Monday, January 16, 2017

WOD

January

16th: Dynamic Shoulder Day
Static: Push
Military press (to failure - aka back curve)
Lateral raise
Frontal Raise
Bench press
KB bottom up press
Upright Row (doesn't qualify as push but is a shoulder impingement exercise!)

Counter balance: Pull
Band pull-aparts
Seated back row
Pull up (or inverted row)
Active hang
Lat pull down

Dynamic: Choose two of
Landmine Press bb
Medicine ball alphabet
Backward ball throw
Push press (difference with military press is use of hip drive)
Clean and Jerk

Friday, January 13, 2017

Half Marathon analysis

My Houston half marathon analysis!
Verdict?
Day-after aches?

  • Quads, twice (or thrice!) more sore on the left.
  • Upper half of calf, twice more sore on the right
  • Lower hamstring, twice more sore on the right
  • Tibilias anterior, twice more sore on the right
  • No knee stiffness - which is great!!)

Athlete-inspired WODs

Came up with these WODs in dedication to Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer, Australian rugby captain Ed Jenkins and German track cyclist Robert Förstemann (Quadzilla)...

note:
*ex var - explosive variation
*VDF - use variations depending on fitness

The Jenkins
This workout focuses on building explosivity and core stability in all is of high importance

Rowing (warm-up) 5/10 minutes

and then 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps each of;
Nordic Hamstring (ex var*) or 'kneeling hamstring curl'
Rotational Landmine (ex var)
Chin-up (ex var)
Shoulder press (ex var)
Pull-up (VDF*)
Push-up (VDF)
Dumbbell bench press
Ab roll-out
Abs leg drop (on bench)
Obliques


The Förstemann
This workout focuses on leg-focused strength AND power.

Cycle (warm-up) 5/10 mins
Seated box jumps
Back squat
Bench row
Bench press
Front squat
Pistol squat (VDF)
Static lunges
Dead lift

The Federer
This 25-min workout fosters stamina, endurance with more focused lateral movement component

Jump rope (warm-up) 1 min x3

60/30 sec jump rope in the beginning, in between, and at the end of the following 60 sec set of;
1. 30 sec forearm plank + 30 sec forward single leg raise
2. 30 sec side elbow/forearm plank + 30 sec hip or leg raise (LEFT)
3. 30 sec side elbow/forearm plank + 30 sec hip or leg raise (RIGHT)
4. Lateral shuffle (do not cross legs)
5. Front-to-back shuffle with jumps on each end
6. Lateral lunges with twist
7. Windshield Wiper workout
8. Quad kneeling tilt (or lean backs)
9.  Lie down, knees bent and straighten legs out (maintain c-curve on back with core! do not break form)
10. Crunches

15-30 second rest in between the jump rope-workout set is permitted.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

And you thought your workout was killer?


Marines Initial Strength Test:
1.5 mile run in 15 minutes
44 crunches/sit-ups in 2 minutes
Flexed arm hang for 12 seconds

Marines Physical Fitness Test (starting from 2017) Age 26 - 30:
For max score
3 mile run in 21:00 minutes
110 crunches/sit-ups in 2 minutes
10 pull-ups (or 50 push-ups for 70% of max score)

For 2nd class:
3 mile run in 24:40 minutes
98 crunches/sit-ups in 2 minutes
5 pull-ups (or 50 push-ups but need to compensate for higher crunches and faster run)

For 3rd class:
3 mile run in 26:40 minutes
82-83 crunches
3 pull-ups

Houston PD:
Physical Agility Test (PAT):
1.5 Mile Run, 17:30 minutes or less
300 Meter Sprint, 78 seconds or less
Vertical Jump, 16.5 inches or more
Push-ups, 15 or more
Agility Run, 20 seconds or less

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Another National Park checked

Headed to Shenandoah National Park last weekend.

Old Rag Mountain (3,291 ft)
9.1 mile with 2,415 ft (736 m) elevation gain
Mostly easy except Class 3 scrambling in the last 1.1 mile to the summit

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Dreamlist for Outdoor Gear

In preparation for my big road trip / backcountry hiking trip - I have come to conclude that these are the gears I wish I can own. High quality ultra lightweight gear that is worth the $$$$.


Gear Wishlist      

  1. Hyperlite Mountain Gear (HMG) 3400 Bacpack

    Weight: 32 oz | 907g      Price: $330

    Backpacker Mag's best ultraweight backpack. Cuben Fiber Hybrid makes up its fabric, a highly durable Dyneema material that is 50-70 percent lighter than Kevlar and four times stronger. It was this or the ZPacks Arc Blast but aesthetics, functionality, little bells and whistles (minimalism!) won me over.


  2. Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm Sleeping Pad

    R-value: 5.7      Weight: 15 oz (Reg)      Pack Size: 1L      Thickness: 1.5 in      Price: $

    Cheaper alternative: NeoAir XLite ($159) or ProLite Plus ($99)
  3. HMG UltaMid 2

    With a bathtub interior mesh!
  4. Suunto Traverse Sapphire Black

  5. Zpacks Cuben Fibre Poncho/Footprint/Packcover

    Weight: 6 oz      Price: $175
  6. Komperdell Ultralite Vario 4 Compact

    Weight: 14 oz | 396 g      Price: $239

    Cheaper alternative: Black Diamond Distance FLZ Trekking Poles ($129) and Alpine Carbon Z ($189)
  7. BioLite BaseCamp Wood Burning Stove
  8. Oru (Origami) Kayak

tbc....

