So here I am during my new year holiday with my brother in law’s son (age 5 months).

Its awesome that there is no happy response to sweets and ice cream! Next time I see him I will try to make him smile with “vegetables” – possible a harder task! haha

I recently got a comment on my blog asking if eating organic food is the best way to lose weight.

Is organic food better? Yes it probably is. No so much because of nutrient content although it is superior there as well, but because it has less bad stuff in it. Less pesticides, anti-biotics less pollutants etc.

However eating organic is not going to help you lose weight by itself. You still need to make good choices. As you all know I suggest a paleo type diet of meat, veggies, nuts, a little fruit and lots of water!

If you eat organic bad choices such as… wheat, soy or corn you will still be fat!!

The non-profit “Environmental Working Group” has listed the most and the least important foods to try to find organic. The “Dirty Dozen” are the foods you should try to buy organic, and the “Clean 15″ are those which are ok to buy regular.

As many of our Singapore fitness bootcamp and personal training clients know, I am against the use of long slow aerobic training for fat burning or health. A well designed personal training program can get you results without the negative side effects of excess aerobic training.

One of these negative effects is oxidative stress. Oxidative stress results in the formation of free radicals which damage your body on a cellular level and cause pre-mature aging and damage to important structures like DNA. It is also connected to toxic exposure, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, aging, liver disease, Parkinson’s disease, and smoking.

The negative results of using aerobic training for weight loss can be seen in a test for oxidative stress that we can provide for the clients at our Singapore Gym.

This test is called “8-Hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine” or (8-OHdG). Don’t worry about the super nerdy name.

This compound is a by-product of oxidative damage to DNA and it can be measured in urine.

Of all the clients in our Singapore fitness center who have taken this test, only 2 had elevated levels of 8-OHdG, these 2 were the ones training for endurance activities like marathons and triathlons.

In fact, their levels were way off the charts (more than 11 units when acceptable range is less than 5.3, and ideal is somewhere around 2 or 3)

Coincidence? You decide. Unless you MUST really do these activites for other reasons (like hanging out with your friends, or relaxation), they are NOT a good idea for overall health.

And if you are an endurance athlete, make sure you get huge quantities of a VARIETY of anti-oxidants like vitamin C, E, selenium, glutathione, alpha-lipoic acid, and stuff from brightly colored fruits and veggies.

Nobody does exercise to age faster… and you shouldn’t either

It is quite to hear from our Singapore personal training and fitness boot camp clients that they have been to a chiropractor or therapist for treatment of a past injury before coming to train with us in our Singapore gym.

Sometimes these treatments have great success, sometimes they have no result, and sometimes they cause even more problems.

So how can we tell if a therapist is going to give you a high chance of getting a good result?

After all, the alternative medicine scene is so un-regulated here in Singapore. How do we know if the therapist cares, or only cares about lining his pockets with our money?

One of the key tips that I tell our personal training and bootcamp clients is that they should spend time preparing the body for any kind of manipulation. A good manipulator can achieve a great result in a short time. But before the “crack-crack” they need to spend time preparing the tissues.

They may use an infra-red lamp, they may use massage, or they may use some form of active stretching. But the fact that they spend time on this is important. Manipulation and adjustments without this kind of “warm-up” is like running sprints without warming up. A far greater chance of injury. If you walk in and get treated with manipulation immediately, chances are this is not a good therapist.

Another tip is to see how long the manipulation lasts and what advice the chiropractor or therapist gives you for helping to KEEP the adjustment. There are many reasons that an adjustment doesn’t hold, lack of critical nutrients, too much inflammation in your body, muscle imbalances, scar tissue or trigger points, etc. If your therapist does not tell you about these, then stay away from him/her.

You see, it comes down to $$$, more patients per hour, more $$$. A money minded therapist goes through patients like a machine gun. “Crack-Crack”… next please.

