Introduction to Training Cycle

FatsOff wishes all a Happy Chinese New Year! And yes, this is the period where snacks are in abundance! After the dust has settled, its time to get pumped and sweaty again!

In all training regimes, there must be a goal and objective in order to motivate you to sacrifice your time and effort. There are people who train blindly week in, week out with the same exercises. Our body reacts better when we have a plan. The best is to periodise your training. Here's an example of a training cycle:

Normally a full training cycle lasts from 6mths to a year depending on your objective (we call it the macrocycle). Each macrocycle will then be broken into smaller periods (mesocycles). Reason for that is if your objective is set 6mths away, you have no way to gauge if you are going in the right direction and also you might feel de-motivated. The goal in each mesocycles will serve as a checkpoint towards your ultimate objective. And for someone who does not exercise prior to taking up this training regime, more goals have to be set within a mesocycle in order to keep track on whether he/she is heading towards the correct direction. And thus, we will break each mesocycle into smaller sessions (we call them microcycles) each with their own goals.

Looks complicated? Well, let me summarize here to aid your understanding. Let's assume we are going for a fat burning training regime.

Full Cycle: 6mths (Macrocycle)
Objectives: Burn off 5kg of fats + tone up muscles

• Stage 1: 4 weeks (Mesocycle)              
  Goal: Building up stamina and strength
• Week 1 (Microcycle)
  Goals: Able to jog 3km in 25mins + Learn techniques of various gym training exercises
• Week 2
  Goals: Able to jog 5km in 35mins + Able to do light weights training
• Week 3
  Goals: Able to jog 7km in 50mins + Able to lift weights that are 65% of Rep Max for 12 reps (upper body)
• Week 4
  Goals: Able to jog 10km in 75mins + Able to lift weights that are 65% of Rep Max for 12 reps (lower body)

Above is an example for the training cycle (up until Stage 1). Notice how each goal is defined so it is measureable in each of the week? A well-defined goal can serve as a checklist to keep you in the right direction ultimately towards your main objective. The reason I've combined both cardio and weights into the same regime is because both are essential in burning fats and doing without either of them would slow the entire process considerably.

For those full training regime, its still best to go through your fitness consultant or trainer as he/she would know how to analyse your body before coming out with the ideal training plan, as I've said before, no two individuals have the same training plans due to several factors.

I shall stop here for now. Stay tuned to FatsOff - your partner in fat-burning!!!

And lastly, GONG XI FA CAI!!!

Factors for Training Program

We've talked about the different types of training and the different types of body an individual is born with. These are all important when you are trying to come out with a training program. There is no one for all training program. Every individual is unique and thus their training programs will differ. And of coz, that is the reason why personal trainers are still in demand here in Singapore.

As for me, I am specialized in fat burning but I have never reused the same training programs for my clients. Each will have their own customised training program. A program for Mr A might not be as effective for Mr B due to many factors.

Listed here are some factors to consider when you are planning your own training program:
1) Amount of time you have (due to other commitments)
2) Health status and Fitness level (you will need to be accessed by a doctor and fill up the PAR-Q form)
3) Weight
4) Body type (as discussed in my last entry)
5) Objective (we will focus on fat loss here)
6) Food allergy (important if you are also planning your diet program)
7) Equipments you have (even without going to the gym, you can lose fats too!)
8) Past injuries (I've previously discussed about how you can still lose fats with a knee injury)

With so many considerations, it is almost impossible for 2 individuals to have the same training programs. These are the questions a personal trainer will normally ask the client before formulating a training program for him/her. The whole point is to utilise whatever resources available to churn out similar results and achieve your objectives.

More entries coming your way! Stay tuned to FatsOff - your partner in fat-burning!!!

Body Types

In order to plan your diet, workout and cardio plan effectively, you will need to know which body type you belong to.

There are 3 types - Ectomorph, Mesomorph and Endomorph

1) Ectomorph
Ectomorphs have small frame and bone structure. They tend to have high metabolism rate and thus find it very difficult to gain mass. They typical have small shoulders and flat chest.

In order for Ectomorphs to gain mass, they will have to take in alot of calories due to their high metabolism rate. Recommended to do short intensive weights training focusing on major muscles. Reduce cardio training. Eat before going to bed to prevent muscles being broken up at night.

2) Mesomorph
Mesomorphs are the happiest of the three. They tend to have large bone structure, athletic physique and large muscles. They gain and lose fats easily.

They will see the results and benefits of weights training very quickly. As they gain fats easily, they will need to watch their calorie intake. Trainings should consist of both weights and cardio.

3) Endomorph
Endomorph have soft round body. They have slow metabolism rate and will have problem losing fats. They are generally strong and they gain muscles and fats easily.

