The Inception

When I began writing on this platform, a friend and I spoke about its beginnings which lead to a long conversation that ended with the main topics that would be tackled on the website. Since I had a background in the medical field, I decided to include health and fitness. This lead to her opening about her daily fitness regimen called 'Crossfit.'

She went on and spoke about the details like how intense, how and why the workout was effective, and how wonderful the camaraderie among the participants were. Now, being in the medical field, this wasn't new to me. I have had seen so many of these exercise routines from my time in and out of the field. What caught my interest though was when she was speaking about CrossFit, her voice changed slightly and the look in her eyes were intense. She was passionate about it. I became curious. She even offered to help me try it and I agreed.

A couple of days later, I met with one of my best friends from college and his girlfriend to catch up. He then mentioned that he was on his way to loose those unwanted love handles. The conversation went on like this:

"Great! How are you going to do that?" I said. 

"There's this new thing my co-workers invited me to try, its called Crossfit. Its been going around." He said.

"He lost quite a bit already." His girlfriend added.

"Yeah he has." I replied and continued with:

"I actually just heard about it the other day. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I really live under a rock, don't I?"

Now this friend of mine from college was one of the few people I would trust my life with. Most of the time I would believe him. This furthered my resolve to try this 'Crossfit' thing. (Not that I was hesitant from the beginning anyway.) 

The Lead-up

I met her again and she mentioned that there were free trials every month and that it would be best to check their Facebook Page. So I did, and I followed the instructions. This lead me to their website and into their free trial page. It was RSVP only, and I had to register either through email (cfgreenhills@gmail.com) or via SMS. 

I sent an SMS message and got the slot. It was set on a Saturday afternoon at 2PM. 

Saturday came and I checked my stuff, and went on my way. The gym is on the fourth floor of the Intrawest Centre bldg. along Annapolis st. which is a block or two away from the Promenade Greenhills. It wasn't that hard to find. It had this distinct tint of green that you couldn't miss. If you are on the ground level, you will find a mediterranean restaurant called Feta which is next to the AUB bank and the deli, Deli Master.

As I was walking up to the building I noticed a large stair case where a security guard kindly asked where I was going. I replied with 'Crossfit,' and he then lead me to the stair case to the third floor. 

I was a little early so I decided to chat with the security guards. They were happy enough to tell me entertaining stories about the people who did 'Crossfit.' Apparently, they were happy for one patron who was bigger before and was out of breath when he first came up that stair case, but now we goes up the said stairs like it was nothing. (It may have warmed my heart a little. Congratulations to whoever you are.) They also told stories of people who couldn't stand up properly after the work out.

The Ambiance

At quarter to 2PM, I decided to go up into the gym. When I got to the third floor, I could already smell the classic fragrances of a gym. The strong scent of synthetic rubbers and of synthetic plastic with hints of wood, rust and steel. It smells like home or your grand parents' basement.

When I took my first step inside, I was surprised at how different it was from an average gym because most of the huge exercise machines were absent and there were equipment that I had never seen before.

From where you came in, the reception was to the left and equipment like kettlebells, wearable supports, weights, and bird cages(to confirm) are to the right. I went to the reception desk to ask where the changing room was. I was met by a  guy who could have pass as one of the Expendables from that Sylvester Stallone movie. He firmly and politely guided me to the right far corner of the of the room where the changing rooms were. The Men's were at the left side while the Ladies' were on the right.

The rest of it was big open space with green painted walls and black floor panels that were chipping from daily use.  In a way it had a lot of character. Lastly, the changing areas were concealed by wooden wall at the other side of the room. It is complete with a separate shower room and a toilet room.

They also have a balcony area with a variety of pot plants that serve to add a bit of life to the concrete jungle view from the panoramic window that showcases the Manila Skyline.

The Lecture

The guy that received me at the reception asked us to gather up at the far end of the 'box.' He introduced himself as coach 'Josh' along with his profession and his hobbies. He asked us to do the same and to remember our classmate's names. (You know like the first day of class, the awkwardness of it never really goes away.)

He then opened his introduction to what 'Crossfit' is with the story about how he explained it to his friends. He said that he would describe it with the following three: 1. Functional Movement 2. Constantly Varied, and 3. High Intensity.

Functional Movement because 'Crossfit' aims to strengthen the muscle groups that engage when doing your everyday tasks. Simple things like picking up an object is comparable to dead lifts because of the use of the same muscle groups. This effectively makes you better even though those tasks are mundane.

Constantly Varied means that no workout of the day will be the same, ever. It will always be different to keep your body on its toes which avoids workout plateau and to increase results.