A good one takes the time to prepare you, treat you, and then teach you so that you DON’T need to come back so often and don’t need to buy a “package of 20 treatments”. I personally believe that if you don’t get better within 3-4 treatments (and often 1 treatment), you should look elsewhere.

There we go! Wish you luck in your search for a treatment specialist. If you have an injury that does not seem to get better, you are welcome to come for a injury prevention/recovery consultation with me. Just like all our other services, if you don’t get better, you don’t need to pay. What do you have to lose?

Last week our personal training and fitness boot camp clients and visitors benefited a great deal from Keith’s seminar on “How to customize a stretching program for yourself”. I had the pleasure of interviewing him so that clients and even other fitness professionals can find out more about how an expert in his field grows his knowledge and reputation.

What made you interested in the field of fitness and health in the first place?

I have always been an active person, competing in Gymnastics, Diving and Breakdancing since I was a kid. While in University I suffered a shoulder injury that stopped me from dancing.

After becoming so frustrated not being able to find anyone to help my shoulder I eventually researched, studied and fixed it myself. After that I figured that other people would be having similar problems and I could help them.

It’s the same story with Stretching too. It’s something that’s has always been part of my training, but no one ever had any solid answers to my questions on the best way to do it. After studying with Chris and Ann Frederick and Charles Poliquin and realizing how powerful the information was, I had to share it with anyone that would let me.

Which part of this profession gives you the most satisfaction?

Seeing people achieve their results or goals. Even if they are not 100% there yet there is always a light bulb moment when things come together for them, either physically, mentally or emotionally. It’s amazing to be able to be part of that.

You anatomy knowledge impressed many of the seminar attendees, How much do you study to get good at your profession?

I try to read/study for an hour a day, but probably only get there 80% of the time. Driving a lot for work means that audio books come in real handy and I usual manage knock out one or two a week. I then try to catch up on blogs and other internet articles on the weekends. It’s a busy schedule, but it’s not taxing if it’s something you’re passionate about.

What do you find to be the most commonly “tight” parts in clients that need the most attention?

Top 5 crucial areas that people get tight in my opinion are:

• Hip Flexors
• Glutes
• Pec Minor
• Quadratus Lumborum
• Lats/Teres Major

Often one of these is the source of the problem and treating it will unlock a lot of tightness in other areas.

Interestingly enough most of this comes from sitting for long periods of time, so as well as stretching, a standing workplace or even just moving more can make a massive improvement in these areas.

What is the coolest and most impressive result that stretching has helped someone with?

Working at a gym gives me the chance to see my stretch clients at training as well. One female client after four stretch sessions had an amazing, for the first time pain free, leg session with deep split squats and snatch grip dead lifts, it’s been 3 months and she is still pain free with no additional stretching with me.

Freeing up a lot of backs is a common one too. Enabling people to train/dance/compete when pain has stopped them is a pretty cool feeling.

Having traveled all over the world for your education, how did you find the quality of the gym and services at the Genesis Performance Center?

I had been dying to see Genesis ever since I met Jon and then even more after seeing all his new equipment on facebook. On top of world class equipment the staff are great and the whole place has a very motivating atmosphere to it. Cannot wait to come back! Thanks for the great experience.

Thanks for your time Keith and you are welcome back any time!

Last week, Keith Bearne, one of the top stretching instructors in Australia came to give a seminar attended by 25 clients and visitors at the Genesis Performance Center, Singapore’s top personal training gym. He explained the principles and fundamentals of stretching and how they can be applied to any stretch to boost its effectiveness while at the same time reducing pain!

The information is designed to help each attendee improve their performance just about instantly.

I personally added some of the stretch techniques to my pre workout routine and found some positions like the deep squat position more comfortable within one session.

We look forward to bringing in more world class experts to improve the level of health education in Singapore.

Here is some feedback from one of the seminar participants.

