Show Me How Much You Want It!

If you want something bad enough, you will do absolutely anything and everything to get it. You crave it, desire it, think about it every waking moment, you become greedy and obsessed with it.

Some people whine about how unhappy and dissatisfied they are but they hardly do anything to improve their situation. Things like 'If only I could.. I would...' or 'I wanna do this and that BUT...' If you find yourself caught up with excuses, think again and ask yourself, 'Are these excuses holding me back from being better?', 'Are these excuses hindering my training progress and pulling me away from getting what I really really want?'

Give to Get

One of the reasons why people hold back from pursuing what they want is that they do not want to get outside the comfort zone, in fear with the uncertainties or the risks of losing what we have got. Remember, we shape our life. What we are now is a net result of our past experience and the projection from our mind. We have to change our mindset now in order to be the person whom we want to be.

Get comfortable with the uncomfortable, you will come to realize your true potential.

Be GREEDY now!

Greed can be a good strait if we utilize it in a positive way as it will develop into ambition which can prop you forward to become greater, more splendor and more successful.

Show me how much you wanna be fitter NOW!

Determination ♥ Live It Up

Let's get a little personal today. What is the motto/ goal that keeps your striving? I'm sure we all have our times falling off the wagon and somehow we feel that when we slip, we go downhill.

I'm glad to have a few close friends to pick me up when I fall. However, it still depends on my own willpower to survive the odds after all. Whether you are pursuing a successful career, a loving relationship, fighting to beat your self-image or training for the upcoming marathon race, you will find that in times, you feel a little discouraged when the progress stalls and when obstacles loom. That's when you should draw on your inner strength and refocus. Plan again, also contemplate the challenges that you might face in the future and visualize yourself tackling them. Have absolute faith and belief in yourself and seize the successful feeling.

Life is more interesting with challenges because they make us stronger and invincible. After all, we have yet to explore fully on our infinite power!

Keep a strong mind!

Joey ♥

Keep your body aligned - Single-legged squat & raise

This exericse not only challenges your core stability but it also adds strength to your shoulders and back, therefore improve your posture and keep your body aligned.





Instructions:

1. Start with resting on one leg, hold dumbbells in front of your legs, arms relaxed.



2. Lower leg into single-legged squat, bend over while keeping chest up and lower abs tight. (see pic 1)



3. Push on your heel, squeeze your gluteus to stand tall (keep lower abs engaged). Raise dumbbells overhead, exhale. (note: you should always keep your abs tight to protect your lower back) - see pic 2



4. Repeat 12-15 reps each leg, 2-3 sets.

pic 1

pic 2

Killing me softly with this... workout!

So instead of 3 sets of core-strength circuit, I've been doing double sets instead. What's double set? Double set is basically 2 sets of circuit back to back with minimal to no rest in between.

Today's workout is focusing more on core and balancing, the exercises are simple but the whole circuit killed me!

Warm up:

• Dynamic stretch

Core-strength - do the following exercises in a circuit fashion, do 2 double sets with 1 minute break in between.

• Single-legged squat and raise, 10lbs DB, 15 reps each leg




• Elevated triceps push-up, 15 reps




• Reverse lunge, skip and kick, 15 each




• Plyo-push-up, 15 reps




• Transverse burpee, 10 reps

Stretch

Time: 43min

Calories burned: 278kcal, 36% fat

Oh yeh, we like it hard!

One of the guys from BodyBlast asked me this morning why we did the hard workout before the easier ones? I said to him, 'Because after doing the hard exercises, there isn't much else we can't do. We feel invincible'. Based on that, I had a hard session today, pushed myself hard enough that I cursed a few times...

Anyway, here's the workout I did today.

Warm up - Dynamic stretching + 15 squats

Core-strength part 1 - Do the followings in a circuit fashion and do 4 sets straight (or with minimal rest time between sets)

• One-arm row/ single-legged close-grip push-up burpee, 10lbs DB, 10 reps
• Breaststroke, 3lbs DB, 20 reps
• Sumo squat jump & DB swing, 10lbs DB, 15 reps

Core-strength part 2 - Do the followings in a circuit fashion with 15-30s break between sets

• Single-legged woodchopper, 8lbs med. ball, 15 reps each
• Monster 10*

Stretch

*Monster 10 = 100 reps Mountain climber + 10 Lateral push-ups + 10 Transverse squat jumps + 10 Lateral push-ups + 100 reps Mountain climber (as in 1 set!)

Time: 59min

Calories burned: 383kcal, 43% fat

Drop me a line if you have any questions. Also, please leave a comment and let me know how you do with the workout. Enjoy!

