Squats

Squats are often called the “King of Exercises” because it is one of the best exercises ever created. Some even say that if you could only choose one exercise to do, make it Squats. It trains your hamstrings, quads, back and abs. It truly is a functional exercise that utilizes almost all the muscles in your body. Now when it comes to squats, there have been various debates on how low you should go. The most popular is where you come to a halfway point (where your thighs are parallel to the floor). This is not the best technique and if you want to get the most from your squats, you want to go below the parallel point as low as you can as long as you can maintain your proper form and balance – preferably all the way down or what most peopole call ATG - Ass to The Ground. Unless you have a specific reason not to go so low (like a power lifter who would go just below the parallel squat where your waist is below your knees) for all other purposes, you would want to execute a full squat.

To get the most of your squat, you want to ensure you do the full range of motion (ROM) and not just half way through. Many people disagree and say that a parallel squat is safer on your knees compared to a full squat. This is not true as most of squat injuries occur during lift off (where you lift the bar off the rest and take a couple of steps back to get into position) and landing (where you step back to re-rack the weights). Almost all squat related injuries come from poor technique and not because you go all the way down. You can get just as injured doing a parallel squat if your technique is wrong. So it has nothing to do with how low you go.

This morning I was totally stunned to see a PT in the gym who was training his client to do squats. They were using a Smith Machine (Smith Machines are not very effective – I will cover why in another post) and he loaded up the weights for his client (a lot of weights). During the warm ups when the weights were lighter, the client kept going almost all the way down. As it got heavier, his descent was less and less. And finally when they reached the max amount of weight, the client barely even reached the parallel position – and best of all, the PT did not say anything! If I had to call it a name, I would call it a quarter squat, since he only did a quarter of his ROM. Then the PT caught me looking at his client and he casually just said “lower”, but it still wasn’t even near the parallel position.

It’s not about how much weight you can slap on to impress others in the gym. It’s about how much you can do while maintaining proper form through out. You don’t see people doing a half curl (actually I have seen this weird phenomenon) or quarter curl (so far I haven’t seen this…yet), so why is it that this only happens with squats. You should give it the full range of motion just like other exercises.

Here are some tips on how to execute a squat properly.

Chest Up - Keeping your chest up makes lower back rounding impossible & tightening of your upper-back easier. Your chest should be pointing forward.
Forward Look - Look down & your back will bend. Look at the ceiling & your neck will hurt. Look forward.
Bar Position - Put the bar low, on the muscles of your back shoulders. Below the bone at the top of your shoulder-blades. .
Elbows Back - Don’t let them come forward during the Squat. Pushing your elbows back prevents elbows injuries.
Foot Stance - I keep my foot stance at slightly wider shoulder width.
Toes Out - Point your toes out at about 30 degrees. Your toes must always follow your knees.
Knees in - While descending, don’t let your knees go forward past your toes. Try to keep it 90 degrees with the floor as far as possible.
Weight on your Heels - Never get on your toes. Push from the heels.
Use a power rack. Power rack is like a cage and the best place for you to execute your squats safely. Smith Machines may look like it simulates the same movement, but believe me, its far from the same.
If you have never done squats, you might want to practice the movement on a broom stick or mop stick until you get it right before attempting it in the gym with weights. Getting it right is important to ensure that you avoid injury. So practice it properly until you get it right. I would normally recommend you to get a PT in your gym to train you, but after what I saw this morning, recommending a PT in your gym will be unfair to you.

Anyway, if you are not already doing squats, I hope you start soon. Squats are a must in anyone’s workout or else your workouts will be incomplete. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Detox - Hoax or Truth

Hi guys, firstly my sincere apologies for not having a post last week. I just tendered my resignation with Allianz recently and I have been really busy. What am I going to do after I resign? I will be working as a free lance corporate trainer and I also intend to put more focus on expanding Fitness Malaysia, which has seen tremendous growth over the past 6 months. Anyway, at the moment, I am trying to focus on my job in Allianz (handing over) as well as sorting out my corporate training and expanding Fitness Malaysia. So yeah, at the moment my hands are really full trying to juggle everything. That’s just a quick update to all of you on what’s going on my life. Initially I intended to make a post about my resignation, but as you can see, that’s about all I have to say about that.

This week I wanted to cover the topic of Detox and whether it really is as beneficial as people claim it to be. There are many types of detox services available in the market today. The one I am going to cover in this post is the one where you are supposed to consume a vegetable / fruit shake which is supposed to flush your system of toxins. As you know, Malaysians are becoming a lot more health conscious these days and I see more and more detox companies opening up everywhere offering you detox services. The usual claim is that detox helps you to:
· Remove Toxins from your body
· Helps you lose weight
· Keeps you free from illness

So does it really work and do we really need it or is just another marketing scam. Let’s look at it topic by topic.

