Singapore Personal Trainer » personal trainer

Change. Get Fitter and Leaner.

sharm — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:45:56 +0000

Singapore Personal Trainers

Friends,

My personal training team and I have been featured in many Authoritative Media Channels for our successful fitness programs, helping other achive their Fitness goals safely and effectively. As a result, we have many coming to us wanting to engage our services. This website is for you (yes whether you’re a trainer or someone who wants to lose weight and get fit.)

We will share the secrets to fitness success at this site – via blogs, videos, tips & strategies.

Our clients (more than 500 and counting) are losing weight, eating right, getting fit, and improving their well being. You may want to check out our successful Group Fitness Workouts that have been receiving a lot of media attention – www.Fitnessbootcamp.sg

Trainers – We also want to raise the personal training quality in Singapore – we’ll share with you how to improve your training and make it efficient and effective.

See some of the work we’ve done for the past few months.

Aparna lost 8kgs in 2 months
Julia lost 4 kgs in about 2 months
Suraya lost 6kgs and down 1 dress size in about 2.5 months
Rangga lost 12.5kgs of FAT in about 4.5 months.
Vik lost 8 kgs in 3 months
Maryanne lost 3 kgs, 3 inches off waist & 2 inches off hips in 3 months
Michela lost 7kgs in 2.5 months
Nadia lost 7 kgs in about 3 months (Featured in SHAPE magazine, May Issue)
Sunil lost 5 kgs and 3 inches (waist) in 3-4 months

We prescribe and carry out fun fitness workouts to produce results. Meet them in person when you come for our Fitnessbootcamp.sg trial workouts

TRAINERS – We’re recruiting. If you’re certified and willing to learn. Come join our team. We’ll share with you the secrets to getting your client’s fitness goals fast (and see how you can get new clients automatically by doing so)

LOOKING FOR TRAINERS? If you’re looking for a personal trainer to help you, please drop us an email.

In the meantime, we’d like to invite you to subscribe to our Free Fitness and Diet Strategies Newsletter, and please accept our thank you gift – a fitness ebook worth $20.

Feel Free to COMMENT – you can also post questions and we’ll try our best to answer them.

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How to choose a good Personal Trainer?

sharm — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:52:50 +0000

In most countries, there are no regulations for the personal training industry, ANYONE can be a personal trainer. As such, you need to be very careful in choosing one. Having the wrong personal trainer can be dangerous (read: Permanent long term injuries). My team and I have had new clients getting us as their trainers as the ones that they had were either not producing results or causing them injuries.

We’re not biased – yes we’re good, qualified and experienced, but there are many good trainers out there too. Read on and learn who you should choose.

Testimonials - Get genuine testimonials from their existing clients. As above, anyone can put a before and after photo (which they can buy online) on their website. You’d want to find those that are unscripted and unbiased

Certifications - Anybody can call themselves a trainer, as such you should be very careful in choosing one. Find one who is preferably certified internationally -such as those from American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) or National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). These certification bodies are reputable and trainers need to put in a lot of hours studying before getting certified. Their exams are usually stringent. Good personal trainers usually have multiple certifications to their name.

In house certifications from private gyms may be good – but nowhere close to certifications from neutral fitness bodies.

Diplomas and Degrees - Choose one that have a diploma or better still a degree in sports science or exercise. These trainers are serious about exercise and devote lots of time learning about physical fitness and exercise. Check which institutions their diplomas from – get a personal trainer from a reputed college.

Ability to teach the exercises & Teaching Certifications -National Coaching Accredition Practice (NCAP) – Anybody can learn and get certified. Get one that can use what they learn and TEACH you in an effective manner. This is a national program and is run by the Singapore Sports Council. There are also personal trainers with teaching diplomas and degrees too, look out for these. Your personal training sessions would with him/her will be of higher quality as he can impart and share his knowledge better that the average trainer.

