Sinapore Fitness Coach: If you haven't read the full article on my site yet... - EPOC

Yesteday I got another bunch of emails asking me cardio questions and all the time I tell them that interval training is the best way to do it. This can come in an form. Swimming, sprining, skipping rope, lifitng weights etc... It is because of Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumtion (EPOC). This burns calories for DAYS after the training ends.

The body needs to get back to "normal" after such hard training... so many things need to be done "inside" that take up extra calories and burn more fat!

Restore ATP-PC: replenish energy
Restore Oxygen Stores: increase blood oxygen
Restore Heart and Breathing Rates to Normal: This takes time and energy
Restore Hormone Levels: there is a chemical pump that works hard to get the hormones back in order
Restore Body Temperature: each degree above normal takes 13-15% increase in calorie burning
Remove Lactate: This byproduct also takes energy to remove

All the programs at Genesis Health & Performance take advantage of these facts to keep you burning fat 24/7

Singpaore Fitness Trainer: The Focus Issue

As a Fitness Coach here in Singapore, I know that many clients want it all and they want it now. Thats good! And as a coach and as a fitness professional my staff and I keep up to date on the latest in science and practice so that we can deliver results!

But in fitness, just like in many things, focus is critial. You can'l lose fat really fast and gain muscle really fast at the same time! You can't improve your vertical jump and your 10km run time fast at the same time... and so the list goes on...

I like the saying of Dr George Washington Carver (not the US president). He was a scientist who discovered more than 300 uses of the peanut and these uses made peanut production popular and made his state of Alabama rich.

He was wondering what to research on and realized that he needed to "Decrease the EXTENT and increase the INTENT" thus he ended up focusing on just 1 thing... the peanut! HE got great results.

Part of coaching is helping clients to focus on one thing at a time so that they get consistent results. Too much extent with too little intent = nothing!

Dr. Carver Showing some intense intent with his peanut research

Singapore Corporate Fitness: Workplace Health Grant

I am giving a talk about fat loss to Texas Instruments tomorrow. They are the first of my corporate clients to take advantage of the health promotion board's workplace fitness grant.

For every dollar the company spends, the government will give them 1 more! So if they spend $10000 on health services, they get $10000 more from the government!

If health really matters when it comes to productivity (and IT DOES) then everybody should be taking up this great offer! Free money to get healthy? Uh... there are no disadvantages.

Singapore Personal Trainer: Individual Needs Met in a group setting

The whole idea of "personal training" means that its... ahem personal. That is why we do assessments, and individual program design. But think about it, do karate instructors train mostly in groups or as individuals? Groups! What about swimming, groups, what about sports teams even at international levels? They do their conditioning in groups!

Groups allow me to keep costs down yet within our groups we meet individual needs to correct imbalances, as well as fix posture and movement problems. This seems to be a win win for everybody.

The best part is the social support. Remember that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with, so spending time consistently with a group of people who are going to do the right thing for their future and their health is going to be good for you.

As opposed to going it alone...

Our group classes are affordable and effective. Click here up for a free consult to see if our groups can meet your fitness and performance needs.

Singapore Personal Trainer: Obesity and Brain Function

Yeah as a personal trainer and fitness coach here in Singapore, its my job to tell people exactly how bad obesity is. It leads to more sick days and costs employers money. So its bad for the country and the economy.

If you don't care about your boss and how much he earns... you should at least care about your brain because nobody's responsible for that except you.

New research shows obesity linked to increased chance of dementia in old age! Ugh. thats SCARY!

Like just about every major illness in developed countries, it goes away with diet and exercise... no surprises there!

Singapore Fitness Coach: What Motivates You?

As a fitness coach, I know that everybody knows the benefits of proper exercise.

• Improved Blood Profile - nice but I'm busy
• Lower Blood Pressure - nice but I'm tired every day
• Reduced Risk Of Heart Disease - nice but I'm just changed jobs, got to please the boss
• Reduced Chance of Disease (cancer, diabetes, etc) - nice but I'm lazy
• Increase sense of well being - nice but I'm happy being average
• Healthy bones, joints, muscles - nice but I'm ok with a bit of pain after all isn't it just aging?

Makes you look good! And feel good about yourself!- Ah ha!

Hit the nail on the head.

Different people are motivated by different things, but even high level athletes are motivated at least somewhat by the way exercise makes them look. So enjoy the way your training makes you look and feel! There is nothing wrong with that!

