The Skinny Of My Active Sporting Lifestyle.

Start of the 2nd month in 2012, i thought i’ll share with the newer readers: WHY I TRAIN. An old post, but nonetheless, still GOLD. And looking back at it, motivates & inspires me to work harder.

Contrary to its name, this blog has grown from merely a running blog to something which covers a wider range of sports and fitness and also health. Inspiring the uninspired to run, bike, swim and train etc. This post goes out to all those skinny guys and ANYONE who AIMS to achieve something better this year.

To be fitter, faster, stronger, better.

~

Family members, relatives and friends used to ask/tell me all sorts of questions like “Why you train so hard?”, “Concentrate on your education and not your gym/running stuff.”, “Some people people so fit also die early.” and blah blah blah. Well, this post is gonna be pretty much about me and my journey to reach my goal of achieving a the physique and fitness of a Roman God Bod.

I must say that i’ve not reached there YET. Hahaha. Slowly but surely yeah? This posts goes out especially to all the people out there who is like me, skinny and weak, and seek to have a better bod and fitness level. I feel you bro.

Anyways, I had always wanted to share my love of fitness and also my interest in weights training to achieve that physique that one can only dream of. You know, kinda like those Men’s Health front cover models. ;P I personally started gyming and understanding the different forms of exercises for different muscle groups when i was 17. Yes, i do remember it clearly because that was one of those moments in your life which you realise that your decision had made a great impact to your future self. Its like a decision to get married or to have a kid. THAT extreme? YES it is!

First and foremost, i, like many other self-claimed skinny guys out there is what scientist classify as ECTOMORPH. Also known as a “hard gainer” for our inability to gain as much weight even though we might eat the same amount as those we claim as “fat people”. We have high metabolism thus we burn more calories faster than what we take in. And guess what? Brad Pitt is an ECTOMORPH too! Yay! Got “spiritual” connection liao. Somehow, i feel like Tyler Durden (from FIGHT CLUB) and Achilles (from Troy) now.

I tried. Very hard to gain weight.

Yes, i did almost a lot of things to try and gain as much weight, but to no effect. Chin up regime when i was ard 6-7 years old didnt help much nor did eating a whole tray of rice, chicken and what nots when i was in secondary school. Okay, i was kidding about the former. Hahaha!

Basically, i was a thin and fragile kid back in my secondary school days. My weight was always fluctuating between 45-50kg AND FOR A GUY, that is kinda light. It didnt help that i was a hyperactive kid and participated in outdoor activities as well as sports. (i was a Scout Trooper from 1997-2005 & i played touch rugby from 1997-1999) As much as i tried to eat, my stomach just couldnt take in much calories and i get full very easily. *sigh sigh sigh*

2001. Scouting moments

Well anyways, i remember it as clearly as it was yesterday when back then in 2005, a female friend of mine exclaimed to me that i had a weight of a girl as we were taking our Height & Weight during our P.E lesson. There i was already having a hard time to gain weight and such, and there she was popping my confidence-balloons. Although the comments deflated me emotionally, i CHOSE to think rationally and logically and decided IT IS TIME for me to do something.

I couldnt help to see a skinny dude looking back at me whenever i look into the mirror. Could you? OMG! I bet you cant either! It sucks, really. So i decided to hit the gym and learn as much as i could from people, internet and books. Also at the same time, joining my favourite sport of RUGBY drove me to achieve a better bod and physique as (contact) rugby IS indeed a hardcore sport. Pick up a sport people. It DRIVES you to be good and serve your team/school well!

2005. JJC Cougars.

Over the course of 2 years in JC, i gained 15kg. Quite an achievement for me as on the average, i’d manage to gain only 5kg per year. Of course, i didnt become fat or bubbly as i had constant workout and high level of intensity gyming back then. But still i wasnt happy with my fitness level. Being in the army and doing all the *censored* shit out there turned out to be very useful. I grew leaner with all those morning and afternoon runs and route marches. And the constant chin-up regime before meals (even as i became a commander), propelled my physique and strength to greater heights.

2008. Post-NS days.

And as my level of fitness grew, my confidence grew too. I could wear more variety of clothing without making it look like i had an oversized jumper on me. And yes, my post NS days – when 25 chin ups were no problem and my 2.4km runs were 9min.

