I realise that I can be different than other trainers. While many of them want their clients to be with them during every training session, I like to empower mine by giving them challenges and ‘assignments’ that they can do on their own, when I’m not there with them. The challenge for me is that after a few months, they would stop doing the physical activities that they were doing so well til then. As a personal trainer in Singapore, my job is to educate others when they’re with me, and when they’re on their own.

Studies have shown that more than 50% would drop out within 6 months of starting an exercise program. I also like to emphasize the importance of continuing the exercise even though I am not there to supervise them. It can be challenging to start on your own but it is rewarding in the long run. The ability to maintain an exercise program for an extended time period is one of the biggest health problems within adults.

There are many reasons to keep it going. One importance for maintaining exercise programs is to ensure that you keep your weight, fat %es and health maintenance in check. Furthermore, it also builds up self-esteem and reduces stress and depression. Simple strategies for exercise adherence will go a long way.

This is a 3 part series on Exercise Adherence.

SOME SOLUTIONS

1. Get involved in a structured sport or physical activities.

The Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) stated that as many as 80% does not enjoy the exercise program that they started with. Workout with friends as not only will you have company, you will also give each other social support and encouragement. Structured sports helps in the areas of discipline and collective goals ensures you attend all those training sessions that you planned for.

2. Learn a new activity.

The chances are that the new challenge will keep you coming back and pushing your boundaries to overcome obstacles you have never come across with. Be it climbing wall, martial art or sailing, it will take a different mindset than the ones you are used to. Personally I myself just got into a new activity – cycling. In addition to the current activities that I’ve been involved in, I find doing something new keeps me excited about working out. I’ve also enrolled in this year’s OCBC cycle challenge (39km) and I’ve set my eyes on next year’s super challenge (59km).

3. Cross-train.

Try different activities daily. Instead of just aerobics every day, try spinning class the next day. This will ensure that different parts of your body will be trained and will keep you from becoming bored with the routine exercise. Don’t allow your body to be bored of the things you do. There are thousands of exercises that you can do just by using your bodyweight, hundreds of variations and combinations of pushups and squats. Be creative, change it up!

4. Slowly increase your efforts

The first few workouts should be brief and within your abilities before increasing the duration and intensity. Progression and overload is a must. Constantly change your goals and challenge yourself to higher intensities (up your intensity by 5-10% per week), progressively and safely.

5. Exercise Journal

This is important if you want to keep a record of how much weight you lifted or how far you have run within a certain period of time. Make a weekly or a monthly graph of your improvements. It should be gradual curve instead of a horizontal line. Use this as a motivation to push yourself towards newer goals.

6. Have a good place for physical activity.

Set a good place to exercise. The best thing is when you have the least amount of distractions to workout.

7. Set measurable and realistic goals.

You can use SMART goal in this process. It stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and target. You have to set goals that you can see yourself achieving in the long term. Take note of things such as distance, time and the amount to clearly see a difference. For example, start with something realistic, say 2.4km run in under 25 minutes. From there, work towards 5km in under half an hour and in the upcoming weeks – 10km in one hour.

I once had the opportunity of training a female infantry lieutenant for her Guards conversion course. She had to clock 10km in 50 minutes. When we first started, she was doing 1hr 15mins. After 8 sessions, she called me to inform me that she’d like to stop training with me. I asked her why – she said she just passed her conversion fitness test as she managed to do it in 42 minutes! (Session #8 clocked 48 minutes) Dynamic, progressive and realistic goals – key to success. Assess your fitness level, and set your goals realistically.

Keep it going, review the factors that affects your adherence often, and most importantly, have fun!

Exercise Your Adherence,

Sharm,MSC*
Your personal trainer
Team Fitness Guru

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A little about Sharm

Sharm is equipped with a Master of Science degree (Exercise and Sports Studies) from NTU, a Bachelor's Degree from the National University of Singapore (Economics), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Physical Education and Sports Science from NIE.

With blessings from Madam Halimah Yakob (Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) and Mr Khaw Boon Wan (Minister of Health 2009/2010, Singapore), he was the commissioned by the Health Promotion Board as the Master Trainer to design and prescribe exercises for the fitness workouts for the Lose To Win Programme (2009) for over 300 participants. In 2010, together with the trainers under his charge, they prescribed exercises for over 1000 participants for Lose To Win 2. Corporate results Here.

Sharm and his team also have more than 2000 clients for their Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamps and about 4000+ take part in TFG's Corporate Programmes. Results Here.