“Being a personal trainer myself, I’ve always been intrigued by the benefits that stretching can have upon our bodies. Through this seminar, I got to see a clearer picture of how stretching can help relieve many of the common problems faced by the average person and/or athletes. It is extremely useful for me as I am better able to assess my clients’ flexibility issues and address them.

I have since incorporated the stretches that Keith had demonstrated, on myself to relieve the extreme muscle imbalances due to the nature of my sport which is competitive Dragon-boating.

Genesis Performance Center has done a fabulous job in organizing this seminar. Looking forward to more seminars. Thanks!”

-Allison Yen

At the Genesis Performance Center, Asia’s top personal training and fitness bootcamp center, it is important that we customize nutrition, training and supplementation for each person’s needs. We use several tools to do this, and one of them is functional testing of blood, urine, stool and saliva to see exactly what is going on inside, and what nutrients or lifestyle changes need to be made for maximum results.

While regular “total body” check ups are good for general health, they don’t really tell us that much about what to do, other than “eat healthier food, and exercise more” this is a good starting point, but it is not enough for the “tough cases” of people who have trouble with weight loss even with a good diet and more weight loss exercises.

There are many other things that can go wrong, like toxicity, hormone imbalances and digestive tract problems that can slow down results. For example the typical (no health issues) overweight guy usually loses 12 kilos of weight, and about 16-18 kg of fat in 3 months. This happens all the time with the correct combination of nutrition and training.

However we have had clients who are very motivated, and hard working, get very little progress… I can’t stand clients not getting progress… and this is where functional testing plays a part.

We can find out accurately if its food allergies, gut bacteria problems or hormone issues that hold the person back. Fixing these issues also tend to resolve other things like sleep issues, constipation/loose stools, and common illnesses.

The first test that should be done is a “Comprehensive metabolic profile” which does a pretty good job of finding out what the problem is, and directing us to look out for what else needs to be done.

It is a test that can be done at home, and requires 2 finger pricks (just like those that diabetics use to measure their blood sugar at home), as well as a small urine sample.

Only 8 hours of fasting is required, so one nights sleep should do the job.

In fact, I just submitted my sample via courier today (see above pic). As my personal training and fitness boot camp clients know, I never as anybody to to anything that I have not tried myself, whether its a training program, a nutrition plan, a supplement, or a blood test!

We all know water is essential. Especially our personal training and fitness boot camp clients who train often and with challenging workouts. Everything depends on it, fat burning, weight loss, increases in strength, etc. Even a 1% body weight drop in water leads to a massive 10% or more drop in strength!

What concerns me is that the quality of water may not be as good as it should be for maximum health. Even bottled water is often not as clean as the pictures of mountain streams on the side of the bottle make it appear to be. (See video below)

As usual its best to take things into your own hands when it comes to your health. I recently installed a water filter in my home. It consists of a multi level filtration system as well as an alkalizing element. It is important to filter out stuff that shouldn’t be there, as well as to alkalize the water. Alkaline water makes your body less acidic (duh) but the benefits of this include, improved immune system health, improved resistance to stress, and improved recovery from training.

Stress and exercise are probably two of the biggest acidifying factors in life (not food as most people believe). Stress is not going away in a super busy city like Singapore, and not-exercising leads to a bunch of other major problems.

So the thing to do is to use good alkaline water system, as well as large servings of veggies and fruits (in accordance with your current body-fat and genetic tolerances) to keep your body alkaline.

So, one option is the “Filter + Alkalizer” option.

The other option is called reverse osmosis. This is actually even better at taking out metal contaminants like lead, mercury and copper. However there are 2 possible issues, firstly it takes out minerals that may be beneficial, and secondly it is moderately wasteful… one liter of pure water from reverse osmosis systems create 2-3 liters of waste water.

Price wise they are about the same. However running costs of reverse osmosis are higher due to the wastage. How many times can you use that water to clean your floors and clothes ?!

The wastage factor is the reason I choose filtration + alkalization for my family and my home’s system. But the choice is yours.