Experience - The longer the experience in personal training and coaching the trainer has, the higher the chances that he is mature in this field and able to work with you, especially if he has experience in working with different populations (different types of people – body types/injuries/goals). Beware of fly by night trainers who try to make an extra buck. Get full time fitness professionals to give you professional advice. Remember, part time trainers means you’ll get part time service!

Trainers in Big Fitness Centres – Many trainers start out from these big fitness centres as they do not have a client base to start a career. So by joining a gym, they get referrals and personal training assignments by members who sign up at the gyms. What’s disturbing is that there might be some who are not qualified in fitness but are employed in these gyms – they go through a 1 or 2 weeks crash course in fitness and gets certified by the in house senior trainer.

These new trainers published rates at these gyms may also be very high – starting from $80 to $100 per session. A little secret to share – most in house trainers get 25 to 45% of what you pay them – the balance goes to the fitness centres.

The trainers who are confident in their services usually move out of these gyms and have slightly higher asking rates. They also do not share with any mega gyms and the payment you make to them goes to them straight. Which means, you pay the same amount but your trainer gets a higher pay than those working full time in gyms – the amount they deserve.

Professional development: Scientific researches happen everyday. In the process of selecting your trainer, ask him what he is doing / will do about this professional development. How updated is he with regards to new knowledge?

Cost: You get what you pay for. Here you can hire trainers for $20 an hour. Please think before signing up with them, and check if they have what it takes to be one. Professional trainers earn $80 to $500 an hour. That being said, be careful when choosing trainers who overcharge – rates should match level of education, experience, clientele profile, etc.

Knowledge about how to adapt a training program to special populations, and to work around injuries. Exercise prescription skill in a trainer is essential if you want to see your results fast without getting any injuries. Ask him how to work with the current injuries (if you have any). Usually personal trainers who are certified as mentioned above are able to work with different populations as they are trained to do so during the certification process.

Creativity - A personal trainer who is able to give you multiple programs will add variety to your workouts. If not, they can be quite mundane and the possibility of you losing interest in your exercise program.

Professionalism and courtesy -Every trainer should abide by a code of ethics – check out his website or ask him about ethical issues that he believes in. Proper personal training is about achieving your fitness goals effectively, efficiently and professionally.

Talk the talk and walk the walk – Your trainer should practice what he preaches. Be careful though – there are trainers who look good but are on steroids – huge biceps and body by injecting harmful substances in their bodies. As steroids help increase the body’s adapation to exercise, many ineffective and dangerous exercises may seem to work for them – but not for you. Different strokes for dfferent folks.

These ‘trainers’ may be doing contraindicative exercises (such as over the shoulder lat pull down and jacknife exercises) and teaching them to you. Be careful!

Champions / Winners – With all due respect to my friends who are Champion athletes and bodybuilders, you have to be careful in your selection. You’d want to hire the trainer or coach who created these champions. Champion athletes are excellent (read: The Best) in their sport, but may not have the pedagogy skills necessary to work with you. Ensure he/she has a valid fitness trainer / instructor certification and a track record of the clients that he’s been successful with. I know there who have them, but there are those who don’t.

“I was fat, now I’m thin – if I can, so can you”- Yes and No. Dietary and exercise intervention could be different for you, and may not work on you. A good trainer will be able to prescribe the right exercises that takes into account your needs and situation – body type, lifestyle, environment, resources (time) and motivation level to name a few.

Doing and teaching / coaching are two separate things altogether

Written by Sharm.
Copyright TeamFitnessGuru.com™ 2009

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.