They certainly need to watch their calorie intake due to their slow metabolism rate. Cardio along with weights training are important to keep a good muscle to fat ratio.

People generally falls in between ectomorph/mesomorph or endomorph/mesomorph but no matter which body type you belong to, you can build a nice body like a pure mesomorph. All it takes is dedicated training and lots of hard work.

Hope this entry is useful for those who wants to plan their workout schedule as different body types would need different intensity of training to be effective. Shall stop here, stay tuned to FatsOff - your partner in fat-burning!

Fat Burning For Those With Knee Injuries

So far whatever exercises I've recommend caters for those who are "fighting fit". And I've realised alot of friends around me have knee injuries. Its so common among runners, footballers and those who have weight problems (as their knees need to support their body weight which can stress and injure their knees). So for this entry, I will recommend some exercises that can help those with knee injuries lose fats too.

I've talked so much in my earlier entries about running and training regimes like interval training and circuit training, these regimes can also be incorporated into swimming or cycling exercises. All you need to do is to replace the runs with either a lap of swim or a 500m/1000m cycle. I will zoom in more on swimming as it can also help rehab your knees.

Circuit Training
Instead of
100m run - 20 push-ups - 100m run - 20 crunches - 100m run - 20 squats - 100m sprint
Replace the run with swim
1 lap - 20 push-ups - 1 lap - 20 crunches - 1 lap sprint (squats should be removed due to knee injury)

Interval Training
As most swimming pools doesn't have distance markers, you would need to estimate the distance. Try a 2-lap interval for a start. Start with a slow swim for half a lap, go slightly faster for the next half lap. Sprint for the next half lap before going very slow for the next half lap. Rest for 2mins before going for your 2nd set. Try to do 4 sets. Once your stamina improves, subsequently, you may increase the distance from half lap to 1 lap, but do increase your resting interval (maybe from 2mins to 5mins).

If you prefer to do your cardio in the gym, you can go for the stationary bike or the power walker. Both have less impact on your knees and also allow you to reap the benefit of cardio training.

Other than cardio training, weights training plays an important role in fat burning too, even for those who has knee injuries (no excuses!). The most important thing is to do your sets either lying or sitting on the bench. Do not stress your knees. So instead of doing lateral raises standing up, do in while sitting on the bench instead.

Try to utilise the machines too. Go for the Leg Curl machine which helps build strength to your hamstring muscles. With knee injuries, it will be very difficult to train hard on your thigh muscles and so, its advisable not to rush into stacking too much weights when you train your thigh muscles. Go slow, go for more repetitions rather than heavier load. Only increase the load when you feel that you are very comfortable with the current load.

I had knee injuries before too and according to my physio, to quickly get my knee back to full fitness, I need to shift the stress and impact on my knee to other parts of my legs and thus I will need to build up on my thigh muscles and hamstring muscles. With a stronger lower body, these muscles can take in the impact and relieve my knees from absorbing those impact.

So to summarize, if you have knee injuries and still want to lose fats, you have to relieve the pressure and impact directed to your knees by training up other parts of your lower body. Go for swims and utilise the machines more. Minimise doing free weights exercises standing up. And while taking note of your exercises, do also take note of what you eat!

Shall stop for now. Stay tuned to FatsOff - your partner in fat-burning!!!

Hawker Food

Its almost inevitable that we have to eat hawker food when we are out a few times a week. I've peeps asking me how can they know how much calories or fats there are in each serving of food from the hawker. There is no standard way to gauge. What I would advise is to stay clear of deep fried items and go for soupy stuffs (I don't mean thick gravy soupy stuffs like laksa though).

So to help everyone out, I've done some research as best as I can through the Internet and also some external sources. Here's a list of common hawker food with the estimated calories per portion:

Lor Mai Kai
Calories - 324kcal, Fats - 7g, Carbs - 56g, Protein - 9g

Porridge w/ Century Egg
Calories - 422kcal, Fats - 19g, Carbs - 62g, Protein - 1.9g

Porridge w/ Chicken
Calories - 211kcal, Fats - 7g, Carbs - 24g, Protein - 13.7g

Porridge w/ Fish
Calories - 258kcal, Fats - 3g, Carbs - 40g, Protein - 17.1g

Porridge w/ Minced Pork
Calories - 363kcal, Fats - 15g, Carbs - 38g, Protein - 19.1g