It Was Painful BUT I Liked It

One time my client asked me how I coped with hard training. I told her that I would have a pep talk to myself and I would swear a lot. Ahem.

Yes, I am a trainer and I am more than 100% committed to my training regime. However, I am also like you whose willpower could be shaken at hard training. Trust me, I have thought about cutting back on training when I do that killer intervals (how about 3 bouts instead of 4??), or doing 15 reps instead of 20 at strength training, or any other thoughts that have crossed your mind have also crossed mine. So how do I shut that little whimpy voice in my head? I start a pep talk to myself. I would ask myself - Why am I here? What do I wanna achieve from this training? I can quit but I can also nail this training and come out stronger. I can do even better than what I'm doing now! SHUT UP and FOCUS. Focus on the goal and focus on the muscles that are supposed to be using. Just breathe and breathe a little deeper. If all else fails, I would start swearing at myself, which always works to get me through the hard time.

Remember, that is you who make that little whimpy voice, but, YOU also possess the power to turn things around. YOU are who you want to be. Say it to yourself, 'It's painful but I like it, because it makes me feel invincible'.

Keep a strong mind.

Joey

Work that chest!

This workout not only works your chest muscles but also your shoulders and triceps. This is a very good upper body workout. I have made some modification so you can still get that tight upper body at home.

Modified chest dips -

Equipment:

All you need will be a chair and your hot bod.

Instructions:

1. Hold a plank position with hands on each side of the chair. Keep hands straight under your shoulders.



2. Bend your legs and tighten your gluteus when you lower your upper body. (see pic 1)



3. Keep abs tight and shoulders relaxed.



4. Squeeze your triceps and chest muscle while pushing yourself up to the starting position. Exhale. (don't push with your feet) (see pic 2)



5. Repeat 12-20 times for 3 sets.

The reason to tighten your gluteus is to prevent from arching and hurting your lower back.

Drop me a line if you have any questions. Enjoy and have a fab weekend, y'all!

Spoil yourself, you deserve to eat better!

One of the FAQs from my clients is 'What should I eat to get me to my training goals?' Be it weight loss or stretching their sports potential, we all know that nutrition plays a very important role. To truly nourish your body, you need proper nutrition on day to day basis.

These days I spend more time cooking rather than eating out, therefore I can make better choices and have more varieties. So I made a portabello mushroom salad with vegemite toasts today! Gosh, I just love it so much! :-)

Here's the recipe -

Ingredients (for 1 serving, or I just eat a lot...):

• 2 portebello mushrooms


• 1 clove garlic


• 1 cup pre-washed baby spinach


• 6-10 cherry tomatoes (depends on the size)


• 1oz comte cheese


• 1/2 tbsp olive oil, split into 2 servings


• salt, pepper and mixed herbs

Cooking steps:

1. Wash all ingredients and set aside spinach to dry.


2. Cut portabello mushrooms into 1/2 inch slices and cherry tomatoes into half.


3. Finely chop garlic.


4. Cut cheese into small cubes.


5. In a saucepan, add 1 serving of olive oil to low heat, add garlic and stir.


6. Cook garlic for a minute and add mushrooms to sauteed 'til soft. Add salt, pepper and herbs.


7. Mix spinach, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese in a salad bowl. Add the remaining oil and toss.


8. You might add more salt to taste.


9. Now slather that vegemite on multigrain/ rye/ whole wheat toasts. Voila!

It takes about 15 minutes to wash and cook. You can also make a bit more and keep it in the fridge. Bon appetit!

One exercise, two ways to tone up your sexy arms (for guys too!)

So, all you need here is a medicine ball, from 2-5kg.

Tricep extension with medicine ball - instructions:

1. Keep arms bent overhead with elbows tucked in. Hold abs tight so you don't arch your lower back.



2. Hold medicine ball behind your head, keep your chin up. (see pic 1)



3. Extend arms to lift medicine ball overhead, exhale. (see pic 2)



4. Repeat 1-3 15 times for 3 sets.

Plyo tricep extension with medicine ball - instructions:

1. Repeat instruction 1 & 2 as above.



2. Extend arms to throw medicine ball up overhead.



3. Keep your head up (as you have to watch to catch the ball!), exhale, catch medicine ball and bend your arms straight away.



4. Repeat 1-3 15 times for 3 sets.

Personally I like doing plyo tricep extension better. It also trains your coordination and for me, it's simply more fun throwing the ball!

Give it a try, enjoy!