ISYS100 - MNBKSfitness Lunch VLOG!

Hey guys,

Since so many of you asked us what kind of meals we eat, we decided to put it in vlog for you. There are also a few unhealthy choices in it for comparison. So let us know what you think about what we eat and tell us what a usual lunch for you guys consists of!





Be fit, be happy

Healthy Sleeping Habit

Hi guys, Shadeed here with some more fitness tips. Today I am going to talk about sleeping habits. This is quite crucial in maintaining fitness. Who doesn't like to sleep? I know I do but can too much of it be good for your fitness? Definitely not.

You know what they all say: Early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise.

Now I don't know about the wealthy and wise bit, seems like there’s a lot of other factors involved in it but what I do know is that a well maintained sleeping cycle helps you remain fit and maintain fitness. Maintaining healthy sleeping cycle in order keeps your – 

• active lifestyle in order 
• hence appetite cycle in order 
• hence the digestive system in order as well.

If you don't already have a healthy sleeping cycle, now considering these factors ask yourself that if you were to maintain a healthy sleeping cycle would you be more fit?
The answer is yes my friend. Don't fall into the hands of bedtime procrastination, go to bed in time. Don't fall into the hands of laziness, wake up in time. Let’s not stop there, after waking up maintain a healthy lifestyle. Make sure you eat healthy, sleep healthy and workout healthy. Through these steps achieving fitness is easy.
That’s all for now people. Hope you have enjoyed all the posts.
Be fit, be happy.   

Image source: http://www.eclipsemattress.com/eclipse/PublicPages/SleepInfo.aspx

Core strength!

Hi guys, Mitomo from mnbks Fintess =]

How many people have been working out their core muscles?
Or even know how to or why?
Working out your core muscle is boring, you cannot see the result as you do for upper body and lower body, however, it is the most important muscle to work on.
Plank or Bridge
Side plank


The key role of the core is to support the upper body, primarily to prevent injury to the spinal column. The spine is an amazing design with each joint allowing about four degrees of movement. If the muscles are not strong enough, the body may well push the boundaries of this limited range. If the limits are exceeded too much and/or too often, it can cause damage to the ligaments, facet joints or disc between the vertebra.

So how do you work on your core?

Few ways of working out is as followed:

Just tighten everything up

Get into the habit of tightening up all the muscles around your abdomen and stomach 10 times a day. Create cues, like the phone ringing or every time you have a drink of water to contract the muscles.

Plank or Bridge 

This involves holding the body rigid and parallel to the floor, keeping everything from shoulders to ankles in a straight line. Start lying on your stomach then push up onto your toes and elbows, keeping your body straight. I do this when watching TV. Instead of sitting on the couch, I’ll lie on the floor and each time an ad comes on I’ll do a plank for as long as I can. You’ll realise how long the ad breaks are when you do this!

Side Plank

This is similar to the plank except you are on one elbow and the outside of one foot. Hold your body in a straight line for as long as you can and make sure you do both sides.

Working on these three is a good start to strengthening your core muscles. Just a few minutes each day can make the difference and could potentially prevent you from experiencing the sort of pain my friend is going through. It is a lot easier to do these before you get a sore back, so don’t wait until something starts to hurt.

Be fit, Be happy =]

Injuries

Injury is never considered when we are healthy and in top shape, however with any fitness activity, be it a set of squats, an extra mile or lap in the pool, there carries a risk that scales with level of activity. Two of the most common causes of injury in the gym are poor posture during the day and trying to do too much too fast.

In today’s society we sit in chairs for most of our waking hours, be it at school, in the office and even in the toilet. As a result of sitting down so much and leaning forwards in front of books or a computer, many people have developed poor posture. Common problems associated with poor posture from sitting down include hyper lordosis (when the lower back is arched excessively and the buttocks stick out) tightened hip flexors and forward head lean.  To reduce the possibility of poor posture, you can simply take small breaks at regular intervals from sitting and walk around for a little bit. A small break every half an hour would be ideal to maintain posture and lower back integrity.

Trying to do too much too fast ties in with my previous post on Training Hard vs Training Smart. To summarise, know your body’s limits and make sure you don’t push yourself too much. The saying is thrown around a lot in the world of fitness, but remember fitness is a marathon, not a sprint!