Since 1993, Sharm is a personal fitness trainer to many individuals, a fitness consultant to many high net worth clients, a corporate fitness master trainer to companies, a mentor to his trainers at TeamFitnessGuru.com and a humble servant to you.

Sharm works with a terrific team of fitness professionals. If you'd like to contact or engage their services (Personal Training, Corporate, etc) kindly email sharm@teamfitnessguru.com or text/sms him at +6591090995.

Add him on these social media platforms:
Sharm's Facebook Page - Facebook.com/SingaporePersonalTrainer
Sharm's Team - Facebook.com/TeamFitnessGuru
Sharm's Twitter - Twitter.com/SharmTFG

‘Like’ this blogpost if you do. Email me if you don’t
Join me here: http://Facebook.com/teamfitnessguru

While most of us already know the content of this post, the intention is to serve as a reminder to all of us, including myself

To have a better heart, we need to have a healthy lifestyle – this involves having sufficient physical activity and eating healthy. Having a better heart, in this context, refers to reducing the risk of getting a heart disease.

Many people that have trained under me or my trainers mention that their heart rate improve (lower resting heart rate) due to more exercise. To take it a step further, we need to also improve our diet. Fast food, convenience food and saturated fats that make it impossible to have a healthy and good heart.

There are many lifestyle changes  you can make to significantly reduce your risk of getting a heart disease.

These are some of the factors that increase your chance of getting a heart disease:

• High blood cholesterol and homocysteine
• Smoking
• Stress
• Caffeine
• Salt
• Alcohol
• Blood sugar
• Overweight and diabetes

Cholesterol

You only need a certain amount of cholesterol as it is an important constituent of cell membrane and is found in every cell in your body. A high intake of saturated fat and lack of exercise can increase the amount of cholesterol produced by the body and so the amount in the bloodstream. Cut down on cooking fats, butter, margarine and full-fat milk. Be wary of trans fat intake than worry about cholesterol in food.

Smoking

Nicotine constrict the blood vessels, making it harder for the heart to pump blood. The smoke includes carbon monoxide which reduces oxygen levels in body tissue and heart muscle.

Stress

Too much adrenalin and stress hormones cause the arteries to constrict and cause blood pressure to rise. It makes your blood stickier and thicker and therefore damages your arteries. It also affects calcium and magnesium levels in your body.

Caffeine

Heavy coffee drinking links to a rise in cholesterol and even though it temporarily increases blood pressure, the real culprit is the substance released during the roasting of the coffee.

Salt

Sodium and potassium work together in your body to help maintain the concentration of the body fluids at correct levels. However, too much salt and your blood pressure will be forced up as there will be more water required in your blood which means a greater volume of fluid is passing through your heart. This will cause an additional strain to your heart and increase the possibility of a coronary disease.  The Food Standards Authority (FSA) recommend 5-6g of salt per day for an adult as a recommended amount.

Bring in your soldiers to build your defenses – here’s a quick recap of some of the  vitamins that matter.

Vitamins that you need to make your heart healthier:

• Vitamin C
  Excellent antioxidant and strengthens the walls of the blood vessels.
• Vitamin E
  Reduces platelets sticking together in the blood and lowers blood pressure. It also neutralises free-radical damage.
• Selenium
  It is needed for the production of glutathione the master antioxidant.
• Zinc
  It is needed to covert methionine to glutathione to avoid homocysteine build-up and to make hydrochloric acid in the stomach. It will affect your ability to taste and therefore you are less likely to add salt to your food.
• Magnesium
  It helps to relax your heart muscle.
• Potassium
  It works with sodium to balance the body fluids.
• B vitamins
  It prevents the build up of homocysteine.
• Essential Fatty Acids
  Reduces blood pressure by making your blood less sticky.
• Fibre
  Helps to lower cholesterol as it binds bile acids and remove cholesterol from the body as waste.

In addition the the above, I’d like to add the ‘vitamin’ called Exercise. It works all your muscles, including your heart muscle which increases its capacity and endurance. Easy – just a total of 150 minutes of physical activity a week would go a long way. For those who would like to lose weight, do at least 250 minutes a week.

Sharm,MSC*
Your personal trainer
Team Fitness Guru

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A little about Sharm

Sharm is equipped with a Master of Science degree (Exercise and Sports Studies) from NTU, a Bachelor's Degree from the National University of Singapore (Economics), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Physical Education and Sports Science from NIE.

With blessings from Madam Halimah Yakob (Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) and Mr Khaw Boon Wan (Minister of Health 2009/2010, Singapore), he was the commissioned by the Health Promotion Board as the Master Trainer to design and prescribe exercises for the fitness workouts for the Lose To Win Programme (2009) for over 300 participants. In 2010, together with the trainers under his charge, they prescribed exercises for over 1000 participants for Lose To Win 2. Corporate results Here.

