Core Fitness is a kuwaiti men’s gym that promises to “transform” your physique over a course of 7 weeks for only 3 – twenty minute workout sessions a week. so 3 sessions a week, for 20 minutes over a course of 7 weeks. The sessions are known to be grueling, and that apparently is an understatement. I tried searching online for the prices but couldn’t immediately get hold of it. So called them up and found out:
| Sessions per week | Level | Price for 7 weeks |
| 2 | Human | 90 KWD |
| 3 | Cyborg from future | 135 KWD |
| 4 | Arnie | 180 KWD |
| 5 | Clearly on Steroids | 225 KWD |
Their timings are from 6:00 am – 10:00 am and 1:00pm-10:00pm.
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I usually don’t go about brazenly posting pictures of myself but If I am to serve, as any minor authority or a credible voice regarding the matter, these pictures should stand me some good stead.
After completing my board exams back in 2006, I was a whooping 100kg. My immediate chair-bound sitcom-loving life in college didn’t help one bit. I’m a decent 73 today. I’ve done a tonne of research regarding the matter and continue to research ways on getting fitter. The following series of posts is what worked, what didn’t, what I needed to know and what could have been done differently. Most of this is a compilation and largely taken from reliable sources. That being said, you have to understand there are quite a few areas where contradictions are plenty. I have tried my level best to resolve such matters and make the most sense out of it all.
I plan to split this into a series of posts on fitness cause one jurassic post with all the information would serve no purpose, there are tonnes of them out there already. I want these posts to serve as both inspiration and proof that getting fit and in shape is both possible and more importantly realistic. I plan to split my posts as follows (I’ll link to the posts from here as and when they’re complete):
Fitness 101 – “De Equation”
I gave a toastmaster’s speech once, regarding this topic and after researching/drafting/pruning my speech to the 6 minute time-limit, it boiled down to 3 things:
- Diet
- Exercise
- Attitude
But since I have the luxury of space on my blog, I’m penning everything that I’ve learnt through the journey. So brace yourself for sporadic spews of self-help make-yourself-feel-better stuff as well as concrete scientific evidence to proven techniques/tips.Fitness 102 – Know your terms
As always it pays to research what your up against and that is precisely what I had to do. For the benefit of the world and the lazy few who would like a single go-to location for all the terms and information, I’ve posted most of the stuff you’ll need to know to burn ‘em jigglin wigglies.Oh yes lot of Science Stuff here :P.Fitness 103 – Round up/Post its
This is the must-read post if you just want a cheatsheet for the “learnings” of all previous steps. This is basically a round up of what you should/shouldn’t do. Take a print out of this and pin it up on your door until you have this ingrained.Fitness 104 – Sample Workout Routines
This is just a compilation of the workout/routines that celebrities, health-coaches and others have posted.Fitness 105 – Action Plan (TFT style)
I was successfull with my previous regime(check Fitness 103) in drastically shaving off the blubber, but I recently noticed, that while I look fairly thin, my body fat percentage seems relatively high. I’m a 23 year old male who’s 5’11 and weighs 73 kg (as on 28th January 2009). The BMI charts say my weight is perfect. I did a couple of rudimentary Body fat tests though and found it to be between 20% and 22%. The handheld-electric-current-through-fat device thingy gave a reading of 21.7% and the tape-measurement method yielded 22%. Another test came up with around 20.5%. The accuracy/inaccuracy of these tests aside, it’s pretty clear my body fat levels (what I should REALLY be worrying about) is a little on the higher side (I blame my mother’s unconditional love and ridiculously tasty dishes). Anyways quite clearly a major revamp in my diet/exercise-regime is in order (again).
Even if I had to do it all over from the blubber-stage, this would probably be the better way to have approached it. I’ll post exactly how I intend to approach my diet/regime here TFT style. This is probably the best post to read if you too are looking into reducing your belt-clamp-size intelligently.
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I was having lunch with some colleagues recently and the topic “which is a more suitable Gym?” came up.
Would you rather prefer a snazzy, high-class, Air-conditioned, sona-fitted Gym or a basic, middle-class amenity packed one?
There are quite a few common misconceptions regarding the topic. For e.g, “Hey that gym ain’t good….. you don’t sweat that much,there.The A.C if full blast, what’s the point?”.The numerous times, I have been forced to clinch and launch into a tirade of finger wagging advice thanks to such ill-informed statements, have prompted me to write this post.
- Choosing a Gym depends on numerous factors. You have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages and arrive at a personalized conclusion. Like every other important decision in life there are no general one-line rules to this choice.
- Sweating De-bunked : Sweating is the body’s natural way to bring your body temperature down (thermo-regulation in geek-lingo).Sweating profusely (more likely to happen in gyms with lesser Air Conditioning*) only means you lose more water. This only causes a temporary loss of weight. The minute you drink water(something you should do more often btw) this “weight lost” is re-gained. Hence loss of weight aimed through this way** is not only pointless but also precarious as it can be mis-leading. Lesson : More sweating in your gym does not mean your burning “more-fat” but simply that your burning fat.
- It is important to choose a gym which has the most amount of usable-equipment.You need a wide range of equipment in order to uniformly exercise the different parts of your body.The key word though is usable. If a gym boasts of having equipment resembling the likes of props from Star Trek, think again. Keep in mind though two treadmills and one-cycling machine does not constitute a gym as well.
- the most important point though, while choosing a gym, should be the one that would ensure your motivation to go to the gym stays high. If you choose a gym that satisfies most requirements but is 15 kms away, there’s bound to be some attendance problems. Unless of course your instructor is Angeline Jolie.
- It’s the simpler more common-sensical points that you should watch out for. Like how long the gym stays open. What are the schemes like. Are they open on weekends. Does it have a pretty instructor.
Hope this helps.
* Slight digression: There is this common misconception that you tend to sweat more under humid conditions. Not true. In fact you tend to sweat lesser under humid conditions. You feel more miserable though. Simply because sweat, which should evaporate thus cooling your body, evaporates lesser under humid conditions and more under dry conditions. An efficient air conditioning system should maintain the humidity at optimum levels. Dryer/humid is not to be confused with hotter/colder.[MAJOR DIGRESSION >< ]
**Sweating more does make you burn fat (and this time I mean the kind you should be gunning to cut down on). But the amount of fat burnt this way, is of such minuscule proportions, that it’s pointless hoping to reduce this way.Let me clarify. Sweating requires “sweat” to be secreted in the 2.4 million sweat glands located throughout the human body. For any natural process the body undergoes, energy is required.This energy is derived from fat reserves in the body. Hence some fat IS burnt through this way. But the proportions are so small, you shouldn’t be banking on this in the first place.(This point has been stated merely for theoretical correctness).
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