Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Are you going to Fight or Flight?
One of my co-trainers did a run through of her stress management session. The advantage of working among trainers, you get first hand experience of newly developed modules.
So we got to look at the tips and exercises. She mentioned that when you're stressed, you can either fight or flight. The only difference between choosing one over the other is that you either choose to overcome the challenge now or delay it for something that could even be more stressful later on. In different circumstances, we choose one over the other, whichever would be best for that particular scenario.
Then we moved to the exercises. Proper breathing. Eye muscle movement. Positive self affirmation. Physical exercises practical to do while at office. That's when we realized that we should actually do this more often. At least the exercise part, since a lot of times when we're stressed, we end up to stress eating and not much movements.
We've started our sessions of Hip Hop Abs at no other place than our training rooms. We normally take 30 minutes after work and then still manage to get back to work for one more hour. It really energizes you a bit and livens up the sleeping muscle.
Up. Down. Bend your knees. Wave your arms. Step forward. Step backward. The instructor on video even gives comments as if he's just right in front of you. "Come on, I know you're getting it. You can feel your muscles and you go on. Four more steps." In my mind.... fight, fight, fight, because if I flight I will still be tired and yet won't feel that I got some exercise.
One more thing that my co-trainer mentioned is that stress is a constant companion in life. The only time where we won't be stressed is when we die. So i guess I will just welcome any stress that comes in to my life, it's a challenge worth overcoming. There are times when I felt like giving up but manage to fight again before totally giving up. It's usually worth fighting for it and more rewarding than just thinking what could have been.
So we got to look at the tips and exercises. She mentioned that when you're stressed, you can either fight or flight. The only difference between choosing one over the other is that you either choose to overcome the challenge now or delay it for something that could even be more stressful later on. In different circumstances, we choose one over the other, whichever would be best for that particular scenario.
Then we moved to the exercises. Proper breathing. Eye muscle movement. Positive self affirmation. Physical exercises practical to do while at office. That's when we realized that we should actually do this more often. At least the exercise part, since a lot of times when we're stressed, we end up to stress eating and not much movements.
We've started our sessions of Hip Hop Abs at no other place than our training rooms. We normally take 30 minutes after work and then still manage to get back to work for one more hour. It really energizes you a bit and livens up the sleeping muscle.
Up. Down. Bend your knees. Wave your arms. Step forward. Step backward. The instructor on video even gives comments as if he's just right in front of you. "Come on, I know you're getting it. You can feel your muscles and you go on. Four more steps." In my mind.... fight, fight, fight, because if I flight I will still be tired and yet won't feel that I got some exercise.
One more thing that my co-trainer mentioned is that stress is a constant companion in life. The only time where we won't be stressed is when we die. So i guess I will just welcome any stress that comes in to my life, it's a challenge worth overcoming. There are times when I felt like giving up but manage to fight again before totally giving up. It's usually worth fighting for it and more rewarding than just thinking what could have been.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
3-2-1 Knocked out
I came home for a weekend and the whole family said they've been knocked out by my niece, Luce in the boxing game of Wii. "Unbelievable!" I said, "how can a kid beat the oldies with this game? Let's try it out with me!" Confident!
As you can sense, I have a love-hate relationship with Luce. I miss her when I go home, then when I see her I just love teasing her to death. She's a diesel, so it takes awhile for her to warm up. Once she does, she won't even be nice to all the people around her. Her favorites would be her parents, her look-alike aunt Mimam, her grandparents, and any "podji"/pogi/handsome guys that's around.
Since I'm not on the favorites list of Luce, I challenged her that I'd be able to beat her. I've just rested from a great vacation so I thought I can definitely release all my energy for this match. Yes, almost felt like a Marquez-Pacquiao match as the whole clan was also there that weekend.
Round 1. Big punch, lower punch, straight in the face. I really feel like I'm winning, except I had no idea how the scoring works. More punches. My opponent is almost knocked out.... but she managed to get up. Man, it felt like a long game.
Round 2. What??!! There's a round 2? I was already out of energy, or no exercise so it's getting back on me? My opponent still had 101% energy. Fight must go on. More punches. It's not just a game of strength but also of endurance to have that level of adrenalin throughout the game. I was losing that.
Round 3. At least I managed to get to round 3. She knocked out my sister in round 1, my mom and cousin in round 2. I had to set the new record. I started sweating, it really felt like going for an exercise. The cheers went for Luce. Fine. She needs more support. Even my mom was coaching for Luce! Punch here. Punch there. I was really tired on this round and didn't know where my punches were going.
The countdown begins. 10-9-8 trying hard to punch more. 7-6-5 still fighting but my icon is not getting up! 4-3-2-1 Knocked out! Yes, I was knocked out by a 4-year old girl and she's still ready for one more round except I just gave up.
Phew! This is one good computer game. Almost involved the whole family while playing. Engaging enough, physically exhausting, not like those other games where it's just a thumb exercise.
Although I must warn you that kids have more energy for this than we could imagine. They are just naturally hyper, always on the go, and not easily distracted.
I've become a Wii fan. Now there's something that encourages me to go home. Except I have to woo my niece again, since I have to borrow it from her. Then the cycle continues.
As you can sense, I have a love-hate relationship with Luce. I miss her when I go home, then when I see her I just love teasing her to death. She's a diesel, so it takes awhile for her to warm up. Once she does, she won't even be nice to all the people around her. Her favorites would be her parents, her look-alike aunt Mimam, her grandparents, and any "podji"/pogi/handsome guys that's around.
Since I'm not on the favorites list of Luce, I challenged her that I'd be able to beat her. I've just rested from a great vacation so I thought I can definitely release all my energy for this match. Yes, almost felt like a Marquez-Pacquiao match as the whole clan was also there that weekend.
Round 1. Big punch, lower punch, straight in the face. I really feel like I'm winning, except I had no idea how the scoring works. More punches. My opponent is almost knocked out.... but she managed to get up. Man, it felt like a long game.
Round 2. What??!! There's a round 2? I was already out of energy, or no exercise so it's getting back on me? My opponent still had 101% energy. Fight must go on. More punches. It's not just a game of strength but also of endurance to have that level of adrenalin throughout the game. I was losing that.
Round 3. At least I managed to get to round 3. She knocked out my sister in round 1, my mom and cousin in round 2. I had to set the new record. I started sweating, it really felt like going for an exercise. The cheers went for Luce. Fine. She needs more support. Even my mom was coaching for Luce! Punch here. Punch there. I was really tired on this round and didn't know where my punches were going.
The countdown begins. 10-9-8 trying hard to punch more. 7-6-5 still fighting but my icon is not getting up! 4-3-2-1 Knocked out! Yes, I was knocked out by a 4-year old girl and she's still ready for one more round except I just gave up.
Phew! This is one good computer game. Almost involved the whole family while playing. Engaging enough, physically exhausting, not like those other games where it's just a thumb exercise.
Although I must warn you that kids have more energy for this than we could imagine. They are just naturally hyper, always on the go, and not easily distracted.
I've become a Wii fan. Now there's something that encourages me to go home. Except I have to woo my niece again, since I have to borrow it from her. Then the cycle continues.
