Malaysia's the fattest country in Asia, so why aren't we spending on our health?

Today, many assume that their most important asset is their wealth. They scramble to buy more property and earn more money. Too often they would be in such pursuit for wealth that they neglect their true asset, their health. HEALTH IS WEALTH The President of the Malaysian Doctor’s Club Dr Muhammad Hakim Nordin said society today was still reluctant when it came to investing in their health. “We are so consumed in making monetary investments but fail to channel the same effort towards our health. “The 2015 National Health and Morbidity Survey revealed that more Malaysians today are topping the chart for obesity and chronic diseases,” he told Bernama. 

FATTEST IN ASIA 
A study published in the renowned British medical journal, The Lancet, showed that Malaysia is the most obese country in Asia. The 2015 National Health and Morbidity survey supported this fact by revealing that nearly half of the Malaysian population aged 18 and above (47.7 percent) were overweight or obese. 

“Obesity used to be just a term to describe excessive body weight. Today, obesity is also known as disease. “Many are unaware that obesity is a catalyst for chronic diseases like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Obesity rapidly increases the risk of chronic disease,” he said. The survey also showed a rapid rise in chronic diseases among Malaysians.

 "We can see that 30.3 percent of Malaysians aged 18 and above suffer from high blood pressure, 47.7 percent have high cholesterol levels and 17.5 percent have diabetes,” he said. CHRONIC DISEASES Muhammad Hakim said what society needed to understand was the complications that could arise from these chronic diseases, as they would only manifest after 15 or 30 years. High blood pressure, for example, could cause arteriosclerosis through the building up of plaque on the surface of blood vessels. He said that this could further lead to stroke, a weak heart, heart attack (myocardial infarction), heart failure, kidney failure (due to nephropathy), liver damage and eye damage. "All these complications only manifest themselves years after the initial diagnosis. 

"A large number of Malaysians are skeptical to go for treatment via modern medicine due to the stories floating around social media such as “drugs causing kidney damage”. So we can expect to see a rising number of complications from among chronic disease patients in the country within the next 15 to 30 years,” he said. He said this would further weigh down the already burdened government healthcare system. Muhammad Hakim said it could lead to a national healthcare system crisis if nothing was done to prevent the situation from occurring. 

CONTINUOUS EDUCATION 
It is important to have continual awareness campaigns on chronic diseases so that the masses can be constantly educated of the risks and prevention. He said that the Ministry of Youth and Sports was also doing its part to promote health awareness through its Fit Malaysia campaign. The campaign is seen to be successful as it has managed to encourage many, particularly from the younger generation, to take part in fitness activities. “We now see more marathons organised and the public participation in such events have been wildly encouraging. “However, this still does not address the main cause of obesity and chronic diseases in Malaysia which is a poor eating habit,” he said. Muhammad Hakim said Malaysia’s racial diversity contributed towards its wide variety of food choices, eventually creating a society in which eating was a constant affair.

In addition to that, those living in large cities may be eating out more often than those living in quieter cities due to their busy and hectic lifestyles and the availability of 24-hour eateries. Such are the challenges that must be dealt with on a national scale in order to prevent what would be a national health crisis in the coming years. Muhammad Hakim proposed that the Malaysian Doctors Club be introduced in schools and tertiary education institutions nationwide to help inculcate awareness on chronic diseases.

Read More : http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/10/179844/malaysias-fattest-country-asia-so-why-arent-we-spending-our-health

If you are a skinny guy and struggle putting on weight, this post is for you.

Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a crazy increase in the number of emails from skinny nerds looking to pack on some muscle and size and feel better about themselves, no doubt spurred on the summer weather and bathing suit season!

I know that feeling, because I was that guy.

Although I’ve spent the past five years helping people lose weight and live better through eat healthy food, workout, sleep well, etc. I’ve spent the past five years personally focused on the art and science of getting bigger and stronger.

What You Must Do to Build Muscle?

Here's what you need to know...

