Step Up and Beat your Exercise Excuses – Weeks of 16th-27th August
This blogpost is dedicated to all TFG clients – Corporate, TFX Bootcamps and Lose to win 2 participants inclusive – Check out your assignment below! For LTW participants (Bootcampers and GXers), as mentioned during your workouts, you can also input your assignments on Lose To Win Facebook page.
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Beat YOUR Exercise Excuses by TFG Chief Trainer Zhywee
Wondering how you are going to fit your workouts when there is a gazillion things in your to do list? (Exercise must be in your to do list!).
Don’t despair – you can get to your workout! The trick is learning how to counter the excuses that keep you from exercising. By adjusting your thinking, you can overcome any hurdle.
Take control of your workouts.
It helps you get the body you want and also makes you feel more in control of your life. So stop making excuses-and start making progress!
I’m Too Tired
Unless you’re incredibly sleep deprived or jet-lagged, there’s no reason not to exercise when you’re tired. It may sound counterintuitive, but working out actually gives you more energy Inactivity produces fatigue and lethargy.
In fact, working out will rev you up. Research has shown that even 10 minutes of brisk walking can give you up to two hours of increased energy. If possible, work out in the morning. Based on studies, morning exercisers are better at sticking to a fitness regimen. It may help to work out in the morning, before you get wiped out by a demanding workday.
But if you’re just not a morning person, don’t worry. Do whenever you feel that works best for you.
Exercise promotes vigour and energy. You may have to drag yourself out at first, but if you stick with it, in time you’ll have to hold yourself back. Once you get moving, your fatigue will likely disappear. You’re getting the endorphins [feel-good hormones in your body] to release. And you’re getting the circulation going — as opposed to coming home and crashing on the couch.
I don’t have the TIME
Many people don’t exercise because they feel weighed down with work, but a good sweat session will make you more productive on the job. You’ll have less stress, a clearer head and a better perspective. You can actually get more work done after your workout than before. A recent study suggested that people who thought they were too busy to exercise really did have the time but chose not to make it a priority. Figure out how to incorporate physical activity into your workday. Try exercising at lunchtime, when many of us can steal away without missing too many calls or meetings.
It’s the most common excuse, and it’s a real problem for many of us. Life is busy, and you’ll never find the time to exercise. But you can make the time.
Your exercise doesn’t have to be a formal workout either. Try making small lifestyle changes that help you move more. You can climb stairs, walk from point A to point B, and find many other physically active ways to accomplish your daily tasks. You can divide up your stretching and strength training so it takes just a few minutes a day. And you can also make time for designated exercise.
Give up some sleep, exercise will make you more energetic, and it will help you sleep better, so you won’t miss the shut-eye. Walk with your friends instead of meeting them for coffee or lunch. Spend some of your lunch hour walking. Do more on weekends, holidays and vacations, but do something important for your body and your health nearly every day. If it’s work that’s sapping all your spare time, try exercising on the job. Close your office door and jump rope for 10 minutes, or walk in place.
You can make exercise happen. For perspective, remember that 30 to 45 minutes represents just two to three per cent of your day. And in the final analysis, it’s a remarkable bargain, since you’ll gain about an hour of life expectancy for every 30 minutes of regular exercise. In a sense, exercise will allow you to turn energy into time.
Health Promotion Board recommends at least 150 – 250 minutes of moderate physical activity per week, which may sound daunting, but actually works out to a little over 20 minutes each day. The good news is that three 10-minute exercise sessions work just about as well as one 30-minute one, and can be much easier to fit into your schedule.
I have to WATCH my kids
The answer is to multitask.
If they are infants or toddlers, exercise at home while they nap; invest in at home equipment, pedal a stationary bike while they play or read. Push them in a stroller while you walk. Join a gym that has day care. And when they’re old enough, get them involved in a game of tag or hopscotch, or build an obstacle course and race them through it. Plan family activities that will get you all moving, such as biking or swimming. Use your family time for active pursuit
Walk the kids to school instead of driving them. During their soccer games or practices, walk briskly around the field. Go biking with your kid, sign up as a family for “fun runs,” or just walk around the neighbourhood with your children. When the weather’s bad, try active video games like Dance Dance Revolution and Wii Fit.
