Fun Fusion Fitness

FTX has just launched Urban Rebound featuring Kangoo Jumps – the World’s lowest impact shoe that gives you 20% more calories burned and 80% less impact on your knees and back. According to experts, Rebounding is an exercise that reduces your body fat; firms your arms, legs, thighs, abdomen, and hips; increases your agility; strengthens your muscles overall; provides an aerobic effect for your heart; rejuvenates your body when it's tired, and generally puts you in a state of health and fitness. In fact, there are at least 33 health advantages of regular rebounding, including the following: 

1. It provides an increased G-force (gravitational load), which strengthens the musculoskeletal systems. 
2. It protects the joints from the chronic fatigue delivered by exercising on hard surfaces. 
3. It helps manage body composition and improves muscle-to-fat ratio. 
4. It increases capacity for respiration. 
5. It circulates more oxygen to the tissues. 
6. It establishes a better equilibrium between the oxygen required by the tissues and the oxygen made available. 
7. It aids lymphatic circulation by stimulating the millions of one-way valves in the lymphatic system. 
8. It tends to reduce the height to which the arterial pressures rise during exertion. 
9. It lessens the time during which blood pressure remains abnormal after severe activity. 
10. It assists in the rehabilitation of a heart problem. 

11. It increases the functional activity of the red bone marrow in the production of red blood cells. 
12. It improves resting metabolic rate so that more calories are burned for hours after exercise. 
13. It causes muscles to perform work in moving fluids through the body to lighten the heart's load. 
14. It decreases the volume of blood pooling in the veins of the cardiovascular system preventing chronic edema. 
15. It encourages collateral circulation by increasing the capillary count in the muscles and decreasing the distance between the capillaries and the target cells. 
16. It strengthens the heart and other muscles in the body so that they work more efficiently. 
17. It allows the resting heart to beat less often. 
18. It lowers circulating cholesterol and triglyceride levels. 
19. It lowers low-density lipoprotein (bad) and increases high-density lipoprotein (good) within the blood holding off the incidence of coronary artery disease. 
20. It promotes tissue repair. 

21. It increases the mitochondria count within the muscle cells, essential for endurance. 
22. It adds to the alkaline reserve of the body, which may be of significance in an emergency requiring prolonged effort. 
23. It improves coordination between the propreoceptors in the joints, the transmission of nerve impulses to and from the brain, transmission of nerve impulses and responsiveness of the muscle fibers. 
24. It improves the brain's responsiveness to the vestibular apparatus within the inner ear, thus improving balance. 
25. It offers relief from neck and back pains, headaches, and other pain caused by lack of exercise. 
26. It enhances digestion and elimination processes. 
27. It allows for deeper and easier relaxation and sleep. 
28. It results in better mental performance, with keener learning processes. 
29. It curtails fatigue and menstrual discomfort for women. 
30. It minimizes the number of colds, allergies, digestive disturbances, and abdominal problems. 
31. It tends to slow down atrophy in the aging process. 
32. It is an effective modality by which the user gains a sense of control and an improved self-image. 
33. It is enjoyable! 

As Scientist/Expert Albert E. Carter said: "Rebound Exercise is the Most Effective and EffiecientForm of Exercise Yet Devised by Man". FTX Urban Rebound includes classes in Plyometrics, Bootcamp, Kickboxing and Dance. Another first in the Philippines by FTX Fitness Exchange located at Unit 202, Three Salcedo Place, Tordesillas Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City. 

How traveling taught me PATIENCE

I am not, by nature, a particularly patient person. But thanks to my years of traveling, I have become a lot more patient than I used to be! Traveling has taught me many skills, but one of the best and most useful ones is that of patience.


Here's how:


LEARNING TO WAIT
Waiting patiently is not a skill that most people have, but there is a lot of waiting involved when you travel. You can either get impatient or get used to it. Travel enough and you will definitely get used to it. You’ll realise getting impatient doesn’t help the Spanish people get rid of their siesta in the middle of business hours or the Italian corner restaurant open any earlier.