Singapore Personal Trainer: The 80-20 rule in training

Use Of Time: The difference between success and failure!

I know that many other personal trainers, fitness professionals and fitness coaches in Singapore and around the world use this rule in their training, coaching, and program design. I'll just give some examples here of how this rule is used in some sample programs for my clients.

The general idea of this rule is the 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts.

That is very true. But I would like to look at it from the perspective of our most important asset.

Time

I often have clients who have to cut short training because of urgent work or family commitments. This is not their fault.

Here is where the 80-20 rule makes it's presence most obvious in the training program.

Our training programs for the majority of clients include individualized Self massage, corrective training (for posture/movement dysfucntion) warmup, core training and static stretching.

Followed by strength training and then metabolic training/cardio

This usually takes 55-70mins

But what if I had 25 mins?

PRIORITIZE

I would first cut out the self massage with rollers/tennis balls - yes its important, but people have gotten good results injury free before this came onto the fitness scene. skipping a session of this is not the worst thing in the world. And most of my clients buy a foam roller for home use anyway so its not a big deal (in the grand scheme of things) self massage does not fall into the critical 20%

Then I would cut out the cardio at the end. This is used to burn extra fat calories at the end of a workout when fat stores are most easily burned. It's good for fat loss but its not critical compared to maintaining lean muscle mass. Again, not part of the critical 20%.

Then I would cut out the corrective training, yes its important, but the benefits are felt long term and not over a single session. Again, not part of the 20%.

That leaves warmup (5 mins), strength training (15mins) and metabolic conditioning - burpee variations, bodyweight circuits, Kettlebell swings etc...(5-10 mins)

A total of 25 mins.

In fact for the strength training, I am cutting out probably everything ecept a superset that includes a compound lower body exercise like a deadlift, and a big upper body exercise like a chinup.

Will a client on such a program get fat after such a short session. No. In fact some people are over trained and such a program will actually boost results.

As long as nutrition is ok, this top 20% of critical time usage will just about ensure that even busy clients get awesome results.

Singapore Fitness Coach Talk: Agility - For athletes and everybody else too!

I recall a story about Paula Abdul and how she hurt herself pretty badly trying to avoid stepping on her dog. While I don't mean to laugh or poke fun at the misfortune of others, there is a point we can learn here.

Agility is not just for professional athletes.

Paula tore some cartilage, and had bruises all over. It could happen to anybody. But with the correct amounts of strength, coordination and balance, the chances of you or I hurting ourselves is FAR less.

As a fitness and sports performance coach in Singapore, I experience situations like this in real life too.

I have a client who blew out a knee ligament avoiding a person who accidentally stepped into his way. This is unfortunate! Now we have to spend months building back his pre injury strength levels. It's not the end of the world, but it is unfortunate.

My philosophy in injury is that all non-contact injury is preventable. If you get injured without somebody hitting, kicking, tackling or assaulting you, that injury can be prevented with correct training and recovery methods.

That is why my website says "Athletic fitness for all" because that I what I want to give my clients.

We train like athletes (of course adjusting to each individuals current fitness and ability) so we don't just look good, we can also avoid our dogs or other small animals that get in our way without hurting ourselves or the small animals in question! What a wonderful Win-Win situation.

I train people so we don't hurt you

Singapore Fitness Coach Talk: Rehab - Anterior Hip Pain

If this is you, read on!

I recently had a personal training client who was having pain in her hip. The pain comes at the top portion of a squat or dead lift movement.

Any time there is a pain in the front of the hip (anterior hip pain), don't forget to consider "femoral anterior glide syndrome" as a possible cause.

The pain seems to be at the front of the hip joint and does not seem to come from a muscle or ligament.

SOLUTION: Think about how the femur (thigh bone) is made secure in the hip socket. It is held tight and back in the socket by the function of the glute muscles. That means your buttocks have to work well to keep the bone in place.

So, during your warm up, do more glute activation (you can even do these between sets as I instructed my client to do) and during exercises like squats, lunges, or pulls, remember to focus on a contraction of the buttock muscles to keep the femur tight in the socket and avoid it slipping forward and causing pain. Go to my forum for some glute activation exercises you can do. (Check out the "quadruped hip extension" and the "cook hip lift")

Singapore Personal Trainer - Teaching Exercise Technique

One of the key roles of a trainer is to teach exercise technique. This is actually not a "difficult" thing to do.

