Scapular winging

Valentine's Day Special article. Let's talk about love, our angels, halos and angel wings.

Scapula is our shoulder blade. There are a lot of muscle attached to the scapula, creating movement in our shoulders and arms. All these muscle must work together so that there is proper movement. Without proper movement and muscle activation, imbalances can occur. ie, some muscle work harder, some muscle start slacking away.

Scapular winging can be spotted easily. 
It look likes a pair of wings on our body.

An imbalance training program that consist of too much upper body pushing or lack of training can both cause it.

95% of my clients have scapular wingings. Here's a checklist to find out if you have problems from it.

• You can see your wings on your back
• You encounter pain/ache in at least 1 of the following muscle frequently
  • arms
  • shoulders
  • upper trap
• Pain in shoulder joint

Most of the cases i see belong to the mild category. It can be fixed easily as long as you do your rehabiliation properly.

Rehabiliation work

SMFR to the following muscle/bones.

• chest
• upper trap
• lats
• upper back
• thoracic joint

Mobilize the following joint

• Shoulder joint
• thoracic joint

Activation the following muscle

• Scapular muscle
  • Standing cobra (week 1)
  • Behind the neck pull apart with a shrug (week 2)
  • DB press static hold (week 3)

Standing cobra

If you want in depth information about this topic, google "GH Joint rhythm", "GH joint" or "scapular winging".

Click here to return to "Articles"

TVA Activation

One of the greatest misconceptions about core training: sit ups or crunches. These 2 exercises will only hit your rectus abdominal and it does not train according to the function of the muscle.

Rectus abdominals are used to prevent movement (spine extension) instead of creating movement (spine flexion).

I will not be explaining the function of core. I will just name the 3 of them.

1. Thoracolumbar stabilization mechanism
2. Intra-abdominal pressure mechanism
3. Hydraulic amplifier mechanism

Sparing all theory parts about how core work, I’ll write about how to train them (with progression). Part 1 will cover only the basic.

Before we can go about doing side bridge/plank & other advance exercises, we must know how to activate our transverse abdominal (TVA). TVA is located under your rectus abdominal. It is a muscle which many people do not know how to train and this is 1 of the reason why there’s so many of you suffering from lower back pain. (especially if you do a lot of crunches)

How to activate TVA

Get into 4-point position. 
Hands below shoulders and knee below hip.
Spine will be straight with a slight arch at lower back. 
Use a pole to help to get into this position. 
3 contact points - butt, upper back and head.

Contract your pelvic floor muscle.**
Tuck in your stomach, ie belly button moving towards the spine.

Some points to note.

1. There will be no movement at any part of your body except that your belly button will move towards the spine).
2. Any part of body include chest, lower back moving etc.
3. All your muscle except pelvic floor muscle and TVA will be relaxed totally.
4. This also means that your rectus abdominal must feel soft.
5. Carry on breathing at all times. (But it's different from normal breathing though)

If you are wondering how to do it, there’s no way it can be demonstrated online. (even with a video) Ask someone experience to guide you.

This technique is also called hollowing.

**To activate pelvic floor muscle, imagine that your poos poos are coming out and you need to squeeze your butt area to stop it from coming out.

That’s all for part 1. Part 2 will be bracing & progression for TVA activation.

Click here to return to "Articles"

Home workout

1 of my friend has been asking me for home workout. Will do a quick write up first.

I will first name a few exercises which you can do at home with bodyweight (BW) or very light weight.

Pull up & variations such as power pull
push up & variations such as clapping push up
squat & variations such as jump squat
lunges & variations
single leg deadlift
row
overhead pressing
burpee

Just find a few exercises and combine them into a circuit fashion (with or without any rest in between) and you will have your home workout.

The interesting thing is, for most people who are unfit and want to lose weight, they are unable to perform most (if not all) the exercises named above.

It's always not fun to workout if you have limitations. (limited flexibility, mobility, stability and strength)

So what's the first step? Getting there. You do not need perfect flexibility, mobility etc. You just need to reach a decent level.

So start off with all these warm up stuff.
SMFR
Stretching
Mobility exercises
Some core exercises

When you are better, learn hip movement and start deadlifting away.

The real fun workout start when you can
Deadlift/squat 1.5x BW
Bench BW
pull up x 10
etc

That's when workout will get real tough and challening.