1. Real over-training is rare, but under-recovery is real. Hardgainers often don't eat enough, rest enough, or manage stress enough.
2. Hardgainers overestimate their daily caloric intake and would do well tracking their food.
3. If a hardgainer has never been afraid going into a leg session, he's not working hard enough.
4. Hardgainers need to select periods throughout the year for making size the sole focus, rather than trying to bulk year round.

Rule #1:  Don't Blame Genetics

Few topics stir up heated debates more than the topic of genetics.

Some lifters wallow in despair over their hopeless genetic misfortune in gaining muscle. Others don't even believe in genetics. They think that with some hard work and some top-secret Soviet program, anyone can be a champ.

In reality, things like your height, skeletal structure (length and width), muscle fiber type ratios, muscle vs. tendon length, and nervous system efficiency impact how your body looks and how it responds to training.

If you come up short in some or all of these areas, all is not lost because there are many things within your control, and any one of them can have a big impact on your physique.

Lifestyle and training habits, nutrition and supplementation, work ethic, time management, and attitude - make positive changes in these areas and you'll add muscle to your body.

Rule #2:  Don't Worry About Overtraining

Hardgainers often fear overtraining. Some are scared of doing more than a set for three exercises per workout, twice a month, because that might constitute overtraining.

The truth is that overtraining does exist... in elite athletes. But the average gym goer doesn't have the time to create a textbook overtraining situation.

Instead, what happens is a vicious cycle of under-recovery. They don't sleep enough, eat enough, train smart enough, or rest enough to recover from a decent amount of work. They start to experience over-training-like symptoms, and assume it's because they're doing too much in the gym.

The result? They use a training solution to fix a recovery problem.

While some lifters make the mistake of doing a stupid amount of work in the gym or trying to copy the program of an elite, drug-using bodybuilder, many more make the mistake of doing too little outside the gym to recover from a decent program.

As a young, skinny, new lifter, I made a very smart decision. I hired a bigger, stronger, more experienced trainer to write me a program. I was so disappointed when I got the program. It included way too much volume and frequency for a hardgainer like me.

I decided to do his stupid program anyway and prove that it didn't work. I upped my food intake, got more sleep, trained really hard, and progressively added weight to all my lifts.

Two months later, his "stupid program" led to a weight gain of 13 pounds of muscle.

Try to out-recover the gifted elite. If they sleep 7 hours a night, you might need 8. If they need 4,000 calories a day, you might need 5,000.

Related:  More on recovery methods

While they may be able to get away with throwing food together, you might need a structured meal plan. If they can get away without naps, massages, and various stress management techniques, you might need to double down on them.

Train hard. Recover harder.

Rule #3:  Find Your Volume Sweet Spot

Training advice for hardgainers seems to always include the recommendation to use low volume. The argument is this:

If you try using the high-volume routines that all the drug-assisted bodybuilders use, you'll over-train. Short, infrequent, heavy, low-volume training is what you need to stimulate muscle growth, and then give your muscles the chance to recover and grow!

I loved this philosophy. It's so simple and logical - except that it doesn't work well for a lot of us.

While heavy weights are very important, a certain amount of volume is vital to create the metabolic stress needed to stimulate hypertrophy. More volume tells the muscle, "You can't just get stronger, you need to get bigger to survive this stress."

As a university strength coach, I get to work with some freaky athletes. Some are extreme mesomorphs who can get too big for optimal sport performance if we're not careful.

To get them stronger without getting bigger, guess what I give them. Short, infrequent, heavy, low-volume training.

If this style of training doesn't put muscle on someone genetically prone to adding it, how do you expect it to work for someone who struggles to gain muscle?

The problem with the volume issue is that it's often pushed to the extreme. Yes, there are outliers who seem to thrive on really low or high volumes. But most fall somewhere in the middle.

There's a happy middle ground where you have enough volume to stimulate muscle growth without exceeding your recovery capabilities. The trick is to find your middle ground.

Keep track of your volume (weight x reps x sets). Start with a lower volume that allows you to get stronger. If you're eating a caloric surplus but not seeing gains, bring the volume up a little.

Monitor performance in your training log and take body weight and girth measurements. Adjust until you find your sweet spot. (Be aware that this can change over time and you'll be able to tolerate less volume when you're busier and not able to recover as well.)