Fast forward to this time round, i am happy…er with what i have accomplished thus far. Participating in sports/activities ranging from  soccer to rock climbing to camp facilitating to kettlebell-ing and etc, it gave me more confidence knowing i could achieve MORE as i play the sport. I could run faster, kick harder, climb higher and lift heavier weights.

As of this current moment, the year 2012 will be a life changing year for me as i set out to achieve MORE accomplishments for myself (picking up Muay Thai & BJJ at Evolve MMA, getting my swimming fins back to work, just to name a few sports). It will be mentally draining. It will be physically tougher. It will be spiritually demanding.

End 2011. Successfully completed my personal best of 35 chin ups in one set. I plan to hit 45 by the end of 2012.

BUT hey! Playing sports and keeping fit is kinda like a drug. It makes me happy and boosts one’s confidence. And best of all, it keeps me in the company of fitness enthusiasts. Rather than wasting time sitting under the void deck, drinking, rioting, making a nuisance, might as well, i keep myself healthy and fit. I think that one great group of people whom you can train with FOR FREE (no hidden costs) is with SG TITANS. Who are they? Stay tuned to find out more. Or you can just click the SG Titans page above on my header.

And thats WHY I TRAIN.

17 years of determination and hard work. More to go.

January 2012 - Trail run cum hike from Dairy Farm Bukit Timah Hill to Kampung Chantek.

Till next time, Guten tag and lets build some hurtin’ bombs!

What Are the 5 Levels of Breath?

(Exclusive article as shared by one of our Personal Trainer friend - Mr Herman Chauw)

There are many ways to breathe. Some better some worse. Some good some bad. Some safe some dangerous. In this article we’ll introduce some of the common types and arrange them in order.

We’ll also answer once and for all the question of “How to breathe during (weight training) exercises?”

Why is this so important? Breathing properly during your exercises can make or break you. It is one of the components of proper technique (remember the 7 Key Components of Structure). Done properly, your breath can maximize your performance. Done improperly your breath can kill you.

The 5 levels of breath are summarized in the Breath Mastery Scale (adapted from Prasara Yoga by Scott Sonnon):

1) Fear Level Breath: passively (reflexively) inhale and brace on perceived effort

2) Anger or Force Level Breath: actively inhale and brace on perceived effort

3) Discipline Level Breath: actively exhale on perceived effort/discomfort; passively inhale on cessation of effort/discomfort

4) Flow Level Breath: passively exhale on compression; passively inhale on expansion

5) Mastery Level Breath: control pause after exhalation on activity

For all intents and purposes, i’ll only cover what is important to you, ie the layman, and not give exhaustive explanation of the hows and whys.

The breathing techniques #2 are not to be used at any exercise. The reason being the breath holding would increase your blood pressure. And if the pressure increases to very high, it can cause stroke or heart attacks. It can be argued that for maximal efforts such as powerlifting you need to hold your breath, but remember that we are a health first fitness system. Performance at the expense of health is not real health.

As an aside, even when you encounter fear or anger, you should not inhale and brace either. As prolonged exposure to this type of breathing would increase your overall muscle tension (read upper thoracic breathing, tight upper traps, forward head posture etc.), which would lead to poorer health and performance. You should instead exhale and do some exercises to release the tension (ala RESET).

Discipline Level Breath (#3) is the one that you should employ in most of your strength & conditioning exercises. The exhalation causes activation of the core muscles that serves to stabilize the body and in that manner you tie the body into one unit to create linkage for force transfer from limb to limb or one part of the body to another.

Flow Level Breath (#4) is the one you should employ when the effort level is low enough that you do not need the exhale to create sufficient stiffness in your core. An example of this is during joint mobility exercises in Intu-Flow. Another example would be in endurance efforts where energy conservation is a primary concern, like marathon running.

Your breath would evolve from Discipline to Flow as you get better in a particular exercise. The evolution fromDiscipline to Flow cannot be forced. It happens subconsciously as your nervous system gets more efficient in a particular skill. As you make the exercise more difficult through increased resistance, volume, sophistication etc, you may need to go down to Discipline again, going back and forth as needed.

