#GuavaSweat : Rope Yoga @ Samasthah

This morning, I woke up pretty early for a very exciting GuavaPass class. While it is Monday and most of you were battling the Monday Blues (and haze), I made my way down to 104 Amoy Street, for a class at Samasthah.

If you are wondering where in Singapore is Amou Street, a little Google Map help would not hurt. The nearest train station is the Blue (Downtown) Line - Telok Ayer Station. After which, it is about a 2 minutes walk from the MRT.

I was quite nervous at first. New studios/ surroundings ALWAYS make me nervous. There are also times when I actually booked a class and not turn up for it, even though I was right outside the studio because I had the jitters. Of course, that jitters cost me $20 cancellation fees so my advice is, GO FOR YOUR CLASSES!

What greeted me what a very bright and clean studio, almost new. In fact, it is new! Samasthah just turned 1 year old last July, so everything was well managed and they even recently have Hot Yoga in their smaller classroom.

As it was my first visit to Samasthah, I will need to fill up my particulars that took about 2 minutes - you know, just in case I got a heart attack from all the physical abuse in the classroom.

Lockers are provided for free but if you need a towel, there will be a charge of $0.50. I know how inconvenient it is to bring along a towel because it can get quite heavy when it is damp. An alternative is to use the towels provided from the studio at just a small fee!

There are two changing cubicle, two shower cubicle and two toilets in the studio. Shampoo and body soap are also provided so you literally need to just bring yourself and your yoga attire here!

A water dispenser for you thirsty Yogis! 

This is what the main classroom looks like. There are space for 8 for Rope Yoga in this room.

Rope Yoga - like the name, it means Yoga with Ropes. It was a physically demanding class that requires a lot of upper body strength which I have none of actually. I have mentioned this before - and I will say it again - anything that requires ANY upper body strength is a pain in my butt. But here is the real kicker - the only reason I am complaining and hating it so much is because it really engaged those muscles that I hate to condition and strengthen. I can fairly say I have better lower body than upper body strength though I cannot say so for my flexibility on my lower body (but I am working on that!!). 

What I did today was mostly opening up of my chest, specifically for the upward facing dog and the downward facing dog pose. Sounds easy? It is not. 

I would really love to bring Yat for one of these Yoga classes one day because he always like to scoff it off and say things like "it's a girls thing". Urgh. It always annoys me when he says that because I honestly think this requires a different kind of strength than the ones he use in the gym (and more tiring too!!!). *angry face*

So anyway, it is a one hour class and other than Rope Yoga, they also have Chair Yoga and Zoo Yoga. If you would like to try them, give them a call or just go the easy way out like me and give GuavaPass a try and go for all these classes you have been dying to try! It is a good way for you to spice up your workout routine and not get bored while working out.

Though I have to say, throughout the class I was thinking "oh my god when are we finishing." I was sweating like crazy and it was definitely a good burn.

That... Plus a PBASIC class at Croyez and a Ganban Yoku Session at Anti-Oxidant right after makes it a really productive Monday for me. 

I will definitely try the Chair Yoga and Zoo Yoga from Samasthah by the end of the month so keep a lookout for my next #GuavaSweat post! 

Hope you guys had a fantastic Monday. I know I did!

You can check out my other #GuavaSweat posts HERE.

#GuavaSweat : CruCycle

SPINNING - Do you guys know what that is? Previously, I did not know that this was the proper term for indoor cycling. It is an organized activity that focus on endurance, strength, interval and high intensity that involves a stationary exercise bicycle. It burns about 400-500 calories in a 40 minutes high intensity session and remember that pack of fries you had for lunch? You can burn it off here and not feel so guilty about it.

A few days ago, I went for my first spinning class over at CruCycle that was located in Tanjong Pagar district and more specifically at Duxton Road.

I got lost on my way there and I hate getting lost in that area because one wrong turn will make you pass through another ERP gantry and urgh, I hate that! Hahaha.

