longing for lunges

I love doing lunges. Lunges are one of the best lower body exercises you can do. Why? One reason is that lunges are multi-joint exercises which target all the muscles of the hips, glutes and thighs. It also requires no weights or equipment and is great for beginners and even for the experts. However, for anyone with knee problems or for those who are overweight, you need a little bit more support. I consider lunges (like squats) as Functional Training as it sort of mimics the movements we do each time we sit down or stand up. For those who need to add muscles to these areas, you can do lunges while holding dumbbells. Here are two Lunge variations that I love doing .

FORWARD LUNGE

 

REVERSE LUNGE

Care for ‘buns of steel’?. Do lunges!! :)

for better or for worse

Most people engage in fitness training to lose weight or achieve a certain level of fitness. Once they reach their target, they maintain it without thinking much to surpass that goal. Sorry to say that this type of thinking never works for me, definitely not in my programs.

Fitness should be part of one’s lifestyle, and to ensure that, fitness activities need to be interesting, inspiring and motivational enough for one to own and live with it, not for a short-while but until the end of one’s life.

In fitness, or any area for that matter, it is impossible to stay at the same level. You either improve or decline (well, it’s a bit exaggerated to say that). Truth is, you can try to maintain it but it won’t be long enough before it starts to slowly die off. Humans grow or die, and never stay the same. If a person loses all the weight they want to lose, and just want to stay at that level, how do they do it? Either if they stop working out and eating right, or decrease working out and eating right, both ways, they will gain that weight back.

A quick fix is to continue to workout and eat right. Easier said than done huh? Well, the trick is to engage in some sort of competitive sports, be it in bodybuilding competitions for those who are into weight training, marathons for the runners, swimathons for swimmers or practically any other competitions that exist like tennis championships etc.

You can always start at the lowest level and slowly add the mileage and intensity. That way, you will continuously have goals or targets in your fitness regime. Along the way, you will gain not only your physical strength, but mental strength as well. As an example, for a novice runner, probably your initial target is just to complete a 5km run. But once you have completed, probably you want to do a better run next time by throwing yourself a timing target of sub70 minutes – once achieved, lower it to sub 60, sub 50 and so forth. This way, you are not only challenging yourself gradually, but also making your fitness training more meaningful and goal-driven. With higher motivation and commitment level, even when you have a busy workday, you will still try to squeeze in the training session in between your appointments.

So People, stop giving excuses and train hard.

Be Competitive, Stay Competitive.

rope jumping for your health

Last year, I’ve introduced cardioskip in my PT programs, and since then few clients are hooked to it. It is a great aerobic exercise.

Rope skipping can assist in developing agility, coordination, and balance, not to mention improvements in cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Current research is showing that high impact activities, such as jumping rope, can also help maintain and/or build healthy bones.

Since jumping rope is a high impact, high intensity activity, those with health concerns should consult their physician before starting a jump rope program. If you plan on using jumping rope as part of your aerobic routine, it’s best to combine it with other aerobic activities, such as walking, biking, or running.

Getting started:

• Start with the right equipment. A good pair of supportive athletic shoes is a must as they will give you more lateral stability (important to avoid things like twisting an ankle) and save wear and tear on your feet and joints. The right rope is important, too. It should be heavy enough to develop a steady rhythm and long enough for the ends to reach your armpits when you stand on the center of the rope.
• Warm up. Get your heart rate elevated and your muscles warm by lightly jogging in place for approximately five minutes.
• Your posture should be erect (shoulders down away from ears, shoulder blades pulled lightly back, abdominal muscles pulled in toward the spine) but relaxed when you jump.
• Look straight ahead, not down at your feet.
• Roll up to the balls of your feet to push off and land lightly back on the balls of your feet when you land so that your muscles share the load of impact along with your joints.
• Keep your knees slightly bent.
• Arms should be relaxed at your sides.
• As you start, turn the rope just fast enough to keep it moving in an arc over your head. When it comes down towards the floor, spring off the balls of your feet just high enough so that your feet clear the rope. You don’t need to jump very high or kick your feet up behind you.

Rope jumping is a great way to lose your fat fast. In 30 minutes of rope jumping, you will burn 490 calories (if you are 50kg) and 704 calories if you are 70kg.

So people, start rope jumping today!

Ramadhan – shouldn’t slow you down

The fasting month, Ramadhan, is fast approaching us. What’s your mission this year? 

While fasting is normally associated with lesser energy, one should not be acting that way. Fasting itself should not make you look down, weak, inactive, slow and inefficient.