Removing Toxins from your body
Usually, when you go for a detox session, you are given this “shake” which is a mixture of all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Due to the high fiber content of these fruits and vegetabls, most people end up getting a bit of diorhea the next day. Of course this is supposed to be good thing, since its “flushing” your system of all these harmful toxins. Is this true?

Our bodies are designed to remove toxins by itself without any assistance. From our kidney to the liver, these organs primary function is to process harmful material and excrete them from the body. Technically speaking, you don’t need to detox yourself since your body is already doing this all the time. Its like trying to sit in an oxygen tank for 30 minutes a day for 5 days with hopes of detoxing your respitory tract so it functions better – after all we are exposed to carbon monoxide and other contaminents daily. Again, our respitory tract is designed to handle normal levels of contaminents, so you don’t have to sit in that oxygen tank to detoxify it.

I am not saying that doing this is bad for you or harmful, but I personally don’t see the value of it in terms of removing toxins, since the body already has this system in place.

Helps you lose weight
Does detoxing help you lose weight? Usually when you go for a detox, you are asked to replace one of your meals with this vegetable / fruit shake. This of course translates to weight loss as there is a noticeable calorie deficit when you replace your normal meal to one that is purely fruits and vegetables. Honestly, this is a great strategy to lose weight as long as you can stomach it. The question then is, for how long? Most people I know do this for a week and then get sick of it and revert to bad habits again. But if you can maintain this for a long period, then yes, go for it.

Some recommend that you only drink the shake for 2 whole days. Meaning all your meals are replaced 100% by just these shakes. You are supposed to drink a shake every 2 or 3 hours to ensure your body receives enough nutrients throughout the day. Not very convenient, but the big question is, does this help you to lose weight?

For me, doing a detox for 2 days is a great way to reboot your digestive system. My wife was having trouble shedding the last few kilos no matter how much she exercised and how much she cut back on, she just couldn’t shed it. So she tried a detox for 2 days where all she did was drink the juices. We did it over the weekend and not a working day. She couldn’t stick to the juices 100% all the way without eating, but when she felt really hungry, she just had a slice of bread or something very light. But as far as possible, she tried to refrain from eating.

The results? After the 2 days of detoxing, once she went back to her normal diet, the kilos just melted off. She lost 1 kilo within the first 3 days of returning to her normal diet, another 1 kilo dropped off 7 days later. As you know, if you were to do the same exercise again and again, eventually your body would adapt and you wouldn’t see results anymore and you would have to shock your body by doing different exercises. Similarly, our body adapts to our eating habits and the best way to shock it is to go through a short detox session. This is especially helpful when you have come down to that last 2 or 3 stubborn kilos that just won’t disappear. A detox helps to shake things up and gets your body moving again.

Keeps you free from illness
Now the believe here is that since the detox cleanses your system, less toxins means you are healthier, which also translates to you not falling sick as often. Reality check amigos. Disease is caused by viruses and bacteria. Granted that the fruits and vegetables in the detox shake are high in vitamins and minerals, but if you already have a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, you will be benefitting from this. So you don’t have to detox yourself this way. If your diet is poor in fruits and vegetables, then making a shake like this every other day (everyday would be better) will be beneficial to replenish your supplies.

So what’s the final verdict on detox? To me personally, I don’t think its bad for you but a lot of the benefits that they advertise, is not exactly right. I would recommend just typing in “detox recipes” in Google Search and you will get a whole host of recipes which you can do right at home for a fraction of the price. It does help you lose weight (when you do it properly), but I am afraid the other benefits are just not true. So what are your thoughts on detox? As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Zig Zagging

Have you ever tried to go through a muscle gain phase where you eat more, so you can lift more, gain size but end up also gaining unwated fat? Or have you tried going through a fat loss phase where you lose weight but end up losing healthy muscle mass as well? Let’s face it, it is difficult to gain muscle mass and stay lean at the same time. The reason is, most people only have one diet plan and follow it day in and day out for weeks depending on what they are trying to achieve - regardless of what their workout routine looks like. So if you are trying to gain muscle mass, you eat more and continue eating more everyday for 3 to 4 weeks everyday. Then when its time to cut the fat, you cut down your caloric intake for the next 3 or 4 weeks everyday while maintaining your workout. Needless to say, during the weight loss period, you lose fat, but you also end up losing muscle mass and strength in the gym.

So how do you gain as much muscle mass as you can without gaining too much fat? Striking that balance between the 2 is hard, but not if you know how.

The answer is a Zig Zagging. Zig Zagging is one of the best ways for you to gain muscle while keeping your fat gain at a minimum. This means you will eat according to your training days and your training days will consist of Weight Gain days (where you lift like a bull) and Weight Loss days (where you do your cardio) or where you are resting. For you to gain muscle mass, your body has to remain in an anabolic state and the only for you to achieve that is to eat more calories than you need. Of course this would mean that you would gain some small amount of fat as well as additional unused calories turns to fat. On weight loss days, you have to eat less calories than you need and this results in you losing fat. So whatever additional fat you gained during your weight gain days will be lost during the weight loss days without having any effect on your muscle mass. This balances off nicely where you get to keep the muscle you gained and lose that fat which you don’t want.