And remember that your fitness is good for your kids as well as you. When mom or dad is more fit, has more energy, the whole family benefits. Remember, You are their role models.
Exercise Is Boring
Boredom is one of the major reasons people give up exercise. If you’ve done the same routine day after day for months, it’s time to try something new.
To keep yourself interested, try varying your activity. Experiment with new moves from magazines or books
Give it time. The first steps are hardest, but if you stick with exercise for three months, it’s likely you’ll come to enjoy it. Remember that you don’t have to walk, much less run. Everybody likes some form of physical activity — and the more you do, the more you’ll like.
You should want it and feel good about it before you do it. And it should feel good while you’re doing it.
So how do you get there? First, find an activity you love.
Think outside the box: try inline skating, dancing, or gardening. Join a sports league. Or, if you love music, try ballroom dancing. “There’s an exercise for everyone,” says Recascino. “It doesn’t have to be onerous or unpleasant.”
If it makes exercise more enjoyable for you, it’s OK to watch Phua Chu Kang or read while you’re on the exercise bike or treadmill — just don’t forget to pedal or run. If you like music, hook yourself up to headphones and a portable player. You can also “read” with your ears: rent, buy, or borrow a book on tape and turn it on while you exercise. For extra motivation, listen to the book only during exercise; there’s nothing like an engrossing tale to make the time fly.
Working out with a group also helps many people. To find a group, look through local sports publications or on the web. Or simply recruit several friends. Sign up for a class you’ve never tried, like kickboxing, African dance, yoga, Pilates or Fitness Bootcamp.
And, every once in a while, try something totally new. Mix it up so you don’t get bored.
And if all else fails, just remind yourself that convalescing from a heart attack or colon cancer surgery is significantly more boring than the exercise that will keep you healthy.
I’m too OLD
Not likely. Old age is not an illness, but it does require modifications. It’s never too late to start; before you use the calendar to cop out of exercise, remember that frail institutionalized octogenarians benefit from strength training. Exercise will actually make your body “younger” at any age.
I don’t know how
Sure you do. Almost any physical activity counts. Even if you’ve never mounted a bike or held a racquet, you can walk, climb stairs, and do simple strength and flexibility exercises. You can also learn new skills from books, videos and lessons.
It hurts
Most likely you’re doing too much too soon or too little stretching and warming up. Learn how to prevent, recognize and correct common exercise-induced aches and pains. If you can’t do it yourself, get professional help. Exercise should not be painful, and No Sweat exercise shouldn’t even feel hard.
Bottom line, you need to make exercise a priority. If you know of any more common excuses and how to counter attack them, share with us! We would love to hear from you!
)
Love,
Coach Zhywee
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Your Body is Now Conditioned for Fitness
NOW WHAT?
It’s time to Raise the Standards and Step up to the competition. You are your own competition.
In order to progress you have to STEP UP.
If you keep the level maintain and not increase your Standards. You will be that – at maintanance level. We’re now into the Performance Level.
In order to improve you have to STEP UP!
Walk faster. Jog longer. Climb Higher.
If you think you cant, You MUST. Do you want to get your body to love fitness and endorphins that you’ll crave to exercise beyond these 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and more? Start NOW.
STEP UP!
Assignment 4
STEP UP!
It’s time to Raise the standards. Raise the bar. Raise YOUR BAR.
(a) What can you improve and how much more of it will you do?
Some areas you want to talk about – the domains of your life pertaining to Fitness -
- Physical (Progression, Intensity, Duration, Variety, etc)
- Social (More workout time with family, play sports with friends)
- Psychological (Confident, Self Esteem, Energetic, etc)
- Knowledge (Learn new exercises, Read on Nutrition, etc)
Please include Before, Current and After today plans.
