Cardio exercises for the beginner (Outdoor exercise)

Cardio exercises are any exercises that raises your heart rate. When I started my first cardio exercise, I always thought is all about running. However there are various exercises that help to raise our heart rate. Cardio workouts have to be progressive but every level you set, you have to push to your limits.

I have some outdoor exercises that help to improve your cardio for the beginners:

1. Running

For beginners you might want to start doing some light run for around 20 minutes. Slowly increase the running duration by 5 minutes for every week until you hit 1 hour.  When you are ready try to increase your pace and maintain throughout the running duration. I will suggest that you can run at any park connector or stadium.

RUN FOR MY LIFE

2. Stairs Climbing

Look for HDB buildings or any buildings which is at least 10 stories or higher. This program requires you to keep climbing up and down the stairs for at least 20 minutes. Slowly increase the climbing duration by 5 minutes every week until it hit 45 minutes. For beginners you are required to climb up to 10th storey, climb your way down to 1st storey and this is considered as 1 set. Try to hit as many sets as possible for the time limit that you set.

STAIRS CLIMBING

3. Swimming

This program is for people who know how to swim. There are various types of swimming styles and it is up to your preference on which style you are comfortable at swimming. I will prefer you all to swim in an Olympic pool size because it is a standard pool size to know how many laps you have swim. You can always start by swimming for 15 minutes non-stop and increase the swimming duration by 5 minutes every week until it hit 45 minutes. Try to swim as many laps as possible for the time limit that you set.

4. Hiking

You will be questioning me hiking will improve your cardio? Yes Hiking will improve your cardio and help to improve your muscular fitness. When you are hiking you are engaging almost all of your body parts such as legs, knees, ankles, arms, hips, butt, abdominal,shoulders and neck.Hiking will also help you to reduce your stress and peace your mind I would recommend that you can plan a 1 to 3 hours hiking route.There are a few hiking routes you all can explore such as Bukit Timah Hill, Macritchie Reservoir and etc. Be prepared to stay hydrated and bring some light snacks if you feel hungry. 

HIKING FROM MANDAI TO MACRITICHIE RESERVOIR 

Plan your motivation

When you click motivation in google search this is what you get:

Motivation

məʊtɪˈveɪʃ(ə)n

noun

a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.

We all have different source of motivation and reason for us to act in a particular way. People get their source of motivation when they look up on someone who is successful. Other people get their source of motivation by their friends and family members support.  My opinion, motivation is all dependent on yourself whether you want to push that extra mile to make different changes in your life. You can have thousands over of people motivating you and cheer you up but is you, yourself who choose to be motivated and keep on pushing. I am not a motivational speaker or any well-known public speaker who will give 101 tips of how you motivate yourself.

Do anyone tell you that they wake up from their bed and feel motivated straight away? Or people advise you to always look at yourself in the mirror reminding yourself that you are motivated? Basically I don't think they are motivated, they are forced to find their motivation without willingness to be motivated to accomplish their stuff. Motivation is for you to find a reason to act in a particular way. You need to be dedicated and willingly to spend your time to act in a particular way. Do not force yourself to be motivated because eventually you will not get what you want. I don't believe once those audiences hear the public speaker teach them the way to motivate and they will get motivated straight away.

Public speaker will only give you advice on ways to motivate yourself, it is the audience themselves to find a reason to get motivated.

I have been telling you that motivation is all about finding a reason and willingness to make a change. However the most important part of motivation is planning how you will get motivated. I will guide you how do you plan your motivation, i will use IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test) Gold as a source motivation.

 IPPT Gold 

If I asked most of the NS Men will you get IPPT Gold if there is no cash reward. I think 9 out of 10 will say WHAT FOR ! PASS CAN LIAO ! That 1 person who say he is willing to get IPPT gold without cash reward i will respect him a lot. However this is not the main topic that i want to share with you. Let's be honest even I aim my IPPT Gold is because of the $500 cash incentive.

Reason of motivation: $500 Cash Incentives

Let's say you are very motivated to get this $500 cash incentives but you don't know how to run fast, do as many chin up and push up within 1 minute. Eventually your motivational level will drop damn low and you will feel demoralize. You have the reason of motivation but how are you going to convert this motivation into action. That the reason why motivation is all about planning it.

How to plan my motivation into action

When you get your motivation you have to ask yourself are you willingly to sacrifice your time for training and be discipline enough to complete all the training sets given?  Why I want to ask this question is because during training you will face difficulties such as unable to hit a desired result during training and other commitment. When you say YES means you need to find a way to turn your motivation into action. If you know that you are weak in running you can ask your friends who are good in 2.4 km run to train with you. In addition you can look through the internet on how to improve your 2.4 km run. Subsequently you can look at my previous post on how i trained my 2.4 km here is the link: 

http://baocando.blogspot.sg/2016/10/24km-program.html

1) Set yourself a training program.

Get the resource from your friends or in the internet and create your training program. Make sure set enough time to train yourself before going for the actual test.

2) Setting your target for every training

Always plan your program such as you will need to test yourself if you are able to hit at a certain timing or target. For e.g if you are doing interval training like 400m x 6. Set your target time for every 400m.