Sounds complicated? If you can’t remember anything, just remember these:

1) Exhale on effort

2) Exhale on compression

3) Exhale on impact/contact (with the floor, punching bag, your opponent etc.)

~~~

Additional notes from editor: While most of you reading this are probably runners or newbie runners, this article serves 2 purposes -

1) Knowing how and when to breathe while running is crucial. It allows your body to function more efficiently as you run. That is to say, to give your body the most efficient amount of oxygen intake at ever step you take. Afterall, running shouldnt be a chore for your body nor should it stresses your body out to the extent of you panting heavily and feeling like passing out at the finish line.

I know cause i’ve been in that state before and it wasnt good. Panting heavily just indicates that your body needs more oxygen to be circulated in its system. Had i took note and breathe properly during my runs back then, i would not be suffering from such post-running heavy panting. And no, thats not me in the picture. Duhh?

2) Most runners that i know of personally, would hit the gym to train. Train what? Train their legs, run on treadmills etc. That’s fine cause im guessing that you all know your stuff well. But the other half of you might not even train in the gym at all. You know, good solid runs are backed with good strong core muscles as well as leg muscles. Well, if you plan on hitting the gym (after inspired by this), its time to take note on how to breathe right while carrying out your weighted exercises.

And no thats not me either. I’m not that hardcore, really. Not yet.

Till then, Guten tag!

No excuses, serious.

Its the mid-week and if you have not planned anything sporty or fitness-oriented for this week, well, not to worry, cause you’ve got Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday left. You have got 4 days to train, to run, to exercise, to workout, to swim, to cycle, to climb, to jog, to do yoga, to gym, to fight, to spar, to lift tyres, to kettlebell, to play soccer, to play tennis, to play rugby, to do everything that you possibly could to maintain or UP your level of fitness.

Personally, im having my exams next week, havent covered much and you might think that i dont give a damn about it. Well, NO! Cause i do give a damn about it just as much as i give a damn about my fitness/health/training. I make it a point to train AT LEAST 3 times a week. Focusing on building strength, size and cardio.

One of my favourite ways to “end of the workout” is to do a treadmill run (since im already in the gym) for min 10min…..with weights. 2 x 3kg dumbbells is good enough to make me sweat like mad at a level 10.0 pace. Believe me, once you take away those dumbbells and run, its simply amazing at what speed you could push yourself to run at. Overall, the exercise is kinda dangerous if you’re new to it. But hey, i always like to spice things up a bit.

Busy this week still?

What do you think of kettlebells?

(Exclusive article as shared by one of our Personal Trainer friend - Mr Herman Chauw)

Since the kettlebell boom in English speaking America in recent times in early 2000s, many other English speaking first world countries have also been partaking in the “kettlebell revolution”.

A lot of the marketing materials give the impression that and say things along these lines:

-Kettlebells are better than cardio.

-Kettlebells are better than conventional weight training / lifting.

-Kettlebells are better than conventional weights.

Etc.

Kettlebells

There can be other claims but to keep things simple, let’s just use these broad categories of statements as examples.

Now, let me burst your bubble. These statements are not fair comparisons. They are comparing apples and oranges. In some sense they can be true, but as in all things, there is no hard and fast rule, aka “it depends”. Allow me to explore in greater detail the claims made by these statements and their implications.

But before i go further, you need to have a background knowledge of: the Time is more important than the Technique, the Technique is more important than the Tool.

Kettlebells are better than cardio

This is an illogical statement. Kettlebell is a Tool, cardio is a Time / Protocol. Can you say “dumbbells are better than cardio” or “barbells are better than cardio”? It doesn’t make sense.

Yes i know that it refers to “kettlebell training” rather than the equipment itself. But still “kettlebell training” is a very vague statement. Just like the barbell can be used for Bodybuilding, Powerlifting, Weightlifting and many other purposes, the kettlebell can be used for these same purposes.

“Kettlebell training” makes as much sense as “barbell training” or “dumbbell training”. It does not give you the slightest hint of the fitness goal(s) being trained for nor the Time / Protocol of the training. The same Tools can be used for fat loss, muscle gain, strength & conditioning and many other purposes. Any of them can be used for 5×5, 3×10, 3×5, 10×3 etc. If you like, kettlebells can also be used for cardio or other nonsensical training Protocols, like “toning”, “shaping”, “slimming”, etc.