Sharm and his team also have more than 2000 clients for their Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamps and about 4000+ take part in TFG's Corporate Programmes. Results Here.

Since 1993, Sharm is a personal fitness trainer to many individuals, a fitness consultant to many high net worth clients, a corporate fitness master trainer to companies, a mentor to his trainers at TeamFitnessGuru.com and a humble servant to you.

Sharm works with a terrific team of fitness professionals. If you'd like to contact or engage their services (Personal Training, Corporate, etc) kindly email sharm@teamfitnessguru.com or text/sms him at +6591090995.

Add him on these social media platforms:
Sharm's Facebook Page - Facebook.com/SingaporePersonalTrainer
Sharm's Team - Facebook.com/TeamFitnessGuru
Sharm's Twitter - Twitter.com/SharmTFG

Have not been exercising? Don’t pay anything for training with a fitness trainer.

Many fitness professionals are in the industry because of their passion for fitness. While some are motivated by monetary rewards, there are others out there who are driven by their desire to help as many people as possible improve their health.

We want to help many people.

Being fitness teachers (guru, in our context, is teacher), we have been helping many people learn fitness since 1993. This year, my team from Team Fitness Guru and I would like to emphasize on devoting our efforts in helping as many people as possible as priority one. We want to touch as many lives as possible. That is our vision. We want to help as many people as we can and we will make that our mission.

Money as a barrier to entry.

One of the barriers to starting a fitness program is money. To engage a true professional personal trainer to facilitate your training, it’ll cost more than $80 an hour. Even going to the public gym without proper gym instruction would cost you some money. For my team, clients pay an average of $158 per session, depending on the programme that they’re on. Yes, we’re the AUDI and BMW of fitness – our clients get value and results for the investment they make.

So I was thinking, how can we help others when the barrier is there, without lowering quality of training? After thinking through long and hard, we came to a conclusion. Give free quality training to everyone, and lower rates for those who are serious in training.

My Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamp (www.Fitnessbootcamp.sg) programme has trained more than 5000 people since 2008, and we usually ask for a discounted fee for service of $30 per session (usual $50). This year, we’ll reduce the cost for potential clients of $30 to $0 for their first session. There will be no hard selling.

Free training. No barrier to start exercising.

Free training for everyone by TFG personal trainers. In this valuable session, anyone who attend will learn at least 20 great, effective and fat burning exercises that they can take home and duplicate as their own workout, which we strongly encourage. In return, we would like to ask clients to pay it forward by asking others to come join our training session for free so they too can benefit from physical activity. There is no need to pay any cash.

Why only one session free? That’s all we can afford at this time. You see, we have a lot of clients who are paying clients / regulars to our bootcamps. Unlike many other bootcamp companies, I want a tight trainer-to-participant ratio (about 1:8) so that clients get value from their workout as the trainers will be able to guide, instruct and correct their form. On top of this, provide great motivation. Our clients return because of the value that they receive from us trainers. To give more than one session free will loosen this ratio and would deviate from our team’s principles. On top of that, it’ll also deprive other people from joining us to start their fitness journey. For those who intend to continue, they are free to do so by either taking up a package or pay single sessions. This will allow us to devote more resources to getting more trainers in to maintain our ratio of 1:8 and ensuring quality of training would be high.

Reduced Rates for Personal Training.

For those who prefer personal training (PT), we will be lowering our rates from and average of $158 per session to $78 (Starting from) for the first 10 sessions. Clients will still get their $158 value (a) Professional instruction (b) Non-intimidating, great and fun training. On top of this, they get (1) 2 Customized workout programme that they can do on their own, (2) 1 Fitness Assessment (3) Nutritional Advice. AUDI quality at Toyota rates For those who want me to personally train you – it’s now $98 per session (Usual $218) for my Kickstart Programme (2 sessions). Kindly email me for details.

Why no free session for PT? As much as we want to, we’re already stretched. We have bills to pay, and mothers and fathers to take care of, and those occasional fines that we need to settle We’re taking half of what we usually earn so that more people can afford and benefit from our expertise. All our training sessions come with money back satisfaction guarantee – if you’re not satisfied, that session is considered free

We’re on the right track to helping more people! Go Team!

Okay here’s a quick report for the first 2 weeks of 2012.

