Monthly Archives: August 2013
Being Fit? What’s That?
When you speak to people about being fit, usually the responses are:
- “I can run… not too sure about anything else!”
- “The only weight-lifting I do is during grocery shopping.”
- “You mean, go to the gym?”
In reality, being fit or having an acceptable level of fitness is a combination of different modules. In CrossFit, there are 10 components:
- Strength
- Power
- Cardiovascular Endurance
- Speed
- Stamina
- Flexibility
- Accuracy
- Balance
- Agility
- Coordination
These fitness components are directly translated to your day-to-day routines. Eg. Grocery shopping, doing housework, walking to your car with a heavy laptop bag. Everyone needs to spend some time working on these components so that you can move better and live better.
Think about an activity that you find tough (or had some hesitance) doing. It could be bending over to pick up something, walking down the stairs, Then, ask yourself these questions:
- How did I feel while doing that? (Tired, sharp pain, etc)
- Where was the pain? (Knee, back, elbow, etc)
- How long have I had this pain? (1 week, 2 months, etc)
There are many reasons why a movement is difficult :
- Inflexibility of your muscles/tendons/ligaments
- Poor posture/spinal alignment
- Previous injury
I will break that up in my future posts as it is a pretty huge branch of its own! Everyone has got different issues so I will address it in my next few posts.
If you have a burning question regarding this topic, please feel free to contact me via the Contact Form below.
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Sleep. What’s Enough?
Most adults sleep at 12mn and wake up at about 630am or 7am. Or, they sleep at 2am, and wake up at 8 or 9 am… With an average of 6-7 hours of sleep, we get to work and carry out our daily activities.
Children between 12-18 years old will need 8.5-10 hours sleep. For those 18 years and above will need at least 7.5-9 hours of sleep. How would you know if the amount of sleep is enough?
Well, when you wake up and go along your usual work/routine, start to assess how you feel – are you feeling tired? Sleepy? Hungry? Sluggish? At what time? What did you need to do to perk yourself up again?
Once you know which duration of sleep works for you, stick with it. Ensure you do not oversleep by 30mins or an hour. Snoozes can cause you more harm than good in this case.
Everyone is different in their sleep needs to perform at optimal levels. If you have a friend who sleeps for only 5 hours whereas you need 8, that’s perfectly alright. Just as long as they have proper nutrition and happy with their daily performance!
How many hours do you sleep folks?
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Feeling Hungry?
Do you feel hungry even after a huge meal? Do you find yourself snacking on tidbits, biscuits or even chips?
Well, you may be thirsty instead of hungry!
Sometimes you would have eaten too much food, and didn’t drink enough water to accompany your meal. This usually happens during buffets and company functions where food is abundant and alcohol is free flowing!
Another reason for feeling hungry is that you didn’t consume enough protein and fat in your meal. Protein and fat are harder to break down, hence it takes longer duration for the food to pass through the digestive system. The intestines will also be processing the food to absorb all nutrients needed for the body.
So the next time you feel hungry, try drinking a glass of water! It will dissipate your hunger pangs!
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Fitness
Fitness on its own, makes people physically stronger. What I would like to have, is a healthy society and community that are willing to change their perceptions and habits that they have been leading their lives with, to become a more balanced individual, mentally and physiologically.
Start from within.
Start exercising, moving better, eating well and living your best life!
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Lyn Kong 