I found it at last, thanks to my GPS, and parked my trusty Vespa at a public carpark nearby and walked about a minute from the carpark to the studio.

It was a really nice studio - I did not expect it to be huge (I really thought it would be a small studio because most offices in that area seems to be small unless you own that whole building heh).

I came in and was greeted by one of their staff. They were all busy, whats with the evening crowd where adults from the working world have just knocked off from work and is looking to burn some steam on the bikes, but they welcomed we cheerfully and showed me around. 

First, they asked me to fill out a form to declare that I am in a good shape, then they asked for my shoe size for my cycling shoes.

Super cute shoes. Walking with them on feels like you are walking with spike shoes on.

Please keep in mind to find the perfect size for your feet. The first time I went, I got a pair that was a size too small so throughout the class, I was actually much more in pain from the shoes than the actual workout but it is all cool now because I found the right fit on my second session and cannot wait to go for my third session with the CruCycle pack.

Over here, when you are booked for a class, you will have a designated locker for you for that session. They will tell you your locker number and that number also represents your bike later on during the session. Efficient isn't it? 

So you can change and dump all your stuff inside the locker, key in a 4 digit numerical code and you are all set for the class.

They have shower facilities, so if you are here for lunchtime crunch or before work hours and would like to clean up right after your workout, you can do it here. One thing though, you might need to fight for your cubicle hehe if the class is full and there is only 3 shower cubicles here.

Towels for shower is provided for free so you do not have to bring them from home. They also have plastic bag for you for your smelly work out clothes so that you do not stink up your whole bag if you forget to bring one!

This is the spinning bikes they use in their studio.

And this is me while waiting for the class to start. If you are wondering why my shoes are of a different colour, it is because this picture was taken during my second session with them and I had a change of size hahaha.

The session last about 45 minutes. It is really high intensity. I felt like dying during my first session within the first 15 minutes but I am proud to say that I managed to last about 30 minutes during my second session before my legs died on me and refuse to give its 100%. It is mostly spinning, but they also include some light weights for your shoulders and arms and core workout as well in the last 10 minutes of the session.

The instructors were really motivating and the music was exhilarating. Man, the music makes me wonder why I even bother going to clubs and party when I can do it right here and lose some calories instead and I do not need to put on make up and wonder what to wear at all.

It is a really good workout session that will burn you out but it is always a good burn with GuavaPass.

You do not need to have proper shoes for the class in this studio as they will provide but please keep in mind to bring a pair of clean socks. Hygiene, people! 

If you would like to sign up for GuavaPass at a referral rate, do drop me and email or a comment below and I will hook you up with a code! (: 

Till my next #GuavaSweat post. 

#GuavaSweat : 5 GuavaClass in 24 Hours

Last week, I decided to do something crazy. I decided to book 5 classes with GuavaPass in 24 hours, just because I have nothing better to do on my off day. This time, I dragged Dhiy along with me, since she signed up with GuavaPass as well.

You see, with GuavaPass, you can go for multiple classes in a day. You can start from as early as 6.30AM and you can go for the last class at 9.30PM. If you are working a 9-6pm job like me and working around the CBD area and would like to make full use of your GuavaPass, you can consider going for their 1 hour morning classes that starts at 7am. For instance, CrossCore at Radiance Physiofit. You will be done by 8 and you can grab a quick shower before heading to work.

After work, you can then proceed to their Classic Yoga class that starts at 6.30PM over at BYCH Hot Yoga OR their PABT at Croyez Studio that starts at 7.15PM.

You can do this everyday and for 30 days, head for about 60 classes and that is like paying $2++ for one class that you can choose at your convenience.

Or you can be as crazy as me and head for 4 classes on your off day (or if you would like it to sound more extreme, it was 5 classes in within 24 hours).