3) Know your strength and weakness

During training you will know your strength and weakness. Do not let your weakness demoralize you. Make sure this weakness turn into your strength one day. If you know your push up is your weakness,carrying on to train harder for your push up and eventually it will not be your weakness anymore.

4) Do your own assessment

Always do your own pre-test first before heading to the real test. During your pre-test you should know what you fail in and do some remedy to it before heading to the real test.

5) If fail the 1^st time always think back the source of motivation and work harder

Not everyone can succeed at the first attempt. It is common for you to fail at your first attempt. I did not get my first IPPT gold in BMT, I keep on training until I got my first IPPT gold when I was in Specialist Cadet Trainee. I always have problem with my chin up in the past but I do not let this weakness to pull down my motivation. I always think back my source of motivation is to get an IPPT gold. I work harder by training my pull up during the admin time.

6) Celebrate once you hit your source of motivation

Just celebrate and reward yourself for your hard work that you have contributed, the time and dedication that you put in during your training.But don't celebrate for too long and always look for next source of motivation so that that you can improve yourself this way.

I am using training for an example, but you can apply this on your future work or prepare your plan for your source of motivation.

Difficulties that you face that bring down your motivation

1) People discourage you

Just ignore their discouragement, let this be your encouragement to be stronger and better person.

2) Injuries

People always give up once they have long- term injuries. Do not force yourself if you are really injuries. Make sure you are fully recovered from your injuries and doctor approved for you to start training.

3) Work and Family commitment 

Everyone have work and family commitment. Always plan your training and work ahead. If you are unable to train that day, make sure you find another day to train what you have missed.

Family commitment,always let your family members know that you need some time for training. Make sure let them know what you are training for. 

4) Lazy

This is the worst thing to happen to you if you commit your source of motivation. 

Remember Lazy is a very stupid reason to demoralize yourself. 

Below are my source of motivation how about your?

FIRST MUSCLE UP

FOR HER

PASSED MY DRIVING 

$500 Cash Incentive

Passed My Degree

96kg to 80kg within 4 months

Slimming down is not an easy process and it is even harder to maintain the weight. I would like to share my journey with you on how I managed to slim down from 96 kg to 80 kg within 4 months. A lot of slimming stories will show you how they slim down by working out a lot and showing you the process when they slim down either in Instagram, Facebook and other platforms of social media. Those videos do not spark me at all because I find it meaningless to slim down and why should I suffer by stopping myself to eat good food. I always tell myself to slim down but eventually my weight never drop.

  

In the past I did a lot of cardio workouts but my weight always remain stagnant around 90 kg to 94 kg. Some of my friends told me the amount of workouts I did should make me slim down faster but why my weight always stay the same or even heavier? I always think my weight is still acceptable because I have this thinking that my heavy weight is due to my heavy bones and gaining muscle due to my gym workout. All these excuses are the reasons for me to eat more even when I workout a lot. Every workout i am thinking this way.

CAKES

WAFFLES ICE CREAM 

AND MORE WAFFLES ICE CREAM

Cake and Waffles Ice cream are the things that I cannot miss out during my weekend . Waffle ice cream and cake is so damn sinful and sweet but I don't give a damn about it. That's why my weight never drop even with the amount of workouts I did. Let me tell you why I want to drop my weight eventually. Below images are the reasons why i want to slim down:

TEAMMATE

PAIN AND MY BEST

MY FIANCEE

Yes basically is for my teammates who are paddling with me and and my fiancée supporting me. These are the reasons why i started to slim down and become a fitter person. 

When I did my fat percentage test on end of March 16, while my team mates weight are reduced, I was shocked that my fat percentage shot up to 27%. Never in my life I felt so disappointed with my weight.I decided that I need to do something right, by reducing my weight. Here are some of the workout programmes that i did to reduce my weight within 4 months (Apr 16- Aug 16). 

My Programmess

1) 45 min run

Those who don't run often and want to start running try to do a light jog for at least 45 min for at least 2 to 3 times per week. Slowly increase the pace every week. 

2) 2.4km, 1.6km, 800m and 400m 

If you are near any park connector or stadium you can try doing this program.

- 2.4 km (Target 10 min and below rest 7 min)

- 1.6 km (Target 8 min and below rest 6 min)

- 800m (Target 3 min 30 sec and below rest 3 min)

- 400m (Target 1 min 30 sec and below)

Start off with 2.4 km run and slowly reduce the distance to 400 m. Above target is what I set whenever i do this program. You can adjust your target and rest time. However every week give yourself a challenge by reducing the target and shorten the rest time.

3) Treadmill running program

During the rainy days i will go to the gym and start running at the treadmill. However my treadmill running program is different from my normal running program. I will set speed 9 km/ hr  and every minute i will increase 0.5 km/ hr until it reach 15 km/hr. After hitting 15 km/ hr for 1 minute, slowly reduce the speed by 0.5 km/ hr for every minute until it hit to 9 km/hr.

4) 2000m, 1000m, 500m Ergometer program

I will do this program every time i go to the gym and this is my first gym program before i do my weights. 