After enough travel, you might even learn to feel that waiting is a fun part of the experience! It used to irritate me when I had to wait around while traveling, especially if it was because some service I was waiting for is delayed or more so if it was cancelled. But over time I managed to accept that I couldn’t change it and to see these waits as valuable breathing spaces on my travels -- to take a good long look at the different people and places around me.

Ischia, Italy

Port Mahon, Spain

MAKING YOURSELF UNDERSTOOD
Dealing with people in other languages – whether you are trying to speak their language or they’re trying to use yours – is often not an easy thing to do. Patience is required for effective communication. Perhaps you need to take the time to look up some words in a phrase book or online, or you need to draw a sketch of what you’re after, or simply ask them to repeat themselves a few times so you can get the gist of the message.


If you don’t practice patience when trying to communicate in a foreign country, you simply won’t get what you are after. I’ve met people who become extremely frustrated by this, and others who have thought it must be impossible to actually communicate with someone when you don’t share many words (if any) of a common language. But it’s all about adopting a patient attitude so you can try multiple ways to explain or understand something.

riding the tuktuk in Bangkok

HAVING CAPTIVE TIME
When you’re “trapped”, so to speak, on a long flight or train ride, you gradually learn to appreciate and enjoy this time as “captive time”. There is not a single thing you can do to make your plane fly faster or your train arrive sooner, so you need to find a way to be patient with the journey.


Personally, this “captive time” is one of my favourite parts of travelling – nobody has any expectations for me to do anything particular during this time. I can’t do any chores at home and I'd rather do a lot of taking photos and writing works -- "Captive Time" is definitely fantastic!

strike a pose in Singapore

ANTICIPATING YOUR TRIP
Once your trip is planned, you’ll need to be patient until your departure date arrives. If you’re keen to start travelling and the time until then is taken up by working at a job you hate or finishing a set of exams, it might be difficult to remain patient right up until the moment you get on the plane. But exercise your patience and enjoy the planning time, knowing that you can do some reading or research on your destination, ready to make the most of your time there when you finally arrive.


I love the anticipation before a trip and although I’m sometimes anxious for the departure date to roll around, more often than not it comes around too soon as there are always a few more things I’d like to read or organize before I head off. When I was traveling more or less full-time I missed the anticipation phase and found myself wishing I had time to patiently wait for my next trip instead of diving head long into it.


GETTING TO KNOW DIFFERENT CULTURES
If, like me, you come from a culture where many people believe that “time is money” and when service takes a long time, people become irritated, you will probably find yourself feeling impatient in some other cultures. There are many places around the world where the “time is money” philosophy is not at all how the locals think and act – where patience reigns supreme!


If you spend enough time in one of these more relaxed cultures, chances are good that you’ll grow to appreciate their more relaxed approach to life. You’ll probably even take a good dose of patience back to your own working and every day life. Think over those surveys you’ve no doubt seen about the happiest places in the world, full of people who don’t rush around and don’t show impatience with anyone – they just take life as it comes and get things done when they get things done.

I am the CAPTAIN at work!

For the past few months, I have been in a position of management at a fairly large group of companies. Not large like SMC or PLDT but big enough to have taught me some really important things about management, leadership and life.


Being used with the life onboard a cruiseship, I can see how managing plays a similar role wherein the SHIP represents the company you’re working for, the CAPTAIN and the CREW as Manager and Staffs respectively. Here are some thoughts on the skills necessary to navigate the ship through the sometimes stormy waters, keeping the vessel and its crew safe and on course.

Realize you are the captain!
Your life is a ship and if you are not the captain, then who is? Do you think anyone else is going to chart your course and keep you on track? When we were kids, our parents might have done this for us – a lot of us have failed to realize that we’re not the kids anymore; we are the headmasters!


In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl writes that ‘between stimulus and response there is a gap, and in this gap lies all our freedom.’ Frankl calls this being proactive, an idea which is the foundation of all personal development. If we fail to realize that we are in control of our own experience, then we cannot hope to guide our ship to safe.


Make sure you know where the ship is going. 
So you're the captain. You’re in control. But where are you going? Unless you have a plan, your ship will meander through the water, drifting along with no destination in mind. I am not suggesting that this is a bad thing in itself – it may be very pleasant to drift along and see where you end up. But most of us, sooner or later, come to the conclusion that we want to achieve something, and our goals are destinations that require a map, a compass and a set of navigational skills. Even a cruise liner has destinations in mind, though it deliberately takes a long time to get to them.