Tuesday 8-9PM : After a long day at work, and knowing that I have an off day the next day, I thought why not do something fun at night eh. I saw the AquaSpin class on GuavaPass's classes page and it looks interesting, so I booked it and asked Dhiy if she wants to join in with me.

We went for AquaSpin that was held in YWCA. 

Went up to the third floor to their swimming pool and changed into a comfortable attire for a swim session. You can choose to wear your swimming costume, or like me and Dhiy, we wore shorts and singlets and they were okay with it. 

The class was intensive. They had a full class so it was fun seeing other people in the same torture class as us. The instructor, Lex (?), was very motivating and it really did make me wilt faster and faster and make sure I gave all I got. Before this class, I was not even aware we were able to sweat while being in a pool, but this class convinced me. 

It was a good workout, because by the end of the day, I was so wiped out and was already feeling the good kind of tired and my muscles were already starting to ache by the time I was lying on my bed. I just wish GuavaPass will have more classes for AquaSpin instead of just 1. Having 3 or 4 would be really awesomeeee! HAHAHA.

Wednesday 12-1PM : Our first class next day was our favourite one ; Ganban-Yoku at Anti-Oxidant.

I really love this place because it is such a serene place. You walk through the door and you know the air you are breathing in are so much better than the ones you are breathing in outside. It is distinctive - you just know it is better. The clean place and the warm welcome every time we are here for our Ganban-Yoku. Ahhh, it is the kind of things you look forward to after a week of dealing with customers when you are a front line staff.

Determined to sweat as much as I could, I drank more than half the water that was given to me before we enter the therapy room. The more water you have in your body, the more your body will be able to sweat out the toxins, and the more your body will be able to detoxify.

Unlike the previous time I was here, I finished up the whole bottle of water within the 45 minutes that I was in the room. So I sweat a WHOLE LOT. It was significantly more than the last time I was here, so I was beaming with pride.

All I had to do was to lie down in a room that is doing so much to my health, and I will sweat, without even lifting a dumbbell. Hehe. 

Anyway, during the 40-45th minute, I felt my heart rate elevated and I got so restless and a little uncomfortable, because I thought they forgot about us. It is completely normal, because being in a heated room WILL increase your heart rate. All you need to do is to concentrate on your breathing, and relax yourself as much as possible.

2PM-3PM : After Ganban-Yoku, we headed over to CT HUB 1 for our Swing Yoga class at MotionWerkz.

I have no idea why, maybe it was the weather or maybe because after my spinning class the night before and not getting sufficient rest, I was so sleepy. My eyelids were so heavy, keeping my eyes open was an exercise on its own.

Thank god that Gillian was so understanding and tried various ways to keep the class fun and entertaining, sometimes stopping for awhile to do a simple, fun position just to keep me awake and open up my eyes. I like the swinging part, where we have to use our core and back muscles to swing ourselves back and forth, although I keep going diagonally.

One of the best thing in Gillian class was that she focus on things that I DO NOT want to do, because I keep telling myself, I CANNOT DO it. More often than not, we will be concentrating on our core and arms/shoulder muscles, making sure we focus on muscle isolation. I keep using other muscles for some of the exercise. Heh. I really, really need to work more on my triceps and deltoids so that I can actually pull myself up using those muscles, instead of just lying there on the swing helplessly trying and panting hehe.

The last part of the class is always the most entertaining. Gillian will allow us to try a pose that she made it look so damn easy, but I struggled. Oh god do I struggle. When she got into that position, she make it look like she was just putting on a shirt, like she easily slides in to that position. I felt like I was a circus clown trying to do stunts on that swing.

But here is my second pose from MotionWerkz. *beams*

Ooooh! My hair looks perfect in this picture hehe.

The position was supposed to be a little deeper. I was supposed to push my body a little more to the back while maintaining my hands, but I have no idea why my shoulders was so tight so I cannot really get a good form. I probably need to stretch my shoulders and lats more zzz.