References
1   2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Nintendo: bullish or bearish?

a Newbie's Guide...

[July 19th 11:00 CDT]

Source: YAHOO! Finance

Going long with Pokemon Go Nintendo (NTDOY)?

Only if you were in the market the first three days after Pokemon Go was released, tbh.

Yes, you may say it has been going up the last eight days, but has anyone tried to understand why it's going up?
 $310 per share (33,000 ¥), is it justified?

P/E ratio is at 230 right now. Which means people are paying 230 times more than what they are actually earning.

Now let's get to the point...


Pros:
  • Pokemon is very huge in Asia and it's not released in Asia yet
  • Gaming industry is very big in Asia, hence potentially profitable 
  • Nintendo owns brand rights to Pokemon


REALITY CHECK - what's the bigger picture?
  • Nintendo owns 10% shares in Creatures Inc, originator of Pokemon
  • Nintendo owns 32% shares of Pokemon Company, which with Niantic, a Google spin-off the company helped Niantic Inc. develop Pokemon Go 
  • Niantic Inc, the main developer and distributor, also owns the platform of Pokemon Go, so majority of fees will go to them (30% goes to Apple, being an app)
  • Being the first AR game for the masses, development fee is massive (they had to raise $20mil in capital for Niantic)
  • Nintendo will not get profits directly from Pokemon Go, only royalties (sounds like about 10-16% profit margin, which is not much)

Source: WSJ


(More) Cons:
  • Fan-base for first generation Pokemon are mostly millenials - so release of the subsequent gen of pokemon would not keep players engaged long enough (speaking from a millenial herself who is into the gaming industry)
  • How can Nintendo (or more like Niantic and Alphabet Inc) keep the booming popularity and maintain players' interest. Millenials are at the age where they can afford to spend on in-app purchases, but also the fastest to get bored and move on
  • Gen-Z are the ones that should be appealed as they're the generation that mobile gaming profits the most from (parents will certainly spend on their children than themselves!)
  • Game relies on people going out to play - safety issue a big thing in Asian countries and concerned Asian parents, 3G/4G limitations in poorer parts of Asia
  • Pokemon Go is a micro-transaction model but since it depends on users going out to different stops - it actually discourages the pay-to-play
  • How long until it releases in Asia? Delays in launch of Pokemon Go in Asia will worry investors.


Discussion:

American market is a consumerism capitalist, so it's expected to be profitable there. Releases in Europe wouldn't be as big of a profit, remember, number of downloads does not equate profits. Think of the European and English culture and how it's related to the gaming industry there, it's never a big gain there. They'd happily download it (it's free to do so) but would be much more reluctant to spend on in-app purchases like their Asian and American counterparts.

Nintendo
  • The company has been performing poorly in Q3 and Q4 with console sales and has a poor outlook of the next fiscal year 2016/2017
  • Has always been skeptical about mobile gaming but will need to move quickly into the arena to keep up with Pokemon Go momentum

High-Yield High-Risk:
  • Investors are investing in 'hope', rather than actual quants.
  • Investors are banking in on quick profits, but mainly short-term
  • A lot of these investors are a combination of young investors and seasoned investors hurt by worldwide dip in indexes thanks to Brexit and generally sluggish worldwide economy.
  • It's a ticking bomb so timing is essential to get in and get out

Question is,
  1. How long will Nintendo's shares keep going up at this rate? - Until Nintendo reports its next quarterly profits which won't be as what people expect (duh) which will then send the shares crashing, unless they can come up with something quickly the next two months +
  2. Will its release in Asia push it further up? - yes if it can get into China's market asap before counterfeits and copies come in
  3. How does Pokemon Go keep players from getting bored once they've reached the level and amount of Pokemon caught that they're contented with?
KING's performance prior to acquisition by Activision. Source: Bloomberg

A similar case study, KING Digital Entertainment, the company which developed Candy Crush thought they were going to be big but ended up opening below their IPO and stagnated before being acquired by Activision (ATVI). Yes, people will argue that there is a loyal fanbase with Pokemon, but Candy Crush appeals to a wider range of ages rather than just millennials.


My own super rough prediction, since there are currently no models in predicting the future of NTDOY

My conclusion: Slightly bullish for the next week but generally bearish.


Just my two-cents!

My background? I am a millenial who plays moderately (currently on Level 15 with 57 pokemon on the Pokedox. Team Valor!).


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References:
http://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NTDOY/focus
http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Tearsheets/Financials?s=7974:TYO
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nintendo-stock-a-sell-despite-huge-success-of-pokemon-go-2016-07-14
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/04/nintendo_financial_results_deliver_profits_but_predict_severe_drops_in_expected_wii_u_and_3ds_sales