Singapore Fitness Coach: Running - Really you don't need to do much of jogging

One of the best sayings is that "you don't run to get fit", you "get fit to run". Today one of my personal training clients experienced it first hand. Before joining the gym he had been running/jogging recreationally around his home. His usual route took him 25 mins.

After 2 months training with us, he tried the route just for fun and it took - 17 mins. This is a 8 minute improvment! 30% improvement! Outstanding.

He has gotten alot stronger in training and it is carrying over to running. Do you think, that even with 2 months of running training he could improve 8mins? I think not!

Just another example of running not being the best way to improve running...

Read more about why joggers need strength training here!

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 Fitness Coach: The best physique improvement tool ever

• Better than the best training program
• Better than the best nutrition plan
• Certainly better than any slimming center or other "easy way out" fad
• Better than the best coaching (gasp!)

It is a strong and positive community giving each other social support.

You are the average of the 5 people you hang around most with!

That is why Genesis Health & Performance clients train in groups. Social support is critical to success in fitness. It is VERY rare for people to succede alone. That is why I am so proud of our coaches and clients and the community we have.

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: 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