I was crying in pain during the pose while Gillian was trying to get a perfect picture of me hahahahaha. I know it looks easy, but doing this while being suspended and with gravity pulling you down, it is not! I hate to break it to you guys, but Yoga is not as easy as it seems. Those yogis know what they are doing. 

4.15-4.55PM : At first, we were wondering why this class was so short. It was only 40 minutes? Are you sure we can work up a sweat within 40 minutes? Our next class was over at Dempsey Road. It was PSlides at Croyez Studio.

I am not sure if any of you ever heard or seen about this class before, but we never did, so we decided to give it a try. 40 minutes right? What the heck, we thought, how tiring can it be right?

WRONG!

If you guys are wondering what the P in PSlides stands for, it's probably the word "power" for their power plate. Power Plate is the machine that they use in this studio, to maximise the workout. It's a plate that vibrates according to your intensity of vibration, and if you think doing squats on a solid floor is tiring, try doing them on the power plate. 

I was trying so hard to catch my breath and tried doing as much as I can but I am only human. Hahaha. Half of the time I think I was just standing there, hunched over and panting while looking at Dhiy and making so much panting noise that we ended up laughing and hurting our core.

Oh. They also make you do your core exercises on those power plate and oh my god, I never thought doing bicycle crunch was hard UNTIL I was doing it on the Power Plate.

I was telling Dhiy this is going to be my last visit here, but as I am typing this, I was already thinking when is my next available date to attend their PBasics, where they will be doing aerobics (not really as functional as PSlides or their PBox) on the Power Plates. 

I hate the class so much, probably because I know it kills me so much and well, no pain no gain right?

6.30PM - 7.50PM : Our body battery was probably left with 15% at the end of PSlides, but we were determined to see the day through, although we kept in mind that we will NEVER go through this ever again. 5 classes in 24 hours IS NOT IDEAL for beginners like us hahahaha. 4 classes in one day back to back is mad crazy. Our last class was Beginners Yoga at Triplegem Yoga, which is located at Bukit Pasoh Road (somewhere in Chinatown/Tanjong Pagar) area.

We reached there pretty early, about 5.45, so I managed to grab a quick nap till 6.30. I was groggy. That was more than 20 minutes nap, so I kind of know why I was groggy and all I wanted to do was to go home and sleep.

The studio was not as modern as some of the other studios I have been to, but it was in its own way, beautiful. Something about the wooden floor and little shophouses and antique doors with tasteful choice of wall decorations made the studio seem very... zen. If you sit in this room, and close your eyes, you will feel at ease. At least, I did.

Anyway, for a beginner class, this class sure was tough. We started with breathing and I thought I knew how to breathe until the instructor told me I was breathing wrongly. We did the Kapalabhati and the Alternate Nostril Breath and I was already struggling with the class lol.

These breathing techniques were supposed to keep you calm and relax and reduce stress, but I was so stress on getting it right that I think I kind of fail that part hahahaha. But I guess practice makes it perfect, no?

After which, we did the basic yoga poses, which I honestly thought was supposed to be simple and really it is, until you have to repeat the poses for about 8 times according to the instructor's beat. It was tiring, and my arms and back felt like it was going to break anytime soon.

What made me a little happy inside was how I managed to do the half shoulder stand and the plough! 

In case ya'll are wondering what those poses are, since I do not have a picture of me doing it hahaha.

In every Yoga class, my favourite pose is the Savasana Pose. 

Heh heh.

Till my next #GuavaSweat post! 

ps. If you are interested to try GuavaPass for a month, click here to get 50% off your first month trial at $69/month. You can cancel anytime. There will be no contract, so you do not have to worry about termination fees and so on.

#GuavaSweat : Ganban-Yoku @ Anti-Oxidant Wellness

The other day, before I made my way for my SEA Games duty at Seng Kang Hockey Stadium, I managed to squeeze in an hour of sweating over at Anti-Oxidant that is located at 1 Thomson Ridge for my Ganban-Yoku class at 2pm.

