Find Your Balance: Why it is so important as part of our work out regime

Avoid injury by getting your right and left sides in sync.

Many athletes today are using balance training as an integral part of their overall training programmes, both for injury prevention and performance enhancement.

Balance is needed by runners when negotiating woodland, by tennis players when reaching for a drop shot and by footballers taking the ball on the volley from slightly behind themselves. Each of these situations requires the exercise of just the right amount of flexibility and agility at the right time and from the right areas of the body in order for us to execute the desired task, recover and then be able to repeat the same or similar tasks without injury. With balance training, as with most training, the idea is to recreate and manipulate in a controlled environment what we do in an event or game situation.

Every person has a dominant side which is stronger and more stable.  In fact, which side you favor is genetically coded, says Reed Ferber, Ph.D., director of the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Calgary. A simple balance test (below) will tell you if you have a weak side. What’s the value of knowing which side is stronger? When you favor one side, the resulting weakness on the opposite side can leave you more vulnerable to injury.

Your body uses two strategies to balance on one foot. First, it tweaks ankle and foot muscles. The second is a “hip strategy”—you twist your torso to steady yourself. But when you run, you’re not using the ankle strategy at all, putting the strain of compensating for your weaker side entirely in the hips. “Leg dominance won’t cause injury,” he says, “but strengthening the hip and working on balance will help you avoid it.”

Taking Sides
So are you left-side or right-side dominant? Try:

THE BALANCE TEST
Stand on one leg, eyes closed. Time how long you can hold without toppling or putting down your foot. Switch legs. If both sides are close (30 seconds on each side, or 30 on one and 25 on the other), you’ve got good equilibrium. But if the difference is wide—five or 10 seconds on one leg, up to 30 on the other—you’re out of balance, and may have hip-muscle issues.

Get Even
Perform these two exercises daily for three weeks, after a run. (Doing them before might tire key core muscles.) Then repeat the balance test; you should be closer to equilibrium. Thereafter, do these moves twice a week for maintenance.

CORE STABILIZER
HOW: Stand with your weak leg on a pillow. Balance for 30 seconds (you can use a light touch on a wall). Repeat three times. Tip: When you can balance relatively easily for 30 seconds, increase the intensity by closing your eyes, which makes it harder to balance.
WHY: Supporting yourself on your weaker leg while standing on an unstable surface forces you to employ an ankle and a hip strategy to balance, and helps your weak leg catch up to your strong one.

 We don’t have to ‘switch the core on’ to provide balance and stability; the design of the body is such that if it’s not switched on there is a bio-mechanical explanation. And if your balance on one leg is worse than on the other, it could mean something as simple as a tight calf or a stiff heel.

Balance is something we need for life. As we get older we need to train a lot smarter in all departments, and balance is no exception.

Reference:

Denise Schipani for Runners World, July 2011

Finally…

The day is here!! I hope no volcano is gonna stop us now…

Still have  not fully packed although my flight is 3 hours away…hate to pack and unpack, I wish I had a butler to do it all for me..eh maybe I do?? ehehhehe

First stop would be at Doha for about 4 hours, just hope we’re not delayed that’s all.

Then it’d be to London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Venice, and back to London.

Ok i really have to go, I will further update when I have 4 hours to kill in Doha tomorrow….

Au revoir!

The Night Run

I have a few runs lined up for me these coming weeks. A 2.5km run for the Round the House Relay Run, honestly I really dislike short distance runs. The pressure is so much I can feel my heart bursting out anytime ala Aliens, BUT at the same time the competitive nature in me wants me to go faster each time…mmmm..it’s a love hate relationship.

I had in mind, is it possible to work out during a long backpacking trip? I will keep a short journal to see if that is possible since me and Chai Har have an ardous 42k greeting us 2 weeks after we return from Europe. I am already shitting in my pants worried because a full marathon should never ever be underestimated. Can we do tricep dips while waiting for hours in the airport? How many rounds can we run around Trafalgar Square? Situps by our bunkbeds? YES THEY ARE ALL POSSIBLE!!!

Did you bring the Tiger?

