Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Swinging Bells in Ploenchit and what to do on your free day

Imagine a  Hi so town house in Sukhumvit with art work , piped relaxation music , hi quality surface furnishings &  strange looking machines that look like they belong in Demonia on Suk 33 & you have The Pilate's Studio Ploenchit.



Pilate's Reformer
I'm sure I have been bound to one of these in The castle and beaten into submission.
Thank you Mit Tress




Its not your typical gymnasium , nor does it feel like a place where you go to work your arse off , but on April 24 , 2010 I subjected 3 hi so expat housewives to a 45 minute Kettlebell session that would keep them off the podium at Mandarin a gogo for at least 3 days.
Let me run you thru the session.
We were using an 8kg kettlebell so I made sure they could actually lift it off the floor , we started with
  •  Kettlebell dead lifts , Instruction set then 1 set of 15 reps , all good , these girls were actually quite strong
  • 2 hand Kettlebell swings  , Instruction set and then 1 set of 20 reps
  • 1 handed Kettlebell swings 10 reps per arm
  • 1 handed swings with hand exchange 10 reps per arm
  • Kettlebell squat , Instruction set and 1 set of 15 reps
  • First circuit 1 set of 2 handed swings 20 reps , 1 set of Kettlebell squats 15 reps , 1 set of push ups no rest in between exercises
  • Rest and then 2 handed kettlebell overhead press 10 reps rest  and then 15 reps
  • Kettlebell squats with the bell held with 1 hand instead of two , 10 reps.
  • Kettlebell clean instruction and then 1 set of 5 reps and then a set of 10
  • Second circuit , 1 handed Kettlebell swings with hand exchange 20 reps , 1 set of 15 Kettlebell squats followed by 1 set of 10 kettlebell cleans and 1 set of kettlebell Over head press 10 reps no rest in between sets.
I could see every bodies correct form had vanished at this point which meant they were knackered , so I gave them a rest for few minutes .
We finished the session with a fun exercise called under the leg pass , which involves a lot of twisting and bending under tension which is great for the core.
A tuff workout for ladies that have had little or no weight training experience , it elevated their heart rate , activated some muscle groups they don't usually train and gave them an intro to functional strength training .
But will they do it again ????

Changing from your regular diet and lifestyle can be hard , you know big mango chutney burgers with thick cut fries are tasty , super thin wood fired pizza from Limoncello on Suk soi 11 rule and Tony Roma's ribs just melt in ya mouth , so what to do ????

Low carbs High Protein

Enter the free day..
I'm a big believer of the free day , following a reduced calorie diet is tuff , food can be boring and repetitive and if you happen to enjoy flavour and mouth feel , its just not there.
So you have eaten clean for 6 days , low fat , reduced carbs , nutrient dense but calorie sparse 6 meals per day , the serving size were small , you ate lots of steamed veggies , chicken breasts , tuna , salads with olive oil and vinegar dressing , lots of oatmeal and egg white omelets , litres of water and blanched almonds for snacks. You have worked out between 3 and six times mixing some resistance training and cardio.
Even god rested on the seventh , go eat and don't train.
I grew up in Australia , my mum always cooked us roast dinners on Sunday followed by apple pie or pavlova she was a great cook and as a consequence I love food.
So in Bangkok I head to the London Brew Pub on Suk 33 for Sunday Roast , they have lots of side dishes and cold starters and desert is included with the price .
If you happen to be in Pattaya try the Sportsman pub for Sunday lunch , probably the closest thing to mums roasts here in Thailand .
If you like burgers , Big mango chutney burgers are probably the best you will find around and well priced ,
if you like Yum Cha head to Yaowarat or China town , Grand China Princess hotel .
Office bar or Mojos serve a good steak in Pepper sauce when they have good beef , with the added bonus of coyote dancers after 10pm.
Basilico on Suk 33 serve good wood fired Pizza as do limoncello on soi 11.
So enjoy your free day , but remember its back to the grind on Monday.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Tea bagging for weight loss.