Ok let me share with you what I do, so you have good idea on how to do this yourself.

Monday through Thursday is my weight gain days. This is where I lift heavy to try and gain as much muscle mass as I can. Since these are heavy workouts, trust me, if you don’t eat enough, you are going to struggle through the routine and won’t get the most from it. So these are days where I eat more carbs and if I have to indulge in unhealthy food, I usually do it on these days – since it is supposed to be my weight gain days. So if you like to eat fast food, here is your green light to eat it during these days. Now of course how much you indulge in will depend on how heavy you are pushing yourself in the gym. The heavier you push, the more you need to consume.

Friday to Sunday is my weight loss days where is usually do cardio or just rest and relax. Usually I do the treadmill or run outside for about 40 minutes. Sundays are usually my lazy days, so following the principal of eating for what you are about to do, since I laze around most of the time, I don’t eat that much. Usually my meals are small, consisting of very little carbs but lots of lean protein. This is where you want to eat your salads and other weight loss type foods as well.

How about if I just want to lose weight and not gain muscle? Should I still do zig zaging? Absolutely. On days when you do workout, you are going to want to eat more so you have the energy to push more in your workouts, but maybe you don’t want to eat as much as a person who is trying to gain muscle mass would. On days when you are not working out (you must have this at some point in the week), you will stick to your usual weght loss type diet. The thing is, many people obsessed with what the weighing scale says and end up losing healthy muscle as well along with their fat. As you know loss muscle means lower metabolic rate. Whatever your weight loss goasl are, you goal should always be to lose fat, not muscle. So this is where zig zagging helps to ensure your body does not waste away muscle. So you look healthy and not haggard.

Eating exactly the same way all 7 days of the week is not an efficient technique at all. You need to zig zag and keep changing your meals according to what you are doing for that day. Try it out and see the results for yourself. I have been doing it and its really great. Besides helping you get the results you want, it also ensures that you don’t get bored with your diet. Most people quit their diets because its just too boring and they get sick of eating the same thing again and again. Zig Zagging allows you to add variety to the entire plan since you do get to different kinds of foods every week and still look your best. There really isn’t any reason not to do it. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Tragic Incident at Standard Chartered KL Marathon

A friend of mine took part in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon yesterday and she sent me this email about one of the runners who collapsed and passed away on the way to the hospital. I am truly shocked with this story and my condolences goes out to the family of Lim. What i cannot believe is how lightly some of the authorities took this. Below is the email that was sent to me. Please read and share your comments.


I would like to share a tragic incident that happened at Standard Chartered KL Marathon today… When i was running my final 2 km on the 10km… as i was running along the road in front of Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, i saw a guy was sitting on the road side then soon enough he collapsed… this incident attracted my attention as a guy(a training doctor, named Irkhan) that was trying to help him was shouting for medic.. as i was a trained EFR, i ran over to see what is happening.. (it was around 1 hour into the race for 10km runners)i got to know that the guy (named Lim) has collapsed and was having seizure.. we tried to place him in recovery position… he was breathing very heavily and shortly and he was also biting his teeth very very hard… i was afraid that he will hurt himself (with either biting his own tongue or he closed up his airway).. so i tried to open up his jaw and tried to communicate wif him to have him relax and breath easily.. he then slowed down his breathing and taking deeper breath…another lady (Pei Kheng) came to help and constantly monitor on his pulse… and Dr. Visva (was another participant in the run) came over to help…Then suddenly, his pulse was gone… then we lied him flat and started on CPR procedures… we constantly check on his pulse to check whether his pulse has come back.. we did chest compression and also mouth-to-mouth breathing to Lim…as we were doing the CPR procedures, we did not sight medic anywhere.. and we tried to shout as loud as possible for medic… After awhile into the CPR procedures, "lady A" said that she could feel his pulse but was very weak.. then we stopped the CPR procedures to see whether he regain consciousness or not… After i stopped the chest compression on Lim, i started shouting for medic services again with the hope that a medic services is nearby and heard us.. but unfortunately not… we only sighted 3 DBKL Officers(with big motorcycles) just stood by the road side and just stare… the did not come over to help or to check out what happened… (it was around 10 minutes that Lim collapse and had seizure)…after a moment, Lim loose his pulse again.. we started CPR procedures again.. we still did not sight an ambulance or any EMS(Emergency Medical Services) around… after approximately 30 compression, Lim regained his pulse but was very very weak.. and yet.. there was still no ambulance or EMS sighted… and DBKL officers still stood there and did not came over to help… so I informed a passer by to run to the officers to tell them to call for an EMS soonest possible...after we performed CPR procedures on Lim for the the third time, finally a St. John ambulance came after around 15 - 20 minutes after Lim collapsed…we let the EMS officers to take over the CPR and First Aid… Dr. Visva asked whether do they have the AED(Automated External Defibrillator)… one of the person from the EMS said that they do not have it.. then I asked whether do they have a face mask with pump.. they also did not have it there… THEY PRACTICALLY HAVE NOTHING IN THE AMBULANCE!!!!!!!! -.-" EMS took him and speed their way to HKL…we were later informed that the Response time for EMS is 3 minutes but it took them almost 20 minutes to arrive… and later.. as I was reading through the Runners Guide that was provided in our running kit…There is a statement (at page 15) that states that "Medical Assistance - Medical Aid is available every 4km and at the Finish Area. Due to runner's physical condition, Medical Officials are authorized to stop runners and remove their timing chip"…every 4KM MY ROYAL ASS.. I did not see any first aider, ambulance or any sort of medical officials along my 10km route… and if 4km was true.. it definitely will not take them SO LONG to arrive...-----------------------------------------------------------------------I got a call from Dr. Visva a moment ago.. he went to HKL to check out the condition of Lim and he informed me that Lim have passed away on his arrival to the hospital…