More on cardio

The majority of people’s idea of “cardio” is “long slow distance (LSD) cardio”, aka “steady state cardio”.

While there is nothing wrong with LSD if it fits your fitness goals (e.g. to run a marathon), if you are looking for efficient fat loss, it is not that efficient. There are much better suited training Protocols for fat loss, like High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).

The problem is not that LSD is not good. The problem is that people do not know what Protocols to use for their fitness goals. Blame it on improper programming, not the Protocol. The body only knows how to adapt to the demands imposed upon it by you (SAID). You choose the Protocol based on your fitness goals.

Kettlebells are better than conventional weight lifting

Again, same point like the one above, an illogical statement. Kettlebell is a Tool, weight lifting (whether conventional or not is not the matter) is a Technique.

I do agree that the “classic techniques” of kettlebell lifting (eg. swing, clean, snatch) differ from barbell or dumbbell based systems, but beside these, both kettlebells and dumbbells / barbells can be used for the same exercises (eg. turkish get up, any variations of presses and other pushes, rows etc.).

In other words, you can use dumbbells for “kettlebell lifts” or kettlebells for “conventional weight training”. You can even use kettlebells for curls if you like.

Granted the Technique varies to a degree when using different Tools. But if you are not a professional athlete who needs to perform with that specific Tool, then it really does not matter so much as doing the Exercises specific to your needs.

More on conventional weight training

What the majority of people know as “conventional weight training” is isolation exercises, possibly an overemphasis of the bench press and using machines, which are “non-functional”.

Most people cringe when told about the real lifts: squats hurt your knees, deadlifts hurt your back, overhead lifting hurt your shoulders. But these lifts the real thing about “conventional weight training”. Of course there are many more good exercises in “conventional weight training” and they are not to be shunned. It is because of some “rehab gurus” or some misinformed “fitness experts” that these ideas get into the mainstream and giving real weight training a bad rep.

Couple that with improper Protocols and other programming variables and the public will be tricked into believing that “conventional weight training” does not give them the results they want.

Blame it on misinformation, not on “conventional weight training”. This is NOT real “conventional weight training”, this is a misrepresentation. This is improper weight training. There are many good “conventional weight training” systems and programs out there, only if the public care to find out about them. There is nothing bad nor wrong about “conventional weight training” that needs to be replaced with “kettlebell training”.

 

Kettlebells are better than conventional weights

A weight is a weight. As long as it has mass and therefore exerts weight on the user, it has fulfilled it’s purpose. Does it matter so much what shape it is to you? It does matter to a degree, but that is outside the scope of this discussion.

A tool is just a tool. A tool is useful for what it is intended for. It is not useful for what it is not intended for. You wouldn’t use a screwdriver to drive a nail, would you?

Which mode of transport is better? Walking, bicycle, motorcycle, car, ship, plane? Neither. Each is better in its own way depending on what it is used for. You wouldn’t walk halfway round the globe, would you? Neither would you take a plane to the shop round the corner. Yes you could (i.e. effective), but it is a stupid idea to do that (i.e. inefficient).

So whether the weight is shaped like a kettle, or it is simply a rock, a bag of sand, a bar etc. it does not matter so much. It depends more on the Exercises you are doing. Some Exercises are done better with a kettlebell than dumbbbell. Some the other way around.

Conclusion

The kettlebell is just a tool in the tool box. There is no magic in the kettlebell. As if owning one would instantly turn you into a superman. Same applies to barbells, dumbbells, Clubbells or any other fitness tool.

No matter which tool you use, the key to fitness (whatever fitness means to you) is the same: HARD WORK.

Lets Train During Ramadhan: Simple Core Exercises

As promised, this would be my 1st “Lets train during Ramadhan” post and for starters, i like to take things slow. Something which i feel can be easily done at home say, at around 6pm (1 hour workout before break fast) or alternatively, you can do it 2 hours after your break fast. That would be good, really.