A friend of mine from Australia attended a boot camp where the instructor got them to perform tea bagging as an exercise , I thought to myself now that's the kind of boot camp I want to attend , I just hope it has an even ratio of men and women.
Now we have all probably been involved in the odd tea bagging session and never really thought about the health benefits or major muscle groups involved during this movement.
So here is a step by step guide to tea bagging for weight loss and its kinesiology.
  • Throw on a pair of nylon tracksuit pants ( preferably the ones with cuffs at the ankles) and an old sweat shirt .
  • Walk down to your condos Pool and jump in clothed . ( don't take any notice of the security guards looking at you )
  • Go to the deepest end of the pool
  • You are now a giant teabag as your pants have filled with water and you have added weight and resistance to your body.
  • Grab onto the side of the pool and propel yourself out with your arms to waist height .
  • Continue dunking yourself in pulling yourself out.
  • Continue this until you are exhausted or you feel like a complete tool
Major muscle groups involved
In the initial pull movement the lattisimus dorsi , rhomboids , rear deltoids and biceps are involved , if your feet touch the bottom of the pool and you squat down before you propel yourself your quadriceps and glutes will come into play . If you are in an Olympic pool with starting blocks try pulling yourself to the top of the block , the last portion of that will require the use of the triceps , pectorals and deltoids to a degree.
As you can see quite a lot of muscle groups are being involved in this exercise , more muscle groups involved equals more calories spent . This is a full body movement which is actually quite functional .
So next time you fall into the spa in whats up a gogo in Pattaya you will be able to launch yourself out and show the BGs exactly how athletic you are , now that's sure to impress.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Oatmeal vs Oatmilk , day 3 of my diet hell & Wayne finds an apartment @Asok with Uni girls sunbathing and partying by the pool

Never ask your Thai wife to buy you oatmeal breakfast cereal , Usually oatmeal is a staple for a dieters breakfast , you know it kinda tastes like horse feed , is full of complex carbs , is slowly digested and gives u a feeling of fullness for many hours after consumption , a perfect food choice for breakfast.
I was absolutely sure she understood what I meant , she had seen me consume it before , she even described feeding it to our son , I was fairly confident that she was gonna get the right thing , so when she came home after supermarket shopping and handed me a UHT container of oat milk I was kinda flabbergasted , the worst thing was she actually saw exactly what I wanted , decided to abandon that plan of action and get the oat milk anyway , So I'm now enjoying my oat milk.


      






I think I dreamt about thick cut chips last night , you know the kind ya mum used to make , so crunchy on the outside but fluffy and light on the inside , the kind they served at real fish and chip shops in the 70s and 80s .
Yes I'm starting to feel carb deprived ,when you cut out all bread , rice , pasta and sweets that's what happens , the vegetables and nuts and legumes just don't give you the same feeling , but on the other hand you stop feeling bloated , uncomfortable and you actually can feel your body changing .

My diet for today
  • Breakfast  5 egg white omelet 1 yolk , cherry tomatoes and some full fat Gouda cheese , 3 cups of coffee , 1 glass of Oat milk .
  • Protein shake , water and Ice
  • Tuna Subway Salad with extra can of Tuna
  • Protein shake and some cream cheese and nuts
  • Beef steak , asparagus and snow pea stir fry
  • Protein Shake , water and Ice
The agent told Wayne that the new apartment he was moving into today had a rooftop pool that the Thai Uni girls that inhabit the building Sunbathe and party there every weekend . Ive lived in Thailand for 2 years and have been coming here for more than 10 and Ive never actually seen a Thai girl willingly take sun , let alone bathe in it. Never trust real estate agents.
She's heading up to the pool now Wayne , as soon as she can find it

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Annoying Tom Personal trainer @ Asok WOW , Indian fortune tellers in Tops Supermarket and how to really smash your clients into submission

About a week ago I was Training in California WoW Asok when one of the TOM Personal trainers approached me while I was doing a set of straight arm lat pulldowns and starts ravelling off in Thai trying to correct my form , I assume she had never seen or understood the mechanics of this particular exercise and assumed I was doing a tricep exercise when I was actually focusing on my lats and rhomboids            








, I weigh 100kg by the way , been training for 25 years , Im built like a powerlifter because I was one and I still push 110 lb dumbells for reps in the db bench press. So I politely turned to her and said sorry I dont speak Thai , she rattled off something to the Korean hair styled PT next to her and walked away , I forgave her for interupting my set. Yesterday I was in  Asok WoW again just fininshing off my workout with some isolation exercises on tricep extension machine they have down stairs , I rarely do isolation work but I decided to chuck in a couple of exercises for variety , and again this silly dyke comes up and tries to correct my form , this time I was steaming looked her straight in the eye gave her my nastiest bad boy look and Said I told you I do not speak Thai , she promptly walked off complaining to her PT friend that I was farang & she doesnt speak english , I didnt let her know that I understood what she was saying .
Five tips for WoW Personal trainers
  1. Please actually educate yourselves about Weight training and conditioning before handing out advice to general population .
  2. Get some experience lifting weights yourself ( you must train yourself if you are a personal trainer).
  3. Dont get a korean style haircut & look at yourself in the mirror all day especially when you are supposed to be instructing your client.
  4. You are not really an elite trainer because you have managed to sell so many personal training packages to clients.
  5.  All of the above many times over. 
Korean Styled  haircuts should be banned

I guess there is a first for everything but I have never been approached by an indian fortune teller in a supermarket , until yesterday that is , he must have been very spiritual because he had a 3rd eye tatooed on his chest , so he approaches me and says u know u have a very interesting forehead , u are a very lucky man and u will have much good luck this year , but please sir I have something terrible to tell u , may I see your right thumb , I showed him , he said sir you are going to have a very long life but absolutely no success in your life , ummm ok I thought I was successful just making it to 41 and living in Bangkok , I apologised to him and said I couldnt hang around and listen to his fortune reading ie bullshit and I wondered at what stage he was going ask me for money , please go back to Bangladesh or sell nuts in NaNa plaza from now on .