Chicken Rice
Calories - 618kcal, Fats - 23g, Carbs - 76g, Protein - 25.7g

Duck Rice
Calories - 706kcal, Fats - 30g, Carbs - 86g, Protein - 23.5g

Fried Rice
Calories - 511kcal, Fats - 20g, Carbs - 66g, Protein - 16g

Ban Mian
Calories - 476kcal, Fats - 22g, Carbs - 48g, Protein - 21.8g

Fish Slice Bee Hoon
Calories - 349kcal, Fats - 8g, Carbs - 48g, Protein - 22.3g

Char Kuey Tiao
Calories - 742kcal, Fats - 39g, Carbs - 76g, Protein - 22.7g

Hor Fun
Calories - 708kcal, Fats - 21g, Carbs - 104g, Protein - 25.1g

Chicken Macaroni Soup
Calories - 277kcal, Fats - 2g, Carbs - 43g, Protein - 21.6g

Mee Rebus
Calories - 555kcal, Fats - 19g, Carbs - 75g, Protein - 21.1g

Mee Siam
Calories - 520kcal, Fats - 15g, Carbs - 82g, Protein - 14.7g

Beef Noodles Soup
Calories - 303kcal, Fats - 2g, Carbs - 47g, Protein - 23g

Curry Chicken Noodles
Calories - 756kcal, Fats - 49g, Carbs - 46g, Protein - 34.3g

Fishball Noodles Dry
Calories - 368kcal, Fats - 8g, Carbs - 55g, Protein - 19.2g

Fishball Noodles Soup
Calories - 329kcal, Fats - 3g, Carbs - 58g, Protein - 18.4g

Wanton Noodles Dry
Calories - 407kcal, Fats - 12g, Carbs - 55g, Protein - 19.5g

Wanton Noodles Soup
Calories - 215kcal, Fats - 4g, Carbs - 31g, Protein - 14.4g

Bak Kut Teh
Calories - 342kcal, Fats - 25g, Carbs - 0g, Protein - 29.8g

Fried Carrot Cake
Calories - 466kcal, Fats - 24g, Carbs - 51g, Protein - 11g

Do be reminded that the above list is only an estimation. You will need to calculate your TDEE  before you can plan your food list. While tracking the calories the food gives out, its also wise to note the amount of fats you are taking in too.

I will continue to add to the list as I continue my research. Do not stop exercising, as I've discussed in my earlier entries that exercise and diet should complement each other to burn off your fats faster.

That's it for now, stay tuned to more entries on FatsOff - your partner in fat-burning!

Low-Carbohydrate Diet

Now for the controversial diet plan, the low-carb diet! It typically allows only 5% to 10% of carb to be consumed. The Atkins diet is probably one of the most well known low-carb diet.

 

The recommended intake of carb is 57%, protein is 13% while fat is 30% of your total daily calories intake. Cutting back on carb means you have to take in more protein or fat (or even both). Going with this diet typically means you restrict on foods high in carbohydrate which also means you will lose out on some vital vitamins that your body requires.

 

Results can be very positive in just a few weeks for low-carb diet (up to approx 20kg in a month) but in the long run, the weight loss is almost the same as low-fat diet. Comparing against low-fat diet, low-carb diet can reduce almost the same amount weight but loses out big time in fat burning.

 

It is important to consult a doctor before commencing on this diet. I will personally not recommend this as carbohydrate plays a huge part in fuelling our brain, nerves and lungs. As our goal is still to burn off the fats rather than reducing the weight, I will recommend either the low-calorie diet or the low-fat diet instead.

 

Some people will choose to eat according to the recommended intake while taking note of the types of carbs and fats they consume (rather than saturated fats, substitute with nonsaturated fats). This way, you can stay healthy and also burn that extra kilo of fat away. Next, I will start to share about hawker food and the amount of fats and calories they contain so stay tuned to FatsOff!!!

Low-Fat Diet

And here is the diet that everyone is waiting for! Low-fat diet! Comparing low-fat diet and low-calorie diet, the low-fat diet controls cholesterol more, it also contains less foods from animal sources.

 

A low-fat diet should generally contain about 20% to 30% of calories from fat. You should also try to get healthy variety of fat (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) while also taking in foods low in saturated fat.

 

So now, what kind of food falls under polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and foods low in saturated fat?

 

Polyunsaturated fat

Corn, sunflower seeds, walnut, sesame seeds, soybeans, tuna, sardine

 

Monounsaturated fat

Olive oil, peanut oil, avocado oil, almond oil, whole grain wheat, oatmeal, cereal

 

Low in saturated fat

Yogurt, lean meats, fish, poultry

All in all, not only the food chosen are important, the cooking method is important too. Try to look out for items that are non-fat or low-fat when you buy your groceries if you are on this diet.

The next diet I'll talk about is the Low-Carbohydrate Diet. Till next time! Cya!