April, 2019 | The Health
Fitness
25
Home versus
gym workout
Is working out at home so different from working out at the gym?
By Christine Zoe Sta Maria
W
e met up with Shasha De Souza, a personal
trainer at KOA Fitness and she has agreed to
show us the ropes.
Proper technique to plank.
Do you think home workouts is good?
Home workouts are a great way to start. But, it
is better to do it with some weights. Bodyweight
workouts will take some time to learn. You should
start with small weights instead of lifting your own
body’s weight straight away. You should try to do
some research on regression first and start slow. For
example, when you start learning to do push-ups, you
should start pushing up off a wall first, then off a chair
and then finally, on the floor with your whole body
weight. If you move too quickly, you tend to hurt other
muscles such as in your neck and back.
Should I do it every day?
Beginners should workout everyday depending on the
types of workouts. You should start light with some
endurance exercises first such as running, walking,
lifting small weights and planking that you can even
do in your own room. You have to remember that
technique is important. If you do not have the right
posture, you might end up hurting yourself.
Can we get the job done without the tools?
The main thing about getting in shape is what you put
in your body. Food is 80 percent of getting in shape.
The other 20 percent is your exercise. Equipment
contribute to about 40 percent of getting in shape,
making it so that 60 percent is what you eat. Consume
a lot fibre, a lot coloured vegetables and stay hydrated.
So, what should I start with?
Squats, push-ups and planks. The pushing motion
when doing push-ups will require intense core
strength for it. As for planking and squatting, with
the proper technique, would be an effective full body
workout. Shoulders will need to be above and aligned
with your elbows when planking. If you feel pain in
your lower back, that would mean that you are tilting
your hips too low and the point of support is in your
lower back. You should raise your hips higher in this
case.
What would be your tips on keeping good eating
habits?
No matter how much you exercise, you will not see a
difference if you still have the same eating habits. It all
starts from your plate. 50 percent of your plate should
be fibre and vegetables, 25 percent is your carbs and
the other 25 percent is your protein. Snacking is some-
times alright, depending on what you are snacking on.
On that note, eating rice at night will not make you
Busting
myths
Proper squatting technique.
Shasha De Souza explaining the
differences between working out at the
gym and working out at home.
No matter how much you
exercise, you will not see
a difference if you still
have the same eating
habits. It all starts from
your plate. 50 percent
of your plate should be
fibre and vegetables, 25
percent is your carbs and
the other 25 percent is
your protein. Snacking
is sometimes alright,
depending on what you
are snacking on.”
Crunches
Crunches will only work if you have great core strength.
Doing squats is great for training your core strength.
When you do crunches, it is targeted only in the abdomi-
nal area. It cannot get rid of belly fat. If you want to tone
your mid-section, do squats. Do a compound workout.
Waist trainers
Waist trainers are believed to be effective for getting rid
of belly fat. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Waist
trainers only weakens your core. There is a part in our
body called transverse abdominis (TVA). That is our
natural corset muscle from the spine all the way to our
abdominal area. If you wear an external corset, your
internal corset that is supposed to stabilise your body is
not working. You would feel secure that you have a corset
What a full bodyweight push-up should look like.
fat. The reason you crave for rice at night is usually
because you had something sweet earlier in the day
such as sweetened coffee. When you keep spiking
your insulin, your blood glucose level would end up
crashing later on causing you to crave carbs. When
you eat rice in the afternoon, you still have activities
to carry out and can stay active. However, when you
eat rice at night, you do not have any reason to do any
activities. Rice is not the culprit. It is better to pick
rice over noodles and white bread. The culprit would
be your snacking. — The Health
on but it does not do much for your body in the long run.
Meal replacement
drinks and herbal teas
Meal replacement basically does what it is called. It
replaces meals. There is nothing wrong with it but, it
is not necessary because you have to ask yourself: Why
would you spend a lot money on shakes when your jaw,
body and intestine is designed to digest real solid food?
You can easily plan your meals to bring more protein
and fibre into your meals. It would be more satisfying
and you should avoid taking meal replacements for a
long time as it is not beneficial in the long run. There
may be some results in the beginning, however, more
often than not, most people may experience a rebound
in their weight.