Gym, music and Neverwinter Nights.

Ahh...I'm finally back to the gym. Was insanely busy during April, was insanely sick 2 weeks ago and was insanely busy again last week. Hopefully now I'm back to my normal routine. I still plan to get my baywatch body before I go for my island holiday! Heh heh!

Y'know, going to gym is good. You sweat like hell and get tired like hell but at the end of it, you really do feel refreshed. With my current work schedule, I'm thinking of going to the gym in the morning rather than the evening. Of course, know my usual laziness, this plan will remain in the drawing board for a long time...

I also did something else that haven't done for a long time. I took my bro's amp (I know, I keep planning to buy my own but keep on postponing that), dusted of my extremely nice ESP custom guitar and played it for a bit. Ahh...the pleasure. Reminds me why I learned guitar in the first place (well...besides trying to impress some chick, I mean!). I jammed a bit with some bluesy pentatonic scales. Tried some major scale too but sadly I'm way rusty. I think I need to re-read my bloody scales book! Pentatonic is easy. 2 notes per string! The other scales is a little bit more complicated. Heh!

My guitar is simply amazing when it comes to rock sounds. Wonderful, wonderful pickups! Fat and chunky when doing power chords yet with a flick of a switch, pure clean sounds for those bluesy bits. I really need to buy some new equipment for my guitar. It deserves better! Hmm...a new 50 watt amp and a Zoom multi-effects board should do the trick! Oh wait, I need new cables too. I probably need to cut down on my spending for clubbing (hell, probably skip clubbing for a month or two!) but it's for a worthy cause. Next, I need to get the band back together. Mus, Ahmed, expect a call soon! Eh you guys, do we even have a bassist yet?

Lately, I've been playing Neverwinter Nights a lot. Heh, it's about the only way I can get my fix for D&D. Even after 4 years, that game is still amazing. Once you're done with all the official campaign (3 in total, including all the expansions), there are literaly THOUSANDS of user-created adventures available for free online. Some of the user-created adventures rival the official campaigns in terms of quality! I generally play as a sorcerer in the game but lately I've been playing as a weapon master. Heh, I simply love the blademaster concept by Robert Jordan in his Wheel of Time series. My current character now is this kickass greatsword specialist, a direct inspiration from the character Lan Mandragoran, the uncrowned King of Malkier, warder to Moiraine Damodred. Yes, I know. I'm a Wheel of Time fanboy. Heh!

Things I realized after joining the gym

1. Stretching/warm-up is EXTREMELY important. Skip this part and don't expect your body to function the next day.
2. If you haven't exercised much previously (guilty as charged!), don't be a superhero and push yourself too much. Do this and don't expect your body to function the next day.
3. While jogging, concentrate on your running and not the chick's butt in front of you. Staring too much on butts will just tire yourself faster! Hahahaha!
4. Chicks who wear makeups to gym are not going there for exercise. Well...maybe exercising their eyes! =P
5. Chicks who go to gym with tight clothes play a very vital role in a gym. They motivate guys to go to gyms more often! =P
6. Guys who over-exercise their chests muscles are freaky. They got bigger ones than chicks!! Whoa...
7. The most popular sitting area is the one facing the classes section. The class will have a glass wall. When it's aerobics class, you'll get a huge crowd of guys 'resting' there. Heh!
8. Finally, you know you've got a good workout when your biggest accomplishment after it is shampooing your hair during shower. If you can do it easilly, you're not exercising enough! =)

Fitness First

I've always known that my fitness level is bad. ICT industry doesn't really require a very high level of fitness. Coupled with a sedentary lifestyle that revolves around computer games and diet that consists of a significant portion of junk food, my fitness level isn't amazing. Still, I figured as long as I'm not suffering from any illness, it should be fine.

Then I had my first shock. During a medical checkup, the doctor said I had high blood pressure. Man, was I shocked!! While it turned out to be caused by lack of sleep (was working day and night those 2 weeks), I figured a healthy body should be able to handle such things without reporting high-blood pressure.

My second shock happened when another doctor told me my pulse rate is a bit high during rest. While she said it's not dangerous, it shows that my fitness level is WAY below average and this shouldn't be happening to someone in my age group.

The last straw came when I'm shopping for new pants and my waist measurement is beginning to match my dad's! Heh, sorry dad! I love you but some parts of you, I don't think I want to emulate! =P

When I heard Fitness First was having a Merdeka promotion in which they waived the joining fee (and saving me RM 500), I woke up while it's still daylight on a holiday (*gasp*) and signed up for a Fitness First passport package. 6 months from now, I'll be so fit and buff, Baywatch will be falling over themselves to hire me while my work rate will be better than Davids when I play futsal! Heh heh!