Lim is only into his 20's and was running the 10KM distance…

Working Out in the Morning - FAQ

Here i am sitting in Singapore once again and typing out a post. i am back here in Singapore for work for one whole week. It seems like just not too long ago i was doing this. Anyway i am staying in the Concorde and i went to check out their gym earlier tpday. Pretty good. They actually have a squat rack, bench press & even a chin up bar. Yes, i should be able to get in all my usual exercises. But 1 thing that did piss me off was that their sign says the operating hours are 7am to 8pm. So i decided to ask the front desk if they could open at 6:30 for me as i need to head off for my training. When i called, they said their operating hours are 6am to 10pm. WTF? So i marched down there just now just to check and sure enough... the sign says 7am to 8pm... and typical of hotels, there was no one at the front desk. So i asked one guy who was working out and he told me it opens at 6am. so which one is which? well i guess we will see tomorrow.

Anyway enough about that. Just wanted to share that with someone and didn't know who i could share it with... so i thought this would be the best place. This week i am re-visiting the topic on working out in the morning which i wrote 2 weeks back, as I got many calls and sms-es about that post and lots of friends asking me how to go about it. wow... i didn't think that post would actually motivate a lot of people... but it did and i am happy. So i thought for the benefit of all, let me post up the questions i received and the answers i gave. Hope this helps all of you who are thinking about working out in the morning.

Should i eat anything before i work out?

Well i usually just gulp down a glass of soya and i am out the door. There was once when i forgot to drink my soya and felt lightheaded half way through my workout. The thing is you do want some sugar in your system but if you eat a proper meal, you have to wait an hour to an hour and a half before you work out. So unless you are prepared to wake up at 4:30am, i recommend just sticking to liquids. Something small like crackers or some cereal is OK... but avoid eating too much.

What should i eat after that?

well what do you normally consume after your workout? you can consume the same thing here. I am currently taking Nutrilite Protein mixed with V-Soy right after my workout. Before this i used to make Tuna sandwiches and take them with me. I still take the tuna sandwiches and eat it in between... remember, best nutrition plan to have is to eat every 3 hours... so i save my sandwiches for those odd moments when i cannot go out to get something to eat.

I feel really drowsy and sleepy after lunch.

Well to solve this, try sleeping earlier. i am usually in bed by 11pm most days and occasionally at 11:30pm. Plus you must understand that this gets some getting used to. The more you do it, the more your body will adapt...so the only way to overcome this is to sleep earlier and keep doing it till you get used to it. also try eating a lighter lunch. Sometimes mid day drowsiness is caused by a heavy meal.

I still feel sleepy when i reach the gym.

Try doing some cardio before your lift. Maybe a quick 10 or 15 minute jog. This helps to get blood pumping around. I usually do 3 to 4 warm up sets (start with lighter weights and gradually go up to your max) and that really helps to prep my body for the heavy lift. If you have consumed some sugar upon waking up, and do some light warm ups or cardio, i guarantee your body will be wide awake and ready to go.

How often should i do this?

Well how often do you workout? I do it 5 times a week and each time i go in, i train different muscle parts... enabling my body to recover. So it really depends on your routine

I don't have enough time in the gym coz my work starts early

Well there are 3 thinngs you can do.

1) split up your workout to more times a week, meaning doing less for each workout but more frequently over the week - so total work is the same, but you have to go more often to make up for the cut offs.

2) doing your exercises in super sets -this saves huge amount of time

3) lastly, maybe working out in the morning isn't going to work for you. So if you can't manage it, don't worry. This isn't for everyone.

OK. I hope i managed to get all the questions in here. If you do have any other questions, do post it up here and i will answer them. Till then good luck with the morning workouts. remember, it just gets some getting used to and it is not impossible. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

PS: The damn poll is working again. So please do take a moment to vote. Thanks guys

Have you "trained" yourself to eat more than you need?