Eg: “Prior to joining the programme, I can’t climb more than 3 floors. Now I’m able to do 10 without panting. I’ll push myself to the next level and will do 15 in my next workout!”
(b) OPTIONAL – What have been stopping you from working out and raising your bar since 4 weeks ago?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours in fitness and health,
Coach Sharm
Master Trainer
TeamFitnessGuru.com
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Sharm (Hisham Musa) is a fitness consultant in Singapore to many high profile clients since 1998. He is equipped with a Master of Science (Exercise and Sports Studies) degree from Nanyang Technological University, (NTU) with 7 distinctions. He also has a Bachelor’s degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Postgraduate in Physical Education and Sports Science from NTU. Armed with international certifications, memberships and affiliations with the American College of Sports Medicine & National Academy of Sports Medicine, he stays current with the latest in the fitness and nutrition industry. He is NCAP 3* certified and is undergoing TRX Master Trainer development. His expertise have been featured in ChannelNewsAsia’s documentary – Vanity the Slim Society, Ch5 & Ch8 Lose To Win Reality TV, The Straits Times, & The Sunday Times. Magazines: Shape, Timeout, Women’s Weekly (Panel of Experts), The Finder, Her World. He is the owner of FitnessBootcamp.sg – the most creative fun group fitness workouts that has more than 500 individual signups in 5 months, with clients losing 10kgs of FAT in 3 months. Sharm shares how you can lose weight and get fit fast at Teamfitnessguru.com
You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as the piece is used in its entirety including the resource box, all hyperlinks (HTML clickable), references and copyright info.Copyright TeamFitnessGuru.com™ 2010
So far I have lose 3 kg, I am still working hard. As usual, I go to the gym 5days per week, about 30-40 minutes. Tried diligently to do the excercises trained by TFG coach, quite difficult though, but I strive and will continue to do my best. My favourite excercise is squats. I am more picky on food now, really really try to wean off deep fried, taking more soupy food. My appreciation to all the TFG trainers, who always encourage and motivat us. Thanks very much
Everyday, I am climbing at least 600 stairs case. During the weekends, will make the effort to move up to at least a thousands stairs case.
By doing this exercise, I felt that my stamina has improved significantly.
During the weekdays, during the lunch hours, put on the sport shoes to walk from by workplace to Sun Plaza (approximately 15 minutes walk) for the low calories meal. Then after walk back to office.
In addition, do some weights training in the office gym for approximately 20 minutes to build the muscles and hope to burn fats faster.
Last but not least, appreciate the Trainers on the exercises that have taught us as well as the Bootcamp mates for having fun to workout togethers.
Stronger…..Higher…..Faster……Wooooooosh……..Cheers!!!!!
Before I signed up for Lose To Win and being ‘tortured’ at bootcamps, I was having difficulty to stand up from a siting position due to some knee pain. And now, I’ve noticed a difference… tho still not too fast, I realised the pain is now gone. Have started to do the 5 minutes challenge workout during commercial breaks. Tough tho… coz I was watching ‘Cinta Fitri’ on SCTV and the commercial breaks was for like 10 mins everytime…. ggrrrrr
.
i am not climbing stairs but i went to gym & tried out other machines for cardio exercises as well as some weight training. I still go to my muay thai class once a week, plus other exercises that i did in this week, i’ve acheived 300 mins of workout. i dun like to sweat out after taking my shower, so i dun do the 5 mins challenge during commercial breaks. I would rather increase the intensity of my workout that i normally go after work.
c u all tmr morning @ toa payoh pk!
I have not lost much weight yet! Even with the exercise and less food. Fluctuates between 0 to 1.5kgs loss… And it has been 3.5w-4wks. My stamina has perhaps improved just that little bit, but I find I am still breathing very hard after simple exercise, say climbing 10 flights of stairs or brisk walking for 20mins. My form is ok I think, but it’s the stamina bit that seems really poor. So my goal would be to breathe easier by increasing the frequency of exercise fr 2 to 4 times a wk at least. Hopefully my body gets used to it then.