Lastly, High Intensity is a combination of interval periods of intense anaerobic exercise (which means that your demand for oxygen exceeds the supply thus you burn other sources like fat for energy to keep up) and less intense recovery periods. He emphasised this as this is the type of workout that will give you results. 

The Trial Itself

Immediately after the lecture, Coach Josh asked us to form into groups, and get ready for the work out. At first he introduced several simple work outs that were combined with sprinting like ten high jumps then sprinting to opposite wall, and touching it. You were then to sprint back to tag your partner. The next variation was the Jumping jacks-sprint rally. Doesn't sound that hard right? I mean yeah I was breathing quickly and sweating profusely but it was fun. This apparently was the warm-up. 

Coach instructed us to form four columns, and do the arm raise to distance us from each other. He introduced and guided us into the plank position with the next instruction of maintaining it for as as long as we could. 

Now that we knew the plank position, he proceeded with the demo of the push-up. This is where we start at the plank position and lower our upper body down with the elbows bend facing your feet while keeping the rest of the body straight. He pushed us to do as many as we could.

After that he introduced us to the squat. This is a workout wherein you stand up straight while keeping your legs wide and drop your butt low enough to strengthen your thighs, your butt and back muscles. He made us do as much as we can. I began to feel a little fatigue at my hamstring area (back of your thighs). So I caught my breathe and listened for what was next.

Coach Josh demoed the 'Crossfit' sit-up wherein we did an indian sit on the floor where our hands at the start is touching our feet and then throw our hands as far as we could along with our upper body to the opposite direction. None of us could do this properly. He congratulated us on how bad we were at it. Funny. He asked us to get those ab mats that were shaped like a tear drop that served to support us when doing the said sit-up. 

We tried it, and it helped quite a bit. He continued to encourage us to repeat for as many as we could. This was where I was having difficulty because my abdominals were aching, and I was having a hard time breathing. It was fucking intense, and I never thought I would like it. 

For the last workout he asked veteran crossfitters to demo a 4-Man circuit that combined the sprint, push-up, squats, and sit ups. He said to follow the circuit that was demoed, and repeat it until we finished the eight minute time limit. I laughed a little, and took a deep breath.

After the eight minutes we looked like we just got away from a psychopath from those horror flicks because we were all trying hard to catch our breaths. Thank God that was the end of it.

He asked us to gather one last time and form a circle to do the cool down. God, that was something. Never have I had so much fun punishing myself. I felt so weak, miserable and I think I may be a masochist that or I was enjoying the endorphine high from the exercise. I could never say that about all the other sports I tried and gave up on. I hated basketball, soccer, tennis, badminton and the like. 

After the cool down he interjected the three week program for crossfit that serves to help your body adapt better for the workouts you will be doing in the future should you decide to do crossfit after the trial. We were then dismissed so I got my stuff and carried it to the changing room.

The Aftermath

I came out of that gym without the thoughts of boredom or the thoughts of the workout being a chore. The variation, and logical movements kept me on my toes even though I was either tired or in pain. Pain that I never thought I could feel in certain areas of my body. I now know more about myself because of 'Crossfit.' I had to go through hell though; however, it is just way too much fun. 

The next day was the worst. My body was recovering and any form of weight bearing on any muscle group took a little more effort to keep my balance and to actually move. Going down the stairs while carrying something was thrilling because my muscles couldn't balance my stance properly. Every step I made, my body would always over extend which resulted in my body lean forward, and made every step feel like I was going to fall and hit my head face first. It was really exciting. I cannot stress how much I like it.

I encourage you to try it. 
You never really know how strong you are until being strong is the only thing you can be. 

Do you want to Contact 'Crossfit Greenhills?'

Address: 4th Floor Intrawest Centre, 33 Annapolis, San Juan, 1504 Metro Manila
Website: http://crossfitgreenhills.com/
Facebook: facebook.com/CrossFitGreenhills

Instagram: @CfGreenhills 

 Operating Hours: 6AM to 8AM, 4PM to 10PM

Dedication

Special thank you to Sean Hovie Lee for the Pictures uploaded in this article. He takes wonderful pictures that capture the story of the moment! In fact, I barely edited anything except for resizing and saving it as a .PNG file. I applaud him because I normally avoid noise in my pictures but with his photos, the noise actually adds character. Kudos to him!

Special thank you to my lovely friend for trusting me with trying out Crossfit and writing about it where at the time I was almost a complete stranger. I hope I didn't bug her too much over the duration of experience and of writing process.