Here's 1 example of a very short and effective for a metabolic workout.

Leg matrix
24 squat
24 lunges
24 jump squat
24 jump lunges

My timing is ~2:30 if i'm not wrong.
Best timing i "heard" is 2 x leg matrix in under 3 minutes.

If you cannot squat/lunge, it's usually weak conditioning and poor mobility in ankle etc.
If you cannot jump, gotta start with some reactive training to learn how to land.

Once you are good with strength/endurance and landing, you are good to go.

ps: this is my blog, not the website. so nvm the grammer error la.

Pull up

Hi all zero fighters. This training article may be of interest to you.

Have you tried doing lats pull down and assisted pull up (machine) and you still cannot do a single pull up?

Try band pull up.

Equipment required.

1. strength band
2. pull up bar
3. you

A lady doing band pull up

Do the set up as above and start pulling away... Once you can do 1 bodyweight pull up, you will start to train without the band.

*Please note the right posture in pull up. (Pull with back instead of pulling with your biceps)

Good luck.

Click here to return to "Articles"

Ankle mobility

If you are experiencing any or a combination of the things below, you may have poor ankle mobility.

1. frequent ankle sprains
2. unable to do a full squat (hip below knee) – heel raised up usually
3. unable to do a lunge with front heel on floor
4. shin pain
5. knee pain

The list goes on….

Our ankles are made for mobility. If our ankles are not mobile, our knees (which require stability) will be forced to be mobile.

Here what you can do to improve your ankle mobility.

Click here for the youtube video.
*Video from stronglifts.com

To further improve your ankle mobilty, you can do the drill at an angle. Your toe will be higher than your heel and continue with the same movement shown in the video.

If you feel stretch at your calves, then you have poor calves flexibility. Just remember to add some calves stretch.

If you don't know the different between "lock out" (mobility problem) or "stretch" (flexibility problem), then you will need help more people who know it.

Click here to return to "Articles"

Lumbar Spine

More than 90% of the population suffer from lower back pain. Let's do a little test, check the items that you have did for the past 2 months.

Stability

1. Sit up/Crunches (No image required)
2. Windmill
   
3. Abdominal Twist
   
4. Sit up/Crunches with twist (No image required)
5. Lying bent stretch
   
6. Any other kind of mid body exercises that have movement (most)

If you did at least 1 of the above, this is just 1 of the reason for your lower back pain.

As stated in my previous article, lumbar spine (lower back) requires stability, by creating movement, you are creating instability.

Posture

Try to see if you have a good posture. Stand up straight, look at your lower back. Is there a slight arch? If it's straight, you have a flat back posture. If there's a big arch, you have lordosis. Look at the picture below for a picture of the normal spine.

Most of us are have a normal spine from birth. The curve has increased/decreased over the year due to poor movement pattern or very low inactivity in life.

Example - desk bound job

Some of you may require long hours of sitting in your chair. With this physical inactivity, the followings may happen.

Shortening of hip flexor --> posterial tilt of pelvic spine
Inhibiting of glut muscle --> more dominant hamstring (faulty firing pattern of muscle)
And a lot more.

All these will have a chain of reactions that lead to worse posture and movement pattern of our body.

For a start,

• stop doing any of the exercises listed above.
• do not stay in your seat for too long, take a short break of standing up and walking around every 10-20 minutes.
• get the right curve for your spine
• start the right core training to your body for stability

If you have any question on how to get the right curve or how to do the right core training, do not hesitate to email me.

Click here to return to "Articles"

Stability or flexibility?

People are confused which joints must be stable and which must be stable. Through assessment, we are able to note key areas that require mobilization and/or stabilization.

One example is the thoracic spine. Without a proper mobility in the thoracic spine, the lumbar spine will be forced to compensate (by creating movement, note that lumbar spine requires stability). This result in a number of potential problems.

These are the major joints that require good stability or flexibilty for a painless body.

*From top to bottom

GH Joint - Stability

Scapular - Mobility/Stability

Thoracic Spine - Mobility

Lumbar Spine - Stability

SI Joint - Mobility/Stability

Hip - Mobility

Knee - Stability

Patella - Mobility

Ankle - Mobility

1st MTP Joint - Mobility

Through assessment process, key areas may be noted and proper rehab/prehab exercises will be able to solve these problems.

