They say dream is like a movie playback of our subconscious mind, our deepest fear, our secret longing, our unattainable hope. I also happen to think the dreams one dreams of is a good indicator what kind of life one leads during the waking hours. And to be honest, I have no life!
The last couple of dreams I am able to recall involve my two only preoccupations at this time: politics and working out. Last week I had a dream that Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition leader in Malaysia, came to my gym to give a talk about protein supplement, dish out dietary tips, and - brace yourself for this! - show the proper technique and form for deadlift. For a guy who is known to have a serious back problem, among other physical ailments, from being tortured in prison his deadlift form was simply mind-blowing! Anyway, it was seriously weird, to say the least.
This afternoon, while indulging in my regular siesta, I had another working out dream. In this one I was rebutting my brother's claim that doing dumbbell flyes (a form of chest workout) is bad for one's arms when it's combined (supersetted) with other chest exercises such as bench press, barbell press, etc. I told him that it's simply not true because flyes require the exertion of pectoral (chest) muscles to move the weight while minimizing the use of one's arms. Hence it's a perfect exercise if one plans to superset it with other chest workouts in order to completely exhaust the pectoral muscles. The reason being one's arms muscles (particularly triceps and forearms) are much smaller than one's pectoral muscles, so they tire out first before one's pectoral gets a full workout. The ultimate goal of working out is to completely exhaust the muscles, so they can repair themselves and get bigger and stronger. That's why it's good to occasionally do supersets (doing two exercises consecutively without rest) to completely "destroy" the intended muscles.
The funny thing is that while I was explaining all these stuffs my dad walked into the room - and I immediately stopped talking, as a sign of disgust (refer to September 25, 2010 post). I then resumed talking once he left the room. I also remember talking in a very raspy, sand-papery voice as if I'm under the weather. But then it hits me that I just got an sms from Leen, who is currently back home in Johor after contracting dengue. I guess my gravelly voice is a way for me to empathize with her predicament, as the voice symbolizes my sharing of her suffering.
In all I think my dreams aka my subconscious mind is trying to tell me that I basically have no life, which is true. Right now my two obsessions are politics (teaching and researching) and working out (at the gym or outside running). I also go hiking in the Penang National Park almost every weekend, which in a way can also be counted as part of my cardio workout - though in the fun factor it beats 20-minute treadmill running by a mile. I guess overall I'm pretty happy and satisfied with my life as it is though I could use a bit more motivation to produce more academic writing. And also maybe a big bike like a Triumph Street Triple 675R to tool around town.
p/s: Towards the end of the second dream a man (presumably a gym instructor or a dietitian) came in to talk to me. He told me that my body fat is 19 percent, to which I vehemently replied impossible because the last time I checked it was around 11-12 percent and it's not like I've been gobbling down jelly doughnuts and fried chickens all this time. I guess this goes to show how obsessed I am now with my physique and fitness level, so much so that it even haunts my dream. By the way, my target is to get my body fat percentage down to single digit.
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