Some other general tips to stay safe include:

1.       Stretching before doing exercise.

2.       Foam rolling

3.       Training lower body and upper body equally

Don't be that guy who doesn't do legs!

Injuries are unpleasant and can set us back from our goals. Not being able to train when one wants to is depressing and a situation nobody wants to be in, so stay safe everyone! If your body feels off think twice before doing that extra set, running that extra lap or going to that next zumba class!

Stay safe, be fit and be happy!

Protein Shakes and all about it!

Hi guys! It's Natalie back again to tell you about protein shakes today. 

For the people who are unsure of what protein shakes are, they are powdered forms of protein such as soy or whey with extra flavor added and you blend it with milk or water. It looks like milkshake which is where the name “protein shake” comes from. Many people take protein shakes to help building muscles or to lose weight.

To begin with, why does your body need protein?

Protein is an essential nutrient required to build new cells. Every cell and organ in your body including muscle, skin, hair and connective tissue contains and need protein.

You can absorb protein from whole food such as meat, fish, poultry and eggs. However, getting the entire required intake is impossible unless you eat six or more times a day. Hence, protein shakes are suggested for people who desire aesthetics.

So the question comes down to whether protein powders really work or not.

The obvious answer is yes. However, it is a supplement to help you achieve your goals. Just drinking the shakes will not help you build the muscles. You need a well-planned out workout schedule along with healthy diet. Then you will achieve your goal in no time!

Be fit, Be happy!

Have you been rolling?

Hi guys, it's Mitomo from mnbks fitness =]

Today, I want to express my feelings about the importance of foam rollers!

The foam roller, like traditional stretching, is a great tool for lengthening and elongating muscles, but its benefits are especially helpful for runner, who often suffer from tight and fatigues muscles. Instead of simply lengthening the muscle, a foam roller massages muscle intensely, much like a massage from a physio, but using your own body weight and agility. 

The main benefits are as followed:

• Improved blood circulation throughout your skin, fascia, muscles, and even tendons and ligaments where you can access them with a foal roller.
  
• Through improved blood circulation, more efficient exchange of nutrients and waste products at a cellular level, leading to better overall cellular function and inter-cellular communication.
  
• Lengthening of short (tight) muscles, tendons, and ligament.
  
  Some muscles (e.g. hip flexors) and ligaments are prone to shortening, and are difficult to effectively stretch and apply therapeutic pressure to using standard massage and trigger point therapy techniques. But with a foam roller, you can apply deep pressure massage to such areas and lengthening shortened tissues, thereby preventing physical imbalances that can predispose you to injury
  
• promotion of optimal spinal range of motion. You can accomplish this by slowly rolling your spine against a foam roller and pausing whenever you feel restrictions around your joints and surrounding tissues to stretch.

So go out there, buy one of these amazing equipment and roll away!

Be fit, Be happy =]

Importance of Stretching!

Hello again, this is Natalie.

One quick question for all of you out there: How many of you do stretching? Not just before and after a workout but generally throughout the day?

Some of you may but I’m guessing most of you don’t. Even some of my friends who are in to fitness and gym don’t stretch before or after their exercise.

Did you know that stretching is just as important as exercise?

In general sense, it helps to improve flexibility and assists incorrect posture especially for those who spends most of the time on computers or on desk. Even for your mind, a short amount of time in the middle of your study or work can calm the mind and give your chance to recharge from the mental break. Below is a video which explains short stretching work outs you can easily follow. 

At least 3 to 5 minutes of stretching before you get in to actual exercise is crucial in avoiding any injuries in the future. Each of your major muscles should be warmed up before and also after. When muscles perform any exercise, they tighten and shorten. Hence stretching them out allows restoring the movement as well as reducing the soreness.

So remember to stretch before and after workout! It will prevent you from any serious injuries. Remember, you want to be fit and stay safe.

Be fit, be happy and be safe! :)

Overtraining and the Importance of Rest Days

Hi guys,
Over the past couple of weeks we've been talking to you about ways to stay fit and motivated with different workout ideas. However it is important to recognise that there is such a thing as overtraining. Overtraining happens when you train and workout beyond your body's ability to recover properly. While you may think that you're maximising your potential by working your body hard 7 days a week, this can lead to overtraining syndrome and in fact decrease your performance!