Preview to Posture, Flexibility, Mobility, Stability, Aches and Pains.

Hello all,

All of us will suffer in pains/aches in our lives. It can be lower back pain, shoulder/neck pain etc. How do all these pain come about? You just have to read more to understand why and how it happens, how to solve the pain and steps to prevent the pain.

There will be terms which I am unable to translate to a beginner’s term. So, help yourself by googling what does the term means.

All problems will be linked, but by solving the few major problems in your body, you will see a huge progress in posture and you can enjoy a painless body.

So if you are training with pain or you don't feel the right muscle, you must have faulty movement pattern and poor posture. Please read more before you get any serious injury.

If you have any question on your body ache/pain or anything related, do not hesitate to contact me.

From,
Kevin Chia

Fat loss workout

Important!
Before you start on this workout, please get all movement learnt correctly & you should have certain strength base.

Resistance training
A1: Deadlift
A2: Bench press

B1: Barbell row
B2: Lunges

C1: Chin/Pull up
C2: Squat

D1: Reverse leg curl
D2: Military press

30 seconds of rest in between each set.
All exercises will be done 2 sets.
Load will depend on rep.
9 reps in first week, 6 reps in second, 3 reps in third. *repeat once

Metabolic training
Rest for 5-10 minutes after finishing resistance training and do your metabolic training.

Depending on individual's fitness, there's combination, complex, H.I.I.T or finisher etc.

Diet
With a low carbohydrates, high protein & high fat diet, you will see a lot of fat literally melt away.

Carbohdyrates intake will only be during breakfast, before and after workout. Keep protein and fat intake high throughout the day.

Click here to return to "Articles"

Stop making excuses!

Will place this under "Fitness Article"



I'm too weak too slow too big I ate too much for breakfast I got a headache it's raining my dog is sick I cant right now I'm not inspired makes me smell bad I'm allergic to stuff I'm fat I'm thin it's too hot I'm not right I've got shin splints headache I'm distracted I exerted myself too much I'd love to really but I can't I just can't my favorite show is on I've got a case of the Mondays the Tuesdays the Wednesdays I don't want to do this I want to do something else after new years next week might make a mistake I've got homework I feel bloated I have gas I got a hot date my coach hates me my mom won't let me I bruise easily it's too dark it's too cold my blister hurts this is dangerous uuuuhh sorry I don't have a bike I didn't get enough sleep my tummy hurts it's not in my genes I don't want to look all tired out I need a better coach I don't like getting tackled I have a stomach ache I'm not the athletic type I don't want to get sweaty I have better things to do I don't want to slow you down do I have to do this soon as I get a promotion I think I'll sit this one out

and my feet hurt.

If you have been using any of the excuse above, stop using it. Start training. It just depend on how much you want it.

Core training 1 - TVA Activation

One of the greatest misconceptions about core training: sit ups or crunches. These 2 exercises will only hit your rectus abdominal and it does not train according to the function of the muscle.

Rectus abdominals are used to prevent movement (spine extension) instead of creating movement (spine flexion).

I will not be explaining the function of core. I will just name the 3 of them.

1. Thoracolumbar stabilization mechanism
2. Intra-abdominal pressure mechanism
3. Hydraulic amplifier mechanism

Sparing all theory parts about how core work, I’ll write about how to train them (with progression). Part 1 will cover only the basic.

Before we can go about doing side bridge/plank & other advance exercises, we must know how to activate our transverse abdominal (TVA). TVA is located under your rectus abdominal. It is a muscle which many people do not know how to train and this is 1 of the reason why there’s so many of you suffering from lower back pain. (especially if you do a lot of crunches)

How to activate TVA
*Lie on your back with knee bent (feet on ground)
**Contract your pelvic floor muscle
Push down your belly button (towards the spine)

That’s it.

Some points to note.

1. There will be no movement at any part of your body except that your belly button will move towards the spine).
2. Any part of body include chest, lower back collapsing to the ground etc.
3. All your muscle except pelvic floor muscle and TVA will be relaxed totally.
4. This also means that your rectus abdominal must feel soft.
5. Carry on breathing at all times. (But it's different from normal breathing though)

If you are wondering how to do it, there’s no way it can be demonstrated online. (even with a video) Ask someone experience to guide you.

This technique is also called hollowing.