Cutting down on food has been very hard too, but I’ve tried to control quite a bit already. Now fr “a more extra rice pls”, I’m also changing my refrain to “a little less rice”. Tahan, tahan…
Hey Guys!
Finally able to do some reflection.
Basically i’ve started my own workout routine.
Consist of : JOG + SUICIDES, followed by Triple 10.
It feels good, eventhough the suicide is really suicidal. Breathing hard during the cooling down after the workout.
About losing weight, im just scared to take the first step to weight.
I guess lets wait for 4th Sept.
My Week 4 On-LIne Assignment
Yo WINNERS !!! Wks 4 is over and we are progressing into the fifth … time to send in our report to our coaches ^.^
Qns A : What can you improve and how much more of it will you do?
…
Ans : I treat this program as a head start to cultivate the habit of exercising daily. Both good health and fitness are not something u can achieve overnight, they require life-long commitment. As such i would like to urge all of u not to be discourage if u don’t see immediate result and continue to work hard for better health and fitness. The competition might ends in 3mths but the healthy habit stay with u forever.
Since wk3 (STEP UP stage), i have increase my daily workout from 60mins to 120mins. Beside mon and sat GX sessions, 7km brisk walking on tue, thur and sun, taebo cardio on wed and abs boot camp on fri. I really enjoy myself doing taebo cardio workout, think will sign up for a class after the LTW2 program. As in week 5, there are no GX sessions with our TFG coaches. My teammate, weng and i planned our own exercise schedule. one important thing we learned from the coaches beside the exercises is planning. Most of us don’t plan to fail but most of us did fail to plan. so WINNERS do plan and EXECUTE, put your plan into action for your dream to come true !!! Beside working out, another activity i like doing is going to libraries and borrow workout and health related DVD. Learning more about the food we eat is as important as doing the exercises correctly. Remember been healthy is for both mind and body. ^.^
Qns B : What have been stopping you from working out and raising your bar since 4 weeks ago?
ANS : Basically, all the 7 “sins” stated by coach zhywee
. I’m glad that i’m rid of all 7 of them now thanks to both HPB and TFG ^.^ after 4wks in the program, i’m more energetic, food taste better (when u eat slowly) and sleep better too … and no more snoring !!! ^o^ MUWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA !!!
Today is the Teachers’ Day. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Trainers – Sharm, Lisa, Zhywee, Faz, Ying Bin, Nurul, Matt, Khairul and others…..
Thanks for all your help and sharing making the bootcamp training to be fun and interesting.
Thanks for all the words and speeches that inspired us to go one step further. I believed that each of us have a different level of intensity when performing the exercises. But the ultimate goal will be the same that is to be more healthier. We will definitely look different at the end of the 3 months training (follow the exercises and diet control) as compared to the day one during the induction ceremony.
Last but no least, once again a BIG THANK YOU to all the trainers and have a nice day.
HAPPY TRAINERS DAY……..
A…..M…..P…..Wooooooooosh……
hello,,, bravo team A………….M…………p……Woooooooooosh Before I, join up lose n win,Basicilly I”ve started my own workout routine and slow jog but right now look different in 12 week training, I happy whan my waist circumference drop whan i do FITNESS ASSESSMENT 1 my waist 98.50 and i do FITNESS ASSESSMENT 2 my waist now 92,and i try to do my best more exercises and control diet, I like to thank to all HPB&TFG Trainers sharm,Zhywee,Faz,Lisa,ying bin,Nurul,matt,Nash,and one thing ,I like to wish all the muslim TFG Trainers & participants LTW (SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI) ,,,,,,,,and don’t for get don”t eat to much ,,,(rendang),,,, A…….M……P……..Woooooooosh ALL THE BEST..