Hmmmm I am so wanting those Newtons

Take a lot of pics with competitors first

REUNION!!!

I will cast a running spell on you soon

How do you lose weight?

It was bloody hot I swear I was gonna pass out even for someone who loves the sun so much..btw thank you Mr Photographer for taking this awesome random shot of me

How do you lose weight?

I get asked this million dollar question MANY times, I think it would be best to lay my thoughts down in my blog. I do not lay claim that they will be the best method for you, BUT I am writing this from my very own point of view, as simple as possible and I strive to make it very doable for you. Nothing over the top, no expensive equipment needed and as long as you put your mind and heart to it, you will be so amazed at what you can achieve.

Do you want to lose weight JUST to look skinny or do you actually want to have a revamped lifestyle altogether?
Do you want to be generally strong, healthy, feel good, and LOOK good? How long do you think you would like to stay committed to this?

What do you want  from losing weight?

There really is no short cut to it.

There are many ways to define physical fitness. It is helpful to think about physical fitness in relation to specify training. In simple words, exercise which develops cardiovascular endurance is not very effective in developing muscular strength.

Resistance training, such as weight lifting is the best way to increase strength, but it is not the most effective way to improve cardiovascular fitness.

Logically you cannot become skinny by lifting weights. A simple answer for you would be cardio and dieting. Yes, the super dreaded BORING running, RPM and all those yucky tasteless oats and breastmeat!! YUCK DAMNit! ( ok ok fine I’m part kidding, I sound so frustrated and deprived, geez I will blame it all on the dieting) No celebrity in Hollywood became so toned up and beautiful by eating hamburgers, darling. Its all a lie when they say so.

How do I get a flat toned tummy or even a 6 pack?

Get rid of excess fat in your body with the boring dreaded cardio and diet, darling. Abstain from everything oily and with taste. Do a 150 situps, 50 leg raises and 50 abdominal crunches DAILY.

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO MAKE WISE FOOD CHOICES?

Why are we so tempted to eat foods that we know we should avoid? What triggers our eating habits?  Why do we like high fat, high calorie foods?

Probably the strongest reason we choose to eat certain foods is for taste. We like the taste of sweet and salty foods and as a result we tend to eat too many of them. When is enough ever enough?

 

Some people respond to stress whether positive or negative by eating, others may use food to ward off loneliness, boredom or anxiety.
I do admit I have food cravings more often than I should. So I compromise. I don’t deny myself completely of rich fattening foods (I admit) because that would be insane, I’m only human and I deserve to enjoy the finer things in life. So to control my diet, I take a mouthful of whatever sinful dessert that might land in front of me instead of finishing the whole piece. I drink a bottle of beer instead of binging like 7 bottles at one go.How do you select foods with good nutritional values and yet not compromise on the taste or texture of it?  

Protein, carbohydrate and fat are the three nutrients that provide calories. These calories help maintain body temperature and facilitate growth and repair of all organs and tissues. Fat is a very concentrated source of energy and contains more than twice the calories of protein and carbohydrates. ALCOHOL provides calories too but it does not contribute to the growth or maintanence of body tissue. It will only convert to fat when your caloric intake exceeds caloric output. So don’t ask me how you can lose weight if you are not willing to cut down on the beer intake. 

Recommended Nutrient Intakes

1. Protein: 12-20% of your caloric intake
2. Carbohydrate: 55-60% of your caloric intake
3. Fat: 20% of your caloric intake

In a nutshell:

Those who need to lose weight should aim for slow, steady weight loss by decreasing calorie intake and increasing physical activity.

 

 

 NOW for the BIGGEST part of it all

 

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 MENTAL FITNESS : ARE YOU READY TO WORK YOUR ASS OFF UNTIL YOUR TARGETED WEIGHT?? 

 

 

 

 

NOT a recovering shopaholic

I have a feeling I will have no self constraint when I get to London, Paris, Spain and Italy. Chai Har, I’m banking on you to handcuff my hands or hide my credit cards. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE…..

Holy Mama I want all of these

Miu Miu 2010 Collection

Totally thinking of getting the chilli red one..mmmmmm