Exercise – The What, Why, When and How

So you’re ready to start working out? Here’s the basics you’d need to know before you start out.

When during the day should I work out?

Outdoors Workouts- preferably in the day. Oxygen level are lower in the early morning before sun rises and late at night as considerable amount of plants and trees respiration has taken place. Working out at this lower oxygen level can sometimes be quite taxing on the body.

Indoor Workouts- all day and night. Since indoors are usually air-conditioned, it does not make much of a difference.

Where should I exercise?

Anywhere. In fact one of the best place to workout is your home or nearby park and open spaces as they are very convenient and gives you no excuses for not being able to do so.

Your office is also a good place to workout with exercises like seated heel raises or isometric half squat instead of sitting down all day long in front of that computer. You can also hit the stairs at your workplace for stairs training instead of sneaking snacks from the pantry during breaks.

How much and how long should I exercise?

Five times a week, at least half an hour to an hour each time. Make sure you challenge yourself each time you workout as progressive overload will help you reach your goals faster.

How much should I eat and how long should I eat after a workout?

Not nothing. You should eat something, preferably food that will provide you with some energy, within 45minutes to an hour as your body’s glycogen receptors are the most active within that timeframe. If you eat later then that or if you don’t eat after your workout, you will find yourself very tired the next day and might not be able to finish the exercise that you set for yourself. A handful of nuts will be a good choice; it keeps your hunger pangs at bay too.

What type of exercises should I do? And how frequent for each type of exercise?

Of both, it’s advisable to do two cardio and one resistance training on your own. Swimming and aqua aerobics are two very good examples of low impact cardio training. You can also join us at any regular bootcamp sessions or at our gym at Ulu Pandan; we have bootcamp sessions almost all day in a week.

Lastly, what is all this exercising stuff about?

It is about you, your family and friends, and your health. It is also a lifestyle change and not a temporarily solution. We won’t want the energy and endorphin radiating from within us to stop, do we?

Now that you know the exercise- when, where, how and what- don’t hesitate and let’s move towards your goals!

Ying Bin
Personal Trainer
TeamFitnessGuru.com
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Join us to get fit and lose fat at our Popular TFG Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamps! (Yes! We’re the trainers who created the workouts for HPB’s Lose to Win Fitness Bootcamp 2009)

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