Now in case some of you might not know, this is a a few part series of posts which i’ll be sharing on WHY i train during the fasting month of Ramadhan and WHAT do i do during my trainings or part thereof. Aimed NOT entirely towards runners but to the everyday ladies and gentlemen out there, like me, who is fasting but who would like to maintain that level of fitness (or improve it) for their upcoming events/runs particularly – The Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2011. And also to my non-Muslim friends and readers. Alternatively, in the short run – to look great for Hari Raya! Awww yeah~!

Let me be honest with you – I never liked to train for races or running JUST by running alone. Many times, most runners will tend to go running for miles or long periods of time as a form of training. No doubt that to train for your runs, you have to run (duhh??) but lets not forget the other nitty-gritty factors or body parts that would enable you to run faster, better and stronger. One of which is your core muscles. More widely known as abs, six-pacs, and lower back. When you have a weak core, it will affect your running posture when you’re running those long distances. Your body will tend to slouch forward, back aches and you feel a great amount of resistance acting on you every time you take a step forward.

Think about it as if your body is a car. You may upgrade the engine (heart) and the fuel tank (lungs) to a bigger better model but if the structure of the car (your core) is made of a weak and cheap material, the car would not be able to go as fast/far as it could because the structure would just collapse under the intense pressure and stress that the driver is exerting on.

There are a probably 101 different types of core exercises that you can Google off from the internet or read from fitness magazines right now to find out how to do them and such. But since you are already here, lemme show you a few of MY typically used and VERY EASY to do core exercises that can be done at home, while waiting for the break fast timing OR simply you can do it at your nearest Fitness Corner in your neighbourhood. Seriously, you do NOT need to go to a gym to basically do such exercises.

All the exercises shown here basically are to be done at more than 20 repetitions per exercise. And the minimum number of sets per exercise is 3. Well, i dont wish to tell you exactly how many you should do OR you die die must follow the sequence of exercises, cause you know your body the best AND i personally hate routines. Makes the body too used to the flow that it becomes too easy, no kick.

For beginners, perhaps you might wanna look at doing 20 reps, 3 sets, per exercise. Remember to breathe out or exhale as you crunch your abs together. The names of the exercises might not the the standard regulated scientific name so yeah, don’t be so anal about it yeah.

And for those seasoned and hardcore ones, well you can do this instead: 6-pacs Chin Up! At times i LOVE to do variations to my workouts as routines are the killer motivators.

EXERCISE 1: CRUNCHES

EXERCISE 2: CRUNCH & TWIST (right elbow to left knee and vice versa)

EXERCISE 3: STRAIGHT PLANKS AND SIDE PLANKS (Both sides. Hold each form for 30-60s depending)

EXERCISE 4: REVERSE CRUNCH (without using momentum, bring your knees as close to your chest)

~

For the next 2 exercises, they are additional exercises that you may want to include in your workout should you (a) Find the above 4 exercises too simple or (b) You are in the gym and they have these equipments. USE IT I SAY!

EXERCISE 5: DECLINE SIT UPS

EXERCISE 6: TRX CRUNCH

To make it more intense, you could make the 6 exercises into a circuit. That is after one exercise (of 20 reps) STRAIGHT AWAY go and do the next exercise. Once you have done all 4 or 6 exercises, rest for between 30-60s and then do them all over again. 3 rounds.

All in all, i hope this post has been useful and informative to you and would serve you good in your training for December’s Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2011.

I would also like to throw in a HUGE BIG A** THANK YOU to my friend and a KIDS ATHLETICS trainer – Mr Taufiq. for modelling the shots for me despite just having break fasted. Couldnt be any more Alpha than that!

 

So you wanna Run in Ramadhan?

Let’s face it people, its August and Ramadhan is here. Muslims around the world will be fasting from sun rise  to sunset which is roughly from 0530H to 1920H (this time round). For the non-Muslims, hey ho, no biggy issue here. However, like most of you Muslim runners and fitness enthusiast, i feel you. Most of you might think “Now that Ramadhan is here, there goes my training runs or gym sessions! Shucks!” or “Where got time to go for a run? Must check out the Geylang Bazaar and prepare for Hari Raya….”. 

