Tag Archives: exercise

Fitness, Fitness at Work, Wellness

7 reasons to walk at least 30-minutes a day

My grandpa Winston was a hat-bearing fit gentleman who would ask me to drop him off in Butterworth just so that he could walk back to Penang Island! My cousin Richard walks an average of 20,000 steps a day – a phenomenal feat considering our minimum daily is 10,000 steps a day. Another cousin Madeleine and husband Hieu, owners of Taste Baguette share their secret. They walk an average of 15-hours a week and walk everywhere because she says, “We like to eat, so we need to walk!”.
“We walk to the shops, to the bank, to the post office, to visit our stores and walk with friends on the weekends to each other’s houses or to have brunch at the store”.
My retired uncle James is an early riser and starts his day with a daily walk of at least 45-minutes before heading back for breakfast. My father has begun a routine of jogging at least 30-minutes around the park in the mornings. I’ve found their stories immensely inspiring and have started on a walking spree myself! I walk to the train station to and from work, I walk to lunch, I walk whenever I find an opportunity to walk. I’ve been walking at least 30-minutes a day! And I love this way of ‘tricking’ my body into exercise.

Just a thought. If you’re reading this while seated, may I invite you to stand up? Go on, that’s the purpose of this article. Just stand and shake your legs, stretch and let the blood flow. Stretch your arms up high. Draw a deep breath and breathe out in two fast spurts. Think about walking. Just visualise it. Imagine it in your mind’s eye.

Here are SEVEN REASONS why you could consider walking at least 30-minutes a day. You won’t regret it once your waist starts to trim and find energy in your feet 😛

Reason 1

Walking is a simple yet great stress reliever. Walking increases your heart rate and helps you breath more efficiently and when you have a combination of these two, you’re bound to feel better already!

Reason 2

It improves your mood.  Regular walking outdoors helps you enjoy natural sunlight, lovely scenery and fresh air which can help burn calories and build muscle—all while boosting your mood.

Reason 3

Time out walking gets your blood flowing through to your brains and soon you’ll be ticking with fresh ideas! Stuck on something? Go for a brisk walk and see if it helps.

Reason 4

It reduces your risks of chronic disease. Many university studies have proven that walking lowers your blood sugar levels and your overall risk for diabetes. Imagine… just walking alone can reduce the chances of cardiovascular disease by 30%. 

Reason 5

Get rid of those unsightly varicose veins! Our venous system includes an area called ‘the second heart,’ which is formed by muscles, veins, and valves in our calf and feet. Here, blood is pushed back up to the heart and lungs so when you walk, you’re strengthening ‘the second heart’, boost blood flow and reduce varicose veins.

Reason 6

Get your digestive juices flowing and get more regular! As you walk and move, you tend to engage your core and your abdominal muscles, encouraging movement in your gastrointestinal system. 

Reason 7

Lose weight! It’s a slow way but a sure way! It may take a month, or two but as you continue to walk, you will notice a tightening of your muscles, especially around your midsection, your legs and buttocks. Regular walking helps improve your body’s response to insulin, which can help reduce belly fat. Your metabolic rate increases too!

So these are the seven reasons but do you really need seven? Try adopt a walk a day now. Walk around the block, up and down the stairs, with a good friend or even with a client in the park. And do tell me about it if it works! Enjoy!!

Click image to join the MOVE8 campaign

 

Photo credit: Richard Cheah. Follow him on Instagram: @rich_c8. Article by Jasmine Low, co-founder GoInternationalGroup.com’s Innovation Labs, where it’s incubating www.AsiaFitnessToday.com, fitness media and training startup that promotes fitness and wellness programs at the workplace. Originally published on 26 June, 2017.
AFTNews, Diet & Nutrition, Men's Health, Wellness, Women's Health

5 Ways to Help Your Parents Stay Healthy and Active

When you were a child, mom and dad were quick in chasing you around. But as they get older, you may notice that they no longer have as much energy for physical activities. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the recommended amount of physical activity is about 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Did you know all physical activity and basic physical movements require healthy muscles for strength and energy?

If you’re caring for parents, it is important to know regular exercise and the right nutrition not only helps them keep chronic illnesses at bay – but it also helps preserve their muscles to give them the strength and energy to achieve all of life’s possibilities as they age.

Here are five ways to help mom and dad to stay healthy and active as they enter their golden years.

Follow A Balanced Diet Incorporating Muscle Nutrients

Image: sansoja/Pixabay

Maintaining a balanced diet goes beyond making sure mom and dad get a healthy dose of fruits and vegetables. The body requires important nutrients and sufficient protein as it ages to support overall health and muscle strength. However, no single food provides all the nutrients for good health, so it is important to make sure mom and dad eat a variety of foods for different vitamins and nutrients.