We’ve been blessed with great partnership with the Health Promotion Board for the past 4 years – to be the ones who first created the Physical Activity Programme for Lose To Win. In the first year, we had more than 270 participants. For Lose To Win 2, there were about 1000 of them. Now, in our third year – we’re already working on improving the fitness for more than 400 people for group A. We’re expecting 300 more for Group B, who will start training mid April. Yes, we’re in the second week of Lose To Win now!

For bootcamps and personal training signups and enquiries – drastic increases in both.

Side note to all my TFG trainers who are reading this: You guys are doing a great thing helping many others lose weight and get fitter. May God bless you. To my admin and outreach team (Coach Lisa, Amirah and Dilys): Thanks for the behind the scenes support, you’re the fire in the furnace that keeps the team going. To my right hand (wo)man, chief trainer and general manager: Coach Zhywee – Thanks for being my co-captain. You complete the team by guiding our trainers to deliver their best and giving the best to our clients. We see you grow so much as our GM (ehem, with the bulk of it involving planning and instructions behind the PC). Without you, TFG would only be FG.

I love you guys – let’s keep it strong!

To our clients, thank you for your continued support and putting food on our table. We strive to give our best to you.

To those who are sedentary – we look forward to being with you for our group workouts (www.fitnessbootcamp.sg).

Are you from another bootcamp or gym? Hey come join us for a session – a change training style and exercise prescription will do you good

To everyone reading this – I thank you for your patience – if you know anyone who needs to start a Healthy Lifestyle, do let them know about our free workout that they can join. Do share this if you’re on facebook or twitter. Your assistance will go a long way.

I’m contactable at sharm@teamfitnessguru.com, feel free to email me if you have any queries I’ll personally direct you to one of my team members to assist you. Remember to add me on facebook.

I wish you all the best for 2012. May all your plans come true!

Sharm (Hisham Musa), MSc
Master Trainer

SMS: +65 9004 8370
FitnessBootcamp.sg
TeamFitnessGuru.com
GuruFitness.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who want to determine their fitness level but does not want to go to an extent of exercising, there is a way. It is a safe test for those who has low fitness level, the elderly as well as those who have musculoskeletal disorders.

If you’re  wondering why would we want a non-exercise fitness test. Read on: there are many who have pre-existing medical conditions such knee injuries or heart issues and may not get the green light from their doctors to engage in any kind of physical exercise. This is a good way to  measure (estimate) of their fitness level under these conditions. It is also a very safe way of measuring fitness if the person has been sedentary for a long time.

The Health Promotion Board (HPB) as well as other organisations has come up with a simple test to calculate cardiovascular fitness level.

All you need is:

• Calculator
• Stadiometer (height)
• Scales (weight)
• Skinfold callipers (% body fat)

Unless of course you already know your height, weight and percentage of body fat, then it would be easier to move on to the second step.

How to Calculate:

There are two different equations. One by Body Mass Index(BMI) while the other is by % Body Fat.

Known Values:

• PAR = Physical Activity Rating
• A = Age in years
• BMI = Body Mass Index
• % Body Fat
• G = Gender
  0 = women, 1  = men

Example:

BMI,
VO2max = 56.363 + 1.921(PAR) – 0.381 (A) – 0.754 (BMI) + 10.987 (G)

% Bodyfat,
VO2max = 50.513 + 1.589 (PAR) – 0.29 (A) – 0.522(% fat) + 5.863 (G)

Maximal oxygen uptake norms for men (ml/kg/min)

Maximal oxygen uptake norms for women (ml/kg/min)

Physical Activity Rating (PA-R)

This questionnaire tool is for categorizing a person’s level of physical activity. It is used in the equations for the Non-Exercise Fitness Test. Your PAR score is between 0 and 7.

Select the number that best describes your overall level of physical activity for the previous 6 MONTHS:

Source: Jackson et al., (1990). Prediction of functional aerobic capacity without exercise testing. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 22(6), 863-870.
Note: 1 mile = 1.609km

The disadvantage of this test is that it may not be as accurate as an exercise test. For those who falls below average on the VO2 max table, which is a measure of a person’s aerobic fitness, and you’d like to improve it, you may want to check out our Fitness Bootcamps to raise your fitness level or go for one-on-one training.

Sharm, MSc
TeamFitnessGuru.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A little about Sharm

Sharm is equipped with a Master of Science degree (Exercise and Sports Studies) from NTU, a Bachelor's Degree from the National University of Singapore (Economics), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Physical Education and Sports Science from NIE.