*I will take a picture and upload when I have the time.
**To activate pelvic floor muscle, imagine that your poos poos are coming out and you need to squeeze your butt area to stop it from coming out.

That’s all for part 1. Part 2 will be bracing & progression for TVA activation.

self myofascial release

By Peter Rouse

Self-Myofascial Release is utilized to aid in the release of soft tissue through the release of myofascial trigger points, myofascial adhesions and fascial restrictions.

A trigger point can be defined as a highly irritable localized spot of exquisite tenderness in a nodule in a palpable taut band of muscle tissue.

This kinaesthetic feedback helps facilitate maximum relaxation of tense tissues through autogenic inhibition.

Myofascial Release techniques utilize an individual’s body weight and/or muscular force along with various devices such as the foam roller which can be found in a variety of densities, tennis balls, hard rubber balls, golf balls (very nasty!), medicine balls, thumb pressure, pressure knobs, and a device known as “The Stick”.

The goal of SMFR stretching is to first inhibit localized tender regions by applying deep yet tolerable prolonged pressure.

The deep pressure should be held on the tender spot until tenderness is reduced by approximately 50 to 75 percent.

Once the tenderness subsides, performing slow, rhythmical movements compresses and lifts the soft tissues, aiding in the breakdown of superficial myofascial adhesions. It also increases the fluidity of movement within the soft-tissue complex.

A client’s progress can be measured by improvements in posture, decreased tenderness, increased range of motion and, more objectively, by practitioner reassessment of movement and range of motion.

Contraindications include increased pain as opposed to discomfort which subsides on tender spots within 60 seconds, dizziness or nausea. SMFR should not be performed on any area that has had recent trauma such as bruising.

The main purpose for use includes reduced joint range of motion, decreased flexibility in myofascial structures and known scar-tissue development.

A progression with the Self-Myofascial Release technique involves SMFR with Antagonist Contraction (SMFR-AC), also known as “Pinning”; this involves contraction of the antagonist through movement.

An example of this would be while in a prone position releasing the rectus femoris (Pic1); once the tenderness has reduced (neural) and soft-tissue elongation is desired (mechanical), slowly take the knee into flexion and extension while pressure is maintained on the point of restriction (Pic2).

Pic 1

Pic 2

The pressure placement of the technique remains the same as in the corrective flexibility phase with the difference of the active phase lying in the antagonist contraction.

This technique can be viewed as “pinning down” the soft-tissue restriction and actively lengthening the restricted tissue via antagonist contraction.

By performing concentric function of the antagonist musculature to the targeted area in which the pressure device is placed, the client can utilize this technique throughout many body regions, aiding in the elongation and breakdown of soft-tissue restrictions.

This technique can be performed up to 10 times holding each end range for up to 10 seconds.

Here are some basic techniques, you can also view the video on YouTube here.

Calves

ITB

Quads

Adductors

Piriformis

Lats

Thoracic

You are able to know more about Optimum Performance here.

Click here to return to "Articles"

6 reasons why you should not starve (or try low calorie diet) yourself

I hope your goal is fat loss instead of weight loss now.

Starving – not eating or having a very low calorie diet

1. Starving make you lose your muscle mass.
Your body’s main function is to survive. When you starve, your body will look for ways to survive. Since muscle burn more calories than fat, your body will get rid of muscle to reduce our energy expenditure.

It is easy for our body to use muscle as a source of energy. This process is called Gluconeogenesis – converting muscle into glucose.

A low carbs diet (when not done properly by increasing fat and protein intake) can see a quick drop in your weight. This is because you are losing water weight. Therefore, do not be too happy and carry on with your wrong low carbs or low calorie diet. (*cough* this is what slim*** centers do *cough*)

2. Starving make fat gain easier & fat loss harder.
Remember that your body’s main function? In order to survive a low calorie diet, your body produces more Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL). This is the main fat storing enzymes. It makes fat loss so much harder.

3. Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is lowered.
Less muscle & more fat = lower BMR. Your body will adjust to that lowered calorie intake to survive.
If you are a lady, your period may stop. Some “non survival functions may be stopped too”

4. Starving increases the chance of weight rebound.
With lowered BMR and body adaptation, you will find weight (not fat) loss will come to a halt. As soon as you resume your usual diet, there is too much calories intake and you will gain mostly fat if you don’t workout properly.

