Yoga

I am always fascinated with Yoga.

When I first heard of Yoga, I could hardly believe that something so low impact can be a workout regime. I mean, all you do is hold weird poses and do some occasional body stretches. How can that make you sweat or even qualify as a fitness program?

After my first Yoga session, I realise how wrong I was!
Who knew that holding a pose for 20 breaths plus a few body bending stretches can make you sweat so much? And the body stretches only look easy. Actually they are extremely challenging to perform. Especially for someone with a body as inflexible as mine, it was bordering torturous.

As the weeks go by though, Yoga does get easier and I find myself with an improved posture, stamina and strength too. And the best of all, I find that practising Yoga helps relax my body with the stretches and breathing techniques that I think is almost meditative.

In addition to making my body work and sweat i.e. a good workout, I get a good night's sleep every time I go home from a session. Thus, waking up the next morning refreshed and energised.

I totally recommend Yoga 3 times weekly for good overall body health and stamina!

Zumba!

I have been attending Zumba classes for the past few weeks and loving it!

Zumba is a Latin inspired dance-fitness concept founded in the mid 90s by dance choreographer Alberto Perez and its tagline says it all: Ditch the Workout, Join the Party!

The trainers and friendly instructors at my gym always start the class by telling the participants to relax and enjoy because its a fun party class and that you'll never realise its a workout til you're done. I couldn't agree more, the loud music, dance moves and enthusiasm during the class fells just like a dance party!

Unlike traditional aerobic classes incorporating standard and very repetitive movements, Zumba uses a variety of dance moves from the Salsa, Merengue, Reggae, Hip-hop, Bellydance, Folk dance....meaning lots of bootay shaking, twists, up-beat moves that you never get bored of Zumba!

The most important part of course is results and effectiveness. 3 weeks of Zumba classes twice a week, an hour each session, I already dropped a kg and feel that my stamina is getting better everyday. Instead of dreading to go for workout, I look forward to Zumba every week. I can't get enough of it!