Alpha Asian

There is a hotel on the same block as my work place and on occasion, I go to the Starbuck's in the hotel. Other times, I stop into the hotel to take a break and walk around this small eatery connected to the hotel. This week, I discovered just by chance that the Asian American Journalist Association was having their annual convention. Moreover, I kind of  crashed some of the convention. Hey, I blended in, so why not hang around and pick up conversation threads? I actually didn't talk to anyone though, I didn't want to get caught as not being a journalist! But today, I unknowingly caught part of a break out session in one of the hotel's meeting rooms that was moderated by Phil Yu from Angry Asian Man. Also of note was C-SPAN was filming it. The panel touched upon some interesting things about Asian American media representation. Furthermore, speaking of representation, I noticed from the crowd that it seemed as if there were more women than men. It sure would be nic...

This is the intriguing story of Alex Pham, a 24 year old Vietnamese American UCLA grad, who decided one day, to go on a study abroad trip, which ultimately lead him down a path he never expected.

Happy Father's day guys!

Q:  I read your article on Bodybuilding.com about building big arms, but I was wondering what kind of training routine accompanies that arm routine? I can't figure out a workout program that incorporates that routine without over training. Thanks!  B.A. My Answer: Just follow an abbreviated routine (3-4 sets per body part) for the rest of your body, and you'll be fine. You won't overtrain on this workout. This concept of overtraining is just making you fearful and limiting your progress in the gym. If anything, you can use short term overtraining to achieve long term progress in size and strength. As long as you vary your program from workout to workout, you can accomplish this. You cannot change workouts without a rhyme or reason, however. I go over how to plan acute phases of overtraining in my book Strength and Physique: The Articles . Q:  I like your arms workout article a lot on the Bodybuilding.com site. I want to give it a try for a change in ...

So I've been watching this TV series on National Geographic called Kung Fu Quest .  It's a fascinating show where a couple of martial artists go train in different systems of kung fu.  In this particular episode they trace the origin of karate to white crane boxing: At the 48 minute mark , they go over traditional karate strength training exercises: stone hammers , sanchin steps, stone locks and dynamic tension . I've always found traditional martial arts strength exercises to be fascinating, because martial artists use a lot of strength exercises that predate the advent of dumbbells and barbells.  Martial artists practice a wide variety of body weight exercises and partner-assisted exercises meant to build strength, mobility and flexibility.  Different disciplines, for example, have their own push-up variations: The original purpose of exercise was martial.  Exercise originated from the martial arts and from warrior cultures.  Prior to in...

Because lolz.