You will find yourself repeating this process. This is called the infamous “Yo-yo diet”. Over time, you will find your weight will continue to increase even if you eat very little. You have lost so much lean body mass and gained so much fat mass.

In short, your metabolism is screwed. You are in a very bad shape now.

5. Starving increases the chance on binging on food.
If you are starving & you don’t eat, you will see a lot of “temptations” everywhere! This is because your body is asking, no. Your body is SHOUTING for you to eat.

From the moment when you give up, you will let loose and… eat. You will definitely overeat and any excess calories will be stored as fat.

6. Starving decrease your efficiency and mood.
Try starving for a few days and see if you can maintain your job efficiency. You will find it’s harder to focus on your work and your mood will be bad.

Conclusion
If you are agreeing to the points above, take some time and read through some of my other articles. You may understand the real way to achieve your fitness goal.

Basic Dieting

There are so many kinds of diets around. Before you try another diet that will only work in the short run, do give this article a read and get your basic right.

Macronutrient consists of carbohydrate, protein and fat. By eating correctly, you are on your way to the “wow” figure.

1 gram of carbs/protein gives 4 calories.
1 gram of fat gives 9 calories.
1 gram of alcohol gives 7 calories.

People gain fat because of over-eating. It can be overeating of carbs, protein or fat. Be it good or bad.

Please find out the amount of calories that you need.

The distribution
30% of your calories should come from fat. The rest of 70% should come from protein and carbohydrate. For myself, my carbohydrate is about 40% and my protein is about 30%.

Note that the ratio should be change accordingly for various fitness goals.

The Following Is A List Of Acceptable Protein, Carbohydrate, & Fat Sources.

Protein:

• Tuna or most any fish.
• Cottage cheese.
• Eggs (especially the whites).
• Chicken breast (skinless).
• Turkey breast (skinless).
• Lean beef.
• Low fat or no fat cheese.
• Low fat pork.
• Protein supplement
• Essentially most any other source of protein so long as it is low in saturated fat and carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates:

• Sweet potatoes.
• Oat meal, oat bran, oat bran cereal.
• Bran cereal.
• Brown rice.
• Wheat bread (try to limit to 2 slices per day).
• Beans.
• Low fat popcorn (low fat butter spray makes this a delicacy).
• Fruits (limit to 2-3 servings per day).
• Malto dextrin (during workout).
• Dextrose (during workout)
• Vegetables.
• Stay away from refined grains and anything that says "enriched" or "high fructose corn syrup" on the label!

Fat:

• Omega 3 capsules (fish oil capsules).
• Flax seed oil.
• Primrose oil.
• Borage oil.
• Olive oil.
• Nuts (limit to 1 serving per day), peanut butter (as long as it does not contain hydrogenated oils).
• Egg yolks.
• Fish (salmon especially).
• All other fat should come as a by-product of your carbohydrate and protein intake.

Myths and mistakes of dieting

Dieting is important for muscle gain, fat loss and other fitness goals. Whenever I mention “diet”, people can only think of starvation. They will lose weight through limiting their food intake.

“Dieting doesn’t mean starving!”

Some of the diets have its uses. Just that you are doing it wrongly when you think you are doing it correctly. I won’t be discussing on the right way of doing it and how should you cycle your diet.

*Please note that these diets are only useful in the short run. They should never be used in the long run.

Low-carbohydrate diet

• People can go on a “low carbs diet” by reducing their white rice intake etc. The problem is the amount of carbs into their body. Very often, I just see they reduce their carbs intake from “too much” to “moderate”. You are just eating the right amount of carbs, not low carbs yet!

• Yes, some can be eating doing low carbs correctly. The problem is that you cannot go long term. There is time when you need to refuel your body by taking moderate to high amount of carbohydrate so that you can get another run of result with a low carbs diet.

High protein diet
Protein is the thing for muscle building! This is true, I won’t deny this. I do see newbies getting anal on their protein intake for muscle building. They will go gulping down bottles and bottles of protein supplement in hope of getting that extra pound of muscle.

With that extra protein, yes you may recover faster and possible get more muscle growth. The problem is that you need to get your basic diet (consisting of carbohydrate, protein & fat) correct first. Extra protein with a poor basic diet will not give you the muscle that you want.

Just remember that protein gives calories too. By over-eating protein, it is possible that you will get that extra fat.