With blessings from Madam Halimah Yakob (Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) and Mr Khaw Boon Wan (Minister of Health 2009/2010, Singapore), he was the commissioned by the Health Promotion Board as the Master Trainer to design and prescribe exercises for the fitness workouts for the Lose To Win Programme (2009) for over 300 participants. In 2010, together with the trainers under his charge, they prescribed exercises for over 1000 participants for Lose To Win 2. Corporate results Here.

Sharm and his team also have more than 2000 clients for their Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamps and about 4000+ take part in TFG's Corporate Programmes. Results Here.

Since 1993, Sharm is a personal fitness trainer to many individuals, a fitness consultant to many high net worth clients, a corporate fitness master trainer to companies, a mentor to his trainers at TeamFitnessGuru.com and a humble servant to you.

Sharm works with a terrific team of fitness professionals. If you'd like to contact or engage their services (Personal Training, Corporate, etc) kindly email sharm@teamfitnessguru.com or text/sms him at +6591090995.

Add him on these social media platforms:
Sharm's Facebook Page - Facebook.com/SingaporePersonalTrainer
Sharm's Team - Facebook.com/TeamFitnessGuru
Sharm's Twitter - Twitter.com/SharmTFG

‘Like’ this blogpost if you do. Email me if you don’t Join me here: http://Facebook.com/teamfitnessguru

The healthier you eat, the healthier you become. This is in fact, extremely true and useful when you know you need to eat healthily if you want to lose weight and look fit. There is no need to burst your budget in order to eat healthy. It is time to realize that it can be cheap, simple and still be as satisfying.

I have been to high end supermarkets selling expensive and imported healthy and organic snacks and I realise that there was absolutely no need to break your piggy bank to buy these and be a healthy eater. You can actually start from home and prepare your foods and bring meals and simple healthy snacks wherever you go. This would not only save time, but also your effort and money.

Go to your nearest supermarket or grocery store and grab the freshest poultry and seafood, fruits and vegetables and create your own recipes either from websites or even cookbooks. Did you know that healthy eating requires lesser ingredients, cooking time and preparation?

That is because it is simple and fast due to grilling, steaming, boiling, roasting chicken or fish or vegetables in less than 15 minutes.

Countless of studies have shown the good effects of regular breakfast on long-term effective weight control. Breakfast plays an important role in providing you with the energy you need in the morning. You can aim for a breakfast that provides 25 to 30 per cent of the calories for the day, which is equivalent to 600 calories if you are a highly active female consuming 2,500 calories per day.

Even if you do not have the appetite to eat in the morning, it is still better to have sufficient food in your tummy after waking up to avoid over-eating and uncontrolled cravings during the later part of the day. Choose whole grain breads, fruits, milk, yogurt and egg to last for another 3-4 hours before your next meal.

In a study published by The New England Journal of Medicine shows that long-term weight gain in both men and women was due to an increase consumption of French fries, sugar-sweetened beverages, unprocessed and processed meats, refined grains and potato chips.

Therefore, you should increased your intake of nuts, fruits, vegetables, yogurt and whole grains to reduce the weight gain.

There are many ways to start eating healthier and even exercise. The campaign “Healthy Active Exercise” done by Health Promotion Board is to ensure that everyone of us gets the right amount of exercise daily. You could even join our bootcamps here.

Eat to a healthier you.

Sharm,MSC*
Your personal trainer
Team Fitness Guru

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A little about Sharm

Sharm is equipped with a Master of Science degree (Exercise and Sports Studies) from NTU, a Bachelor's Degree from the National University of Singapore (Economics), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Physical Education and Sports Science from NIE.

With blessings from Madam Halimah Yakob (Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) and Mr Khaw Boon Wan (Minister of Health 2009/2010, Singapore), he was the commissioned by the Health Promotion Board as the Master Trainer to design and prescribe exercises for the fitness workouts for the Lose To Win Programme (2009) for over 300 participants. In 2010, together with the trainers under his charge, they prescribed exercises for over 1000 participants for Lose To Win 2. Corporate results Here.

Sharm and his team also have more than 2000 clients for their Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamps and about 4000+ take part in TFG's Corporate Programmes. Results Here.

Since 1993, Sharm is a personal fitness trainer to many individuals, a fitness consultant to many high net worth clients, a corporate fitness master trainer to companies, a mentor to his trainers at TeamFitnessGuru.com and a humble servant to you.

Sharm works with a terrific team of fitness professionals. If you'd like to contact or engage their services (Personal Training, Corporate, etc) kindly email sharm@teamfitnessguru.com or text/sms him at +6591090995.