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Cheap ways to spend your dollar for fitness

sharm — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:58:18 +0000

Get a personal trainer to train you and your group of friends – you get to share the cost of getting someone well qualified to ensure you’re working out correctly. About trainers, cheaper does not mean better. You get monkeys if you pay peanuts – better to get a professional, and share the cost.
You do not need to go to a gym to lose weight – you can easily go to a park and do bodyweight exercises to lower your fat content – search for resources from credible sources on the internet

Join online fitness group discussions and facebook to find people that live in your area who wants to workout and are looking for a group to do so.
Borrow fitness books and DVDs at the National Library. You don’t even need to buy anything.
Join fitness groups such as www.FitnessBootcamp.sg which offer free group training and helps your match fitness ‘support’ groups that workout thrice a week without paying a dime.
Walk up the staircase instead of taking the lift when going back home
If you really need to sign up a gym membership, consider public gyms from the Singapore Sports Council are a much cheaper alternative to the private gyms

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Bootcamp your way to Fitness

sharm — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:57:26 +0000

Originally written for Women’s Weekly Magazine, December 2009.

Bootcamp Your Way to Fitness. Written by Sharm.

Q1. How long have you been running bootcamp classes?

I’ve been running bootcamps since 1998. Back then, they were simply called ‘Outdoor Group Fitness Training’. Essentially the workouts are similar – I employ both resistance, aerobic and anaerobic exercises in my workout programs to get to my clients’ results fast. To complement that, I also helped others achieve their fitness goals by designing and conducting individualised fitness programs such as personal training and fitness consultation – which includes diet monitoring, exercise prescription, managing motivation and adherence to their fitness programs. Partnering with other fitness professionals and sports scientists with diplomas, bachelors, masters and PhDs, our workouts for our clients have proven to be both efficient and effective.

Q2. Have you seen an increase in interest in bootcamp training, especially among women? Why do you think this is so?

The fitness goal for most ladies I meet is to lose weight and get toned. Physiologically speaking, they want to lose the stored fat in their body, and gain some lean muscle. Needless to say, the workouts also improve strength, cardiovascular ability, flexibility, confidence/mental well being, while reducing the incidence of depression, heart diseases (including stroke and high blood pressure) and high cholesterol. While gym training is good, more women are going outdoors to get their results faster. With more variety in the exercises and luxury of open space, working out has never been so fun!

Q3. What advantages has this sort of training have?

a) Working outdoors means fresh air and the feeling of freedom as compared to the claustrophobic nature of gyms and fitness studios.

b) You’ll get to workout as a group, get to know people, have fun and network!

c) It’s affordable! By working out as a group means you are able to share the cost of having a personal trainer. You’re getting an expert at only a fraction of the cost.

d) No huge equipment and no gym memberships required! You just need to bring water and a regular sized towel.

e) Start your day healthy! If you start working out the first things in the morning, your workout is done before you know it, and you have the whole day to do other important things.. such as shopping!

f) Start your day on a high as you allow a rush of endorphins through your body and thus helping you face the day ahead with a great smile and yes, body! Get outdoors and start your adrenaline pumping!

g) Knowing that you’ve burned at least 500-1000 calories the first thing in the morning, you’d think twice of eating those sinful stuff. Get results fast! With alternating intensities in the workouts, you’ll get excellent results in the shortest possible time. Just stick to the program, and watch the inches go! The 5 day program a week targets 2-4 kgs of fat loss and 2-3 inches off your waist!

h) Working out as a group brings out the best in us. The group itself provides healthy competition and motivation!

Q4. Why do you think women prefer this form of working out to going to the gym (usually men’s preference)?

In the US, ‘boot camp’ refers to our local context of ‘basic military training’ or BMT. As we all know, military boot camps are usually strenuous and tough – but they burn lots and lots of calories. Fitness boot camps, take on this idea and trainers modify these ‘military training’ type of activities and convert them to Fitness Boot Camps – which makes them safe for the general pupulation, but highly effective.

The gym can be quite intimidating to a lot of people, especially beginners. By being outdoors, the intimidation is reduced. Going to boot camp also ‘enlists’ you into a group that has the same goals – to get fit and lean. And as we know, working in a group allows us to synergize – in terms of motivation, discipline and energy levels during and after our workouts. We also share weekly reflections on our eating habits and physical activities – this keeps all of us in check.

