runningcoachsg: May 2020

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

The Importance of Health

By Editors of Flexifitness

Having good health involves being both physically and mentally healthy. In order for a person to be physically healthy, it is important for them to exercise regularly and consume a healthy diet. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, one should engage in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (23-26 beats per 10 seconds) every day. By exercising regularly, one will be able to increase their vitality and immunity. Staying active helps them keep their heart and lungs strong as well as to maintain/increase their stamina, balance, strength, coordination, agility and power of their hands and legs. This will allow them to perform their day to day tasks without difficulty compared to a person who leads a sedentary lifestyle.

For diet, it is important for one to realise that “You are what you eat”. If you consume junk food, you would not be able to obtain the recommended amount of vitamins and minerals that your body needs. This would make you feel fatigued easily. Some may even start to gain weight. Hence, it is important to follow a healthy diet. Your diet should also include fruits and lots of vegetables. Instead of eating white bread and white rice, a healthier option would be brown bread and brown rice. For snacks, instead of munching on chips, one could eat mixed nuts.

Mental well-being is very important. If one is feeling very stressful, the person should find out the cause and do their best to reduce it. Stressful situations could be caused by work or home situations. Meditation is one way that one could use to relieve their stress. They will become calmer and their mind will be clearer which could help make better decisions. Another way is to engage in physical activity. Sometimes, you just need to take a break and come back later to be able to manage the situation better. Therefore, it will benefit one if they are able to find a comfortable platform to relief their stress. Some could listen to music, do deep breathing techniques based on what they are comfortable with and feels that it will help them to relax.

Lastly, having good health will reduce one’s risk of developing chronic health conditions and other issues like depression etc. Hence, one should take care of themselves by consuming a healthy diet, exercising regularly and being mentally healthy. This will also benefit them in the future as if they are healthy, they would not need to spend money on medical bills and can save the money instead.

Note:

By Narayanan

Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’ by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.

Friday, May 22, 2020

An interview with Coach Rameshon (Should people exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic?) - Part 2

By Editors of Flexifitness

Some people may wonder what types of food they should eat to improve their immune system and also how they can spend their time wisely during this circuit breaker period. Hence, Coach Rameshon, an experienced person who also has a Masters in Education have given his thoughts about it.

1. What are some foods that people could eat during this period to keep themselves healthy and reduce the risk of them getting the Corona Virus?

Turmeric. Studies and research has shown that Turmeric has the highest antioxidants, vitality, and immunity score and other spices that are not mentioned here.

Berries. Blueberries, strawberries and etc. also have a high amount of antioxidants which helps improve the immunity and vitality level.

More information about turmeric and berries are provided in the links below:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-turmeric
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-reasons-to-eat-berries

2. How can people keep themselves occupied during this circuit breaker period?

When a person goes out to exercise, it keeps their mind occupied compared to a person who does not exercise, and when their mind is too free, goofy thoughts start to form in the mind. Some may come across negative articles on the newspaper for example and start to have negative thoughts. Instead, one could indulge themselves in positive thoughts by reading the autobiography of the great people which could be a form of motivation for one to start something new and could even use YouTube as a guiding platform to learn something new. For example, Yoga stretching, new languages etc.

One could learn more about Yoga. There are different types of Yoga poses one can do which will be good for the whole body in terms of preventing diseases. Each pose has the ability to prevent different types of diseases. At the same time, doing Yoga will also help to align the body especially the joints, from the neck all the way down to the feet.

Another thing one could do is meditation for 10 – 20 minutes which is good for, the mental well-being of a person. One type of meditation is by sitting down listening to the sounds of the environment in the sukh(easy)asana(pose), a cross-legged pose which helps the blood circulate towards the heart. If one cannot sit on the ground cross-legged due to flexibility limitation, they can sit on the chair but make sure that their spine is erect. The important thing is that the spine has to be erect so that the energy can flow from the base of the spine through the spine to the top of the head. Another type of meditation is to observe the breath. Japa is the repetition of a word, a monosyllable whereby the person repeats the same positive word again and again in their mind. An example would be, repeating the word “Strong”. Repeating positive words creates soundwaves and it affects the mind and body to the thought that we are thinking.

Superman pose

One could also do strength training like push-ups, sit-ups and superman pose is good enough. One could do these three exercises at their own pace with several intervals. Push-ups and sit-ups could add up to 60 each with breaks in between. The superman pose can be done for 30 seconds to 1 minute. If one is able to, the person can do a few sets of the superman pose.

Note:

By Narayanan

An interview with Coach Rameshon (Should people exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic?) - Part 1

Note:

If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Editors of Flexifitness

During the circuit breaker period, some may be unsure if they should exercise or not and what food they could consume to be less prone to contracting the Corona Virus. Seeing this as a complex issue to discuss, it is good to ask an experienced person. He does not only have the experience, but he also has a Masters in Education. Therefore, I decided to ask Coach Rameshon a few important questions and hear his thoughts on it.

1. What is the difference between normal flu and Corona Virus?

Normal flu is quite contagious. In fact, in the USA, part of the Corona Virus death could be from normal flu that people are dying from. Flu is a virus and those with immunity can recover from it. However, if one gets the Corona Virus, they need to have a much higher immunity level to recover from it.

Children from 1 to 4 years old are still building up on their immune system. Hence, they can be more prone to getting the virus. Therefore, it is important for parents to adopt a healthy eating habit for their children so that they can build up on their immunity.

For adults, the older they get, their immunity goes down due to ageing as they are moving closer to death. Hence, they could be more prone to getting the virus as well. Therefore, it is important for adults to adopt a healthy lifestyle by exercising regularly and keeping themselves fit.

