1 March 2013, Singapore – Binged a little too much on the pineapple tarts or bah kwa over the Chinese New Year period? A little excessive drinking and supper gave you more handles to love? Metropolitant’s fitness guru shares with you how to lose that little bit of excess baggage with exercise you can do under 15 minutes or even less!
If the idea of going to gym puts you off, your social life is demanding your full attention and you can’t seem to devote any time to exercising, here are some tips to get you started and it’s so easy there’s no excuse not to do it. Besides, it’s fun and you can do it anywhere without incurring any raised eyebrows.
Many of us may not know it but we all have abs. Yes, you’ve heard it right. These little muscles do more than just washing clothes – they are the core function of your stability when you walk, run, or even sit. Engaging in these muscles require little but conscious effort that anyone can do it.
For the non-gymmers, try out this simple trick – Take in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. As you exhale, suck in your tummy and hold it for 5-10secs. You can do it simply anywhere – in the bus, train, car, etc… The idea is to do it as many times as you can whenever and wherever you are. The reason? Simple, engaging your abdominals is like triggering a switch so that once you are familiar with triggering the muscle memory, you can simply tighten your abs without having to hold your breath for too long and you can even breath normally while engaging them.
For those who are active in the concrete jungle, do the same trick when you’re performing your crunches or yoga, etc… and you’ll find yourselves working out harder than usual.
The benefits of this simple exercise are plenty – core stability function is improved (no more tripping in crowded public transport and for the advanced, no handrail is needed), tendency to binge is reduced (your stomach muscles shrink whenever you engage your abs and hence lesser space for food which in turn lead to weight loss!), better sitting/standing posture; and last of all, while you may not see your abs for now, you know you can feel it and that itself is a great confidence booster.
Give yourself a challenge and try this out today! Challenge yourself to do it at least 10 times a day, everyday for a month and you’ll notice a difference.
Roy Chan