Too much protein causes gout
This is just not true. Too much protein doesn’t cause gout. Just go and google around for researches that have been done.

Just one thing to note: if you have gout, then you shouldn’t take too much protein.

Fat is the evil! It causes you to get fat!
There is just half-truth in this statement. There are good fat & bad fat, just like good and bad carbs. By overeating anything, the excess calories will be stored as fat.

We still need a good amount of fat everyday. I will cover this in another article.

An apple an day, keeps my fat away.
This is the worst fad diet ever. You are just restricting your calorie intake by an insane amount. You can see weight loss instantly. Just remember that your weight will rebound as soon as you resume your usual diet.

You just need to know what is happening.

Your body goes into “survival mode” by shutting down some of its normal function because of the lack of calories. You are losing your lean body mass. Your metabolism started crawling. You get moody and bark at anything that annoys you. You start to fall sick easily and experience hair loss too.

As soon as you see the figure on the weighing scale is correct, you resume your usual diet. (Just pray that you are alive to see this stage) Within weeks, your weight rebound. It’s even higher this time. You cannot even squeeze into your jeans anymore. Yeah, now you know it's bad.

This article is long enough and I should stop here. Just remember to read through all my other articles to find out more about dieting.

Fake eggs from China!

Beware u guys and gals!
During a recent raid on a wholesale centre in Guangzhou city, the capital of China 'sGuangdong province, a large quantity of fake eggs was seized.
Their wholesale price is 0.15 yuan (S$0.03) each - half the price of a real egg.
Consumers have a hard time telling a genuine egg from a fake one. This is good news for unscrupulous entrepreneurs, who are even conducting three-day courses in the production of artificial eggs for less than S$150.
A reporter with Hong Kong-based Chinese magazine East Week enrolled in one such course.
To create egg white, the instructor - a woman in her 20s - used assorted ingredients such as gelatin, an unknown powder, benzoic acid, coagulating material and even alum, which is normally used for industrial processes.
For egg yolk, some lemon-yellow colouring powder is mixed to a liquid and the concoction stirred. The liquid is then poured into a round-shaped plastic mould and mixed with so-called 'magic water', which contains calcium chloride.
This gives the 'yolk' a thin outer membrane, firming it up. The egg is then shaped with a mould. The shell is not forgotten. Paraffin wax and an unidentified white liquid are poured onto the fake egg, which is then left to dry.
The artificial egg can be fried sunny-side up or steamed. Although bubbles appear on the white of the egg, those who have tasted it say the fake stuff tastes very much like the real thing.
But experts warn of the danger of eating fake eggs. Not only do they not contain any nutrients, a Hong Kong Chinese University professor warned that long-term consumption of alum could cause dementia.

Lose the fat

1) Eat 6 meals a day
Yes! You are not seeing it wrongly. Let me start off by saying why 3-meal a day is not good.

I will be using 1500 calories/day diet as an example.

Your typical 3-meal a day diet.

1. Breakfast at 8am.
2. Lunch at 1230pm.
3. Dinner at 7pm.

The meals are usually too much in proportion. There are a few negative effects.

• By overeating for each meal, you get too much excess calories. Excess calories are stored as fat.
• The time in between meals is too long. Your body can metabolize your muscle for energy.
• You get too hungry for all meals, you will tend to over AGAIN.
• This cycle keeps repeating, you will find that you are losing your muscle mass. If this is not bad enough, your fat mass is increasing at an increasing rate.

Eating 1-2 meals a day or eating 3 small meals a day is worse. As a guide, total calories intake for each day should never go below 1,200 calories. You still need the calories for your body to function.

An example for a 6-meal diet.

• Meal 1 at 8am
• Meal 2 at 10am
• Meal 3 at 12pm
• Meal 4 at 3pm
• Meal 5 at 6pm
• Meal 6 at 9pm

Each meal will be around 300 calories. There are a few benefits with this kind of small meal.

1. Increased metabolism because your body need calories to burn the food.
2. Prevent muscle breakdown because of the constant energy from food.
3. You seldom overeat when you are not hungry. (Overeating is the cause of fat gain)

2) Quality of calories
Always fuel your body with high quality calories. Calories should come from complex carbohydrate, protein and good fat. Calories intake should never go below 1,200. In fact, i will encourage more. Your fat intake should be about 30% of your diet.