Surprisingly few people have given serious thought to where they are going in life. Of course, we all want to be ‘rich’ and ‘successful,’ but we need to be a bit more specific than that! We need a clear idea of where we are going. Of course, life is strange and unpredictable, and we may not end up where we originally intended to get to, but without an initial guide, where we end up will be largely a matter of chance. Strange attitude for a captain to take!


Keep the ship on a steady course. 
Since the ship has a destination, the simplest way to get there is to point in the right direction and then keep on going. If you’re at the helm, as we often hear managers say, all you need to do is to steer a steady course. This assumes that the ship’s destination is known and that you are actually pointing towards that destination. Sometimes the ship will be knocked off course, perhaps by a strong wind or a storm. Maybe the ship will have to take a detour because of an iceberg or to avoid some other sort of collision. But the good captain will see these events coming and will maneuver the ship slowly, gradually changing its direction and steering around the obstacle without the passengers even noticing.


Sometimes the ship’s destination might change, in which case, once again, the good captain will prepare the new course and move the ship slowly until it points towards its new direction. Jerking the ship around will make everyone feel sick, put strain on the ship and undermine confidence in the captain. Slow and steady is the best thing!


Be ready for anything!
Lao Tzu said, ‘Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.’


In management, as in life, change is the only constant. As the ship sails on, who knows what storms, what bad weather, what pirates will come along? We only know that tomorrow won’t be quite like today. The good captain understands this, prepares for every eventuality and does not bemoan the changes that come along. Indeed, he embraces them, for he knows that change is the essence of life.

The Anchor Project

“The Anchor Project” is a way of clarifying the primary values for your life, and strengthening them by taking consistent, manageable steps to focus on the life you want and minimize the impact of external factors.

I call them “anchors” because anchors provide stability and security, even in rough seas.

1. ELIMINATE EXCUSES AND STAY FLEXIBLE.

This is the key to this whole process. I did not say to myself, “I can’t have the life I want because I am a single mother and sole provider, and my son needs a lot, and the job market is bad, and I don’t have the resources I need to achieve these things.”

Well, I did say all of that in the past, but “The Anchor Project” forced me to drop those excuses. Look at your excuses. Take action on the ones that can be changed. Make a Plan B for managing the ones that won’t budge. If you can’t move the obstacle, find a way around it, over it, or through it.

2. EXAMINE AND DEFINE YOUR VALUES.

Really. What do you want for your life? How do you want to feel? What sort of life will allow you to feel at peace at the end of your lifetime? How would you live if you lived with no regrets?

This is not a task-oriented “Bucket List.” This is a way to have the sort of life you want, to identify what grounds you and guides you. Once that’s in place, fill it however you like.

3. REFINE.

Define your vision for your life by organizing it into 3–5 “anchors.” What values ground you and guide you? The possibilities are endless. Pick the ones that mean the most to you.

4. CREATE A PLAN.

Reserve some time for yourself over the course of a few days for this process. Start with one anchor. Brainstorm ways in which your vision could be realized, and start listing steps you may need to take to strengthen that area. Stay open minded and include all possibilities that occur to you. Repeat with each anchor.

5. FOCUS AND APPLY.

Each day, take steps toward your ultimate vision for each Anchor. Every single day.

Notice distractions that tempt you to procrastinate. Bring your attention back to your original outlines, and focus on what you want. Another helpful technique is to make a list of things you could do for each anchor when you have ten minutes to spare, thirty minutes to spare, or an hour to spare.

When you find yourself with free time, use it toward creating your dream life.

If it’s feeling like too much work, re-evaluate the anchors you defined. You may find that they don’t accurately reflect your true values. Pay attention to the influences in your life, past and present, and how they may have shaped what you thought you wanted.

When you know what you really want in life, working toward it will feel exciting and energizing, rather than draining.