There is also another nutrient that should be the mainstay of your parents’ diet. HMB, a muscle building ingredient, can help in maintaining muscles and physical function as your parents age. HMB is a metabolite of the essential amino acid leucine and has been shown to help the body regain strength2. Small amounts of HMB can be found in avocados, citrus fruits, cauliflower and catfish, but these are not enough to fully support mom and dad’s overall muscle health and strength. Hence, oral nutritional supplementation with HMB can help keep them strong.

Incorporate Weights into Your Daily Runs

You may be familiar with the heart-health benefits of jogging and running, but why not add a little strength training into the aerobic mix? By adding some resistance in the form of ankle weights or handheld dumbbells, older adults can build stronger, leaner muscles and protect against muscle loss as they age. Consider joining mom or dad for regular jogs around the neighborhood, passing off the weights among you for a rotating benefit for everyone.

Consider Low-Impact Routines and Resistance Training

Try something new and encourage mom and dad to join you for low-impact exercises that build the mind, body and balance, which can help prevent dangerous falls3. Even if they have never done them before, the stress-busting, blood-pressure-lowering benefits of yoga, pilates and tai chi make these routines worth exploring.

In addition to low-impact routines, resistance exercise has been proven as an effective way to increase muscle mass and strength. Create more moments that matter together and try out a class or even stream routines from YouTube.

Image: John Moeses Bauan/Unsplash

Bust A Move

Take advantage of the heart-pumping benefits of dance for older adults and crank up a few tunes from different decades for fun with the entire family. Help mom or dad take a jog down memory lane in a group class that teaches the moves of yesteryear, such as line dancing, ballroom dancing or even disco! Feeling daring? Go virtual and get a gaming console that encourages dance.

Make Workouts A Family Affair

Who said workouts had to be all work and no fun? Find physical activities that the whole family can partake in. The Ensure Gold Strength Run on November 10 is a 3-kilometer run that can put mom, dad and the whole family’s strength to the test. You can run side-by-side with mom and dad and encourage each other along the way, all while enjoying nostalgic music from the disco fever of the 70s all the way to the roaring 90s! There will also be fun activities to test your muscle strength and try other aerobics and strength training fitness.

While aging is natural, losing too much muscle mass is not. It is never too late to take steps to slow down or reverse muscle loss. These simple measures are key in supporting good muscle health so that your mom and dad have the strength and energy to continue doing the things they love with the entire family. Make your family’s muscle health a priority.

 

AFT Features, AFTNews, Fitness, Men's Health, Women's Health

PUMA House of Hustle

PUMA House of Hustle was held at Sentul Depot, Kuala Lumpur on 28 – 29 September 2019. The main events were training sessions, 3-on-3 futsal and 3-on-3 basketball tournaments.

 

The training sessions were held three times a day and each had a total duration of 3 hours and 15 minutes. We participated in Session 2 of the first day of PUMA House of Hustle.

They had Animal Flow, Rhythmic Boxing and HIIT for all of the training sessions. We found all of the exercise quite challenging. The movements were a little bit hard to follow but it was fun because we learned new things from Animal Flow and Rhythmic Boxing.

https://www.australiafitnesstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Dany-barai.mp4?_=1

Animal flow is a training that focused largely around ground-based work and it develops mobility as well as power. Animal Flow is inspired by animal movements and focusses on improving our core stability, overall strength and body awareness without any fitness equipment. Dany found it to be quite difficult as he has not been active the past few months.

Next up was Rhythmic Boxing – a 45 minutes workout slated to be the next generation of boxing where each punch and slide is driven by music beats. This, again, exhausted Dany as the intensity was very high and the movement also quite difficult for him. He didn’t manage to finish the session but was quite impressed with some of the participants that managed to finished the second segment and also the fact that they stayed to continue with the last segment.

The last segment of PUMA’s House of Hustle was HIIT or High-Intensity Interval Training. By this time the boys were quite exhausted but they soldiered on to prove to themselves that they can do it, except for Dany. He tried but faltered quite a few times. Maybe they were inspired to continue with the session as the other participants had not quit.

There was an emcee that was present during the breaks in between exercises. He was great and kept interacting with the participants.

Delicious and healthy Jello

The event was also surrounded by many booths like food, beverage, sports accessories. We got a chance to try a refreshing coconut jelly called ‘Jello’ after we were done with the training sessions. There are many toppings that you can choose like cendol, brown sugar, mango and many more.

Then, we went to the warehouse next door to watch the futsal and basketball tournaments, and other games.  The place was filled with the crowd cheering and supporting each other.

They also had a ninja warrior-like obstacle course, basketball shooting, golf simulator and punching bag.

Overall we had a great and pleasant time in participating in the event. They also enjoyed the vibe around the venue that gave out a cool and chill vibe.

 

From left: Shauqi, Ahmad and Dany

Shauqi loves to play sports such as volleyball and badminton. A coffee lover, he invites readers to have coffee with him.

Ahmad is trying to become a professional e-sports player, specifically Mobile Legends. Follow and like his idn: Schen.