Add him on these social media platforms:
Sharm's Facebook Page - Facebook.com/SingaporePersonalTrainer
Sharm's Team - Facebook.com/TeamFitnessGuru
Sharm's Twitter - Twitter.com/SharmTFG

4 Common Running Injuries

As much as I do not like to run long distances (I have more fast twitch muscle fibres), I love running together with my clients. Some have specific goals to run 10 kms while others , 42.195 kms – marathons. Writing a quick blog to share – regular and intense running can result to injuries that would become hazardous if not handled quickly.

The first and most common of all would be:

Muscle Strains

This is especially true for beginner runners and would affect their hamstring muscles, which runs down the back of the thigh or calf muscles. It would hurt when you straighten your knee and running would be slower as the sharp pain will prevent you from continuing at your normal pace.

What Should You Do

First and foremost, stop running.  Apply ice (wrapped in a towel) on the painful area for about 10-20 minutes at least 3-4 times daily. Keep the leg elevated or supported by a pillow to reduce the swelling.  The pain will subsidy, depends on the severity of the strain but until then, take a lot of rest and start running short distances to test out before running long distances.

Shin Pain

Shin pain generally occurs on the front leg, below the knee area. It is also referred as shin splints. It is a dull pain that most runners are unaware of until a sudden sharp pain exists.

What Should You Do

Apply ice on the affected area and head to your General Physician (GP) or physiotherapist if the swelling and pain does not stop for more than a week. Dr David O’Brian, a podiatrist said, “If shin splints hit you at the beginning of a season, a certain amount of running through it will help the body adapt,” But if it’s a persistent problem, you shouldn’t run through it.”

Achilles Pain

Regular and intense training would cause a wear and tear on the Achilles tendon, a thick rubbery chord that can be found at the back of your ankle. The pain can be dull when you are running but if you kept on running, the pain will be sharp and painful.

What Should You Do

Apart from applying ice on the area, try massaging with your fingers. Apart from normal Achilles pain, there is also partial and dull Achilles rupture. If the problem still persists after a few weeks, head to your GP for an x-ray scan as there may be a torn on the tendon.

Knee Pain

Knee pain, or knee runner, is one of the more common running injuries. If you develop an ache on your kneecap that worsens with exercise, or a pain that would only ease of when you rest after a run, it is best to discontinue running.

What Should You Do

I suggest you to perform straight-leg exercise to stretch your knee muscles.  Applying ice is another trick you can do.

 RICE method

When face any injury, I would use the RICE method before continuing my running.

Rest

When I start feeling the pain, I would slow down and access my injury.  For example, my client wanted to continue even though he was experiencing knee pain. Continuing the run will force more blood to the area of injury and therefore cause more damage in the long run. Therefore it was better when he slowed down to a walk and drank water.

Ice

Ice reduces the pain and the swelling on the injury. However, one should not apply ice directly to the pain. I usually cover it with a towel or in polythene. Furthermore, do not apply the ice on the area for more than 20 minutes. After which, it can be done hourly. Ice is widely used as it heals tissues, act as a cooling effect for capillary contraction and prevent further bleeding.

Compression

It acts as a counter-pressure for bleeding capillaries. The pressure should be less than your blood pressure so as not to completely stop the blood from flowing to the rest of the body.

Elevate

As blood pressure reduces with height, it is best to elevate the injured area above the head as there would be less force on the damage blood vessel to cause bleeding.

Running looks easy (for some) but the injuries are not. As they say, your body is a temple, so take good care of it If you would like to start doing some fitness, join our Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamp  or try our one-on-one training.

Sharm, MSc
TeamFitnessGuru.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A little about Sharm

Sharm is equipped with a Master of Science degree (Exercise and Sports Studies) from NTU, a Bachelor's Degree from the National University of Singapore (Economics), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Physical Education and Sports Science from NIE.

With blessings from Madam Halimah Yakob (Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) and Mr Khaw Boon Wan (Minister of Health 2009/2010, Singapore), he was the commissioned by the Health Promotion Board as the Master Trainer to design and prescribe exercises for the fitness workouts for the Lose To Win Programme (2009) for over 300 participants. In 2010, together with the trainers under his charge, they prescribed exercises for over 1000 participants for Lose To Win 2. Corporate results Here.

Sharm and his team also have more than 2000 clients for their Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamps and about 4000+ take part in TFG's Corporate Programmes. Results Here.

Since 1993, Sharm is a personal fitness trainer to many individuals, a fitness consultant to many high net worth clients, a corporate fitness master trainer to companies, a mentor to his trainers at TeamFitnessGuru.com and a humble servant to you.