I have been trying to gain mass & strength recently, so I have been chowing down extra food to achieve my goals. Before this, my goal was to lose fat, so I was careful with my food and only ate according to what I needed. It was pretty strict, but I lost weight pretty quickly. But now I am eating more carbs & proteins to allow me to lift heavier in the gym which ultimately translates to more muscle as well. So far so good in terms of achieving these goals. I am sure most of you will be going “Wow, eating more…that’s easy enough to do.” Well contrary to pupolar belief, I initially found it difficult to actually eat more food. I kept getting bloated and uncomfortable after my meals. The reason was, my body was used to a certain amount of food, and trying to push it above that took some getting used to. Perhaps I should have done it more gradually then I actually did. The other thing I am guessing is, my body is not used to the sudden increase in carbs and my already sensitive stomach took it pretty bad.

But now that I have been eating that way for awhile I am used to it. And then it got me thinking. For those who are overweight, you have actually trained yourself to eat that much food. So when it comes to cutting down that food, you are obviously going to feel it. It’s like trying to lift heavier weights in the gym for the first time. If you are used to benching 100 pounds, going up to 110 pounds will be difficult intially. But if you keep at it, you will be benching 110 pounds just like how you used to bench 100 pounds. Just like you trained yourself to eat so much food, now you have to train yourself to eat less food. It’s that simple.

Whenever I hear comments like “Oh, you don’t understand… I have a big appetite and its not easy”, I don’t buy it for one second. Sorry, your appetite is big, because you have trained it to be big, just like someone has big arms, because he trained his arms to be big. So, how do you train yourself to eat less? Well, here are some simple tips to help you train yourself to eat less.

Eat slowly
Most people tend to overeat because they eat way too fast. Your brain takes some time to notify you that it is full and tell you to stop eating. But if you eat quickly, by the time your brain sends the “stop I am full signal”, you have usually already surpassed your “actual” full limit. So learn to eat slowly. A few techniques come in handy. For one, put your cutlary down while you are chewing. Most of us are busy scooping up the next mouthful while we are chewing to create the continuous stream of food. Make it a point to put down your fork and spoon while you chew, and only pick it up again once you have swallowed. This slows down your eating process and you will find yourself almost automatically eating less, which will translate to weight loss. Another thing you can do is to chew slowly. This also helps to reduce your overall eating speed.

Eat till you are not hungry and stop
Most of us tend to eat till we are full or stuffed. Wrong technique. Eat slowly and pay attention to your hunger level. Once the sensation of hunger subsides, make it a point to stop. Don’t eat beyond that. You do not have to be full or stuffed to have enough food. Once your hunger disappears, stop eating. This only works if you follow the previous step. When you feel full, you have actually consumed more than you are used to. Eating till you are full all the time is essentially training your stomach and appetite to accept more food. So stop pushing your appetite to newer heights by being full all the time. Learn to train it for less.

Don’t skip meals
Here is what happens when you skip a meal. When its time to eat your next meal, you will tend to binge and overeat to compensate for what you missed out. Not to mention, skipping meals is not an effective strategy for weight loss, so there really isn’t any reason to do this. The best technique is to of course eat a small meal for every 3 hours that you are awake. This way, your body has a constant flow of nutrition so you can avoid binge eating and you will also eat less because you are not saving up your hunger and unleashing it after many many hours of starvation. So don’t skip meals and if you can, eat every 3 hours. Here is where its handy to have small things like muesli bars or fruits around so you can chew on that when its not convenient to break your 3 hour fast with a proper meal.

Do it gradually
Make it a point to reduce your food slowly. I have seen so many people get excited about losing weight, cut down their food by half, see amazing results for 2 weeks and then suddenly quit altogether. Why? Because it was too drastic and they just couldn’t sustain it. Just like how you can’t go to the gym and bench press 225 pounds on the first day, its not advisable to drastically drop your food intake overnight. Ever hear the saying" slow and steady wins the race"… yeah, because its 100% true. So be cautious / aware of how much you are eating and progressively reduce it from time to time. A good benchmark is to reduce it every week or every 2 weeks. So cut it down by about 10% and then a week or 2 later, cut it down by a further 10% and so on. But you have to be consistent for all your meals and not just cut down 10% from one meal a day.

So what is your excuse for eating more than you need now? We now know that its just a habitual thing that has been developed over years of training, and now its time to train it to accept new amounts and that is basically what you are doing here. Try it out for yourself and see. You will be amazed with the results you get. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

PS: Please take a moment to vote on the latest poll.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

I wake up at 5:30 every weekday morning, leave the house by 6:00am and I begin my workout by 6:30am. Have a quick yet intense work out, shower and then head off to work. As most of you might have guessed, lifting weights at 6:30 in the morning is not exactly the easiest thing to do. Whenever I tell people about my routine, they always ask me “How do you get motivation to do that every morning?” My answer is that I want to avoid the traffic jam, so that’s why I wake up and leave my house so early so that I get to avoid the jams.