Q5. How does bootcamp training work the body? Is it a complete body workout? Ie includes both cardio and strength training elements so you can boost cardiovascular strength as well as build/tone muscle?

Our bootcamp workouts work the entire body that results in a shapier you. It is definitely a complete body workout – includes cardiovascular, speed and endurance, partner resistance, strength training, stretching exercises, circuit training, running, power walking and agility activities – giving your mind and body the optimal fitness experience. The workouts will stretch your fitness horizons with fitness games, group challenges, wheelbarrow races, kickboxing, medicine ball drills, plyometrics, box drills, fartleks, obstacle course, guerilla drills, grass drills, and more than 15 versions of the military standard push-up and crunches! These exercises are modifiable and can be performed by anyone – from beginners to advanced fitness enthusiasts.

Q6. If women were to follow this workout that you have created, when will they start to see results?

Coupled with a balanced diet that produces a negative caloric intake (that means you burn more calories per day than what you consume) should result in a fat loss of about 2-4kgs a month. More importantly, you’ll be losing inches in 30 days. Do know that you need to eat smart and healthy too, in order to see results.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and American Heart Association (AHA) highly recommends that to lose weight or maintain weight loss, 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity may be necessary (Negative caloric intake of about 1500 calories per day). They also recommend that we do eight to ten strength-training exercises, 10-15 repetitions of each exercise twice to three times per week. We champion ACSM and AHA’s recommendation and they have been proven to work!

Remember that weight loss will occur if energy needs exceed energy intake. Assuming a resting energy expenditure (REE) of one calorie per gram and a 2000-calorie per day, a realistic weight loss of one to two pounds per week can be achieved by reducing energy intake to 1000 – 1500 calories per day. You can now achieve this by eating healthier/lesser and doing the workouts shown below.

For best results, perform these exercises three to four times a week (with a day break in between). And increase the intensity for each exercise as soon as you can. Oh yes, please remember to eat healthy.

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How to lose FAT safely?

sharm — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:25:28 +0000

People who want to lose weight usually, and foremost, think about reducing the amount of food they eat. This may be quite a solution but not exactly the best there is. In fact, depending on the reduction in your food intake, it may even be dangerous to one’s health if the reduction is drastic. So how does one lose weight effectively and safely? Here are some points one should consider when trying to lose weight:

Beware of the Crash Diets

Most people think that trimming down the calories can alone shed off their unwanted excess. Probably this is because of advertising fads promoting low-calorie food products and beverages. What people don’t know is that it could be dangerous to decrease their calorie intake to way to below the required levels. Burning fat requires a lot of energy and since there is not much energy in the body to facilitate metabolism of fat (due to the drastic reduction in caloric intake), it will run at a very slow pace resulting in fatigue, illness and a weakened immune system.

A low-calorie diet

A low calorie diet is also compensated for by the body by burning muscles. People on this type of diet who revert back to their old eating habits end up gaining back some, if not all the weight they have shed off. And this weight would be made up mostly of fats. And since fats have more volume per mass than muscles, they end up having the same weight as before but look even bulkier. In losing weight, one should keep in mind that they should lose excess body fats only.

What should you do instead? You can try out eating small meals at more frequent intervals. This way the body will not think that it is being starved and will not store food as fat.

Eat Properly

One may have considered junking the crash diet option but he should also not forget to watch what he is eating. Variety must always be considered so that one may be able to get the necessary nutrients from his diet. It is also healthier to eat food which are roasted, steamed or broiled rather than fried. It is also important to include a lot of fiber in the diet. Drink lots of water – frequent rehydration is a necessity.

Pump Up lean Muscle Mass

Muscles burn calories when they work; they even do so at rest. Unlike fats which just lie around, bulge around the pants and dangle beneath the sleeves, muscles burn calories all-day round. With this fact in mind, one can start weight loss by increasing muscle mass. The more muscles built, the less fat will be left. This is attainable by working out with resistance exercises.