Overtraining can have you feeling tired and drained all the time, leave you with muscle soreness, headaches, weaken your immune system and even prevent you from sleeping properly. The key is to find a healthy balance between working out and rest to enable your body to recover properly. Allowing your body to have proper rest days between periods of training will in fact increase your performance and maximise your results.

However having a rest day doesn't mean sitting on the couch and watching TV all day. You can have an active rest day, conditioning your body, getting it ready for that next workout. A proper stretching routine targeting all areas of your body is a great way to spend your rest day. Yoga is a great choice here and will increase your performance across all areas of physical activity. Furthermore if that's not enough for you on your rest day, low intensity work on the treadmill and making use of a foam roller is also another option.

So there you have it guys, don't over work yourselves - make sure you're getting adequate rest days in to maximise your results. I highly recommend trying out yoga if you haven't yet, it'll make all aspects of your physical performance better, and maybe even spiritual. 

That's all for this one... be fit, be happy!

Are you training below your belts?

Hi guys, Mitomo from MNBKS Fitness =]

How’s everyone’s working out going?

Are you guys doing your leg day properly?
Don’t tell me you are skipping leg day because it wont stand out as upper body and you think it’s not worth it…

Well today, I’m going to let you people know why it is important to work on your legs more than your upper body. It’s not all about looking good.

And no, it’s not those simple reasons like, it will make you run faster, and longer, or it’ll make you a better athlete. But better reasons that will make you not only look good, but also feel young and strong! Because friends don't let friends miss leg day.

1.      It’ll increase your metabolism.

Not only will leg day make you speedier on the track, but it can also speed up your metabolism. Strength training outperforms running, cycling, rowing and other standard cardio exercises when it comes to keeping metabolism revved up.

2.      You’ll relieve lower back pain

When people have lower back pain, most people blame tight hamstrings and attempt to stretch them, however, they would be better off stretching the hip flexors and strengthening the hamstrings, gluteus and abdominal muscles.

3.      You’ll improve on your balance.

Balance is essential for maintaining control of your body. Exercises like side lunges and deadlifts will increase your stability, develop your proprioception and help keep you ready for anything.

*Just a quick what not to do for legs:

Never add more weight or attempt to go for speed until you’ve got the movement patterns down.

Beginners should pay special attention to squat depth, posture and knee alignment.

Be fit, Be happy =]

Healthy Diet Habit Tips

Hello everyone,

This is Natalie from MNBKS Fitness. Today I want to talk about having healthy diet habits.

1.     Have Breakfast!

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released a shocking report that one in seven school children are skipping breakfast. Breakfast is considered as the most important meal of the day. The research shows that consuming breakfast regularly is correlated with lower level of overweight and obesity. If you’re in a hurry in the morning, have an apple or banana on your way to school or workplace. It will improve alertness and concentration you need during the day.

       2.     Drink a lot of water.

  As many people may already know, drinking an adequate amount of water is an essential part not only keeping you fit but also staying healthy. There are several benefits and to begin with, it helps maintain the balance of body fluids as our body is composed of about 60% of it. This bodily fluids are part of almost every part cycle such as digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature. It also helps to control calories which is why if you are aiming to lose weight, it is essential to drink water often. It is recommended to carry a water bottle  wherever you go and drink them at regular intervals.

3.     Snacks between meals

Try having a piece of fruit or a few crackers in between your meals. Eating small frequent meals can be less taxing on your digestive system and it keeps you from overeating at mealtime.

Being fit and healthy is not just about going to gym and working out. It is a combination of exercising and keeping a healthy diet. It is these little habits that if you can get yourself to do them everyday, you will be able to achieve you goals much more faster. 

Be fit, Be happy!

App Review: Nike + Running

Hey guys,
Kevin here from the MNBKS Fitness team coming with something a little different today. I've been using the Nike+ Running app for iOS and Android lately and thought I would give you guys my thoughts.

So as most people know, running is one of the simplest, easiest, and most effective forms of cardio. Just a little bit everyday will build your muscles, improve cardio vascular fitness, burn plenty of kilojoules, and even strengthen your bones!
The Nike+ Running app aims to add elements of 'Web 2.0' and social networking to your runs to help make then less 'boring', and motivate and drive you towards your fitness goals.