Although a lot of you might say that “traffic jams” can’t really be categorized as motivation, I choose to view it differently and that is how I use it and turn it into motivation for me. That’s the thing about motivation. Motivation doesn’t necessarily have to be people cheering for you or people saying, “Hey you look like you have lost weight”. Of course motivation like that is great and who doesn’t love it. But the key to working out, is to take all the unexpected things around you and turn it into motivation and you will be surprised at how much more these small things will add up. So, here are some tips for you to derive motivation from just about anything.

Play out the “what if worst case scenario”
Just like my traffic jam example, every time I wake up in the morning and feel like I just can’t do this, I play out the worst case scenario. If I don’t go to gym, then I am going to get stuck in the jam. Not only do I have to deal with annoying drivers, I could be late and if that happens, I will never hear then end of my boss yelling and screaming. So with all that in contrast, a quick 1 hour lift doesn’t seem that hard to do. So weighing the consequences, I think I would rather just go for my workout than to skip it. Also, if you are a person who trains regularly, you know that if you skip this work out, you are going to feel guilty about it all day. So rather than feel crappy all day, I might as well get it over it.

Remember that after working out, you will always feel good
This has actually been scientifically proven. Working out actually triggers your body to produce adrenalin and endorphins, which are hormones that act as natural feel good drugs. So though it might be difficult to get out of bed or get off that sofa and start your workout, think about how good you are going to feel once you complete your workout. If you are feeling lazy and down, tell yourself that this will all change once you sweat it out and finish your work out.

Don’t think about it. Just do it
Working out for me, has become part of my routine. Just like you would brush your teeth every morning when you get up, working out at a particular time has become part of my routine. I have actually programmed myself in such a way that I just do it without thinking anymore. Sometimes when I look back, I can’t believe that I have stuck with this same routine for more than 8 years. That’s a long time.
So whenever you feel lazy or feel like you just want to skip it, re-program your mind immediately. Tell your self that you just have to do it. Every time a negative thought comes to your head, push it away and say “I just have to do this”. Don’t let these negative thoughts rule your mind and make decisions for you.

I am not like everyone else.
When you wake up at 5:30 every morning, it’s hard to tell yourself that you need to go the gym and start working out. All sorts of thoughts race through your mind. The one that always races through mine is “Why do I have to do this? Everyone else is still fast asleep.” Of course the answer to that question is always “I am not like everyone else and I don’t want to be like everyone else”. You will be surprised at how effective that is.

Get a gym buddy
This is actually one of the easiest and most fun way to stay motivated. Get a friend who shares your enthusiasm for working out and make it a point to work out together. Not only is working out together fun, it is also great for keeping each other motivated. You get to compare yourself with someone, and this creates a competitive spirit which all in all is a good thing for working out. Besides that, having a gym buddy also helps when you start slacking off. When you don’t feel like going or if your gym buddy doesn’t feel like going, you can push each other to go. Plus, if you cancel, you are not only canceling your own plans… there is someone else who is depending on your plans as well. So start persuading your work mates, family members, friends or college mates into getting fit. Having a gym buddy is always the best way to work out.

Take a break from time to time
This is an extremely important tip. Lot’s of people who start off as real enthusiasts suddenly quit after awhile because they don’t feel motivated anymore. Often times, when you do the same thing over and over again, you tend to get bored with the routine, hence making you feel unmotivated and the feeling of wanting to quit.
To avoid this, make it a point to take a one week break from your routine every 4 or 5 months. During the one week, take up other activities like swimming or playing football or any other kind of sport. Once the one week break is over, you will probably feel guilty that you haven’t worked out for awhile and this will give you more drive and motivation to work out again.

Keep Reading Fitness Malaysia's Blog

Yes, this is the best way to keep yourself continuously motivated. OK OK, jokes aside, but I really do mean this. Reading this blog will help you stay motivated because you are always learning new tips which you can’t wait to try at the gym. So make sure you check out this blog every week to keep yourself motivated all the time.

So now that you have an arsenal of motivation tips, make sure you put them to use. Don’t let yourself feel down and lazy resulting in you quitting. Working out takes time to see results and a lot of times people quit because they don’t see the results. Believe me, the results will come to all those who work for it. The only thing you need to do is to keep working at it without quitting. Easy isn’t it? As usual, look forward to reading your comments.

Trip to Krabi

I just came back from Krabi, Thailand about a week ago and this is definitely one holiday destination i intend to visit again in the near future. Krabi is pretty similar to Phuket except for one major difference... its not as commercialized as Phuket. The benefit of that is, people are nicer and you don't have to pay money to breathe air... ok i am exagerating, but when i went to phuket some years back, everything was about money.