Before making my way here, I have no idea what Ganban-Yoku was. I knew it was something different and I have time on my hands in between my day job and my SEA Games duty, so why not?

This is what is shown on GuavaPass's brief on Ganban-Yoku : 

 At Anti-Oxidant, we have specially constructed dry-sauna rooms, where you rest onto our ‘anti-oxidant beds’. The ganban-yoku therapy is simple, yet very rewarding: Fully clothed in our yukata, you lie down and rest in the rooms for 45 mins. These anti-oxidant beds consist of special ceramic tiles which naturally release Far Infrared Rays (FIR) and Negative Ions to help the body perspire and “detoxify” Unlike regular saunas, our rooms are kept between 39° to 41° C with the humidity at about 30%, providing for a comfortable temperature that is both safe and enjoyable for people of all ages. 

 How to do therapy? 

 Step 1: Change to the Yukata and proceed to the Anti-Oxidant room with towel and bottled Anti-Oxidant water 

Step 2: Lie on Anti-Oxidant beds for 45 minutes

 Step 3: Finish therapy by resting in the rest area for 5 minutes

 Step 4: Enjoy a glass of enzyme drink before showering

Sounds fun right? It did to me anyway. So I clicked book and turn up for the class.

It was not really hard for me to find the place as I was on my bike and already googled on how to get there. 

Since it was my first visit, I was quite unfamiliar with this place. You will be required to take off your shoes and change into the slippers they have provided you with.

After which, on your first visit, you will be required to watch a short 5 minutes video regarding what Anti-Oxidant is all about.

The video will go into more details on how anti-oxidant is really beneficial to our health and how we can benefit from this therapy.

This is the egg & bread experiment that you will learn about in the short video. It is about how a piece of bread and an egg do not go bad even if you leave them out in the air, in the anti-oxidant room. Pretty cool, because we all know how easily breads will go stale and start to get mouldy after a while and how eggs will turn bad and stink up the whole room if it goes bad.

After the whole video, they will pass you a yukata, one towel meant for showering, one small towel and a locker key. They will then show you the way to the changing room for you to get changed.

After changing into the Yukata, (and taking off all your undergarments too), you will be led to the resting area where the staff will ask you to drink at least half of the anti-oxidant water they gave. This is to ensure you are hydrated enough as you will be stepping into a dry, hot room for 45 minutes. 

After drinking half, the staff will ask you to proceed to the room.

"These beds consist of special ceramic tiles which naturally release Far Infrared Rays (FIR) and Negative Ions which helps the body to perspire and "detoxify". Unlike regular saunas, their rooms are kept between 39-41 degree Celsius with the humidity at about 30%, providing for a comfortable temperature that is both safe and enjoyable for people of all ages." - Anti-Oxidant

So sleep, or sit, or stretch (if you have the space) if you want to in the room. Being in the room alone is the therapy, and I promise you, even if you were to just lie down, you will sweat buckets.

The best thing about sweating in this room is that, once you are out of the room, you will not feel sticky like you usually would if you were to be out in the sun! If you want to find out why, you should really head down for a trial with them.

After the 45 minutes session, I was told to proceed to the rest area while they prepare an enzyme drink for me before I proceed to shower. You can choose 2 flavours out of 3 :

- Ginger

- Lemongrass

- Hawthorn Berry

I had the ginger and hawthorn berry, and surprisingly, I liked the ginger one more.

Took me a while to get used to the taste but you can see from the picture above as to why these enzyme drinks are good for you.

If you are interested to do a trial class with them, give her a call at 6756 0636 or visit their website for more detail. Other than Ganban-Yoku, they also offer Ganban-Yoga class. It is basically yoga, in their anti-oxidant room. I was told that this is more beneficial for me compared to Hot Yoga in a heated room.

I will definitely try this soon and let you guys know all about it! :)