First Distinction in Medical Studies, 1st Among Boys, 1st for Final Year:
The joy of getting the distinction in the previous end posting exam is starting to sink in. You see, the stress of a new posting tends to suppress emotions. Added with my tendency to occasionally have blunting of my affect (is this the right way to say it PSY students?), I was initially neutral to the news when Capit told me of the news via SMS. But since looking at the board with my own eyes, and having some time to swallow the info, I'm feeling pretty happy of getting a distinction in a subject I thoroughly hate (pediatrics), and having to deal with another posting which in general is a dislike for me (general surgery).
During 4th grade, I'd throw tantrums whenever I got 2nd class honors (All A's except 1 B). And as I remember, they were quite severe and much childish in retrospect. But nevertheless that was how I was: a perfectionist, type A personality freak. It certainly persisted throughout the medical studies, especially during the kinder preclinical years. I was never happy with just getting a pass. I wanted a distinction; > 75% was just acceptable. Getting just a 60% on those mid-block MCQ's gave me stress, with some always funny ego defense mechanisms. I'm trying to suggest that it's either good/bad, just telling it as it is.
But towards the end of 2nd year and 3rd year, I've learned to rein much of that perfectionist mentality in. Now I'm happy to get 52's on clinical exams. I aimed for high passes, even though my screw up in the Ortho PMP in 4th year was a blow despite my attempts to suppress the stress, considering that everything else was pretty much in place to at least get distinction consideration (in the words of Mr Shukrimi).
Hopefully, the distinction in this posting will motivate me to try again harder in another posting I'm not too fond of. Hopefully, it might even become like 5th grade; once I got the 1st honors in the second try, I consistently achieve it for the rest of the year, for a total of 5 times, all the while involving myself with other activities, like TAG (talented & gifted), Tae-Kwon-Do, gaming, and sports (ok, I sucked at that). I might not be the best like the 2 other students in Pond Gap who got 1st class honors throughout the year, but being among the best is motivation in itself without being the best. Sorta like my situation in IIUM Kulliyyah of Medicine.
Training:
Had a dinner last Saturday with old SMSS batch-mates, so I decided to train before breaking fast, by doing the V-Burn Challenge from T-Nation, beginner-level. Not much of a problem, as I did it in my room, with the fan on highest speed, and the air conditioning at the coldest setting.
On Monday, I tried out Chad Waterbury's template for dumbbell complexes at my hostel, considering that the gym was closed for Nuzul Qur'an. Used my 2 dumbbells at 10 kg apiece. They were just killer. I had to take more than the 60 sec recommended rest, and doing the dumbbell good-mornings were just too awkward for my liking, being almost impossible to do with good form for deeper than 45 degrees. But they definitely did the purpose of giving me a cardio workout.
Today, trained like normal as outlined in a previous post. But I'm going to try a cutting phase for the next two weeks before Raya, focusing on diet & added high intensity cardio for fat loss, maintaining my weight lifting for strength maintenance. Increase is strength is icing on the cake for the next 2 weeks. My diet protocol:
Sahur - Biscuits + dark chocolate + protein powder
Breaking Fast - 1/2 chicken + dark chocolate
Preworkout (on lift days only, not cardio) - Choc milk, 1
Postworkout (similar to preworkout) - Eggs, 3-4, protein powder as alternative
Refeeds as usual during weekends/equivalents
It sucks as regards to fiber, but I hope the pure dark chocolate can help during the 2 weeks. For your info, it's some soluble pure cocoa to eat with the biscuits, and baking chocolate during dinner. Not recommended unless if you're a true dark chocolate fanatic like me. It's cheaper/weight, but the taste is much too bitter than even the 90% dark chocolate confectionary.
I'm also going to switch the exercise sequence around for new stimuli. Template is 1) main lift, 2) accessory, single limb, different emphasis of same body part, 3) & 4) opposite movements, prehab, core. My aim is to give more intensity of a body part in a training day, allowing more rest on other days. I think I already posted my training program like this in a previous post, but if not I will next time.
Today:
Deadlifts, up to 106 kg x 6 reps (final set used a mixed grip to remove the effect of grip strength on training)
BW pistol squats, 3 sets of 6 reps each side
Chinups, 3 sets of 5 reps
Overhead shrugs, 30 kg, 3 sets of 10
So far, I do feel hungry, but it's still manageable. So let's see if I can stick to this template and get my weight down to 83/82 kg with reasonable energy. But 1 thing's for sure: the GPP work done during the break has already given me benefits for today's cycle. I was fresh, I was motivated, and yet, I feel much stronger than the max effort week.
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