I can say I am in the best shape of my life! Not because I am a fitness personal trainer and not every personal trainer is in the best shape of their life. My fitness training has come a long way. This is how it began for me.  When I was ten years old, my grandfather was the first one who taught me how to do push ups in my small bed; and when I was 14 years old, my father had bought me my first two pairs of dumbbells. At 19, I was in the Taiwanese army for two years and we ran 5kms almost every morning at 6am and 100 push ups every night before we slept.

At 25, I picked up my first barbell and I fell in love with body building style weight training, I became a certified personal fitness trainer when I was 28 and continually lifting heavy weights in the gym had caused subsequent shoulder joint injury and back pain for many years. I can bench 120 KGS and squat 120 KGS at the time. (I only weighted 70kgs).

Nowadays I abandoned traditional body building style training (sorry Arnold but you are still my hero!) I developed my own style workout which I call hybrid workouts and I have no routine! I still bench and do squat but I mix it up with different type of techniques like jerk, clean and flips. I also mix it up with interval training technique but other then that, I do cross training! I would play tennis for an hour (a great method for muti-dimension functional training!). I would do boxing for an hour (great cardio workout - exercising coordination and functions!). I would also include swimming in my workout once a week (I don’t play in the swimming pool like children.  I do swim to sweat out!). I have also included biking in my workout routine but not for a whole hour - it all depends on how I feel. Like I said, I do not have a routine but the idea is to mix everything into a good workout. By the way, I would attend a yoga class if my body feels like it!

My point is that if you have hit a plateau or has an injury, don’t feel you can’t exercise, just simply change your routine and make comprise with your workout, learn a new technique for your new workout! I only learnt to play tennis this year (hey I paid for a tennis coach too!). And I never learnt how to swim until the age of 33.  I can now do breadth stroke for an hour, without stopping!

After all, you don’t have to play tennis or kick boxing like I do, but you can simply alternate your workout by using a stationary bike or even go out for a bike ride on a Sunday! Once a week, go for a run in the park or treadmill at least!  Attend a yoga class occasionally! If you don’t have a swimming pool at home, try the public swimming pool or join a health club! You can also jump rope for half an hour in the gym or in the park.

Here are a few suggestions for a routine I’ve tried out lately and you can use it as your own.

Monday – weight training whole body

Tuesday – swimming 30 min non-stop

Wednesday – break

Thursday – running on treadmill for 15 min.  Speed at 12-14kms then lower body part workout alternate with upper body part workout

Friday – break or try something different like tennis

Saturday – stationary bike 15-20 min on level 10-15 then core muscle training

Sunday – running and sprinting in the park with body weight training like push-ups and pull-ups

Russell Lee is an international qualified fitness personal trainer with over 800 clients from across the world ranging from age 4 to 80 years old. He has over 20 years of FITNESS experience including 6,000 hours of hands-on one-on-one personal training and 2,000 hours of group fitness training. He speaks through his professional experiences. He runs a successful one-on-one personal training company in Bangkok Thailand and Shanghai China; He is also a life time wellness promoter and is providing his 12 years industry experience to fitness clubs in Asia. He is the founder of Revolution Fitness – Personal Training Bangkok and Personal Training Shanghai.

Food quotes:

At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well. And talk well but not too wisely.

Russell Lee