Last Saturday was a “mid-year examination” for us.
Thanks to Coach Faz and Lisa to support us do the warm-up exercises before the 2km walk. Especially thank to Coach Lisa to remind us during the starting line to keep on doing some warm-up exercise while waiting for the TCS to do filming as well as HPB personnel to do some communication.
In summary, for the past 6 weeks, I have lost 7kg, Waist Cirumference reduced by 9cm, 2km walking time improved by 3 minutes and 30 seconds and the fitness index increased by 50.
Omce again, thanks to the TFG Trainers, Coaches as well as HPB on Lose to Win 2 program.
A….M…..P…..Woooooooooosh…..
hello…..Bravo team it me again
i will like to share wit u TFG coach my heart rate on fitness assesment 1 (145)and my time 19.50 min last saturday whan my last lap at the end my heart rate fitness assessment 2 (113)16.80 min wit one is better,low or upper heart rate.if u TFG coach say lower is good i will do more better than this and [ I TRY..TRY...TRY.... TO PUSH....... FORWARD... ] THANK U TFG COACH LISA,FAZ TO WARM-UP EXERCISES BEFORE WE START 2KM WALK..
A……..M…….P…….wooooooosh…….ALL THE BEST BRAVO TEAM…….wooooooooooosh
hello…..Bravo team it me again
i will like to share wit u TFG coach my heart rate on fitness assesment 1 (145)and my time 19.50 min last saturday on 04/09/2010 whan my last lap at the end my heart rate fitness assessment 2 (113)16.80 min wit one is better,low or upper heart rate.if u TFG coach say lower is good i will do more better than this and [ I TRY..TRY...TRY.... TO PUSH....... FORWARD... ] THANK U TFG COACH LISA,FAZ TO WARM-UP EXERCISES BEFORE WE START 2KM WALK..
A……..M…….P…….wooooooosh…….ALL THE BEST BRAVO TEAM
Thanks to all the coaches TFG. U guys & gals are GREAT…!
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE? WHAT IS YOUR GOALS IN LOSING WEIGHT?
Just sharing with you this article I come across on how Alvin Lim lost 20kg in a year to fulful his dream, SO CAN YOU! – to encourage you.
Lose weight to join SCDF
WHEN student Alvin Lim failed to get the Home Team Merit Award to fulfill his dream of becoming a civil defence force officer last year, he told himself he had to lose weight.’
Alvin Lim said a strict diet and regular gym sessions, coupled with a focus to get the award, led to his dramatic weight loss.
Link : http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_569816.html
From : Heather Lee [LTW1 - Bravo team]
Dear all,
Everyone have gone through the Assessment 2, some healthy tips for your reference
Healthy Tip 1:
In case your weight is stuck, try increasing the amount of time you exercise, the intensity of your exercise, or changing your exercise routine.
If you walk a lot, try jogging, swimming or cycling. If you normally exercise for 30 minutes, increase it by an additional 15-20 minutes. You can also try doing short bursts of intense exercises for one to two minutes followed by small rest periods.
Healthy Tip 2
When you have decided to make a good habit stick. Ensure you repeat the habit activity at least 3 times a week for the next 4-5 weeks.
Establishing a good habit like brushing your teeth two times a day or waking up early morning to exercise require consistency to make it stick. The more consistent you are, the easier it will be to stick to the good habit. Make sure there are no disruptions from the schedule.
Healthy Tip 3
Watching TV or reading books while eating is a bad habit. It tunes out the brain’s messages of satiety so you end up eating more than you should.
You often don’t even register the sensation of taste or the act of chewing and swallowing. This also leads to your brain craving for more intense flavors in an attempt to experience the sensation of taste, and you end up eating junk foods like candy, cake or chips. Both the French and Japanese cultures believe that it’s rude to do anything when you are eating.
Lastly, all the best to your last assessment.
From : Heather Lee [LTW1 - Bravo team]