However, we have to face the fact that there are certain things that should not be attempted while fasting, like strength training at mid-day or training for endurance before breaking fast. It is a fact that our body is not getting enough nutrients for an intense workout while fasting. Ideally, the said trainings should be attempted at least two hrs after you break your fast i.e. circa 9.30pm.

However, a walk in the park either in the morning or later part of the day is definitely a better option. In fact, engaging in less-intense activities like these can even strengthen your cardio-respiratory system during the fasting, thus, letting more blood to flow throughout your body -keeping you refreshed and your mind alert throughout the day.

As a trainer, I am still reponsible for my clients (both muslims and non-muslims) throughout the fasting month. While I try to avoid having to strength-train them during the daytime, more sessions are filled with cardio routines like fast walk and light jogs. For clients who are metabolically higher, the cardio sessions are pushed into the evenings. This way, I am still able to juggle the PT sessions while I am fasting.

There are also few things that I do to ensure that I stay active and energetic throughout the day. They are;

• take a multi-vitamin at sahur
• drink a minimum of 3L of water throughout the evening (until sahur)
• do flexibility training a.k.a stretching at least once a day (while fasting)
• take-in alot of complex carbo, fibre and protein during sahur, and when breaking fast
• stay away from processed sugary food, instead, eat lots of dried fruits like dates and apircots, for your natural sugar intake
• have some healthy snacks for supper like fruits and milk (coz it is hard for you to eat well during your sahur)

Look out for a blog entry on Fitness Training during Ramadhan tomorrow. Selamat Berpuasa everyone!

p/s -   My training slots during this Ramadhan will be mostly done from 5.00pm – 6.00pm & 9.30pm to 10.30pm, 7 days a week. For non-muslim clients, please call me directly to book your training slots.

going natural

I used to have many joint and muscle pains after my endurance races. Whenever possible, I try to relieve these pains the natural way. Last week, I went out with Jayasilen**, from Alterni, for a business lunch to discuss some possible future collaboration. Alterni is a healthcare company providing 100% natural health supplements. Its philosophy is based on the principles of the alternative therapy without the use of synthetic drugs.

I was given some samples of Nacox, Alterni’s all-natural pain relief solution for joints and muscles. Nacox is claimed to be completely safe, with no side effects. It contains CCE 4800, a curcumin extract (from Kunyit) with anti-inflammatory properties to alleviate joint and muscular pain caused by injuries and arthritis. He also claimed that Nacox has 4000 times higher absorption rate for effective pain relief, as compared to Glucosamine and Chondrition supplements of some leading brands.

As of now, I still need to to try these supplements and will do a Product Review soon after. I am also looking for few Corporate Athletes (no, you don’t need to be CA clients …. hehehe) to try this Nacox, especially those who are suffering from pain in muscles and joints. All you have to do is to consume this product and tell me about its effectiveness later (if any).

**Jayasilen, a Corporate Athlete himself, is a taekwando 3rd degree black belt holder, and had representated the State of Kedah in 2003, 2005 and 2008 in national championships. In 2007, he represented Malaysia in WASCO, in short for World All Style Championship Organisation, in Cagliari Italy and won 2 Golds in Knife-hand Strikes & Turning Kicks, and 1 Bronze in Semi-contact Sparring. Now, he is just a busy dancer, and competing in Astro’s Aatam 100 Vagai – an Indian version of So, Do You Think You Can Dance. Corporate Athletes wish him all the best, and hopes for a fruitful collaboration in future.

 

Part II : Decide. Commit. Succeed.

I would like to highlight particularly The Trainer’s Creed no. 10 from my previous blogpost;

As a trainer, I can give you the best of my experience, knowledge and encouragement but in the end, it is you, my client, who must decide and commit to living the life that I know is possible for you.

…. simply because it carries Corporate Athletes’ tagline of DECIDE. COMMIT. SUCCEED. I always believe that the decision and commitment to become fit & healthy, need to come within oneself. It’s not the trainer’s duty to force you to decide and commit to their programs. The success of a given training program can only be achieved once the client themselves decided to take up the challenge and commit to it. 

While it is so much easier to say than done, there are small percentages of my clients who just barely have the right commitment level to ensure success in their training program. As a trainer, I never push or force people to join the program although there are times where I just want them to do it for the betterment of their physical and mental wellbeing. Forcing by a second party will never work in fitness training unless it is the money that the trainer is looking for. We are talking about long-term commitment and lifestyle here, to make it beneficial and successful, and it only works if the person has made the decision by themself, and commit to it.

