Its time to take charge of your lives

One of the world’s largest fitness centres, the Fitness First Malaysia announced its fitness week early this month. Such effort was an initiative to create awareness among the busy ignorant people the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Somewhere mid of last year a survey was conducted by the World Health Organisation published by The Lancet, saying that 61.4% of Malaysians above 15 years old are proclaimed physically inactive. This also declared Malaysia as the 10th laziest country in the world and the laziest among ASEAN countries.

Fitness First Malaysia, Managing Director, Kurt Stocks said this effort was an opportunity for people to start paying attention to how health and fitness can positively impact one’s life. “Our tagline ‘Get Moving’ is all about taking the first step towards a better lifestyle. Instead of driving to the shop which is just five minutes away from home, try walking,” he added. I mean come on let us face the fact, how many peers or people we know actually give attention to their health? Most people are just busy making money. Most Malaysians have a meal of ‘nasi lemak’ and ‘teh tarik’ every morning. The amount of cholesterol and sugar containing in these food items are beyond imagination. Despite, knowing it is bad for health, still we take it almost every day! With the extra fried chicken!

And most Malaysians work in a 9-6 basis, where they just sit at their work station throughout the whole working day. This would make one weak, tired and eventually lazy. According to the Strength Running -an online portal, a long period of sedentary behaviour is bad for you, regardless whether or not you exercise. If you run for 90 minutes in the morning and glued at a chair for the rest of the day, you are being unhealthy. Sitting for long hours apparently, reduces the HDL or the ‘good’ cholesterol in your body; you will be vulnerable to get diabetic, it increases the risk of heart diseases and cancers. Also puts you at a greater risk for obesity. Speaking to a former Fitness First instructor, Dennis Raj said some of his clients needed persuasion and motivation to go on with the daily work out routines. Trained 5-6 members per day, Raj also said, if one’s focus is just to be healthy; heavy work outs are not necessary, simple cardio and body weight workouts are normally good enough. “Unless you’re planning to be the next hulk heavy exercises are not required, simple daily workout and a proper diet should be sufficient,” he added. He also said jogging and cycling are among the easiest outdoor exercises one can consider in a daily basis.

The common reason most people give is, “I’ve got no time”, ”I am tired by the time I get home from work”, “I am too lazy”, “I would miss my favourite cuisines” and the list goes on. Seriously? One must always remember if you lust over your favourite double cheese quarter pounder with large fries, go for it! That ain’t going to make you fat, provided with an equally balance workout routine to burn the fat consumed. And the time issue, the usual. In my opinion that is just an ignorant individual with a huge attitude problem to be deal with. Stocks also said rather than indulging in our usual ‘mamak’ session, we should consider organising more weekly hiking or swimming session so you can get into a fun workout with your friends and family. “Malaysia needs a change and we need to start to look into ways to educate and activate the population,” he added. The Fitness First spokesperson said generally it is the company’s goal to make a healthy lifestyle for all their members. When their members realise the value of adopting this healthy lifestyle, they keep coming back on their own accord. They also said new members join their clubs every day and their goal is to provide a great experience for the members and help them get the results their clients want.

Fitness First Malaysia has recently opened their 13th clubat, the Paradigm Mall club in Kelana Jaya. With this latest club, they hope to help members increase their ability to perform daily tasks, by ensuring they strip off unwanted body fat to get fit. “At Fitness First Malaysia, we want to be part of the journey to make Malaysia a healthier nation through exercise. If you need some motivation to kick start your exercise programme, our team is more than happy to guide you. Take that first step and get moving with us!” added Stocks.