy to break apart into groups of people who analyze the issue on the basis of the views they hold.  Some favour music, while others consider haraam, and so it is easy to become enthralled with Sister Yvonne's views, while glossing over the adab (which some may find adds comedic value to the article).

For others, the search for identity and integration into western society may resonate with others and cause them to gravitate towards brother Sami's message and miss the effect that the pop culture sister Yvonne points out is infecting the Muslim youth.

In breaking up the arguments, I hope that you all realize that in this argument, it is not necessary that one person is wholly correct in all their points or wholly wrong.  Biased partisanship in our perspectives can lead us into moving and accepting what one party has said wholesale, having the feeling that either "Sister Yvonne is correct 100%" or "Brother Sami is correct 100%".

My feeling in all this is that Sister Yvonne did make a lot of valid arguments and points regarding the overall state of our Ummah, and the effect of pop culture.  She was also correct about music.  Her article would have been stronger had there been less attack against the organizers of the concert and more research into brother Sami's lyrics and his attempts at bringing issues of the Ummah to the forefront.  However, I doubt this issue would have been as explosive and provocative had her article been less colorful

Remember that at the end of the day, we're all Muslims and we're all trying to come closer to Allah (SWT).  If you don't like brother Sami using instruments in his Nasheeds, don't hate him as a Muslim.  He's our brother in Islam.  If you didn't like sister Yvonne's use of colorful language, remember she's our sister in Islam and that she is also to be loved as our Muslim sister.