Swami Sardar used to be a nut vendor in NaNa plaza

Tatch is my favourite client , she is a Thai lady educated In America and married to a French guy , she loves training and I can really push her to her limits , shes the perfect client , give me 10 clients with her attitude and Ill be the happiest trainer In Bangkok.
This is the workout I gave her this morning see if you can do it .
  • Warm up was 1 minute walk 1 minute sprint on the treadmill max speed 14.5 kmh for 7 minutes
  • We then got into the main workout first combo , 30 seconds skip , 30 second star jumps , 30 second prison squat , 20 reps dumbell squat and overhead press , 20 reps pushups ,shoulders were warmed up prior to this of course with some shoulder rotation and mobility exercises . This was repeated for three rounds no break in between sets but 2 minute break between rounds.
  • second combo was band resisted runs for 20 seconds , squating cable rows for 20 reps and kettlebell swings for 20 repetitions no rest between sets done for 3 rounds.
  • 3rd combo was Super slow deadlifts for ten reps , karate side kicks for 20 reps per leg and ab wheel rollouts for ten reps and hyperextensions 20 reps , I think we did this for two rounds as time was running out .
  • We finished with some planks and circular motion leg raises and then some static stretching .
She does this without any complaint and tries her hardest in every set , she hates squats but she does them to failure every time , thats what every trainer looks for in a client .
More training article to come

Kenny Rogers Chicken is crap , Day 2 of my Diet and Wayno pops his cherry


Id seen it in Malaysia and walked out cause they didn't serve fries , but on my recent visit to Jakarta I decided to give it a try , at 1pm at EX shopping mall Jakarta Kenny Rogers Roasters was Packed , I thought to my self they must be serving some fabulously tasty chicken here if the restaurant was full like this , so I promptly sat at the first available table and checked out the menu , still no fries but at least I get the option of a vanilla , chocolate or banana muffin to go with my chicken .
Worlds greatest Chicken not ...... apart from being dry and tasteless , it was freakin dry and tasteless and that's with the skin still adhering to the flesh , admittedly this was supposed to be low calorie and health conscious food , sure you gonna loose weight if you live off this stuff cause you ain't gonna eat it , its got no flavour Kenny , add some spices for cliffs sake.
Luckily they serve a superbly moist muffin which is so calorie dense it makes you forget how bad your chicken was.

Ruby dont take your love to my restaurant chain

Day 2 of my diet and I'm still feeling contented , it hasn't really hit my brain yet that Ive dropped half my carbs and all junk.
This is what I ate today.
  • Breakfast 5 egg whites 1 yolk 1 fist size piece of pumpkin and 3 cups of coffee with full fat goat milk.
  • meal 2 Protein shake with water and Ice & some almonds
  • Lunch 1 piece of lean grilled pork and loads of broccoli
  • meal 4 protein shake with water and Ice and some low fat cream cheese
  • Dinner 1 piece of lean grilled pork and loads of carrots
  • meal 6 Protein shake with water and ice
Its pretty simple yeah , but this works better than anything I know to shed weight , I will post my food intake often so you get to see how to vary it slightly.
I'm 100kg at the moment( fat bastard ) by the way and I wanna hit 80kg by my birthday in September , not an unrealistic goal but will get tough near the end as I have never broken 85kg barrier .

At last my good buddy Wayne has popped his cherry for this trip to Bangkok , honestly I thought he was never gunna BF any one , but he hooked up a couple of nights ago in the Office bar on Soi 33 and he tells me she brought her own toys along .




Industrial strength concrete vibrator

Low Calorie Beer.


Welcome to the Bangkok weight loss Blog , well actually its more than just about weight loss because that would be totally boring , feel free to comment on any subject regarding living in Thailand , exercise , life experiences , travelling around Asia or just complain about the increase in Korean style hair cuts amongst Thai Men or why oh why do Fat farang chicks feel the need to get up on the podium in Go go bars and dance.
As I am a freelance Personal Trainer In BKK ill share with you what I know , which isn't a great deal by the way.
Please entertain yourself.
3 female farangs take to the stage at rainbow 2