Dany is a 20-year-old who looks 15. Follow this normal lad from KL on Instagram: @danyhaiqal

 

 

 

Fitness

Should you exercise on an empty stomach?

Exercising on an empty stomach may be able to burn fat faster but there are processes your body goes through to achieve this.

Exercising your body is good for your health and aids in weight loss. However, does exercising on an empty stomach burn more fat at a faster rate?

When you exercise after a period of fasting, your body falls back on some backup mechanisms to ensure your body has enough fuel to sustain you during your workout.

When exercising on an empty stomach, your body will first draw fuel from the sugar store. This is not stored sugar.

When the available sugar store has been used up, your body will turn its focus to stored fats or muscle protein. It’s not as scary as it sounds. Your stored fat will be turned into sugar, which helps fuel your workout. The same process happens to the protein taken from your muscles.

It is because of this process that the theory of burning more fat at a faster rate started. There are researches on healthy young men regarding this. One research found that stored fat are used faster during aerobic activities when done on an empty stomach. This is due to the reaction of the body towards low insulin levels that happens during a fasting period.

Another study found that exercising on an empty stomach produces changes your metabolism so that your body is able to use insulin more effectively. This could prevent or delay diabetes.

Yet there are no conclusions on whether exercising on an empty stomach can enable you to lose weight faster as studies on these are few.

There was a study that observed 19 young men who exercised during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when people fast from sunrise to sunset. While everyone did lose weight but those who exercised more lost just slightly more weight and body fat.

William Kormos, the editor in chief of Harvard Men’s Health Watch suggest that one should not be thinking too much about working out on an empty and simply focus on your regular exercise routine.

Fitness, Fitness at Work

Lose Belly Fat with the Plank Challenge!

Do you dream of having a flat stomach? We have the solution for you!

AsiaFitnessToday present to you a challenge, over 30 days, to strengthen and tone your stomach.

The Plank Challenge is fairly easy to follow, even for beginners. Begin by holding the recommended timing for each plank, each day. It is recommended to perform the plank three times a day, excluding rest days. By the end of the Challenge, you should be able to hold your plank for 4 minutes.

30-Day Plank Challenge

To improve your quest for a flatter stomach, we recommend you to include lemon juice in your daily diet.

This post was written by Lauriane Nativel, AsiaFitnessToday.com‘s intern from La Salle Saint-Charles, Reunion Island.

AFT Features, AFT Partners, AFT Reviews, AFTNews

Leave your gym. Indoor skydiving is the new workout.

AirRider is the first ever indoor skydiving in Malaysia and is now ready to thrust you into adventure. With their 12 foot (diameter) and 10-meter high flight chamber, this tunnel can accommodate two flyers at a time. The tunnel operator, who is located right next to the tunnel, will adjust the wind speeds based on each flyer’s weight and skill level. The indoor skydiving technology serves for punters at all level to flaunt their skill. The vertical wind tunnel set up a stable and super safe suspension for flyers. Worry not, for beginners the instructor will assist you in the tunnel. So, fly and show off your invisible wings!

Entrance to AirRider

 

The writer testing out the AirRider

Indoor skydiving is indeed fun but let’s not forget about the hidden health benefits behind this exciting adventure. My first experience of 2 minutes and 30 seconds flight was more than enough to activate my overall body muscles at once. The moment I stepped into the tunnel, I was airborne and I tried to stay in the position that the instructor had taught us beforehand: be a banana! The 250 km/h wind speeds were vigorous that it even blew my cheeks up and made me looked like a clown who had just fallen into the tunnel. Apart from the storm-like wind, the thrill was a slight floating and falling on the mesh wire trampoline floor. Hey, the adrenaline rush is good for your heart! When you fly up in the tunnel, your heart will pump harder than the time you met your first love. The overload adrenaline kick will also trigger the release of serotonin, the happy chemical, to improve your mood and live in your fantasy.

 

 

Strike A Pose!

One flyer’s motion in the tunnel is very much depending on the flyer’s position. For example, if you drop one shoulder while floating, you will spin around. While pulling off your impressive Superman pose in the tunnel, you are also burning more calories than jogging. But, I don’t think you can strike a pose while jogging isn’t it?

 

Indoor skydiving is the future in terms of workouts and is certainly a good exercise to activate one’s overall muscles as there is no way you can master it if you don’t muscle your way through! So, when someone says indoor skydiving is the unexpected fitness fad that burns more calories than jogging, you will have to agree to it.

AirRider @ 1 Utama offers exclusive yet affordable adventure. A variety of packages awaits you to serve your occasion. The team caters to individual, groups, corporates, schools as well as kids’ parties to enjoy the fun in the transparent tunnel. Packages starts at only RM89! It is never too late to start skydiving and make it your sport of choice with AirRider’s support.

Check out a video of Asia Fitness Today’s editor trying out the sport here.