Sharm works with a terrific team of fitness professionals. If you'd like to contact or engage their services (Personal Training, Corporate, etc) kindly email sharm@teamfitnessguru.com or text/sms him at +6591090995.

Add him on these social media platforms:
Sharm's Facebook Page - Facebook.com/SingaporePersonalTrainer
Sharm's Team - Facebook.com/TeamFitnessGuru
Sharm's Twitter - Twitter.com/SharmTFG

Diet Myths

I was just reading an article on how a girl almost died because she was on strict diet and it made me realised that even with the dangers of dieting, people still went on with it as it is a sure-fire way to   lose weight quickly. However, almost everyone is clamouring to try it out without thinking of its consequences. Here are some of the diets that you should avoid and why:

Low-Carb/High-Protein Diets

Carbohydrates such as pasta, bread and rice are an essential source of energy.  Low-carb diets are popular because of the quick water-weight loss that starts at the beginning of the diet. However, it is actually fat loss that would quickly return as soon as dieting stops.

Eating proteins are dehydrating and it has been proven to be a terrible source of performance fuel as the body needs extra water and calories to break it down. Dietician Ursula Arens states that high protein content of these diets will make one lose appetite to eat. Too much food that is high in fat will result in high cholesterol level and higher chances of getting heart disease and stroke.

Crash Diets

This will reduce your calorie intake dramatically and thus a lower metabolism. You will lose your muscle instead of fats as your body will store the fats and burn up your muscles. Those who stayed for the long haul will experience osteoporosis, a condition whereby the bones become brittle and hair loss due to a loss of vitamins and minerals.

Single Food Diets/One or Two Food Group Diets

There has been no evidence or scientific discovery that shows eating a single food would burn fats such as cabbage soup or grapefruit. Furthermore, these diets must not continue longer than 7 days and cannot be started again in two weeks.

Some diets recommend cutting out one or two food group from meals such as dairy product or meat. By cutting them out, you would not get important nutrients and vitamins that your needs to function.

Detox Diets

These diets supposedly clean out the toxins in the body. However, there is no evidence that toxins build up in our bodies and they encourage people to have colonic irrigation or enemas to ‘clean out’ the colon.

The Right Way of Losing Weight

I think you heard the familiar line of “eat healthy and exercise” but not many diligently carry it out.

Here are 5 easy steps to start off:

• Eat more wholegrain food, for example, brown rice or wholemeal bread. They are a healthier choice and digest slower so you would feel full longer.
• Replace full cream with skimmed milk and trim the fats off meat and poultry.
• If you are not the type that goes to the gym, try walking instead of taking the bus or read our 10 simple secrets to losing weight.
• If you feel like snacking, try drinking warm tea. More often than not, we think we are hungry when we are actually thirsty.
• Have breakfast daily as it gives you ample of energy you need to start the day.

I do hope you would think twice before eyeing that new crash diet Christina Aguilera is doing because in life, there are no short cuts.

The best way to lose weight is to have a negative caloric intake – the number from calories from food that you consume must be lesser than the calories derived from physical activity. If you’d like to workout in a group, you may want to check the Multi Level Fitness Bootcamp Outdoor classes that my Chief Trainers are conducting at http://fitnessbootcamp.sg. For one-on-one personal training instructions, we’re here

Don’t forget to exercise and stay healthy! (: 

Sharm, MSc
TeamFitnessGuru.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A little about Sharm

Sharm is equipped with a Master of Science degree (Exercise and Sports Studies) from NTU, a Bachelor's Degree from the National University of Singapore (Economics), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Physical Education and Sports Science from NIE.

With blessings from Madam Halimah Yakob (Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) and Mr Khaw Boon Wan (Minister of Health 2009/2010, Singapore), he was the commissioned by the Health Promotion Board as the Master Trainer to design and prescribe exercises for the fitness workouts for the Lose To Win Programme (2009) for over 300 participants. In 2010, together with the trainers under his charge, they prescribed exercises for over 1000 participants for Lose To Win 2. Corporate results Here.

Sharm and his team also have more than 2000 clients for their Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamps and about 4000+ take part in TFG's Corporate Programmes. Results Here.

Since 1993, Sharm is a personal fitness trainer to many individuals, a fitness consultant to many high net worth clients, a corporate fitness master trainer to companies, a mentor to his trainers at TeamFitnessGuru.com and a humble servant to you.

Sharm works with a terrific team of fitness professionals. If you'd like to contact or engage their services (Personal Training, Corporate, etc) kindly email sharm@teamfitnessguru.com or text/sms him at +6591090995.