Here are some tips highlighted by Dr. Ben Tan, the Head and Consultant Sports Physician of Changi Sports Medical Centre in Singapore, on starting out a fitness routine:      

• Set aside affixed time daily for your exercise e.g. lunchtime, before work, after work etc. (Ian : I do my gym routine before work thrice a week). 
• Link your exercise sessions to your daily activities e.g. jog before dinner, gym before heading home etc. This will make exercise a regular activity to you. 
• Get an exercise partner and stick to a mutually agreed exercise schedule. Whoever fails to turn up for an exercise session buys lunch. 
• Make exercise convenient e.g. use office gym, go to the park nearby home etc.
• ‘Spice’ up your exercise program. Exercise can be anything from swimming, dancing, mopping floors, climbing the stairs etc and not just weights and running.
• If you miss an exercise session, make up for it – you owe yourself a session and needs to be paid back.
• Sign-up for charity walks or runs. (Ian : You will not have problems if you are in the Klang Valley as there are always 10K runs almost every weekend).

You have to be mentally prepared to overcome the inertia. After 2 to 4 weeks, if you have been disciplined, your exercise schedule will become ‘routine’ and requires less effort. If you feel that you are too tired to exercise, it could be because you are not exercising enough! The fatigue you feel is more likely mental than physical. Many people feel more energetic once they have overcome inertia and settled into an exercise routine.

Part I : The Trainer’s Creed

I got this piece from DailyMuscle. Couldn’t agree with it more. Enjoy

The Trainer’s Creed (by anonymous)

I am a trainer, educated to teach you how to live a more active life, and take the safest and smartest route to a healthy lifestyle. I am not a doctor, a dietitian, a psychologist or physical therapist.

I am a trainer, educated to instill the correct exercise techniques and programs, no more, no less. Therefore:

1. As a trainer, I can help you and inspire you, but I cannot cure you.
2. As a trainer, I can provide a solid foundation for you, but I cannot make you happier, thinner or perfect.
3. As a trainer, I can give you proper education but I cannot do the work for you.
4. As a trainer, I can encourage you and challenge you but I cannot prevent the natural peaks and valleys of your fitness journey.
5. As I trainer, I can walk you through the process, but I can’t guarantee it will be easier.
6. As a trainer, I can believe in you but you must believe in yourself.
7. As a trainer, I can hope for years of active living, but only you can choose to be active.
8. As a trainer I can make you stronger, but I can’t make you indestructible.
9. As a trainer, I can hope that your success will inspire other’s success, but you must believe success is possible.
10. As a trainer, I can give you the best of my experience, knowledge and encouragement but in the end, it is you, my client, who must decide and commit to living the life that I know is possible for you.
11. As I trainer, I know that only you can make it happen; only you can open yourself up to the realities of healthy living and allow yourself to be inspired. 

I am privileged everyday to inspire you, and the rest of the world to fitness. My profession is my passion and my purpose.

p/s – I particularly like creed no (10) because that perfectly suits my company’s tagline of Decide. Commit. Succeed. Check out our Part II : Decide. Commit. Succeed. tomorrow.

Adventure Bootcamp

Hi Friends & Future Corporate Athletes,

Great news for all of you who wish to workout with your very own certified fitness trainer, but either;

• too shy to do it on a 1:1 basis with the trainer
• you find personal training is just way too expensive
• not motivating enough if friends are not around.

Well, this is the best time to exercise, as Corporate Athletes exclusively brings to you its long-awaited Adventure Bootcamp.

Our Adventure Bootcamp provides a power-packed workout in the span of an hour. It is the economical usage of time and money, that will drive people to our bootcamps. Our Adventure Bootcamp will meet twice a week i.e. every Tuesday and Friday, for an hour’s duration each i.e. 600pm – 700pm. Best of all, it will be done at KLCC Park. The Park is not only easily reached  by Putra LRT, but also offers many parking spaces for those who drive.

Our Adventure Bootcamp package includes:

• Ten (10) sessions of one (1) hour each, spanning over 5 weeks (Week 4 May 09 – Week 4 June 09).
• One (1) complimentary 1:1 consultation session
• Fortnightly Karada Body Scan measurements i.e. at 1st, 3rd and 5th week.
• Free lifetime membership to Corporate Athletes (with free professional fitness tips & advice)
• One (1) free Corporate Athletes 100% cotton Workout Towel 

And all these for an unbelievable introductory price of RM460 only. So, grab this opportunity fast, as we open it to the first eight (8) only.

