Yin Teing’s Health Blog

When it comes to weight or strength training, which one you think will be more effective?

A. Doing 2 sets each time 2 times a week, or

B. Doing 1 set each time 3 times a week (every alternate day)?

The answer- you will benefit more from 2 sets (or better still 3 sets) each time twice a week than one set every alternate day.

Read the rest of this entry »

 Exercising in a non gym environment

There are also many who opt to exercise in the outdoors such as parks or in the neighbourhood. Or exercising in the privacy of one’s own home. Gym is not for everyone and should not be the only solution to get active.
With determination, motivation and creativity, one can maintain a great fitness program by oneself. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you initially find that you are really out of shape or unfit. When you sow a seed, it does not take overnight for it to bear fruits. Therefore, it will not take overnight to achieve the results that you want. Take your time, and with gradual training, you will definitely see progress.

With creativity, you can think of enjoyable exercises that will help you work out a sweat. Invest in good books that provide guidance on how to start an exercise program for seniors or that carries exercise guidelines and samples covering certain health conditions. ACSM (American Council of Sports Medicine) had produced a few books that provide guidance on exercise programs for health conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, eczema and osteoporosis. In Kuala Lumpur, I’ve seen these books and other good selections in Kinokuniya bookstore in KLCC. ACSM is a recognized worldwide and whatever they write are based on years of research and real life cases.

 Tools like resistance bands , your own body weight and a couple of dumbells will be sufficient for you to form your own training program. With a little investment, you can set up your own home gym. To keep a little socialising going, you can join yoga classes or you can team up with a few friends and get an instructor to teach in your home. There are a number of freelance yoga instructors who can come to your house to teach.

For more ideas, you can refer to my previous post: Exercise Program for Non Gym Goers.

For those intending to join a gym, you may read my previous article: Kudos to Seniors Joining the Gym

Caution: If you have not been exercising regularly before, have family history of heart disease, is above certain age (above 45 for men and 55 for women), please consult and physician and perform medical check ups to rule out any heart related ailments and health conditions that require special attention.

Here’s some slides that I’ve previously prepared. I recently noticed that Slideshare now requires Flashplayer 9 and above in order to view but if I were to embed the slideshow on my blog, it can be viewed. So here it is- I hope the visual illustration will be helpful to you.

Currently even though I am a member of a gym, I still purchase a couple of equipments for home training. Some may ask that with the steep gym membership, why add more cost to purchase equipment?

Reasons:

• due to work commitments, unable to make it to the gym as often as I would like to
• quick workouts at odd times of the day such as first thing in the morning, 3am and unable to sleep
• workout with certain stunts and silly movements (especially with the Stability ball) that may get everyone staring, hee hee. But I find that I am more comfortable doing exercises for my core muscles with the Stability ball at home than at the gym’s open area
• great when watching TV- instead of sitting down doing nothing, squeezing in a workout is fun too
• can involve family members in workouts (especially those who refuse to join a gym)

I love exercising because it gets my circulation moving and generates an overall feeling of well being. On average, I spent about 1.5 to 2 hours in my gym about 3 or 4 times a week (the time is spent working out and not hanging around. I’m the type who like to just work out and leave). There are times in between that I only feel like working out for a short while and the trip to the gym may not be practical. Therefore, I’ve invested in some equipments.

• yoga mat- cost about RM50+ from Fitness Concept
• Stability ball from Nordic Track- RM59 from Fitness Concept
• Exercise tubes (1 set) and resistance bands from Op Train- it’s a local company that sells good quality equipments- the exercise tubes comes with an excellent guide on the comprehensive workout that the tubes can provide
• recent addition: an Aerobic Set from Body Sculpture- RM179 from Carrefour that comes with one Stepboard, 2 resistance bands, 2 toning balls of 1kg each (see pic below)

Read the rest of this entry »

These past weeks, in fact, the past few months, I have been very busy. I am currently studying for a certification course- and exams is just 2 weeks away. My day job- busy and filled with challenges that are sometimes stressful- and it looks like more work waiting in the horizon. Earlier this week, my mom’s closest sister passed away due to complications from stroke- and I decided to spend more time with mom instead of my books because I sensed she really needed some company.

So, I am finding it increasing difficult to make it 4 or 5 times to the gym like what I was used to. Honestly, I am only making it about average 2 or 3 times a week.

Still, exercise will always be an important component of my life.

How to find time to stay active, especially when you are hard pressed for time?
Here are stuff that I have tried- you can see if you can try or modify my idea into your own

Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some enjoyable exercises- where it raises your heart rate, at the same time, it is enjoyable:

• Paula Abdul Hip Hop Cardio Dance
• Gospel Dance Aerobics
• Dance Aerobics (if you don’t understand the language, just follow the movements)
• Aerobic Dance (learn to isolate body parts when dancing)
• Arabic Belly Dance Fat Burning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4
• Arabic Belly Dance Basic Moves Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4
• Outdoor Fitness- benefits of working outdoors

Building your Favourite Playlist

You can also built up various Playlists from your favourite videos from YouTube. Your body will probably respond best from dancing to your favourite songs. And dancing is probably the best way to keep yourself moving, sweating and keeping boredom at bay.

Built as many playlists as you can and keep using different lists for each of your exercise routine.

Here’s a sample from my playlist.

You do not need to confine yourself only to dance music. If you love ballads or sentimental rock songs, you can still move towards those music- in more graceful movements involving longer duration.
Enjoy!!!

Resistance bands are elastic bands that you can use for exercising at home.

Information about exercise bands from the web:

• Complete list of exercises with illustrations
• Sample exercises from American Council on Exercise

Here are some exercise samples that I got from YouTube:

• How to Use a Resistance Band for Exercise
• Body workout using resistance bands with handles
• Pilates Inspired Matwork- Exercise Band Explanation- Explain correct technique for Pilates tummy roll and arms pull exercises with resistance bands
• Leg Press
• Beginner Band Workout- 10 min video with many exercises in various positions
• Fitness Band Challenge- band with handle- you can see how the band can help to function like the weight machines that you use in the gym
• Cardio Flex Band Workout