We stayed in Aonang Villa Resort which is really all the shops & Restaurants. Just walk out of the hotel's compound and you are greeted with loads of stalls selling everything from souvenirs to clothes to food. There was even a 7-11 just outside our hotel, which was great just in case we needed to catch a mid-night snack.... hey its a holiday. all diet plans go out the window.

During our stay we visited Phi Phi island... where a boat takes you out for deep water snorkeling in about 2 different locations, 2 beaches (one of which was Maya beach, where the famed "The Beach" movie with Leornardo DeCaprio was shot) and lunch. Its a whole day event and the boat ride took about 40 minutes just to get to those places. Whole day of water activity and swimming sure burns you out... by the time we reached the last beach i felt totally drained and couldn't wait to get back to the hotel...so much for me being a beach bum... must be losing it. Below is a picture of some islands we passed during our 40 minute boat ride.

The place where we had lunch was this island called Phi Phi Don (i hope i got the name right) and just walking down the streets, it felt like you are in Hawaii or something. the music, the shops, the restaurants, the people... for a second, i forgot i was in Thailand. We decided that next time, we have to stay on that island, though i heard the rooms there are pretty pricey.

The following day we hired a taxi and went to this place called the Emerald Pool. Now when i first heard it, i was wondering what a weird name for a pool... when i got there, i realized why its called that. The water is literally green. Check out picture of wifey in the pool.



Why is the pool green? My guess is there some kind of algae growing at the bottom of the pool (you can feel it when your feet touches the bottom of the pond) which is really green and the water is crisp clear, hence you get a green pool. As we were heading out, we saw a sign that said Blue Pool... so we thought what the heck... lets check it out. So we hiked for about 1 km through the forest...

and voila, we came across the blue pool... the water is really blue. not your usual sea blue, but bright blue. Check out the picture. Creepy eh? No one is allowed to swim in it, and believe me, looking at it, for some some eerie reason, i didn't want to swim in it either.


On the way back i had a nasty slip and fell into the stream... and the damn camera which was with me and went for a plunge too. I quickly jumped out, but the camera was soaked. Luckily i had the sense not to turn it on, took it back to the hotel, opened it up, removed the batteries and let it dry over night... the next morning when i turned it on... it worked... just like it never got wet. So here is a tip... if you drop anything electronic into water... don't turn it on till its fully dry... if its on when it drops in (like your phone), then it may be sayunara...but otherwise, this tip will help you save your beloved electronic device.

Anyway after the emerald pool, we went to the hot water springs... where the water was about 45 to 50 degrees celcius... it felt hot enough to cook a packet of maggi. Boiled "nuts" anyone. hehehehehee. Anyway, no pics since at that point my camera was still wet, and i didn't dare to on it. We spent some time there and then we headed back.

The next day we were leaving, so we just lazed around in the hotel room till it was time to check out and head home. All in all, it was a great trip and like i said... definitely worth a visit again for sure. Anyone else visited Krabi before and care to share their tale? As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Poll Results - What is the biggest obstacle you face when it comes to working out

OK, its time once again to review our poll results and this time the question asked was “What is the biggest obstacle you face when it comes to working out”. There were a myriad of options to choose from, and I hope I managed to cover the most common answers people were looking for. I really couldn’t think of any others when I did this, so I hope the answer you were looking for was available.
So lets do a quick review of each answer.

1) No time, too busy
Now I honestly thought this answer would win hands down but I was wrong. After all, I keep hearing this all the time how people never have time for anything in their lives. Well only 20% of the respondents felt that way. To me, time management comes down to prioritizing whats important to you. If something is important to you, believe me, you will find time to do it. Taking a shower is important, so no matter how late you finish work or how busy you are, I am sure you would still take a shower before heading to bed right? Well the same thing goes for working out as well. If you place enough importance on it, then you will find a way to do it.

2) No money for gym membership
About 14% of respondents chose this. I understand that gym memberships can be expensive, but there are always options like Gym Rakyat which is a government sponsored gym. I am not sure how much they charge now, but when I first started working out, I paid RM 2 per entry. If you just want to stay healthy, you can always do running outside or just do calisthenic exercises – which are exercises that use your body weight as resistance. Eg. Push ups, Chin ups, dips etc.

3) I don’t have a clue on where to start
OK, not many people chose this. Only 5 %. The thing is, we live in the information age and its so easy to get information. Just search the web and voila, you should be able to easily get a full workout for yourself. Try it, and if you don’t like it, look for something else. You can also make friends with other fitness buffs and share tips and ideas with each other. There are just so many ways to get information easily these days, so if you felt this was a real obstacle, here is how you can overcome it.

4) None of my friends are into fitness
1 person chose this and I know this can sometimes be the biggest obstacle. Here is what you can do. Be the motivator and motivate your friends to become fitness buffs as well. Don’t wait for others to change before you approach them or worse still, wait for people to approach you. In fact, its always more fun doing stuff when you have friends who are doing it with you. Alternatively, again, you can look for some new friends who are into fitness and then work out with them. So, don’t let this be an obstacle for you.