Testimonial for Trainer

I met Frida at one of my AquaPeople swim sessions at Bukit jalil held sometime last November. She was alone in the pool, observing me coaching few students there. She was really interested in what I was doing – motivating & coaching mostly. Since then, she became one of my PT clients … …. In no time, she discovers her new physical frontiers. She runs well now, and gone were the joint pains that she used to have prior to her newly improved lifestyle. She even eats so well now (infact, better than me…hehheh). On rainy days, she uses stairs to exercise. A truly commited person indeed, and I thank her for letting me be part of her healthy and fitful lifestyle. And tqvm for the testimonial …  :)

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Testimonial for Trainer

I’ve known Ian for past two months, since I became one of his PT clients. I’m glad to say he truly fits the criteria as a fitness professional. He has shown great concern towards my physical well-being. He also tries very hard to understand my physical limitations & needs. He has definitely has taught me how crucial health & fitness are in my life. Best of all, he exercises what he preaches.

With his determination and persistence in guiding me towards a healthy lifestyle, he carefully structured a specific fitness program for me. Since then, I have tremendously improved my fitness level. With great trust and belief that I have in him, I’ve even recommneded his service to few of my friends. It’s also good to know that my friends do share the same opinion about Ian.

Ian, thank you very much & I wish you all the best in your future undertakings.

Sincerely,

Frida Angeline DeCruz

49 years old / teacher / mother 

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p/s – Frida, thank you. I will take this as a compliment … …

Testimonial for Trainer

Syah started out as a heavy 110kg guy in January 2008. He is now weighing merely 86kg, with only 19% of body fat. He is also packed with 36% of rock-hard solid muscles. He is now one of the common faces in the 10km runs throughout Klang Valley, and is attempting for his very first half marathon (well, more than that… 22.7km) this weekend. My utmost respect and salute goes to his determination and fighting spirit. Way to go Syah ….. and thank you for your lengthy testimonial…

Best Regards , Ian.

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                               Testimonial for Trainer Ian

I joined Corporate Athletes in January 2008 with an ultimate goal to lose my excessive weight. My previous gyms and few Personal Trainers did not work well as I was discouraged by the long travels, traffic and inferiority to the machines that I know very little of. I drifted away from gyms, and I soon arrived back at square one.

Enrolled as a Corporate Athlete, my Personal Trainer (Ian) has done something others failed – making health and fitness as my (corporate) lifestyle. Ian is a widely qualified, competent and knowledgeable Personal Trainer, who is very passionate about working in a partnership to achieve my fitness goals without setting up ridiculous diets and exercise regimes. I was taught to eat considerably, at the right times of the day and, be sensible and smart with the choices around me. Believe it or not, with the current economic problem, I am breezing through with these really simple fundamentals of dieting.

Corporate Athletes’ workout and fitness precedence suits me well in so many ways, among others are the followings;

1. My nature of work conveniently allows me to find excuses to skip gyms over ridiculous office deadlines. With little convincing, Ian demonstrates that exercise could be done anywhere in so many creative ways, I now find excuses to slot in a little quality time at the gym, or have a quick run in the park.

2. Ian spent a lot of time understanding my physical histories, and how I would envision the better version of ‘me’, and sculpt the personal exercise program around it. With the big picture, together we work through few stages of smaller, achievable targets. Whenever Ian sensed a plateau in the horizon, he quickly changes the program so I would seamlessly progress into my next fitness goal.

3. With Corporate Athletes’ training room expands beyond the stuffy gymnasium walls, Ian inspires me to enjoy the outdoor activities. I have insofar enjoyed these ‘de-stressing’ agents, and continuously looking forward to many varieties of quality activities that I could share with my young family. This way, I hope I would be able to inspire them to lead a healthy lifestyle too.

For me, the most invaluable trait of Corporate Athletes is it inspires you to be aware of the holistic physical, mental and psychological benefit of maintaining a healthy lifestyle as the ultimate goal, which extends beyond my initial weight loss program. I have become more conscious of taking care of my family and myself, that eventually making my weight loss as a bonus.

Corporate Athletes’ programs help to inculcate healthy habits and instill the discipline within yourselves to do regular exercise naturally. To keep fit and maintaining the right diet are after all, should be fun and not a stressful affair. Alas, my greatest reward being a Corporate Athlete is understanding the dire need for a long-term commitment to maintain a sustainable fitness level, and discovering the many creative ways achieving it.

So thank you Ian, see you at the next challenge!

syah kamaruddin

architect

June 2008