10 Reasons to Start Running

People start running for a variety of reasons. Some run because they want to lose weight, improve their health, compete in races or try something new. Whatever your reason is for running, you’ll experience many physical, mental and emotional benefits from the sport. Here are 10 great reasons to get started with running:

1. Running improves your health

One of the biggest benefits of running is that it’s good for your health. Running is an excellent way to strengthen the heart and ensure the efficient flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body, which helps decrease your risk of a heart attack. Exercise, combined with maintaining a healthy weight, is one of the best ways to naturally reduce your blood pressure if it’s above normal. If you have high cholesterol, running can also help keep it in check. Running also improves your immune system, so your body functions are more effective and efficient at fighting off germs. Running and other weight-bearing exercises increase bone density, which can fend off osteoporosis.        

2. You can lose weight
Many people start running to lose some extra pounds. As one of the most vigorous exercises out there, running is an extremely efficient way to burn calories and lose weight. If you’re already at a healthy weight, running can help you maintain it. Just make sure you don’t think running gives you a license to eat anything you want. The basic rule of weight loss — that you must burn (through life functions and exercise) more calories than you take in — still applies to runners.

3. You can run for a cause
Running can also be used as a way to contribute to society as a whole. Many races benefit charities, and some charities offer race training in exchange for fund-raising. Running for something that’s bigger than you is a great way to stay motivated to keep training and can make your races even more meaningful and fulfilling.      

4. You can meet new people through running
Some runners enjoy the quiet and solitude of running on their own, but other runners see running time as social opportunities. Finding a running buddy or running with a group is a great way to develop a sense of community. You can set goals and accomplish them together. In addition, having a regular running buddy or running group is a great way to stay motivated to run.
Some runners also share advice and motivation with other runners in online forums, such as sgrunners.com. You can meet other people who share your obsession with running, celebrate your triumphs and help you overcome your obstacles.

5. You can experience something new and different
Running is a great way to expand your horizons and break away from the daily grind. The sport gives people the opportunity to explore areas of their own community or new locations, experience new physical sensations and run places they may not normally see.

6. You can train for a specific goal

Some people hate to exercise just for the sake of exercising, but with running, though, you can train for races, from 5Ks to marathons and beyond. Training for a race gives you a specific goal to work toward, which can definitely help improve your motivation to run.

7. Running improves your energy levels

When you’re feeling sluggish or tired, running is a great way to boost your energy. Runners who run in the morning report that they have improved energy levels during the day. Combining running with a healthful diet will help improve your energy levels even more.

8. Running will help you feel good about yourself

Regular runners report an increase in their confidence and self-esteem, and the self-esteem benefits of running are increased if you set a specific goal, such as running a marathon, and accomplish it.

9. Running is versatile and inexpensive

Running requires very little equipment, and it can be done almost anywhere. All you need is a good pair of running shoes, and you can head out your door to go for a run. From city sidewalks to wooded trails, there are plenty of places for runners to explore — at no cost. If you travel a lot, it’s easy to pack your running shoes and run while you’re on the road.

10. Running can help with stress relief

Running — as with many forms of exercise — is a great cure for stress, emotional strain and even mild depression. Research has shown that healthy adults who exercise regularly are generally happier than those who don’t.

Photo courtesy of SameerPictures.com  

WHY DO YOU RUN?
(courtesy of 1 Arm Runner. Check out his site at HERE!)

Functional Training

(Article shared by one of our exclusive guest writers – Victor Chan!)

When it comes to ‘Functional Training’,  this term means a lot of different things when it comes to different people. In this article, I will like to highlight on some exercises which are done in the weight room on how functional they may truly be.

To some, such training may involve in the usage of unstable surface (foam pads, half-dome stability balls, wobble boards and etc.) to exercise whatever muscles groups that they did not ever know existed.

To me, this is not functional training.

Functional training to me is simply training methodologies that allow you to perform more efficiently in the physical tasks of your daily life or your athletic pursuits with minimum risk of injuries. 

To me, there is no point in training muscles that only look good but do not work well at all.

Imagine if one day your girlfriend gets pinned down by her closet of VS lingerie and naughty halloween costumes. She requires your rescue but all that you have been doing in the gym were endless bouts of bicep curls, crunches and leg extensions. You could not even lift her treasure of sexy clothing up because you are lacking strength in your back, power in your legs and have no stability in your core (which may even result in you getting pinned down with her and getting buried together – not a sexy sight).

Do you walk around like that after your 1 hour worth of bicep curling workout?

*Note, I am not saying that you should not do any of the above exercises, but if those are the only exercises that you are capable of doing, good luck on rescuing your girlfriend.

So, how do I train in a more functional manner?

Do not get intimidated by this diagram now. To put it simply, the human body is meant to move in 3 distinct planes of motion (and it’s usually a combination of more than 1 plane of motion).  In order to have a truly functional body, you have got to train all 3 body planes.
“In functional training, it is as critical to train the specific movement as it is to train the muscles involved in the movement. The brain, which controls muscular movement, thinks in terms of whole motions, not individual muscles.” – Amercian Council on Exercise (ACE). Q: What is functional strength training?

Another illustration – Imagine that you are about to a punch to the guy who tried to get flesh on your girlfriend. Does your brain send signals to tell you flex your bicep, raise your deltoids (shoulder) and then extend your arm fully to land a hit on his face? If it does, your girlfriend would have been stolen by another guy already.