2. What are the advantages of an active person and the disadvantages of an inactive person?

An active person will be able to keep their health and fitness. Health is about increasing their vitality and immunity. Fitness consists of 10 components and we will be focusing on some of the very important components. If a person exercises and stays active, they will be able to improve/maintain their stamina, balance, strength, coordination, agility and power of their hands and legs to be able to perform their daily tasks without getting fatigued easily. Their heart and lungs will be kept strong as well. Most people who are healthy also focus on their diet and hydration.

An inactive person, in three weeks, their stamina can drop by 50%. Since they are not exercising, their fitness components such as their stamina, balance, strength, coordination, agility and power of their hands and legs will start to drop. This would cause them to feel fatigued easily and may find it difficult to complete their daily tasks as they would have to put in more effort compared to an active person.

For adults at the age of 50 to 70 years old, they will lose at least 40% of their muscle mass regardless of whether they are active or inactive. Their bone density also starts decreasing.

3. Can people go out the parks like Bishan Park and Pasir Ris park to exercise during the circuit breaker period?

Firstly, due to the government ruling, one can only exercise in their neighbourhood. This is because, example, if a person travels on public transport to other parks to exercise, it increases the chances of them getting the virus. Hence, it is better to follow the government’s ruling and only exercise in your neighbourhood.

Some parks like the Tiong Bahru park are small. Hence, a person needs to be disciplined to exercise at such parks and do several rounds in the park to achieve the minimum requirement of physical activity per day. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, one should engage in 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity (23-26 beats per 10 seconds) every day.

People may have several parks near their house that they can run at. They should compare the parks and see which park has a longer route for them to run at so that it motivates them to complete the route and run a longer distance as well. If a person stays near parks as big as the Botanic Gardens, one should choose to run there instead because it is a very big park and one can cover more distance by running around that park.

When a person goes out to exercise, it keeps their mind occupied compared to a person who does not exercise and they are too free, their mind goes goofy. This causes the person to be unaware of the time being wasted during the unnecessary thoughts going through in the mind. Some may even start to quarrel with others for small things which do not matter.

4. Is it safe for the elderly to go out to exercise during this period?

Elderly should exercise because exercising can help slow down the ageing process and improve their health. This will help reduce the chances of them getting the Corona Virus.

In countries like Singapore where there is heat and humidity, the virus dies. Hence, when a person goes out to exercise, it is less likely that they would contract the virus.

5. What are the benefits of running?

Some of the benefits have been mentioned above in question 2, the advantages of an active person. People can also relieve their stress when they go for their run. They get to clear their mind.

Note:

By Narayanan

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Coach Rameshon And His Revisit of Sub-2hr 24min 22sec Marathon Challenge.

Picture 1 – Singapore International Marathon 1994 December, Local champion and a personal best of 2hr 34min 02sec.

Revisit of aiming for sub-2hour 24min 22sec, challenging with own time.

My intention of writing this is to state my wonder whether Coach Rameshon, 51, has ever tried thinking of doing a time of 2hr 24min 22sec, still currently the Singapore National Record, again.

The first time he broke the record was in the year 1990, in Hong Kong Marathon, where he came in 5th overall, with a time of 2hr 31min and won a cash prize of $3000.

Coach Rameshon has run 2 hours 30min and below, five times - 2hr 30min (California Rim Marathon 1990), 2hr 29min (Flora London International Marathon 1993, April). 2hr 28min (Berlin International Marathon, 1993, Sept), 2hr 29min (SEA Games first qualifier,1995, Feb, and the SEA Games route was verified by the Thailand officials to go ahead to use it for SEA Games) and in the same route in Chiangmai, Thailand, he did a time of 2hr 24min 22sec, smashing the national record, yet again.

After seeing this, I have asked him of any future running pursuits. He said, "Many have asked me to run again and they are keen to see me run, to the point that they want to see how fast I can run". He told me that at forty, in the past, he wanted to win the Stanchart Marathon, but it evaded him. In the year 2007, his runner by the name of Daniel Ling won the Stanchart Marathon in 2hr 46min, defeating triple year winner Elangovan Ganesan. Mr Rameshon finishing in the second position.

In the year 2008, Mr Rameshon ran and did 2hr 49min in Stanchart Marathon in Singapore and came in as the champion of the race. His runner Daniel Ling was second and Dr Ben Tan, whom he was training was third (2hr 56min), the first Singaporean Doctor to run sub-3hour for a marathon.

Coach Rameshon told me that in the year 2009, he wanted to do a sub-2hr 40min, and then attempt to do a sub - 2hr 30min and aim to do a sub-2hr 24min, but this evaded him as he got injured due to an injury related to the knee. In that year, Dr Benny Goh was third while Ashley Liew was first runner up for the Stanchart race that year.

"Adidas was supporting me to do a sub-2hr 24min 22sec and I was hoping to do in the year 2010 to 2012. My plan failed as I kept getting injuries."

To my question, recently on, "Is there any possibility of going near or even breaking the time of 2hr 24min 22sec again", He said, "Why not!" "Anything is possible". "One must believe in miracles and it is ok to go for it." "If one can get it is good, if I don't, it is ok and the challenge is not with the youngsters but with myself." "I just need to keep away from injuries."

To the question of when he is going to attempt, he said, it starts now. "It is me against myself, I have done it in the past and with the empowered present informed knowledge of preventing injuries, diet and being aware of the new training methodology and training techniques to get faster, I may get it and it is always a thrill to challenge oneself." "In fact, the challenge starts today."

Picture 1 - (Left to Right) It was Teamwork - Daniel Ling (2nd), Rameshon (1st) and Dr Benedict Tan (3rd) for Stanchart Marathon 2008, in Singapore.

Note:

By Narayanan