Should men shave their armpits? Does shaving reduce odor? Antonio of Real Men Real Style answers these questions. Then answer will surprise you.

Antonio is the founder Real Men Real Style, a Youtube channel aimed to help men develop their sense of style.

On his website and in his channel you will find a treasure trove of information that is not limited to style. An example are his core foundation videos where he answers the question on why should real men care about appearance or do we really need to spend top dollar to get the look we want to achieve.

He also has a section on videos that cater to specific questions that his viewers ask. One of those questions is "Should Men Shave their Armpits?" After watching and subscribing to his channel, I found that all the information and conclusions are from credible sources. The passion exudes well.

 

In the video, he talks about an older study on armpit hair shaving and odor, and a contemporary study that seeks to prove the validity of the older to today's standards. The result is quite counterintuitive and I hope you enjoy the video.

I implore you to watch his videos and subscribe!

[Source: Youtube Channel Real Men Real Style]

College is infamous for those demanding work loads from the different subjects, and the infinitely unimaginable ways students cope with it. I for one am not a stranger to those things, but I made it a priority to sleep at least six (6) hours each night which to my classmates at the time called it impossible.

I would come home as early as I could to do my homework and read the lectures and when I could I would stop at 9PM and eventually fall asleep at 10PM which would result to me waking up at 5AM to get myself groomed up and eat breakfast before going on the commute.

If it was unavoidable because of the time consuming projects and research papers we had to do I would try to finish as much as I could and sleep. Surprisingly, I made it out with out failing. My grades weren't particularly high but they weren't bad.

The Average life expectancy of a human being today is roughly Six-hundred seventy-five thousand hours (675,000 hours) where one-third (1/3) is spent on sleeping which implies that sleeping is an important part of our daily life, yet some of us take it for granted. Even though it seems that we are unconscious and resting, the body is busy with muscle repair, memory consolidation and hormone release; hence, for any reason that the sleep process be cut-short, we do not obtain the benefits of feeling refreshed, sharp concentration; thus, limiting our full engagement of social and physical activities.

So what can we do to get the best quality sleep that we need badly? The National Sleep Foundation was kind enough to share them to us and they are the following:

1. Keep a sleep schedule where the sleep time and the wake up time are constant. This regulates your body clock (or Circadian Rhythm) which helps you fall asleep and wake up better.

2. If you have a hard time falling asleep at night, avoid naps, especially in the afternoon. Power naps can help you through your day but avoiding it can help fall asleep.

3. Develop a relaxing bedtime ritual. A relaxing routine done separated from bright lights and activities that promote excitement, stress and anxiety encourage better, deeper and consistent sleep.

4. Avoid drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and eating heavy meals in the evening. Alcohol, tobacco and caffeine disrupt sleep where as heavy meals can disrupt sleep. It would be best to avoid eating means two (2) to three (3) hours before bedtime. If you are still hungry try having a light snack at least forty-five (45) minutes before bedtime.

5. Exercise daily. Vigorous workouts are the ideal, but even light ones are better than inactivity. Exercising at any time of the day is fine, but never at the expense of sleep.

6.  Wind down. The body needs time to shift from high activity during the day and the down time at night. Electronic devices that have bright lights may make it hard to fall asleep because of the light exposure activates the brain activity.

7. Use good quality mattresses and pillows. The life expectancy of your loyal mattress is roughly nine (9) to ten (10) years so make sure yours is comfortable, clean and supportive. Pillows on the other hand should be free from allergens and be attractive and be inviting so as to help in winding down.

8. Try going into another room and perform an activity until you feel tired. The bedroom should be associated only with sleep and sex. To strengthen this, you must omit work materials electronics and distracting objects away from the bedroom. 

[Source: National Sleep Foundation]

Mental Floss, a Youtube channel that aims to cleanse your brain and disprove misconceived ideas with their evidence based approach!

There are a total of 10 misconceptions they wish to challenge in this episodes and they are the following:

1. People who only eat Raw Food Have Better digestion
2. Dark breads is healthier than light bread
3. Artificial sweeteners promote weight loss
4. If it says all natural it is healthy
5. Agave nectar is better than sugar
6. Margarine is better than butter
7. Brown Eggs are more nutritious than white eggs
8. Brown Sugar is healthier than white sugar
9. Local means organic
10. Organic foods has more nutrients

After watching, you will find some interesting facts and these are the four (4) noteworthy ones:

1. When you are looking for that healthier bread it is best to look for "whole wheat" or "whole Grain wheat." Dark breads are not necessarily healthier.