As a personal trainer or coach (fitness coach, sports coach, pretty much any coach at all) we have to believe that there is a correct way to do things.

A correct way to run, jump, land, change direction, turn, squat, lift, press etc.

These have been covered many times in magazines and videos and DVD's and websites.

The problem occurs when we are forced to adjust to individual differences. This is where a coach earn his/her money when it comes to teaching technique.

people differ in:

• height
• shoulder width,
• hip width
• angles at the knees and ankles
• natural flexibility
• muscle imbalances
• ratios of arm length to height
• ratio of leg length to height
• ratio of upper arm/leg to lower arm/leg

all these things mean minor adjustment in technique and leverage to perform exercises safely and effectively.

With serious imbalances or postural issues, this also means adjustment to loading and finally to exercise selection.

Some general guidelines:

Thickly build people tend to have shorter legs and logner torsos. They are good at squatting and squat with near perfect form with just a bit on careful instruction. However they need modifications to their dead lift technique to make it more effective.

For the upper body these guys excel as well in pulling and pressing movements because the total distance lifted is less and thus they can handle more weight.

Longer limbed people need more help with squatting sometimes going wider and opening up the hips more. They also will likely not lift as much as the stoutly build thicker people. however these long limbed guys will usually excel at dead lifting because their long arms and short torsos give excellent mechanics for good pulling.

Longer limbed people tend to do better in ball sports because they have more reach and have long limbs that can, with proper training be put in good control.

Even among Singaporeans who are all supposed to be of Asian descent, there is a huge variance in body types. But rest assured with the correct training, anybody can achieve an awesome physique that is aesthetically magnificent, and performs just as well as it looks.

Built to Squat and Press Weights overhead!

Built for ball games

World class physiques come in all shapes and sizes. And they do need modifications in training to help them reach their potential!

Singapore Fitness Coach Talk: How come fitness truth is so rare!

Unfortunately there is money to be made in the Singapore fitness industry (or just about anywhere, but in Singapore it is not a very regulated industry).

Nothing wrong with that!

I do make a living helping people of all ages achieve their health, fitness, performance and appearance goals.

But if only there was more truth being spread, there would be far more people getting excellent results form their fitness program.

I was at a lunch with some of my father's friends. Because of my experiences as a personal trainer and sports performance professional, I got asked many health, sports and fitness related questions.

Sad to say, I feel that we (myself included) as fitness professionals in Singapore, have not done that great a job so fat at spreading the word about what are the truths and what are the lies that will affect the average person who wants to maintain their health and quality of life.

My dad's friends were educated professionals in the finance industry but they had many of the same misconceptions that happen on internet forums filled with 14 year old kids.

Some of their misconceptions:

• Back health and core training - more crunches for you? NO!
  
• The basics of good nutrition - is a calorie a calorie? NO!
  
• What should a training program look like? - From warmup to program design...
  
• Jogging, thats what keeps me in shape - If you like it and have good running mechanics sure, but for most people, that isn't the case (and it isn't the best use of your time)
  
• More food makes me fat - More food makes you leaner! Unless its BAD food.
  

Not everybody once thought that the earth was round. Clearing up misconceptions takes time. Good thing we have the internet and since I can't speak to everybody person to person, I can do my part by writing good articles that can hopefully save you time, money and injury! My free e-book is also available for download at my homepage.

I recommend a large serving of TRUTH to help you reach your fitness, performance and appearance goals!

Singapore Fitness Coach Talk: Back Pain a Reality

The research statistics are pretty scary. During our life we have about a 80% chance of having back pain. Sure its not a Singaporean study but I see no reason to think that we are different. After taking a look at some of the ways "real life" people I know in Singapore that have hurt their backs...it's something that we as personal trainers and fitness professionals MUST take note of and prevent. Here are some of the ways that people I know have been hurt.

1. Back pain after Sneezing (this one was a slipped disc that required long term medical care)
   
2. Back pain after helping an old lady carry her shipping.
   
3. Back pain while slipping on a moist badminton court
   
4. Back pain while helping a friend shift furniture

As usual I'm a "be a part of the solution" kind of guy, and actually I wrote a lot about core training to prevent back pain in my IPPT-Training website and all the exercises are demoed on my forum. Just sign up on the forum to take a look at all the videos under the "core" section of the exercise index.