If you are looking for company who is good with water treatment systems for your home and your family, please contact me and I can put you in touch with them. They have good service, decent prices and are not pushy with sales.

The average cost is actually quite reasonable, about $1000 to start up and install (either under your sink, or as a coutner top version) and about $200 per year to change filters etc. Prices can vary here and there depending on the options you choose. You can save on bottled water and other bad drinks as well so I think its a good investment.

Contact me if you’re interested in a water purification system for your home, or even a portable system.

Stay hydrated and stay strong!

There have been more “scary stories” in the past week in the media in Singapore about the “dangers” of being in the sun. How skin cancer is a huge threat and how we are not designed to be in the sun all the time.

The mainstream media is out to sensationalize things and scary stores are a great way to get readership. But they are wrong. (and it wouldn’t be the first time, and probably not the last). Here is what I believe to be the balanced and smarter way of doing things…

Here are some truths about how the sun affects us. And how we should deal with the risks, while getting the most benefit from sunlight!

• The sun helps us produce vitamin D, and it its best possible form. I recommend vitamin D to many of my personal training, fitness bootcamp and nutrition coaching clients because it is a wonderful nutrient that has great benefits from immune system health, less allergies and autoimmune diseases, fat burning and muscle building as well. An interesting point is that EVERY kind of tissue in our body has vitamin D receptors that means that correct vitamin D levels boost ALL areas of health. That means that However, even the best quality supplemental vitamin D is possible not as good as the vitamin D produced in our own bodies when we are exposed to sunlight. In fact Dr. Michael Holick, an expert on vitamin D has researched and found out that vitamin D produced from skin exposure to sunlight lasts longer (2x or more) in our blood as when it is taken as a supplement.
• The risk to benefit ratio of having sunlight vs not having it is excellent. The most common damaging problem of EXCESSIVE sun exposure is what is known as basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. Certainly it is not a good idea to get skin cancer. However basal cell carcinoma is relatively non-malignant, and almost never results in death. However the cancers who have a REDUCED risk with higher sun exposure (we know this because they are more common in less sunny areas of the world) are very deadly. Colon, breast, prostate and others are very dangerous cancers and they are all positively influenced by sunlight! Yay!
• We need to condition ourselves to sunlight. And our bodies will adapt. Sunlight has 2 types of ultra violet rays (UV). Type A, and Type B. UVB burns us but also stimulates vitamin D production. UVA tans us but is also damaging to the skin. Most sunscreen blocks only UVB. So we don’t get vitamin D production. Yet it allows us to feel “unburnt” so we stay longer in the sun, and absorb alot of UVA which eventually causes skin problems.
• In short, if we are not accustomed to sun, we will get burnt, that is the sign that we have had enough, and should go inside. However sunscreen “turns off” the burning and helps us stay outside longer than out current level to tan and tolerance allows.
• It is a bit like training an athlete. If he is gradually conditioned (getting a tan over time) he can withstand great physical training and stress. However, taking a suntan lotion is like training while on painkillers, you feel no pain so you don’t know when to stop and you get a serious injury because your body cannot actually handle the training loads.

What have we learned?

• The sun is good for us
• Too much is bad for us
• Don’t use suntan lotion
• Get a tan gradually if you want one
• When you are tanned, you can tolerate more sunlight

Of course there is nothing wrong with looking good! I too enjoy being fit and healthy and strong looking. I know it can be tougher for ladies. There are clothes, bags, shoes and accesories and they all have to match.

While I am no fashion expert, I do care about the health of the female clients at our fitness bootcamps, personal training and nutritional / health consultations. And here is a good website that can help all the readers and clients choose good cosmetics. So here it is.

There can be incredible amounts of heavy metals, and other toxins in cosmetics (and these can absorb through the skin!) so I hope you ladies can stay healthy while lookin good.

If you think that cosmetics or other conditions have caused you internal toxicity, no problem, we provide a complete detox program to help you out as well.