2. Margarine is healthier than Butter because it lowers Low Density Lipoproteins or Bad Cholesterol!

3. Brown Sugar and White Sugar is the same just with the molasses removed.

4. Organic foods have the same amount of nutrients but they have more anti-oxidants than non-organics!

[Source: Mental Floss on YouTube]

Tony Ahn who at the start weighs over One-hundred twenty (120) Kilograms, plans to loose fourteen (14) lbs in ONE (1) week! In the video, he starts to take different measurements to help create a list of baselines to see his progress. After that, he showed off his wardrobe and we get to glimpse his motivation for doing this: He says that if you end up getting bigger and you decide to just buy even bigger clothes then that is giving in. It means that you are giving up on yourself and not even trying to fight for YOU! I agree. If you didn't fight for you then who will? I admire his determination.

He decided to lessen his intake with fasting. His rationale is based on the fact that whenever we eat carbohydrates it will turn into sugar and is used for fuel. When we run out of carbohydrates for fuel it is only then that the body uses other sources like body fat. So in theory, you could lose weight by letting your body burn more fat by lessening your carbohydrates! In addition, he cited a study he found that during his weight loss it is estimated that he would lose three (3) grams of muscle per one (1) Kilogram of fat lost! THAT IS A WORTHY TRADE OFF!

A week after, we see him weigh in and he lost a little over Six (6) Kilograms. He also redid the measurements and compared it to his baseline and he lost significant inches off. Although he knows he has a long way to go it would seem that he is pretty determined to maintain losing the Six (6) Kilograms for the coming weeks.

My gripes are that I wish we could see more of his routine for the week that helped him shave off that fourteen (14) Pounds and that I would also like a little more insight to inside his body. I wish that we could see a medical exam and medical laboratory work up for a better insight into what is happening inside his body. 

I personally struggled with my weight for years. I would succeed in losing weight then I would be complacent and gain it all again. I would then go into a vicious cycle over the years. We call this rubber banding. It was then that I decided that I would lose it and ever gain it again. I would have to work harder and lessen the pleasure from indulging into too much food.

I salute Tony and I hope this inspires more people to do something about their own struggles!

On his official Facebook page, Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft shares a study of a cure for Tuberculosis(TB) that was recovered from a 200 year old Mummy.

Tuberculosis is an infectious bacterial disease characterized by the growth of nodules (tubercles) in the tissues, especially the lungs. Over 9.27 Million Turberculosis (TB) cases has been recorded worldwide where 55% are from Asia. In the Philippines, the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) has achieved 70% smear positive case detection with 89% of those have been treated successfully. Yet, even with such strides, new concerns like drug resistance strains, limited audience coverage and co-morbidities (simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases in one patient) arise.

A study published in Nature Communications where a group of researchers obtained a Tuberculosis DNA from a 200 year old Mummy have found a new cure. The group was formed via the collaboration between the Universities of Birmingham and of Warwick, University College of London, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest.

For more details on the research click the link below:

Interesting research. A new cure for tuberculosis could be wrapped up in a 200-year old mummy.
Posted by Bill Gates on Sunday, 19 April 2015

[Source: Bill Gates' Facebook Page, Gizmodo India]

I firmly believe that a every human being should have a choice in any matter that concerns their well being. I also believe that they should be well informed before they can truly make a choice. 

So if you feel that you are easily tired, are easily frustrated and are easily vulnerable to feeling low then maybe it's your birth control. So before you decide whether or not to try taking the pill, you better know what you are getting yourself into. Thankfully Discovery News (or DNews for short) is happy to answer these questions.

See for yourself.

[Source: DNews on Youtube: Does Birth Control Change your Brain]

In an 2014 article from the Journal of American Medical Association it said that one-third of American adults and that seventeen percent of American children are obese. You don't need an article to tell you that there is some truth to this. In my former job as a bedside nurse, it wasn't rare to see a patient that is obese, in fact usually they are and with complications. What makes it worse is that obesity and most of its complications is preventable, yet more people die from preventable dietary related diseases than ever before.

Celebrity Chef and Foodtube founder Jamie Oliver saw that we should be doing something about this and that is why he launched the petition on Change.org to encourage governments around the world to promise and commit to teaching children how to practically grow and cook fresh and nutritious food at school. 

When I saw this on Change.org, I knew that I wanted to help with this and so can you. I signed it and right now we have passed the Six hundred thousand mark. If you feel the same way please click the link below to sign it and share it on your social network as well.

CLICK THIS TO SIGN THE PETITION

Thank You and let's keep fighting!