Back pain is frustrating because it makes us feel old and immobile and i dare say helpless! It is only responsible for fitness and performance professionals to help people avoid it!

Singapore Fitness Coach Talk: Training for Singapore Women

Women are special. They are different, they think and act differently from men and they are important. If Singapore did not have women, no doubt our country would be a testosterone fueled mess.

But as a fitness coach in Singapore providing fitness and personal training services to both men and women, I'll tell it to you straight.

There are differences when it comes to how women and men should approach fitness and exercise. Women:

• Have less muscle mass (especially in the upper body)
• Are more suited to endurance activity (which explains all the "cardio only" women, we tend to do what we like to do and are good at)
• Have different hormonal levels (which is why it's close to impossible for a woman on a good nutrition and training plan to get "HUGE")
• Are usually motivated differently (which is where the "art" of coaching meets the "science" of exercise)

However some things cannot change.

• Women's muscles are the same as men's, they respond to stress the same way (but not in the same magnitude),
• Women's muscles are as strong as men's (per unit volume/area),
• Muscles look nice on both men and women (in a figure skater, athletic kind of way)

This means that all of the fundamentals movements and all of the principles of exercise are the same for both men and women.

My lady clients all do total body movements and challenging training (relative to their fitness level of coruse). They also eat similar awesome, nutritious foods, and they all try to improve their performance in training each and every session.

Sticking to these basics for both men and women allows both genders to get consistent, measurable, and yes, impressive results.

Yes women should use chalk to lift safely (chalk absorbs sweat so you don't lose your grip easily) thats why we use it at our gym.
Un-Supported Single Leg training benefits ladies too thats why we do it. As we improve balance and function, good looks just follow along!

As a Personal Trainer - Associating with Professionals

Do people doubt Doctors? Lawyers? Dentists? Engineers?

In general, they don't.

That is because most of these professionals have a strong governing body that guarantees the quality of the training of these guys. They are highly paid and rightfully so! They have high standards expected of them and by and large, they deliver consistent results.

But the fitness industry (perhaps even more so in Singapore than in the western countries) is very un-regulated.

Becoming a "personal trainer" in Singapore is almost absurdly easy. The Basic exercise course is extremely easy to pass. After that you have the "qualifications" to work in any gym.

A medical doctor takes 6-10 years of intense study to be work with a patient's body, but a personal trainer only needs 3 days and is also expected to perform preventive medical care (which is what good health is isn't it...) on a client.

Yup it doesn't make much sense.

But I'm not the whining sort. I want to be part of the solution not part of the problem. I do not believe that there is a certification at the moment that fully covers all you will need to know to become a personal trainer.

To be technically excellent a personal trainer will need to have good understanding of:

• Biomechanics (how the body moves in space)
• Kinesiology (how the joints move etc)
• Nutrition
• Endocionology (hormonal system)
• Manual Therapy (massage, rehab, trigger point work etc)
• Injury Prevention
• Performance Enhancement

And I'll probably think of more if I really sat down to do it. The body is such an awesome piece of creation that we will probably never get to the end of it.

Oh yeah, don't forget that it's not just good enough to know. A personal trainer must distill out the important points and teach/coach them to a client.

I believe all this is too much to teach in any reasonable amount of time. It needs to be learnt over years of consistent study and practice. This cannot be driven by any certification. It has to come from an intrinsic sense of excellence. Being the very best that you can be.

I know I'm not perfect but I do want to make the best use of whatever God given ability I have. If that means spending several hundred bucks a month on books, dvds, seminars etc. So be it.

"Who we are is God's gift to us, who we become is our gift to God" so we might as well be the best we can be!

Maybe one day personal training will be a professional qualification. That will be a happy day for the fitness industry.

Personal Trainer In Singapore - Choosing one! (Part 4)

In the final part we shall talk about guarantees. Yes nothing in life is guaranteed. BUT there should be some buyer security when it comes to something as important as your body. Come on even your MP3 Player has a 1 year guarantee (with reasonable conditions).

All fitness places and personal trainers in Singapore that are serious about the results of their clients will have a guarantee. It's not a "oh just do what you feel and anytime you can get your money back" kind. Rather it's in the sign-up contract.

If you:

• Train the way we ask you to
• Modify your diet the way we ask you to
• Rest and recover the right way

And this doesn't work - It's MY fault! you deserve a refund! I can't pay a person's time but the least I can do as a professional is to return their money.