Volume is trainable. Many hardgainers find that they don't naturally have a great work capacity compared to others. But you can gradually increase work capacity over time by gradually increasing your training volume.

Rule #4:  Prioritize Basics

When you're consistently doing the basics and making great gains, then you can make tweaks and see if they help a bit.

As a teen, I'd devour muscle magazines trying to find all the secrets of a perfect training program: training split, best angle for incline pressing, best number of sets, perfect amount of reps, the position my pinky should be in to get a biceps peak, etc.

All I ended up doing was adding extra stress, confusion, paralysis by over-analysis, and cortisol when I should've been eating and sleeping. Until you're consistently doing the basics, the little stuff doesn't matter.

Rule #5:  Know Your Food Intake

In gyms all over the world, you hear the following conversation:

Skinny guy: "I can't gain weight."
Coach: "You need to eat more."
Skinny guy: "But I eat a ton!"

At this point, the skinny guy usually blows off the coach and walks off in search of someone else who will tell him what he wants to hear: "You just need to find a special, really complicated, super-scientific program."

Too bad the coach didn't just demand to see the hardgainer's food log.

In the same way that the obese typically underestimate how much they eat, many hardgainers overestimate it. They may feel like they're eating a ton, but if they actually crunched the numbers, they'd see that their intake is pitiful.

Related:  Diet Planning for the Hardgainer

Use a website, app, or an old-school notebook and track your food intake. Keep increasing this intake until your weight starts to climb. Unless you have a tape worm, you'll gain weight.

Eating more calories isn't the whole picture. While a calorie is a calorie in a food incinerator that measures calories, it's not that simple when it comes to food and the human body.

What you eat is just as important. Many hardgainers resort to cheap weight gainer supplements or go all Michael Phelps and start pounding back junk food to get their calories in.

Most will be able to gain weight with a lot fewer calories than that per day. If you only need 4,000 calories per day to be in a caloric surplus, then you can get the majority of these with high-quality foods.

Make whole foods your dietary base. This base can also include natural calorie-dense foods (nuts, nut butter, dried fruit). Then, live a little and enjoy some treats.

As a result of having the majority of your diet consist of high-quality foods, you'll gain less unwanted fat, have more energy for training, recover faster, reduce inflammation, and enjoy better health.

Rule #6:  Shun Fad Diets

As a hardgainer, it's a challenge getting enough calories and nutrients to gain muscle. Add to this any of today's diet fads and muscle gain goes from hard to impossible.

Besides limiting foods that are complete junk, there's only one rule you need to follow: Eat what works for you.

The diet industry has seen a lot of interesting trends - none of which are helpful for building muscle.

If you tried to follow all of today's mainstream food-fearing advice, you'd end up as a gluten-free, raw-food eating, paleo vegan who's afraid of fruits and nuts because they make you fat.

Hardgainers often have less-than-stellar digestive systems. If a certain food leaves you feeling gross, then by all means exclude it. Other than that, just eat what makes you feel the best and delivers the results you want.

Rule #7:  Find Your Best Exercises

If you want to get big, then squat, bench, and deadlift, right?

That's what many successful and often short coaches and lifters recommend. And while these lifts have helped pack mass on to thousands of lifters, they're not always a perfect fit for hardgainers, especially not tall ones.

Even the shorter hardgainers may have relatively long limbs and a short torso. Think about the body type that typifies a great lifter and you'll quickly realize it doesn't match up with the structure of most hardgainers.

While they may have volleyball and rowing coaches recruiting them, they generally won't be getting an invitation from Louie Simmons to come lift at Westside.

You need to select big exercises that are right for you. T Nation is full of articles from innovative coaches with countless variations on the big 3. Keep experimenting until you find a handful of variations for each major movement pattern or body part that meet the following criteria:

• They don't beat up your joints
• They effectively hit the target muscles
• You can progressively add weight and reps to them for a long time (think deadlifts vs. lateral raises)

Related:  More on finding big lifts that are right for you

Exercise selection is one of the most important training variables. Even the best combination of all other training variables can fail to deliver results if you select inferior exercises.