5) I can’t be that consistent all the time
And the number 1 winner with over 55% of people choosing it is - being consistent. Unfortunately, being consistent is also one of the most important factors to have when workign out, so it does count a lot. When you are not consistent, you won’t see your desired results. When you don’t see your desired results, you get fed up of working out and you will drag your feet every time you have to workout, which probably is also another reason why it becomes more and more inconsistent. Like I mentioned earlier, if you place enough importance on it, then you will find away to be consistent. Do you go in to work everyday consistently? Because its important to you, you make it a point to be consistent… so again, why not do the same for your workouts? Its just a matter of how much importance you choose to place on it.

I’m too old & I hate dealing with post workout pain received no votes at all. So I will not get into that as its obviously not a concern for most people. What was your vote and your reason for choosing it. I hope I gave you some suggestions on how to overcome it and hopefully, this won’t be an obstacle anymore for you. Me? Actually this time I stayed away from the votes as none of the answers seemed to suit me properly, so I thought I better stay out and see what happens. As usual, look forward to hearing your conmments on this.

Jogging 101

Hi guys, firstly, let me apologize for not having a post last week. I was caught up with some things last week and didn’t get a chance to sit down and write anything. But I am back, and I intend to stick with to our weekly posts routine.

OK, now that the apologies are out of the way, let’s get down to business. This week I want to talk about jogging and a few discoveries that I made. For the record, I really hate running, jogging and other endurance related activities, which is probably the reason why I was never into sports when I was in school. Since I hate it so much, I have not done much to become better at these activities. I just do the bare minimum to achieve my goals and that’s about it. The rest of my time is spent on strength training.

However, off late, I have been trying hard to reduce my body fat %, so I changed my workout routine around and also started doing a lot more cardio than my usual. I do the treadmill during my normal gym days, but once a week, I head out to the park in Bukit Jalil with wifey and we both spend a good 40 minutes on cardio. We usually do the stairs for about 20 minutes and then do some jogging.

But when I first started, I could barely jog for 3 minutes before I ran out of breath and had to stop. It was pathetic and embarassing. So I would jog for 3 minutes, run out of breath and then walk for 3 to 5 minutes and then jog again. I would repeat this routine of jogging and walking until my full 20 or 30 minutes was up. After doing this for awhile, I realized I was not getting any better at all. I mean 4 weeks and I still can’t jog for more than 3 minutes.

So then I asked myself if maybe my technique of jogging was wrong. Of course when I first started jogging, I never thought about technique. After all its just jogging right– one foot in front of the other and repeat. How hard could that be? Then I noticed what all the other joggers in the park were doing and then I realized that there is a technique to jogging. So I adopted it and now I can jog non stop for about 30 minutes and the improvement was almost immediate. From 3 minutes to 30 minutes – big difference right?

So what is this technique? Well here it is.

Keep your feet light
Originally when I jogged, you could hear me a mile away. My feet were heavy and I would slam it into the ground really hard. Then I realized, other people jogging, and you could barely hear their footsteps. So think light and only lift your leg up slightly and put it down slowly. You don’t have to thump your feet into the pavement with every step. Think light all the way and your feet will follow as well.

Take small steps
The other mistake I made was, taking huge strides. When you take huge strides, your legs tend to move faster which makes you go faster and faster until its in between a slow jog and a sprint. No wonder I couldn’t jog for more than 3 minutes… its almost like I was running and not jogging. So make your steps small and that will automatically slow down your speed as well. If you keep your steps small, you will almost automatically keep your feet light as well. So it’s a 2 in 1 deal.

Breathing
Breathing properly is extremely important during your jog. As I was constantly running out of breath all the time, I asked for advice from many people who jog regularly and they all had different answers to give me. Some say take 2 breaths in, and 1 breath out. Others say breathe in through your nose and out of your mouth. Tried it all, but for me personally, the one that works the best is slow and heavy breaths. So I would take a slow but deep breath and then exhale slowly as well. Problem is, this breathing technique causes you to feel the stitch in your abdomen area. I don’t feel it while running, but if I stop jogging for awhile and then start jogging again, the stitch comes on almost immediately. So I am still trying to figure that part out.

So yeah, here are some tips I picked up to take you from a pathetic 3 minutes of jogging to a fantastic 30 minutes. Pretty impressive right? Honestly, I am more than happy with my 30 minute record although to my friends in endurance racing, 30 minutes jogging is peanuts. But yeah, I hope these tips helps everyone especially beginners or others who are just as pathetic as I “used” to be. Also, please note that running 30 minutes on the treadmill doesn’t mean you can do 30 minutes on the road as easily as well. It’s a world of difference – trust me. Anyway, as usual, look forward to hearing your comments on this.