THE DANIEL INCIDENT. 9:55 AM 」

Sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It", an original composition

If you really wanna get big
Lift heavy
If you really wanna get big
Lift heavy
If you really wanna get big
And you're not on any steroids
Then you really gotta eat big
'N lift heavy

But if you really are on juice
And you know you are synthetic
You can stick to baby weights now
Just suck it up!

- Anand Daniel

I was at XXXXXX gym (near my place, I wont name it to avoid legal tussels) the other day, I only go there when I have a day off from work (and going there on legs day is pointless cuz they ain't got no free squat rack)

But anyway, there I was, assaulting my delts and traps, when I spied the dreaded PERSONAL TRAINERS. There were 2 of them, A and B.

A was taller than me, with decent sized muscles, still smaller than mine, I'll proudly say. And B was shorter than me and skinny, and he walked with a friggin' slouch! Only God knows why anyone whould hire him! Anyhow, A was training another guy, let's call him client A, who looked about my age or a year older (from the way they moved I assumed that Client A was there for mass building). B was training client B, who was probably in her early 40s (at least she looked that) and like all the rest like her - wanted to lose fat.

What transpired in the gym as I began my workout both shocked and disgusted me. But before I delve into what went on, let's fast-forward to the end, just before I leave. A & B had finished messing around with their clients before I was done, so I walked up to them and asked them if they were personal trainers.

They said 'of course'. They also went to say "of course" to the following questions: Do you take up more cleints? Do you do mass building training? Do you give nutritional consultation ect?

Now when they so confidently answered these questions, I couldnt help but feel that these people were being cheated! And the best part, they charge SGD $120 for 4 sessions! $30 for an hour of cheating! I can only imagine why people were forking out that sum.

Here's why I feel this way:

We begin with Client A. You know he wants to get big, at least he's got all the right accesories! He's got the black tee shirt on, he's got a sleek trackpants on (I don't understand how they associate that with bodybuilding, but they do) and *drumrollpls* he's got some new-fangled Gloves, with 'breathing fins' nonetheless. And in the 30 mins that I saw his 'Trainer' take him through the paces, I DID NOT SEE A SINGLE COMPUND MOVEMENT. I mean, seriously, that day, I saw the mother ship of bicep curls. He had him warm up with barbell bicep curls. And then, they moved to the cables. A hooked up the low pulley cable and got him doing standing bicep curls. The damn trainer didn't seem to mind that his negative movement (when you're straightening out your arm) was really quick, Client A was letting gravity snap his arm back out again. And after 10 reps, he started cheating! He was leaning back and using the momentum each time to get the weight up. And all this while, damn trainer A was encouraging him! He even brought a little step for him to stand on, and do the bicep cable curls! Following which, they went over to the dumbell rack. He got client A to pick up 2 light dumbless, bend over ( and his trunk was curved) and do lightning quick bicep hammer curls (at least they looked like hammer curls to me from where I was standing ). He was swinging the DBs up really quickly, and trainer A joined in with a pair of DBs as well! I was incredulous. I wanted to interject, but hey! He isn't paying ME is he?

You know, what, I'm gonna stop here. Because talking about Client B makes me feel sad for her, and Trainer B should be charged for fraud. Rather convincing scam they run there. trainers, anyone?

| THE DANIEL INCIDENT. 12:04 AM 」

All hail the arts king!!!!! Congrats Jon Ma!!!
And that was a glimpse of NUS FASS ARTS BASH 08. It'll get better next year I'm hoping.

adios.

| THE DANIEL INCIDENT. 12:31 AM 」

haha! so we have a hater. i welcome you with open arms. Well to me an added plate on the bar is a step forward, irregardless how it pales to what others' lift. so yeah.

anyhow, the tyre flips have left with the skin on my shoudlers torn rather gruesomely. what began of as a little abrasion quickly gave way to a big wound as the skin tore due to my constant movements. this is how it came about.

this is how it began. the iron behemoths now train at hong lim CC at clarke quay due to rouse skippin the country. but the afternoon started off with ben egging me on to the log press. "just do la..." quite easy. at least till they loaded the log. then with shaky arms and legs i started to set my first PB. sucks when you know you have the strength and neuro muscular ability to churn the contraction but your muscles aint used to the new move. not to mention, the sheer size of the log compared to an oly bar. after shredding my shoulders and arms with static holds and supp lifts I EYED THE TYRE.....