Engaging in Aerobic type of exercises (Running, walking, jogging)

Aerobics exercises are not only good for the heart by increasing cardiovascular endurance, they also help in increasing lean muscle mass while simultaneously decreasing excess body fat. Aside from these, aerobics make the metabolic process more efficient keeps your metabolic rate high. This continues to be the case even after you’ve stopped the exercise for a long while. Imagine burning fat efficiently while driving along the freeway or even while watching television.

Extra “Push”

Some people believe that smoking and caffeine can actually help in losing weight. This can perhaps be true; however, they do the body more harm than good because of their side-effects. For that extra “push”, one can try out taking food supplements. Afterall, 95% of these products out in the market actually does good.

On Taking Diet Pills

I do not recommend anyone to take thermogenic supplements. Over-the-counter diet pills affect the amount of weight one loses as well as how long one keeps that amount of weight off. However, one must be wary of the side-effects of these diet pills. If you must, faithfully follow the instructions provided for in the packaging. It is also prudent to consult the physician anyway before trying out these drugs and also to find out which type would be best for the individual.

Losing weight does not have to include sacrifices and sufferings. It actually means opening up to a more full and healthy life where one need not have to feel bad about himself looking the way he does, or not being able to do what he wants to do. Losing weight might entail little adjustments plus some discomforts, but as the old saying goes, “no pain, no gain.” Besides fat, what has one got to lose anyway?

Sharm is a fitness consultant and personal trainer to many high profile clients since 1998. He is equipped with a Bachelor’s degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Postgraduate in Physical Education and Sports Science from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Currently he is in the midst of completing his Masters of Science (Exercise and Sports Studies) program in NTU. He also has international certifications, memberships and affiliations with the American College of Sports Medicine & National Academy of Sports Medicine. His expertise have been featured in ChannelNewsAsia’s documentary – Vanity the Slim Society, The Straits Times, & The Sunday Times. Magazines: Shape, Timeout, Women’s Weekly, The Finder, Her World.

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Fitness and Diet Strategies for This Week (14th May 2009)

sharm — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:21:02 +0000

1. If you’re sick, REST. Exercising will only suppress your immune system. Start again when you’ve recovered.

2. Stretch to be flexible – it also reduces the chances of injury, and improve your fitness performance – for better form and range of motion.

3. Make daily notes of your exercise activities. Place them somewhere visible, such as your fridge. Aim to do better everyday.

4. To do a back exercise effectively , you’d first need to depress your shoulder blades (scapula), then execute the move.

5. Plan for a 29 minutes workout everyday if you’re pressed for time. Some movement is WAY better than no movement

6. Do fun activities (workout/sports/games) with friends – working out with peers/family brings about better exercise adherence

7. If ‘exercise’ turns you off, do ‘fun’ things instead – cycling, skating, playing catch, walk the dog. Get moving and start playing!

8. Top 3 suggestions from survey done by 1,000 ACE PTs on best techniques to get fit. Strength,Interval,Aerobic training.

9. Include protein sources to your meals – protein preserves muscle mass, keeps you feeling full and increases metabolism.

10. We’re easily confused between hunger & thirst – we look 4 food & calories instead of getting water (that’s what we need).

For more tips and strategies on fitness and fat loss, you can also add me on twitter @efitnessguru

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Diet and Fitness Strategies (21st May 2009)

sharm — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:10:11 +0000

Dear Friends,

Hope everyone is well – eating healthy (5 small meals a day, before 8pm) and working out (at least thrice a week). If you’re sick or have flu symptoms, please rest – do not workout. If you have been procrastinating and putting off your workouts to get fit, TAKE ACTION NOW.

We have an application for you to log down your food intake – you can find it on our website, at the applications category – look for Food Journal Entry Do bear in mind that it is open for everyone to view – so may want to use an alias when doing your entry.

