G’day,

Today I had a full-day to go sightseeing in Seoul and hit the markets one last time before catching my 8:00pm flight to Australia.

I went back to the markets at Meyondon to pick up some souveniers for my nephews in Oz and got in another round of kimchi – spicy korean pickles.

Phuket Flashback!

However, my day was not without drama! Anyone who has followed my previous travels to Australia and Phuket know that I have a weird tendency to get my flight times wrong, and consequently make last-minute dashes to the airport.

For example, I literally made my connecting flight from Phuket to Bangkok with 3 minutes to spare back in March of this year. Would you believe I was actually getting fitted for a tailored suit at my hotel…90 minutes before my flight was due to take-off!

My “Master Plan”

Well today was different…kinda. I made sure I was back at the hotel by 4:20pm in time for the 4:40pm bus to Seoul International Airport.

This bus would get me to the airport by 6:00pm, a full two hours before my flight was to leave! My master plan started well, I actually did board the 4:40 bus…but then things started to go wrong as we closed in on the airport.

I Started To Smell Smoke!

Would you believe the bus broke down! Its true, a fair dinkum “limosuine bus” carrying me and another 10 people actually broke down and had to pull over on the highway!

The driver then called in for a backup bus which took 20 minutes to arrive. My master plan was already falling apart!

A Mammoth Check-In Line!

We eventually got to the airport at 6:20pm which was not so bad…until I saw the check-in line. In all my travels I have never seen a line so long! It literally snaked around 7 times.

My master plan was in tatters by this stage as I started to wonder if I’d even make it on the plane in time. Half and hour had soon passed and I figured by the length of the line It’d be another 40 minutes until I could check-in.

My Saviour…

Once again, I was going to cut it very fine…until a “bright spark” from KAL decided to cut the line in half by opening up more check-in counters on the other side.

Hooray! I was then able to check-in within 10 minutes, get through customs and immigration, all with 30 minutes to spare!

This was a personal best for me…that I will try to beat on my return flight back to Osaka!

Peace,
Adam Waters, NESTA-CPT

P.S. Below my Day 263 pics are some photos of my brief time sightseeing in Seoul.

In front of the hotel I stayed at, Best Western Kukdo (pretty decent hotel gym).

Hittin’ the markets at Meyondon

In front of the Dongdaemun baseball stadium.

A dance performance by some high energy Korean teenagers on the sidewalk.

G’day,

I have touched down in Seoul after a short 2 hour flight from Japan. I’ll stay here for one night before I take off on an 8 hour flight to Australia tomorrow.

My hotel in Seoul is located between the two major entertainment districts, Meyondon and Dongdaemun. I was able to walk to both and check out the scene which was extremely lively!

Cool Places In Seoul

Meyondon has a real “buzz” to it with a ton of shopping stalls (selling mainly fake stuff!) along with heaps of places to eat traditional spicy Korean food, like kimchi. If you haven’t tried kimchi before I highly recommend it, especially if you’d like to clear your sinuses.

Dongdaemun is a more “upscale” market area dominated by large shopping malls and nightspots. I actually stopped in at a coffee shop on the way back to my hotel and watched the last 10 minutes of the Asian Cup final between Korea and Japan.

Much to the delight of the locals Korea beat Japan in a penalty shootout 5-4 after the scores were locked after extra time. The crowd went beserk, some rivalries never die!

The picture below (from Photos.com) accurately depicts the “buzz” of downtown Seoul.

The Reality Of Training In Hotel Gyms

Tomorrow I’ll get up early and do a workout at the hotel gym which has a good supply of cardio gear but very light on with weights.

The more I travel, the more I realize that getting a decent gym in a hotel is very “hit and miss”. This is regardless of what rating the hotel is. However, it is up to me to adapt my workout to the eqipment on hand rather than complaining about it!

Before I sign off I’ll reveal the answer to the question I posed back on Day 260 regarding my “shocking loss of strength”.

Answer To Day 260 Question

The reason why I was unable to lift the same amount of weight for barbell bench press compared to my previous Lactic Acid (LT) workout 2 weeks earlier was because of an error I made with my rest periods.

My rest periods were only 10 seconds in length while they should have 20 seconds for LT. I mistakenly used 10 seconds rest because I mentally prepared myself for Muscle Rounds instead of LT beforehand.