3 weeks prior i flipped the tyre for the first time for a measley three reps. and this time, considering i was shacked completely from the log presses, i approached the tyre cautiously, planning for another 3 "just to try". what began...still puts a smile on my face. it took me 4 tries to get the tyre up the first time (it weighs 265KG btw). and i slammed it down happily. the next 2 i grinded out and V said- c'mon man, youve clearly got 2 more in you. so i catched my breath and flipped it again.4. now sam and keith had their interest piqued. "come on man...you got one more!"

so i huffed and i puffed and i flipped it again!5. "i think you got a few more man", keith made an observation. "i think you gonna keep going", sam interjected. so i slammed the tyre. and flipped it. again.and again. and again. and again. at 9, i thought i was gonna collapse.

and.then. sam said - think of someone you really love. someone you really really love, and this next flip is for them. AVVA. my grandmother, who passed away in 2006. i knew that if this was for her then there was no way i was gonna walk away without flipping it again. i tried 4 times, and the tire just didnt move. i pulled everything inside and just thought of one person as i drove my shoulders into the tyre, my legs pushing against the floor, my fingers grabbing the grooves and my heart punding, i got it up. i stopped at the top without slamming it down cuz there were tears in my eyes. i dont know if it was from the sheer central nervous system shock or...the driving force. i walked away feeling like i could do more. wishing she was still here. the power of love.

| THE DANIEL INCIDENT. 7:11 PM 」

They say that a bodybuilder's best friend is knowledge. knowledge knowledge and more knowledge, i mean you seriously cant have read enough and watched enough. Im far from where I wanna be. Im just 80.5 KG now. well. no juice so wait lorrrrr

And your greatest enemy - temptation. temptation to skip that next meal, or throw away the bottom bit of tuna in the can. temptation to give in to laziness to mix that last whey shake for the day at 1 AM. Temptation to throw away the five eggs that are tasteless and hard and yelllllloowww. I tell you, there have been so many times ive to force myself NOT to puke. bleagh. Temptation not to eat more no matter how much you know you need another 2000 cals.

Temptation even with the iron, to skip the last rep or to cheat on it. Or to stick to the same weight for three weeks and not to budge the reps. Heck, even the temptation to go light and stoke up the reps to get the 'pumped' look albeit for awhile. Temptation to add another plate and sacrifice form just to 'look good' (ironic.)

The temptation even strikes before, finding excuses to skip the days' work out, was my throat feeling sore in the morning? Temptation not to go for the work out citing pointless excuses that convince yourself. NOT. The lifestyle changes that kinda pinch you now. the sacrificed late nights.

No more alcohol. Its been more than a month since i had a drink, and i dont miss the drinks at all. I just miss that special 'connection' when you're drinking with your friends. the parties, late night proch sessions, drinking games, oh man. Sometimes the tempation comes as a lil thought creepin up saying ' so what if those androgens go over to the E-side' or ' so what if the protein synthesis is inhibited an stops completely for a day'. sigh..

Its not easy man. Not at all. But hey...im doing good man. at least on hindsight, nonetheless. And the greatest support i have right now, my parents. Cuz they buy me whey. and there's no whey i can afford whey on the miserable scraps the air force hands out. not when a quarter goes to the behemoths anyways.

but its worth it. because you cant argue with strength. and greatness never came to men who took the easy route.

GREATNESS. ITS YOURS. TAKE IT.

I WISHHH....
but heck i aint on juice. so..

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