Add him on these social media platforms:
Sharm's Facebook Page - Facebook.com/SingaporePersonalTrainer
Sharm's Team - Facebook.com/TeamFitnessGuru
Sharm's Twitter - Twitter.com/SharmTFG

Deep Squats

My clients have asked me what the benefits of doing squats are. My reply was that squats are known as an important weight training exercise because it works not only just your legs, but your whole body.

Firstly, I teach my clients the safety of doing squats. I take note of my client’s ability and training goals before suggesting the depth of a squat. For example, if a client has a previous injury to the knee or lacks the muscle strength for knee stabilization, I would advise them to perform deep squats cautiously as they are more likely to get injured doing it or causes past injury to crop up.

Another precaution would be to slowly increase the knee flexion depth to safely match the weight loads to prevent a knee injury as well as to set a time period of nothing longer than 5-7 minutes of full flexion. I would advise my clients to do squats at the power rack as the safety pins are able to catch the bar if anything were to go wrong or if I am not there to supervise them. The rest would be technique.

Earlier studies have shown a link that squatting leads to an increase in knee stability as squatting stretches the knee ligaments and therefore decreases stability. However, a research done by Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found out two different findings. While one state that squats does nothing to increase knee instability, the other disagrees. Other than these findings, they found out that knee stability can be affected by ligament flexibility.

Clients who have larger posterior leg muscles (calf and hamstrings) face a greater risk of injury as deep squats places greater stress on the connective tissues of the knee joints.

Squats have been known to generate about twice as much hamstring activity as the knee extensions and leg press, as said by a recent study by the American Sports Medicine Institute in Brimingham. It added on by stating squatting is extremely safe and improves the strength and knee stability. It stimulates and thus increases the strength of the hamstrings as when one squat, the hamstrings control the hip flexion. A study was done with a group of subjects to perform deep squats over an eight-week period. Over the period, there was no increased instability created and thus does not affect knee stability.

Proper Way of Squatting

• Descend in a controlled manner
• Used the approximate shoulder-width foot stance
• Exhale after ascending
• Keep your feet flat on the floor
• Maintain the proper form while exercising
• Chest stays high, face keeps forward

Below is a video on how to do a deep squat perfectly. It is not something new but when done properly, it does a lot of good to your thighs as well as your whole body.

With Weights (From Livestrong)

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Bodyweight (From our Group Training video – a mixture of half and full squats done by our beloved clients, friends and participants of  Lose to Win 1 during our bootcamp)

Sidetrack – I usually modify my clients workout according to their abilities – for Tabata Protocol, it’s usually 2:1 with 8 cycles. For this particular progressive workout, we did 6 cycles. Loads of fun during this ‘party’.

Check out my sidekick and our Chief Trainer – Zhywee’s form and speed at 0:59 to 1:09

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Progressive workouts at steady pace – key to success. If you’d like to workout in a group, you may want to check the Multi Level Fitness Bootcamp Outdoor classes that my Chief Trainers are conducting at http://fitnessbootcamp.sg. For one on one personal training instructions, we’re here

Sharm, MSc
TeamFitnessGuru.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A little about Sharm

Sharm is equipped with a Master of Science degree (Exercise and Sports Studies) from NTU, a Bachelor's Degree from the National University of Singapore (Economics), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Physical Education and Sports Science from NIE.

With blessings from Madam Halimah Yakob (Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports) and Mr Khaw Boon Wan (Minister of Health 2009/2010, Singapore), he was the commissioned by the Health Promotion Board as the Master Trainer to design and prescribe exercises for the fitness workouts for the Lose To Win Programme (2009) for over 300 participants. In 2010, together with the trainers under his charge, they prescribed exercises for over 1000 participants for Lose To Win 2. Corporate results Here.

Sharm and his team also have more than 2000 clients for their Get Fit! Fitness Bootcamps and about 4000+ take part in TFG's Corporate Programmes. Results Here.

Since 1993, Sharm is a personal fitness trainer to many individuals, a fitness consultant to many high net worth clients, a corporate fitness master trainer to companies, a mentor to his trainers at TeamFitnessGuru.com and a humble servant to you.

Sharm works with a terrific team of fitness professionals. If you'd like to contact or engage their services (Personal Training, Corporate, etc) kindly email sharm@teamfitnessguru.com or text/sms him at +6591090995.

Add him on these social media platforms:
Sharm's Facebook Page - Facebook.com/SingaporePersonalTrainer
Sharm's Team - Facebook.com/TeamFitnessGuru
Sharm's Twitter - Twitter.com/SharmTFG