But seriously people, fret not. I find that one of the MAJOR factor that gets in our way of training during the fasting month of Ramadhan is – EXCUSES. Well, make that EXCUSES & DENGDENG (aka Ba Kwa without the Pork element). I never believed its about  the fasting period or the minimal time to train, really. In fact, if you can set aside 10min of proper planning your training/running schedule for this fasting month, believe me, those training runs and exercise regimes of yours IS. ACHIEVABLE.

I understand that many would be prepping themselves up for the penultimate end-of-the-year race – THE STANDARD CHARTERED SINGAPORE MARATHON 2011, and feel that a month of not being able to run your weekly 10+km runs or so would mean its gonna screw up your run in December. But hey, fret not, HELP IS AT HAND yaw!

Over the course of the month, i’ll be posting up some of my training tips that you can follow to overcome this “down time” of yours. To those who are not fasting, you could actually include this in your daily/weekly training schedules perhaps to give your body a slight change of pace in training. We used to do a video blog, but lately, my sporty handheld camcorder is down. But we’ll see how ya?

Anyways, heads up in advance, for my training regime will be very different from that of typical runners who would run long distances or run for long duration (as a part of their training). For me, I focus very much on developing a strong core as well as high intensity training / endurance workouts to boost both muscular development as well as increase our cardiovascular system. Not forgetting diet as well! To be honest, i eat/drink almost anything less fast food and gassy drinks. Guess I’ll start posting up next week! So stay tuned ok!

“With a great strong core, comes better and faster runs.” and I cannot emphasize it any more than this.

Well, besides keeping your body fit to fly come December (for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2011), don’t we all wanna look great come Hari Raya too? Now who’s with me?!

On behalf of the Awesome Team from Why We Run Network, we would like to wish all our Muslim friends, runners, fitness enthusiast and basically everyone out there,

A SELAMAT BERPUASA! Eat hard, Train harder!

Quick fixes for your lower back (part 2)

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

In Part 1 of the article we spoke about how the hip flexor is one of the components leading to lower back pain. Today we will explore the other areas that may also contribute to this unwanted cause.

Back Pain? Let’s solve this sh*t!

1. Tight Rectus Femoris (Your Front Thigh Muscles)

Your quadricep muscles

This is a very common issue that affects a lot of people. In most cases, when individuals perform a lot activities with quad emphasis (either consciously or unconsciously, such as using only a partial range of motion from executing certain exercises to focus more on the quadriceps muscles or bad running technique that does not recruit the hamstrings), their quads get excessive tension and if those are not loosen up, they will pull your hips forward, pulling your lower back muscles and causing them to be shorten (sounds familiar?).

The solution for this case is pretty simple – you just have to lengthen your quadriceps muscles. There are a couple of ways to do it, the easiest one that you can do right now is to stretch your quadriceps.

Quad Stretch yo!

1. Stand upright on one foot
2. Hold the other foot using either the same hand or the opposite hand and pull your leg towards your butt
3. You can use your other free hand to grab or press against a surface if find yourself losing balance
4. Keep your torso upright at all times and hold the stretch for about 15-30 seconds until you feel that the spot has loosen up
5. Do not flare your knee out, like this:

Not what you want to do…

2. Weak Glutes (Your Ass Muscles!)

Enough with the anatomy pictures already!

Your ass will be weak if all you do is sit down all day and not move around. When your body requires you to perform an action that requires your glutes to fire up (for example, picking up something heavy off the floor), other muscles will come in to help because your ass’ strength is basically non existent. This is known as overcompensation and guess which area takes the beating the most - yes, it’s your lower back again.

Strengthening Your Glutes

1. Lie on your back with your arms at the side, knees bent and feet flat on the ground
2. Squeezing your ass, lift it off the ground as high as you can
3. Hold at the top position for 2-3 seconds
4. Lower under control to a point just above the ground and repeat
5. Focus on squeezing your ass instead of using your other muscles (lower back and hamstrings) to propel you upwards
6. Perform 10 reps

To Summarize:
1. Stretch Your Hip Flexors
2. Stretch Your Quads
3. Strengthen Your Glutes

Do these exercises on a daily basis and before you know it, lower back pain be gone!

Quick fixes for your lower back (part 1)

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