Thus, think about training in movements instead of muscles.

Here’s what you should be doing in the weight room if you have done nothing else but isolation exercises (exercises that only train 1 plane of motion / 1 joint / 1 muscle) -
Compound exercises (exercises that train multi joints / muscle groups / planes of motion) that consist of:
1. Upper Body Horizontal Pushing & Pulling Exercises (Bench Press / Bent Over Rows)
2. Upper Body Vertical Pushing & Pulling Exercises (Overhead Press / Pullups)
3. Hip Dominant Exercises (Deadlifts)
4. Quad Dominant Exercises (Squats)

Remember, if you push, you have to pull. Else, there will be imbalances to the muscles in your body. A good example will be someone who does bench press all the time for bigger chest. No doubt his chest will be bigger, but at the expense of a poor posture that consists of a pair of forward slumped shoulders that makes him only more attractive to the female apes.

You want to be the guy in the middle. Not the ape on the left or the snake on the right

Does that mean that I have to give up on doing any isolation exercises ever?
No. Isolation exercises have their time and place in the training regime. Depending on your goals, isolation exercises can help you get to where you want as well. But with that being said, do not build your foundations of training based solely on isolation exercises.

Summary
1. Functional training is simply training methodologies that allow you to perform more efficiently in the physical tasks of your daily life or your athletic pursuits with minimum risk of injuries.

2. Think about training in movements instead of muscles

3. Build your foundations of working out on Compound Exercises

4. Isolation Exercises are not everything

Before you start your fitness regime…

(Article shared by one of our exclusive guest writers – Victor Chan!)

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Guys, ever wondered what REALLY made you decide to find out more about fitness?

For me  – I knew I wanted to look sexy with the lights on. It all started back in the days when I was still schooling in polytechnic. I had this really funky hairstyle back then, which often led people to associate me with the famous soccer player Ronaldinho. The difference was (as my mates pointed out to me jokingly one day) Ronaldinho dribbled the ball gracefully with his feet, while I (pointing to my gut), carried it around almost effortlessly. This hit me real hard – not because I handball foul all the time, but I realized how DISGUSTING I looked at that point of time. That is when I decided that I had to do something about it.

Belly sucked in real hard

Fast forward to the present, I look way better than I did back then. People whom I have just met would usually ask me, “You hit the gym quite often right?”. Relatives and friends whom I have not met in awhile will compliment me on how I look. Ultimately, it is not about the amount of compliments that you receive, or how many eye-stares you get from those chicks across the bar. It is about how much you actually love and respect yourself. For the best gift to others, is yourself.

Me on my 21th Birthday

Me on 20/10/10

Most Recent Photo – 11/05/11

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So, how do you get started?

Before you even think about putting on those running shoes or signing up for a gym membership, ask yourself these 3 questions:

What is your goal?
How much do you really want that?
How much can you sacrifice?

Know what you really want first

Not everybody has the same definition for fitness. To me, someone who can run 42km without stopping but finds difficulty in replacing the new water dispenser in the office, is not fit. The guy who looks like he can easily flip cars over with one hand but starts panting heavily after the climbing that second fleet of stairs, is not fit. Basic fitness to me, is the ability to perform whatever physical activities that I have to do with ease. It may be flipping a 250kg tyre, it may be running 2.4km under 10 minutes, or simply being able to carry two packs of 10kg rice back home from the supermarket without broken arms.

What is your goal? Do you want to look like a fitness model on the cover of Men’s Health? Do you want to be able to run a marathon under 3 hours? Or do you want to be the strongman that supports a girl on each shoulder? What do YOU really want? And most importantly - Why?

Is this REALLY what you’re willing to die for?

How much do you really want this? I believe that when someone wants something badly, they will give in their 101% into doing whatever it takes to achieve their goals. If you’re putting in lesser than 100% effort, either you are not ready for it or, you just do not want this enough. You have no time? You will start making time. You do not eat well? You will start eating well. Your other half is hindering your progress? Have a good talk with them or it’s good bye.

People often tell me, they did this and that, they put SO much time into working out, but they are still not achieving what they want. Take a good look at what you are doing now, are you giving up your bad habits? Are you still ‘rewarding’ yourself with that Mega McSpicy after a hard session in the gym? Do you still stay up late watching mindless websites and surfing Facebook when you are supposed to be getting your sleep? You may be putting in effort, but at the same time, are you willing to give up what’s stopping you from progressing?

Now you can go on to find out about what you really want.

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In light of this post, i came across an article which tells me that women, in general, are more likely to benefit from an exercise class whereby the fitness instructor emphasizes on the health benefits rather than merely looking good. (Click HERE for the article).

So you wanna be/look like her?

This is interesting as it shows the different drive and desire of men and women in terms of why they workout or go for a run. Men are more fueled by looking great and feeling good about ourselves. While women on the other hand, care more about the health aspects that would benefit them despite having a physical goal in mind. In short, men are have more extrinsic motivation when it comes to fitness while women hold on to a more intrinsic value of it.

I guess what’s important is that we should have a balance of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation when we are on our fitness journey. No point hitting the gym for hours or running for miles but leading an unhealthy lifestyle  (like eating junk/fast food) i’d say. It’s gonna be tough, its gonna be brutal. And for some, its gonna rip that ego apart. 

Are you ready? Are you ready for the change?