-2000m (Target 7 min 30 Sec and below rest 7 min)

-1000m (Target 3 min 30 sec and below rest 3 min)

-500m (Target 1 min 45 sec and below)

Start off with 2000 m and slowly reduce to 500 m. You all can adjust your target and rest time. However every week gives yourself a challenge by reducing the target and shorten the rest time.

5) 100 reps Dead lift, Squat and weighted chin up 

This three workouts in gym will be your priority program and you have to complete 100 reps within 20 minutes for all the three workouts. Try to hit the gym 3 times a week and do these three different workouts in three separate days so that your body is able to recover and to prevent injuries. Make sure you know your weight limits and slowly increase the weights when you are ready.

6) RPM

If you are members of any fitness clubs such as Fitness First or Virgin active. I would recommend you all to join the RPM class (Cycle workout class). This workout will improve your cardio and it will make your sweat like hell.

*Do not let your high ego injured yourself. Reduce it first, if you think you are unable to handle the intensity or weights. Slowly increase the tempo and intensity of the workout when you are fit and ready to do so.

My diet

First thing i cut down is my dessert craving and stop eating a lot sweet stuff. During lunch I will eat something light like Yong Ta Fu and other soupy stuff. For dinner I will take soya bean no sugar and bread. In addition I will also try to reduce the carbohydrates intake. Don't listen to people who don't eat their lunch and dinner at all to reduce their weights drastically. This is super unhealthy and no way are you able to sustain if you workout often. I will have a cheat day at least once a month, such as indulging myself with a waffles ice cream and etc. This is a form of motivation for me to carry on my slimming down regime. I do not have any personal fitness instructor to guide me. This is  based on all the readings, experience and advise from my friends. Some programs may suit some of you all but most importantly whatever programs you set you have to follow and be disciplined enough to complete the programs you set.

Pointers to take note when you start slimming down

1) Do not starve yourself

2) Do not over eat

3) Set your desired weight

4) Be disciplined

5) Know yourself better do not let other people influence you

6) Stay Positive

7) Reward yourself when you hit certain weight milestone

8) Do not give up if you know the process is hard

Honestly I do not have 6 pack abs or very muscular frame. Whatever i have written in this blog is based on my experience. I am here to show you how to slim down, if you want a wonderful 6 pack abs you can always go to the website to read up and see some video from youtube for advice.  Below are some of the fat and slim down moments:

GOOD FRIDAY 2016 FAT FACE

96 KG STRUGGLING MY WORKOUT (Feb 2016)

84KG (June 2016)

78.9KG on 1st August 2016

RUBBER MAN (SlIM TO FAT TWICE)

2km Ergometer

Till this day Ergometer is one of the most painful cardio machines I have ever done. The fan spinning sound that generate from the Ergometer can make me feel so scared to even start doing it. I never like Ergometer at first and in the past i always curse and swear the person who invented this so called indoor rowing machine. However what push me on to keep on doing Ergometer and have strong interest with this machine is because of my current dragon boat teammates that i am paddling with.

I always gauged my paddling or rowing cardio by doing 2 km Ergometer. 2 km Ergometer required a lot of mental and muscle endurance. Hitting Sub 7 requires a lot of practices and I have been looking through a lot of videos and read up on how to achieve my sub 7 timing for 2 km Ergometer. I am not professional athletes or protege in rowing. I believe in hard work and encourage from your friends will make you achieve your desire result. Below is some of the past 2 km timing i have ever hit:

First ever attempt of 2km Ergo in 2015

My first Sub 7 timing

My personal best for 2km Ergo

2017 first 2 km timing

Ergometer Training Programmes:

I would like to share with you some of the programmes that my friends have shared with me and also my programmes that I always to prepare my 2km Ergometer:

1. 250m x 10 sets

This is the program that my friend have shared with me and I find it quite effective. The rest time in each set is only 15 seconds and target to hit every sets is 45 seconds to 50 seconds. Keep doing this program for at least 1 month to go on the next program.

2. 500m x 5 sets
The next program is 500 m x 5 sets and the rest time in each sets is only 50 seconds and target to hit every sets is 1 min 45 seconds and below. When you can hit below 1 min 45 seconds for all 5 sets, you can start to reduce the rest time to 25 seconds. Keep doing this program for at least 1 month to go on the next program.

3. Tabata

This program is 20 seconds all-out effort and 10 seconds rest time for 8 cycles x 4 sets. Once completed your 8 cycles in 1 set, you have only 1 minute to rest to carry on the next set. Once you have done with your 2nd set, you have the privilege to rest for 2 minutes before going for 3rd and 4th sets. The rest time for 3rd set to 4th set will be adjusted back to 1 minute again. Target for every 20 seconds is 100 m and above.

4. 2km Time trial

You are ready for your 2 km time trial. If you are unable to hit the desired timing that you want, keep doing the programmes that i have shared with you and one day you will get your first sub 7 timing.

Things to take note:

1. Make sure tune your mindset right in training. Know which sets you die off and what mistake you have made.

2. I am not an expert on the rowing technique but I will search at YouTube video for proper Ergometer technique.

3. Before you do your 2 km time trial make sure you are ready to endure the pain and set your mind right to hit your desired timing.