When you start Nike+ Running for the first time you're presented with the main feature app. Essentially it's an app designed to track the route (through GPS), distance, time, pace, splits and NikeFuel of your run.
All of this data is stored and available to you at any time and therefore can act as a very powerful tool for the setting and achieving of goals.
You might want to be able run an extra kilometre next week. Run a kilometre 30 seconds faster? Increase your pace for next time? All of this is trackable through the Nike+ Running app.
When you're finished you can even share your run on Facebook directly through the app and get cheered on by your friends.









Competing against yourself and beating your previous goals however is only the start. The best motivation comes when you're competing against others right? The Nike+ Running app allows you to do just that. You can set challenges for you and your friends, complete with a full, real-time leaderboard.














The Nike+ Running app has definitely made running more fun and interesting for me whilst I've been using it. Setting and beating personal goals, and fighting for every metre so that my name is on the top of that leaderboard was really motivating for me.

All in all I hope this review was of some use to you guys, the app is definitely worth checking out. Also did I mention that it was FREE!? What more could you ask for?

Be fit, be happy, and get to running!

-Kevin

Training Hard vs Training Smart

For many people embarking the fitness journey, getting to the gym is the biggest problem and once in the gym, they often don’t know what to do. The most common thing I have experienced with people starting out is that enough is never enough. People want to go 6 times a week and each session they plan to do every single machine in the span of one hour or less or incorporate 50+ working sets. Whilst I am guilty of training like this in the past, a workload of such is simply unrealistic and unsustainable unless you are a professional athlete, enhanced or Russian. One has to remember that whilst fitness should be a core component of our lives, it shouldn’t be the only thing we expend energy for.

This problem is most likely going to occur with a beginner lifter who is transitioning into an intermediate lifter. They often still have the mindset of a beginner lifter, eager to do everything, however their bodies won’t be able to recover in the same way that a beginner would as they are lifting more weight and using their CNS more efficiently. As a result of not being able to fully recover for the next workout, they will constantly feel fatigued and without the needed rest, may result in overtraining and/or injury.

An easy solution to this problem is to have smart programming. For beginner lifters, programs such as starting strength by Mark Rippetoe or Mehdi’s 5x5 stronglifts program are a great place to start and as they progress they may look into programs such as The Texas Method or Billstar’s 5x5. These programs may or may not be suitable for the goals of individuals not looking to gain strength and have other goals in mind.

Lord Rippetoe beams upon you as you descend below parallel in the squat

In the end it’s fine to train hard, but train smart as well.

Be fit, be happy.

Cardio workout

Hi guys guess who's back with some fitness tips. Great work there Kev and Boris, good pointers about the big 3 and great motivational post about having goals. So what I have in stock today are some advice regarding cardio. So how would you define cardio exercise? Cardio exercise is a form of physical exercise of low to high intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process.^[1] Some common cardio workout is jogging on a park or running on a treadmill. While these exercise does serve the purpose of cardio workout, in my opinion it is one dimensional. Don't you think so? So how about trying a sport instead or Zumba or maybe even a form of mixed martial arts :D Let's not get carried away there, for beginners let's just stick to sport or Zumba. :)

Now Zumba is a form of cardio exercise that's growing in popularity. I think it's great and works as a cardio workout and you can even learn a form of dance through it. For those who are not keen on dancing, getting involved in a sport is a great choice. For example indoor soccer, basket ball, tennis or maybe badminton but none of that golf stuff. I don't see how that's a workout. :P Anyways back to point, considering sport for a workout. So the benefit of such a workout is that you are covering the part of cardio exercise that you would normally cover while jogging, on top of that you are working on your stamina, agility and sense of team work as well. Overall the experience can motivate you further. You don't necessarily have to be good at the sport but that's the beauty of it, you can get better through commitment and in due time besides maintaining fitness, the sport is a new skill attained. That's like hitting two targets with one arrow. Achieving such a goal in context, you will be FIT and you will HAPPY ;)

That's all for now, keep an eye out for our next post. In the mean time 
work hard, 
play hard.
Be fit, be happy.