By picking the best options, you'll maximize your growth stimulus with fewer total exercises. This allows you to spend wisely as you dip into your limited recovery reserves.

Rule #8:  Squat Hard, Curl Hard

If you've never been afraid going into a leg session, you're not working hard enough.

Regardless of whether you do a squat with a barbell on your back or racked in front of your chest, you need to have some big, scary leg sessions. Intense leg training will not only give you bigger wheels, it's also a great catalyst for whole body growth.

And while hardgainers are always told to "just squat and everything will grow" they should also be doing a modest amount of direct work for their limbs.

Hardgainers tend to feel more stimulation in the torso muscles than they do in the limbs when doing compound movements. As a result, doing nothing but compound movements will make the limbs (which are proportionately smaller to begin with) start to fall further behind.

Rule #9:  Shun Gurus

If you have no idea what to do, hire a successful coach, buy an informative book, or read articles. As you make progress and try different things, take note of what works well for you. The more advanced you get, the more you'll know about your body.

One huge mistake I made was to stop doing what was working because it didn't align with what some guru said I had to do.

There are many brilliant coaches out there with info to share. However, if that information contradicts what you know works for you, ignore it and move on.

Rule #10:  Focus

If you want to be successful, devote specific phases of your training and lifestyle to maximizing muscle growth.

Forget about your vertical jump, winning a triathlon, and all the cool "new" core stability exercises you saw on the internet. Forget about late-night movies and video game marathons. Spend that time training, eating, and sleeping.

Many hardgainers also make the mistake of trying to be in a mass-building phase year round. Instead, select periods throughout the year for making size your sole focus. Then choose other times to focus on complimentary goals (like maximal strength) while you maintain the new muscle you gained.

Then, when you're ready, tackle another muscle gaining phase.

HIIT Workout (No equipment and No rest)

To complete this workout complete 2 rounds of the following exercises:

(Complete part 1 and 2 and then repeat the whole thing)

**I am using the gymboss interval timer AP for Iphone. It's free.

Part 1: 40 seconds work, 20 seconds high knees
1) Burpees
2) Dumbell swings (or more burpees if you don't have weights)
3) Heel clicks
4) Reptile pushups
5) Squat Jumps
6) Mountain climbers
7) 1 regular pushup, 1 pike pushup
8) Switch lunges
9) 1 box jump, 1 tuck jump
10) Plank hops (R&L elbow)

Part 2: 50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest

1) Sumo squats
2) Commando plank
3) Hip raises (right leg)
4) Curtsy lunge (right leg)
5) Hip raises (left leg)
6) Curtsy lunge (left leg)
7) Oblique glut raise (right leg)
8) Alternating back lunge - weight optional
9) Oblique glut raise (left leg)
10) Toe touch abs

How To Build A Massive Pair Of Arms

It’s no secret that every serious lifter out there desires an impressive pair of strong, muscular arms. Who wouldn’t be happy with tall, peaking biceps sitting on top of rock-hard, horse-shoe-shaped triceps? Who wouldn’t love to have a pair of ripped, well-developed guns forcefully bursting through the sleeves of their shirt? While developing muscular arms is usually at the top of many peoples’ agenda, the reality is that the majority of lifters out there have a very poor understanding of how to properly train their arms for maximum gains. In order to gain the proper insight into effectively stimulating arm growth, we must first recognize three basic truths:

1) Relatively speaking, the biceps and triceps are small muscle groups.
2) The biceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pulling movements for the back.
3) The triceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic pressing movements for the chest and shoulders.



What do these 3 points tell us about effective arm training? The most important thing for you to realize is this:

For maximum gains in muscle size and strength, the biceps and triceps require only a very small amount of direct stimulation!

So why is it that every time I enter the gym I see the same misinformed people, week in and week out, slaving away on endless sets of bicep curls and tricep extensions?

It’s very important to understand that the biceps and triceps receive a very large amount of stimulation from all of your chest and back training. In fact, a lot of the time when you reach muscular failure on a chest or back movement, it is actually your biceps or triceps that give out first! Couple this with the fact that your biceps and triceps are already small muscle groups to begin with and it becomes quite clear that direct arm training is of minor importance.

Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym. The work that you accomplish as you train with weights is merely the “spark” that sets the wheels of the muscle growth process into motion. The real magic takes place out of the gym while you are resting and eating, as this is the time when your body will actually be synthesizing new muscle tissue. Because of this, it is vital that you do not overtrain your muscles. You must always make sure to provide them with sufficient recovery time if you want to see impressive results. Overtraining can actually make your muscles smaller and weaker.

If you’re looking to achieve serious arm growth,you must stop placing so much emphasis on direct arm movements. Forget about performing endless sets of concentration curls and tricep pressdowns. Strong, muscular arms are mostly a product of heavy chest and back training. If you are able to accept this basic truth and place the majority of your focus on building up the muscle size and strength in your major muscle groups, you will prevent yourself from overtraining your arms and will therefore yield greater overall gains in bicep and tricep size.

This is not to say that no direct arm training is necessary, just not very much. Here is a sample arm routine that you can use as a part of your program:


Barbell Curls – 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Dumbbell Curls – 1 set of 5-7 reps

Close-Grip Bench Press – 2 sets of 5-7 reps
Standing Cable Pushdowns – 1 set of 5-7 reps

Take all sets to complete muscular failure and focus on progressing each week by using slightly more weight or performing an extra rep or 2.

If you can incorporate this way of thinking into your arm training, you will achieve arm size beyond anything you previously thought possible!

Abs Ripper P90X Workout Exercises

These ab ripper x exercises make up one of the best abdominal workouts around. It focuses on core strength by using the movements of your hips and chest. The ab ripper x workout contains simple exercises which produce painful, yet rewarding results. Ab ripper x part 1 and ab ripper x part 2 should be done every other day, or as much as possible (don’t do it if your already in pain from the day before.)

Number of Reps Per Exercise: 25

 Duration of Workout: Approximately 16 minutes.

                    1) In and Outs: Sit down on the mat with your legs straight out in front of you. Lift them off the ground. The exercise is to pull them into your chest, and then to straighten them back out. One rep counts as the combination of the pulling in and the straightening out; it can also be done with your hands supporting or in the air. Legs straight, knees in.
2) Bicycles: While in the same position start to move your legs in circles, like you are riding a bike. Do this for 25 seconds, then stop, and do the reverse. Can also be done with hands at the side or in the air. Like you’re riding a bike in mid-air.
3) Crunchy Frog: This is exactly the same as In and Outs with one major difference. Put your arms straight out to your sides (in the air), and every time you pull in, you also pull your arms around your knees. In and outs with an arm reach around.
4) Cross Leg/ Wide Leg Sit-Ups: Two ways to do this one. The easier way is to sit down with your legs spread out wide. Next you put your right arm behind your head, and then lift up with your left arm pointing straight in the air. Once you are sitting straight up you touch your left arm to the opposite leg – note that it’s important to go straight up first and then over to touch the leg. That’s one rep; the second rep is the same thing but opposite arm. This can also be done with your legs crossed. Reach up and over.
5) Fifer Scissors: Lie down with your legs straight. Lift both off the ground. Next lift your right leg as high as you can, keeping it straight. The exercise is switching the left and right leg positions; go back and forth with the right leg straight in the air, to the left leg straight in the air. Always keep both legs off the ground. Scissors in the air with both legs always off the ground.
6) Hip Rock And Raise: Legs bent and feet together; have the knees pointing out from each other. During the exercise, always have the same distance between the knees. Rock backwards and then raise the hips to move upwards. This exercise is all about moving the hips up and down, while using the core to keep the position of your legs intact. Hips up, Hips Down.
7) Pulse Ups: Same as number six, the difference being both legs are straight up in the air. Leave them in that position and just move the hips up and down, up and down. Each up and down counts as one rep. Straight legs, and moving hips.
8) V-Up/Roll Up: Lie down with the legs straight. Do a sit-up and touch your toes. As you pull away from your toes roll up your legs; in other words as you sit back down raise your legs to the air. When you are about halfway sitting down (your arms always remain in the air) touch your toes again. Leave your hands in the air and bring your legs back down. Repeat. Each time you touch your toes counts as one rep. Sit up, and then sit up with legs in the air.
9) Oblique V-Ups: On your side, with your legs at a forty-five degree angle. Arm at your side, and other arm behind your head. Bring legs towards chest, by getting all your weight on to your hips. 25 each side. Crunches on the side.
10) Leg Climbs: One leg is straight up, the other one either half bent or straight in front. Many ways to do this, depends on how your feeling. Can either reach straight up and touch your toes, or you can grab the side of your leg once for support and then touch the toes. Do 14 on each leg. One leg straight in the air and reach up and touch it.
11) Mason Twist: Sit up straight with the knees slightly bent. Bring your feet off the floor. Clutch your hands together in a fist. Then quickly touch each side of your body at a relatively fast pace. Touching both sides once counts as one rep. Do as many as you can.