Remember: 1,500 good calories is always better than 1,200 bad calories.

3) High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Steady cardio such as jogging only boost your metabolism for the period of time that you exercise. (Not to mention many other bad effects of steady cardio) HIIT boost your metabolism for hours after workout. Engage in HIIT today to boost your metabolism for fat loss!

1 cycle = 30 seconds "high intensity", followed by 30 seconds of "low intensity"
For first timer, do about 4 cycles. Engage in HIIT 2-3 times a week. Increase the number of cycle by one a week.
After finishing about 12 cycles, take 1-2 weeks break. Repeat from 4 cycles.

High intensity can refers to sprinting (relative fitness can be jogging to some), cycling on stationary bike etc.
Low intensity can refers to walking (relative fitness can be walking real slowly), cycling slowly on stationary bike etc.

Keep ratio of high intensity to low intensity as close to 1:1 as possible.

Click here to read more about HIIT

4) Resistance training for fat loss!
By doing resistance training correctly, you will increase your muscle mass. Your metabolism will increase. With a healthy diet, you can be assured that fat loss will be very easy and it is usually permanent.

"But I don't wanna get bulky like those body builders!"

Bodybuilder

You will never become bulky like bodybuilders. They have a very strict regime of diet, training and rest. They will require good genes to achieve so much such bodies.

Still need more assurance? I can squat and deadlift twice my body weight! I am still considered small to many people.

Small & Lean at 62kg.

Now you can be 100% confident that you will never become the next Simon Chua with general resistance training.

There are many more benefits of resistance training other than fat loss. (Only when resistance training is done correctly) I will name only a few here.

1. It increases your bone mass.
2. It increases your strength.
3. It improves your immune system.
4. It elevates your mood.
5. It makes you look younger.
6. It improves your posture.
7. It lowers risk of injury.
8. It makes daily activities easier.
9. It increases the level of good cholesterol.
10. The list can just go on...

Conclusion
That's it. Just 4 changes to your life to lose the fat.

"Lose them (fat) and keep them away!"

The truth about muscle & fat

As a personal trainer, it is fustrating when i see scams that promise to turn your fat into muscle.

Source of picture

The truth!
Muscle and fat are 2 different body tissues. You cannot turn fat into muscle (and vice versa) anymore than you can turn lead into gold.

No idea what's fat & muscle? Look at anyone. Muscle are those hard flesh which can look tone and desired. Fat are those flabs on any area of the body. If one has a tummy, that's fat around the waist.

Looking better will always involve 2 processes. They are fat loss and muscle gain.

Muscle weighs heaiver than fat.
You can weigh heavier and have a smaller waistline.This is the reason why you should be concerned about your bodyfat % than the figure on the weighing scale.

Comparing these 2 men, Brad Pitt is definitely heavier but his body looks better.

Woman with higher bodyfat %

Woman with lower bodyfat %

It is clear that lower body % is desired.

Muscle burns more calories than fat.
If you were to compare both tissues to remain at rest for 24 hours, the increased in metabolic rate is not much. It is less than 10 calories for 1 extra pound* of muscle.
*(2.2 pounds = 1kg)

Only 10 calories? Don't give up the idea of gaining muscle yet. Muscle creates the movement of our body. We are using our muscle even when we are walking. With such long working hours of our muscle, muscle can burn at least 20 times more than fat. This is why somone muscular can afford to eat more without putting on fat so easily.

With these 2 points, (looking better and able to eat more) I hope that your goal is fat loss instead of weight loss & muscle gain instead of weight gain.

However, the sad truth...
Blame it on our body. In order to survive, our body will choose to pack on fat rather than muscle. Even if you are muscular and lean right now, without maintenance through resistance training, your muscle will still shrink! You will only gain fat much faster if you do not downsize your diet accordingly.

The reason why the myth of "Muscle becoming fat when training stop" is still alive. Most people still eat as much when they stop training.

Don't give up the idea of achieving a lean body yet. Maintaining a lean body can require as little as 2 hours in the gym weekly. I am able to maintain my lean body by going to the gym twice a week (less than 1 hour each time) and eat smartly.

Picture of myself

What are you waiting for? Starting hitting the gym to gain the muscle now!