On the other side of a coin, a client who just comes in to fool around (I have never had one like that but in theory its possible) I reserve the right to release.

Personal Trainer In Singapore - Choosing one! (Part 3)

Ok lets say you have no serious medical conditions, and you have found a nice training community. Whats next? The next thing is not usually budget. It is time. I believe that most people are not as worried about spending money as they are about wasting time. Thats the most scary thing. Time is our only non-renewable resource.

So. Saving time means you need to have the most time effective forms of training and nutrition.

These are the fundamentals of ANY proper training program for general fitness. If they are violated, you are probably wasting both money and time.

A good coach should (baring any pre-existing medical conditions) have you doing:

• Assessment - If you are not assessing, you are just guessing. There has to be continual assessment and adjustment to get you to your goals. It's like a guided missile. You start off in the general direction but you need mid-course guidance to hit your fitness targets.
• Free Weights - Machines indicate either a lack of care for you, or a lack of coaching ability
• Total Body Movements (mostly done standing up) - These movements use your whole body. Stuff like squatting, picking objects off the floor, chinups (and its variations if you aren't able to do a chinup yet, pushups. Stuff like that.
• Moderate to high intensity cardiovascular exercise. Low intensity stuff (walking on a treadmill/slow bike etc) is a waste of time (results wise) and a waste of money (you shouldn't need to pay anybody to watch you walk.

All clients from national level athletes, to regular working professionals of age 7-77 do total body exercises!

Personal Trainer In Singapore - Choosing one! (Part 2)

As you continue on your thought process to choosing a personal trainer in Singapore, the next thing to think about is the training environment.

This comprises of several things. The trainer (and his staff if he is more established and owns a private gym), the other members of the gym, and you yourself.

When these 3 groups of people come together its truly a beautiful thing. Why? not just because you get results, but because you KEEP the results.

You see, in the process of changing a life (which is what we are doing when a training company like Genesis Health & Performance works with a client) from old ways and habits to new ones, there are 3 stages.

Stage 1 is Awareness: I am aware that I am out of shape, or that I can't run fast enough, or that my pants no longer fit...That is when I may call in the services of a professional to help me form my situation

Stage 2 is Intervention: This is where My staff and I come in. We teach, motivate, assess, adjust, guide, encourage, whatever it takes to get each of our clients consistently good results. After an adjustment period, they end up doing well. BUT...

Stage 3 is Sustenance: This is where the true quality of the fitness service can be seen. This is where the quality of the coaching as well as the quality of the community is important. A good fitness company can provide the coaching. But what I tried to do to make our place special is the community. Not just the coaches but every single person in the company. From each staff member, to each gym member.

No random cursing, no gossip, no slander. Only positive words and actions. This builds a community that is like a 3rd home (yeah I'm borrowing the Starbucks idea) Work, home, then GYM!

This is the culture that I as the owner do my very best to set.

Part of Our Training Community Here at Genesis Health And Performance

Personal Trainer In Singapore - Choosing one! (Part 1)

There are several things to look out for when choosing a personal trainer whether in Singapore or elsewhere. There is the good, the bad and the unspeakable but in general there are several categories of personal trainer.

Here is the thought process that you need to go through when deciding:

Your current medical status.

A personal trainer is not a medical professional. That means that if you have a clinical problem or pathology he/she (Myself included!) is not the person to look for. It is perhaps even irresponsible for me as a personal trainer to take on a client who is having a serious medical condition or joint problem. If you fall into this category you need a therapy guy (chiro, osteopath, body worker, physio etc). Get well before you decide to get fit

If your problem is not acute (sharp pain all day!) then its possible that you have an inefficiency. This is not as "bad" as a pathology. A really good trainer can help you with this. That guy usually has a strong knowledge of bio mechanics and kniesology (how the body and joints move). And has in his "toolbox" an assortment of assessment and corrective training tools to get you both a corrective training effect as well as a fitness training effect. I.E. you get fixed and fit at the same time.

There is no "clear" line between these 2 medical states. But use a bit of wisdom to figure out which side you are on. A responsible professional will do what is best for you. Either refer you out or take you on as a client.

This is one reason I work closely with medical professionals (Orthopedic Doctors, Physios, etc) because its best for our clients to have a network of integrated services (personal trainers, medical, manual therapy etc) to meet any of their needs.

If this is you...you need a surgeon, not a personal trainer...