It’s very easy to let circumstances dictate the sort of life you live, to feel tossed around in the world. But it’s not the only way to live. There is an alternative. Clarify what you really want, create a plan, focus, and take consistent action.

There is strength in applied action, and there is freedom in saying “no” to the things that don’t fit your vision for your own life.

With strong anchors, you will be able to weather any storm.

TRAVEL makes one a better person

As you grow older, I encourage you to do a lot of one thing… travel. Most people like traveling because it’s fun, but it also builds character and maturity faster than anything can. 

Travel makes one a better person simply because… 

Traveling humbles you and teaches you new things. As children we learn how to navigate the world by mimicking the people we’re raised around. We don’t question whether there’s a better way to do things. We just assume that the way the people around us think and behave is the way to think and behave. The longer we repeat these thoughts and behaviors the more ingrained they become. No doubt you know some old person who has been thinking and behaving the same way for so long that there’s no hope of them ever changing even though it’s obvious to you that they’re hopelessly out of date. That’s because the more ingrained our old patterns of thought and behavior become the more invested we become in our culture. Now, every culture does some things better than others and some things worse than others. No matter how great your culture is, it’s still incomplete. There are invaluable life lessons to be learned from other cultures that you could never possibly imagine because they’re so far outside your experiences. The more you travel the more you see this, the more it breaks down your prejudices and preconceived notions, the more it opens your eyes. 

Traveling teaches you how to adapt. I’ve heard stories about Americans flying to Germany, stepping off the plane and upon hearing everyone speaking a different language they freak out and board the next plane back to America. On the other hand, you can drop a world traveler in the middle of any city on the planet and they settle in and navigate their environment like a special ops soldier dropped in the wilderness. This skill isn’t just useful for getting dropped in a foreign city though. There are new experiences around every corner, even in the city you’ve spent your entire life. If you consistently run from new experiences it cripples your ability to thrive in any environment. If you consistently accept the challenge of life it trains you to thrive in any environment and live proactively with self-determination instead of letting the tides of life bash you into the rocks. 

Traveling makes you a more animated person. Every culture has its own idiosyncrasies, cultural nuances, stories and forms of art. How bland would your tastes be if the only food you ever ate was McDonalds? How bland would your style be if you only wore clothes from PeopleArePeople? How bland would your vocabulary be if you never heard a foreign word? How bland would your mind be if you never heard any stories except the ones of your ancestors? I lament the fact that there are still a number of places I’ve never been, so many people I’ve never met and so many stories I’ve never heard because I know that my personality is more bland because of it. Yet I know people who have never left the county I graduated high school in, and they’re proud as hell about it, but in the end they’re really just celebrating how mundane their life and thus their personality is. 

Traveling gives you more complete perspective of how the world works. I once met a German who explained to me that America’s fanatic patriotism is a mirror image of the same blind nationalism that handed Germany over to the Nazis. I once met a South African who explained to me that black Africans view African Americans as white. I once met an African American who explained to me that African Americans call each other “nigger” as a way of conquering that dirty word. I once met an Australian who explained how “Australia looks towards America” and “New Zealand looks towards Europe.” I never knew what abject poverty was until I visited Tangier where they trade people for Camels. I didn’t understand globalization until I saw a Bulgarian walking through the mall of Palma De Mallorca in Spain carrying two giant bags of KFC chicken. I never knew how sexually repressed America is until I went to a topless beach in Nice, France. Every culture you visit is another piece of the puzzle. The more you see, the more you’ll understand. The less you’ve seen, the less pieces you have to work with and the less empowered your mind is. 

Traveling makes you a more complete person. That’s what all of this adds up to. “Knowing is half the battle.” “The more you know, the more you grow.” I can tell you all of this, and you can comprehend it rationally, but until you actually step out of your comfort zone and into a new world, you’ll never truly understand it. Of course, this presents a conundrum. Even if you could visit every country in the world you still wouldn’t have enough time to spend in each country to fully digest what it has to offer. So what does that mean? We’re doomed to ignorance and incompleteness? I suppose technically that’s true, but I like to focus on the positive: each new experience makes you a better person than you were before, and becoming a more complete person is its own reward regardless of what happens tomorrow. The only question is how far you’re going to take yourself?