Reference:

1.  Sharon A. Plowman; Denise L. Smith (1 June 2007). Exercise physiology for health, fitness and performance. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7817-8406-1. Retrieved 3 October 2014.

Goals

Goals in life are one of the most powerful assets one can have, and fitness is no exception to this idea. We often embark on a road of fitness envisioning the end result, a perfect body with the corresponding perfect lifestyle. Whilst having a long-term goal as such is fine, one must remember that the road to fitness is a marathon rather than a sprint. Therefore I believe it is important to have short term goals on top of long term goals.

A short term goal is something attainable in around a month, whilst a long term goal may only be obtainable in a couple of years or so. As an aspiring powerlifter, my short-term goals at any point may be a 10 kg increase to my total (in powerlifting a total refers to the one rep maxes of the squat, benchpress and deadlift added together), or an improvement on my technique for a particular lift, however my long term goals may be to total a particular number or to be able to compete in a particular weight class.

In the end, having realistic short term goals is more important than having the most optimistic long term goal. Achieving a monthly short term goal is a big confidence booster, and will motivate one to keep going and pursue the next target weight, lift or lap time. Before you know it, the optimistic long term goal you had before is nothing more than a goal for the end of the month!

Most importantly, be fit, be happy. 

The Big 3

Hey guys, Kevin here from the team at MNBKS Fitness. Today I was doing a very standard weightlifting routine not necessarily for powerlifting or bodybuilding, but for building strength and burning calories, and thought I would walk you guys through it.
As the title suggests, it consists of three exercises: back squats, bench press and deadlifts.
Doing these three together is great because they target all the major muscle groups, making sure you burn calories, build muscle and most importantly get fit.
When choosing a weight, its important to listen to your body and not your ego. The only person you're competing with here is yourself. So choose a weight that you can do five reps with relative ease, and where by the eighth rep you're struggling to an extent.
For this workout I stuck to 3 sets of 5-8 reps of each exercise, but feel free to modify to your liking.
Also, remember for all three exercises, proper form is key for getting the most out of your workout and avoiding injury.

First up we've got back squats. So with feet shoulder width apart, take a deep breath, step underneath the bar with your hands on the barbell in a comfortable position and un-rack the weight.

Take another deep breath and start the squat. Make sure your knees stay in line with your feet the entire way through. Go as deep as you feel comfortable and exhale on the way back up. Its as simple as that. 

Next up is everyone's favourite, bench press. Remember choose a weight where you should be struggling by the eighth rep, or even the fifth. 

With the barbell gripped slightly wider than shoulder width, feet planted firmly on the floor (or toes pointed to the ground) and knees bent at about eighty degrees you're ready to start. 

Lift the weight off the rack and tighten the muscles in your torso. Inhale as you lower the weight. 

Once the weight reaches your chest and lightly touches it, explode back up. It is important to not bounce the weight off your chest when you're lowering the bar for obvious injury reasons and because you won't be getting the full effect of the exercise. The bar should travel slightly backwards as you press going from above your chest to over your face at the top. That's one rep.

Finally we have the deadlift. With the weight resting on the ground step to it, squat down, and grip the barbell with an overhand grip that is slightly outside your legs.

Make sure that you keep a neutral spine throughout the movement keeping your lower back flat.

To begin the lift, take a deep breath, keep your chin and chest up, and drive your heels through the floor. 

During the lift, focus on driving your chest up and your hips forward. 

The last step at the top of the lift is to "lockout" but fully extending your knees and hips and pulling your shoulders tight. It is important to lockout with good posture and not to go as far as to arch your back.

So that's it, a basic, effective weightlifting routine for you guys out there. You can never go wrong with the big 3. Hope you enjoyed this one, and remember be fit, be happy.

Kevin

Welcome to MNBKS Fitness

Be fit, be happy should be a motto of life.

People often confuse themselves between being fit and having a ripped physique. You don’t have to be ripped to be fit. Getting a ripped physique comes second to fitness. In my opinion, fitness is a combination of healthy diet in conjunction with regular exercise. Whether it’s walking to work, jogging every morning or a gym session after work, one needs to have a certain amount of exercise to remain fit. After you have an active lifestyle, it’s advisable to go towards shredding all the unnecessary fat and developing some lean muscle. With a little determination, you can achieve your desired physique. Be fit, be happy.