What is Human Flag training? How to perform?

The human flag is arguably the most visually impressive bodyweight feat of strength anyone's ever come up with. Any time someone does a human flag, it inevitably attracts attention. I've seen many a jaw drop after showing this move to someone for the first time. It's also the exercise that I get asked about more often than any other.


It takes considerable strength and lots of practice to do the human flag. You have to be incredibly strong, but you also must work specifically towards this skill. The first time I attempted the human flag, I didn't come close to staying up for even a second, and I was nearly 30 years old and had been working out for most of my life. Being someone who likes a challenge, I decided to make it my mission to master this move. I've practiced flagging for years now, yet it remains an elusive and challenging task. Flag Burning Detractors of the human flag will tell you it's just some kind of circus trick with no practical value beyond impressing 10 year-old kids and (hopefully) the occasional yummy mummy. But anyone who's actually spent some time training this feat knows first hand that it strengthens your body, your mind, and your character. The human flag will not help you get huge.

Besides, there's some degree of skill to everything, even squatting and bench pressing. Powerlifting is a sport, right? Doesn't that imply some skill involvement? Before you embark on the long, slow journey that is human flag training, keep in mind that like all bodyweight exercises, a high strength to mass ratio is crucial to performing a human flag. If you've got a bodyfat percentage in the high teens or beyond, the likelihood of you being able to perform this move sits somewhere between slim and none. Bodyweight strength training levels the playing field between the little guys and the big boys. When it comes to the flag, you're only as strong as you are lean, so you shouldn't be trying to gain weight if you want to nail this move. That said, you can definitely still build strength through human flag training.


Grip It Good The best way to practice the human flag is to use a sturdy vertical pole that's around an inch in diameter (thicker poles will pose more of a challenge). The top hand is typically positioned in an overhand grip while the bottom hand is supinated. Squeeze the pole tight and try to keep both arms as straight as possible. When doing the human flag, your core stabilizers are the foundation and so I found hanging leg raises and oblique work to be helpful strengthening exercises. You need super strong obliques in order to brace and hold the position.

Human Flag Exercise #1 – Hanging Leg Raise

When you do hanging leg raises, be sure to rock the hips. Bring the pelvis to the ribs and don’t just raise the knees up, which will just strengthen the hip flexors.

Human Flag Exercise #2 – Hanging Oblique Lift

Human Flag Exercise #3 – Hanging Windshield Wiper

The hanging windshield wiper is the motherload of core/oblique work. You’ll also feel your lats while you blast the core.

Here are a few pointers on How to do the Human Flag right:

• Your grip needs to be greater than shoulder width apart. I’ve found it easiest to have the bottom elbow locked with the fingers pointing downward.

• While bracing the bottom arm, you need to stack shoulder over shoulder, pinch the shoulder blades together and pull away from the pole with the top arm.

• Keeping the shoulders stacked on top of each other is imperative. This puts some pressure on the bottom elbow since it pretty much takes all the weight.

• To avoid injury of the elbow: don’t practice too much at first. Give the elbow a rest, roll the elbow with a foam roller and don’t allow the elbow to hyperextend.

 • The right pole is hard to find. It’s tough to find one that’s just the right diameter that’s easy to grip. If you live in a weather friendly environment, I’ve found traffic poles (bus stops, stop signs, no parking signs) are good.