So it’s Monday again and you are back in the office trying to finish that fresh pile of work that your boss has conveniently stacked on your desk. Sitting up straight with a good posture at first, as you type more and more on the keyboard you begin to slouch into your seat like it’s meant to be.

Before you know it, you probably look exactly like this guy.

Now when that happens, your hip flexors get tighten up, your pelvis gets titled forward, pulling your lower back muscles and causing them to be shorten. When you are in that position for an extended period, your lower back starts crying out in pain.

What are these alien-like lingo - Hip Flexors, Pelvis?

Sparing you all the science, the hip flexors are basically a group of muscles that work together to allow your hip to flex, and also allowing you to bring your knee closer to upwards.

The Hip Flexors

The pelvis is basically the basin-shaped structure that joins the spine and lower limbs together.

The Pelvis

Tight hip flexors is not the sole cause for lower back pain, but it is a good place to start fixing the situation. In Part 2 I shall share other solutions to ease your lower back pain. To loosen up those tight hips, you’ve got to perform the kneeling hip flexor stretch.

1. Get into a lunge position, with your forward foot’s shin perpendicular or almost perpendicular to the ground (whichever that is more comfortable)

2. Put your hands on either the side of your hips or your knee, lean forward and stretch those tight hips while keeping your upper body upright and your rear leg on the floor

3. If you feel a stretch in your rear thigh, position your rear leg further back

4. If your knee hurts from the friction, put a towel underneath to ease the pain

5. Try to hold the stretch for 15-30seconds for 3 rounds, gradually working up to a minute

6. Remember to stretch both sides of the hip

Your hip flexors will always get tighten up. There is no one time remedy for this situation. Thus, it is a good practice to stretch your hip flexors on a daily basis. 3 minutes a day to spare you from back pain? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Stay tune for Part 2

Have a Bigger Break!

 

Some KIT KAT inspired “BIG BREAK” i decided to come up with. Btw, the backdrop is that of Central Hong Kong. Taken from the ferry i was in en route from Kowloon City yo! Hong Kong, twas indeed an awesome city. 

With my exams over, i guess im back in the game. Not game “game” per se but my original lifestyle of working out. Damn fitness freak me! Its been ages since i last trained properly, or intensely ever since the exams started in early May. To be honest, despite being able to work in the school’s gym and using its facilities when im at work, it just feels different. Hours of mugging and sucking in knowledge/information is indeed mentally draining. I realised that there IS a relation between having a clear concise mind and training. When we are mentally fatigued, we tend to get tired easily, physically.

And doesn’t really help that i didnt do quite well for my previous assignments which had some weightage over the total grades for the modules. Kinda stressful to perform you know! So with all those mental fatigue and stress out of the way, its back to proper training yo! 

Seriously, on a serious note, I miss training. I miss working out and sweating it out on the gym floor or wherever. I miss running aimlessly with friends in races (im not very competitive am i?). I miss the delayed onset muscle soreness after an intense workout. I miss saying “DAYM! Can’t believe i DID ALL THAT (workout)!”

Anyways, inspired by Kit Kat ®’s Yer Big Break!  ad, i decided to blog about my BIG BREAK that i need after all these hullabaloo exams. By the way, you guys should go check out the KIT KAT competition. Pretty rad, cool and exciting you know! Well if you don’t know, for me, the best break i could give myself is break out of this shell of mine. This skinny, scrawny, unfit shell of mine. Cliche you might say but for me, thats what it is. So my idea of having a break would be:

“HAVE A BREAK & GO RUN/WORKOUT!”

Never neglect fitness, never neglect health i would say. Those are prolly 2 of the most important things in our lives that many people tend to take a (lots of) break from and it just wont work out good for you in the long run. Nothing personal but its just that nothing gives me more satisfaction than knowing that im in the pink of health…and that im at my peak performance. Ready anytime, anywhere.

……….But for now, i think i could do with a bar of KIT KAT Chunky.

Kettlebell beginner’s workout with…DAVID!

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For those who are new and is looking into trying out the kettlebells (KB), here is a great video by my friend who is very much into KettleBells too! And best part – the above video tells you how to do KettleBells, the exercises and what not. AWESOME stuff for the day today!

For more info, gears and training, do check out: http://kettlebellhit.com/

Till the next sporting news, Guten tag!

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