This was a very simple error but one which perplexed me at the time. As I follow the Metabolic Surge fat loss training program this mistake is quite easy to make as the rest periods vary between 10, 20, 30 and 40 seconds for each of ther different types of routines within the program.

However, this is actually the strength of Metabolic Surge as your body is continually being stimulated by the change-up and as a result it cannot adapt to the constant barrage of different workouts. This “non-adaption” was (and is) a key driver for my success over Mission 1 & 2.

For more information on Surge and an RTP bonus offer check out my Day 75 Post: Nick Nilsson’s “Power Surge”

Peace,
Adam Waters, NESTA-CPT

P.S. Day 262 pics from my hotel room in Seoul.

G’day,

6 hours until I take off for my summer vacation! I have a 3 week holiday to Australia and a short stopover in Korea.

I’m really looking forward to the break from the “daily grind” of Japan and chillin’ out with my family in Oz.

However, it won’t be all fun and games! I still have Mission 3 to attend to, with my phase 1 six-pack deadline fast approaching. In order to complete this phase successfully I’ll have to remain laser-focused on my routine and complete the daily actions required to reveal that sixer.

I am confident I will make it happen because I was able to continue Mission 1 successfully when I went back to Australia (and Hong Kong) for 12 days over Christmas.

Anyway, I’ll write more about this topic of how to stick to your workout and nutrition plan while “on the go” as I go through this experience myself.

I must go now and do some final packing before I head off to the airport.

Next time I post to this blog I’ll be in Korea!

Catch ya!

Adam

P.S. I’ll reveal the answer to yesterday’s post tomorrow.

P.S.S. Below are Day 261 pics for July 27, 2007: Mission 3 Phase 1 – Day 31 of 60

G’day,

Wow, that was a weird workout!

About Lactic Acid Training

Today I did Lactic Acid (LT) Training for chest, back, biceps and calves. LT is a high volume, high intensity form of training that is designed to penetrate your deep muscle fibers and overload them with lactic acid.

I have done this kind of training about 20 times since I started this journey back on November 8, 2006. Suffice to say, I know to a “t” what gains I can expect from LT workout to the next.

As I racked up the bench press with the same weight as my previous LT chest workout my goal was to beat by 2 reps for each of the 8 sets.

To be precise, LT training dictates that you get 20+ reps on the first set, then rest 20 seconds for each additional set with the goal of getting in as many reps as possible.

Here’s Where It Gets Weird

I got out my 20 reps on the first set but then averaged 2-3 reps less for each additional set (compared to my previous LT workout).

I was mortified!

This loss of strength has never happened to me before.

How could it be that I went backwards for the last 2 weeks?

The weirdest thing is that I have gained strength across the board for every other chest workout throughout these last two weeks! I am actually now lifting my bodyweight on the bench press for my “heavy sets” which is a first for me.

It Gets Even Weirder!

I originally thought I must be having “one of those days” where I am lacking energy or overstressed about getting that six-pack.

But, I then proceeded to beat my previous rep counts for my back, bicep and calf sets on LT in the very same workout!

What is going on here? I couldn’t figure it out.

Then, as I was doing my HIIT cardio session after LT it hit me like a ton of bricks!

Ohh man, how could I make such an elementary error!

Can You Guess What Happened?

If you think you know the reason why I lost so much strength on my chest workout because of a simple error just post a comment to this entry. I’ll discuss the answer and who got it right tomorrow.

There may even be a (small) lesson here!

Peace,
Adam Waters, NESTA-CPT

P.S. Lactic Acid Training is derived from the fat loss training system – Metabolic Surge – I have used for Mission 1 & 2 and am currently using for Mission 3 – Phase 1.

For more information on Surge and an RTP bonus offer check out my Day 75 Post: Nick Nilsson’s “Power Surge”

P.S.S. Below are Day 260 pics for July 26, 2007: Mission 3 Phase 1 – Day 30 of 60

My goals, accountability and visualization structure for M3 is revealed in this part 2 of my Day 245 video.

I discuss the 2 separate phases of Mission 3 and why it is 136 days long (the same amount of time of Mission 1 & 2 combined).

N.B. As I mentioned in my previous blog post this video was originally recorded back on Day 245.

Cheers,
Adam