You are what you eat

I was chatting with one of my client just now when he said "My ex pt tells me to eat, eat & eat to get big".
I must say that if you eat a lot (dirty food), you won't definitely look how you desired.

"You are what you eat"
How true this phrase it.

I will cover a few that are typical in Singapore.

Please note that i will not be including detailed training & diet in this article. I won't be speculating if they use steroid too. Please do note that it's possible to achieve without any steroid.

Workout Quality & Volume
Elites - Professional.
Decent - Not good enough to go top, but not bad enough to achieve what most want.
Lousy - probably some bicep curls or a 40minute jog 1-3 times weekly.

For ladies

Skinny!

Achieve this body by eating an apple a day. Just pray that you won't fall before reaching this stage. (Death in extreme circumstances). This group of people may or may not exercise.

A case of serious malnutrition probably.

Skinny but flabby

A typical lady's body walking down Orchard Road. They may look skinny or lean with clothings, but there are a few flabby area. Mainly tummy, hips, arms and thighs.

Lousy or no workout.
Typical 3-meal a day with low quality calories.
Not forgetting supper or snack.

Very lean!

This body is very lean. She has quite a bit of muscle there. Training wise, it has to be between decent and elites. Very clean diet, at least 90% quality calories. My clients' opinions think this lady has too little body fat though.

What most desired

It's just what most my female clients tell me anyway. They want to look "non flabby" and "not bulky". This body is achievable with decent training (achievable with me) and smart eating. By smart eating, i will say it's 5-6 small meals with good quality calories. You are allowed to eat "cheat meal" probably once or twice a week.

If you notice, this body is very close to "lean and toned". Just eat more than "lean and toned".

Fat
I won't be putting any pic down here. From skinny but flabby, add on a few years of age, one will probably look like "fat" now. Very common for girls who started working in the office upon graduation.

For Guys

Skinny!

This is just another case of malnutrition.

"Small & lean"

This body is not small in reality. It's probably close to 70kg with 8-12% body fat. This body is achievable with decent training and smart eating.

The real "small & lean"

Bruce Lee will be a very good example of small and lean.

Dirty bulk

I call this kind of body "dirty bulk". In reality, "dirty bulk" is much bigger. Probably more muscle at least 18-20+% BF.

If one were to train (lousy to decent) and do not care what he eats, this is the kind of body you will get. You can look big with shirt on, just need to live with the tummy that you have.

This is what i really meant by just "eat, eat & eat." If you want better example, just go to a gym and see people who train like a "pro" to you. They look big, but they have a tummy, bodyfat at least 20%. (Not applicable to people who train for strength)

Brad Pitt in "Troy"

This body is nice! I heard somewhere that this body is around 190 pounds. That's about 90kg. This is achievable with decent to elites training with lots of clean food. (More than "small & lean" above)

Bodybuilder

This bodybuilder's body. It's the hardest to get. Eating a lot of clean & quality food is a must. (More than BP in Troy) Knowledge, passion & discipline are just 3 of the many criteria needed.

Fat (Same as ladies)
I won't be putting any pic down here. From skinny but flabby, add on a few years of age, one will probably look like "fat" now. Very common for guys who started working in the office upon graduation.

I think i have covered most of the types of body that is more typical to newbies. Hope this article helps.

Disclaimer: The following pictures are taken from the internet. I am not related to them. If you are (or your friend is) in any of the picture, or if the picture has copyright. Please contact me to remove the picture.

Ice blended protein shake

Spend just a few minutes to prepare a delicious shake.

All you need.

1. blender
2. whey protein (vanilla preferred)
3. banana
4. milk
5. ice cubes
6. ice cream (if you can afford some junk)

Just dump everything into the blender! *GRIN*
Try to calculate how many calories you need.
1 banana is about 100 calories.
1 scoop of protein is about 100 calories.
250ml of HL milk is 150 calories.

Dumped everything inside, then blend!
I used 2 banana, 350ml of milk & 2 scoops of protein.

This is the end result. By right i should be receiving around 500 good calories, but well, i need to share 1 cup with Leonard (my nephew).

If you can eat extra calories, you can add 1 scoop of ice-cream for that ultra milk shake taste.
Add ice cube if you like ice-blend shake.

You can play around with the flavour. For example, if you like strawberry, use strawberry instead of banana. Use strawberry flavoured protein instead of vanilla.

Enjoy your shake!