There are many benefits of doing a food journal – some are

(1) it encourages you to take responsibility and face your food choices.
(2) Help you to identify when and why you eat and help you to learn more about your eating patterns.
(3) keep track of the type and amount of calories you consume – We usually forget what we eat
(4) Share the details of what you eat with the world – motivates you to BE GOOD

Usha shared with us http://nutrition.com.sg/ho/index.asp – local food calories – you may want to check it out if you’re here in Singapore.

Fitness & Diet Strategies for this week (Also on Twitter, but with a little bit of elaboration)

1. Visualize yourself working out while on your way to work/home if you intend to workout later in the day. Helps you ’stick to the plan’ later.
* When we do this, we are programming our minds to stick to the plan – You’ll be able to block off the distractions that might change your plan along the way.

2. Schedule your workouts and mark them as important. Having it in your diary is the first step to ACTION. Make side notes at the end of the day.
* Planning – When we plan, we’re planning for success. Plan and believe that you’ll reach your goals. And follow through with ACTION.
* Reflection – Making notes on the side makes you think of your workouts / food that you ate. Helps you plan for the future and correct/improve the things that were done earlier.

3. When U run, don’t let your foot get ahead of your knee. Use your upper body straight up & used only for balance. Run from the hips down.
* This is for long distance running – think running economy – running your optimal speed using the least amount of energy. If you’re sprinting or striding (Short distances – 50m to 400m), then you’d have to have your foot in front of your knees so that you get a good stride.

4. Use motivational shouts/chants to improve your workout – increase mental strength, stay focused, distract from tiredness.
* It’ll give you the mental edge when you’re fatigued.
* International athletes and sportsmen have team cheers and such to boost morale. Why not you?

5. You’ll need to work on all parts of your body to ensure proper posture – don’t just do Chest and Shoulders – do back and abs.
* Your muscles will tighten and tone up when you work them. As such, if you just do Chest presses, the muscles will pull to the front, giving you a ‘hunch back’ look. This is one of the reasons it is imperative that you do back rows or lat pulldowns – to tighten the back muscles so that your posture is ‘maintained’. Of course you’ll also get the other benefits of working out your back.

6. Learn to say “sshhh” to tighten your abs, lessen neck tension, breathe in oxygen, focus on form increase your strength.
* When you say “sshhh”, your abs will tighten (check by putting your hand at your lower abs.
* Try closing your eyes and say “ssshh”.. you’ll tend to be more relaxed and focus on breathing – hence lessening neck tension.
* When you say “sshh” when performing your set – you’ll focus on the breathing and correct form executing your set (such as bicep curl). It also helps maintain neutrality of intrathoracic pressure.

7. Just because you’re sweating, it does not mean you’re burning fat. That’s just your body thermoregulation system at work.
* Hatha Yoga is good – but remember that you’re not burning as much fat as you think you would.
* To check if you’re burning fat without any heart rate monitor, check out the next strategy.

8. Use RPE (Rate of perceived exertion) to check on the intensity at which you’re training. 1 (Easiest) to 10 (Toughest).
* Work at 4 to 5 if you’re new to workouts.
* Work at 8 to 10 if you’re very fit.

9. Take pineapple juice (bromelain [enzyme]) 30 min after workout.
* Helps removes lactic acid buildup in the muscles / soreness – try it!

10. Working out with friends is great but it’ll backfire if the talking is too much
* I like doing this – working out with friends – if you do go with your friends, always plan your workout beforehand. Talk if you must, but keep it MINIMAL.

For more tips and strategies on fitness and fat loss, you can also add me on twitter @efitnessguru

_____________________________

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How to start working out again after a long break.

sharm — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:30:12 +0000

Written for an international magazine in October 2008.

It’s been some time since your last workout.. Here’s some things to consider when you want to start exercising again. Click here to read more.

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