Selective Fitness

I eat a lot. And I never say no to a glass (or two) of wine. It’s all good, living life the way I do. But recently, my wardrobe has been complaining. Yes, my dear readers, I am stretching my clothes a tad too much and I fear I am getting – wait for it.. – FAT.

I used to do the hamster-mill three times a week, but my knees need a break from all that running. What’s the alternative? Well, I recently started doing hot yoga and sweating it out is nice. But I miss that adrenaline high of pushing past physical pain.

Then I hear of the Power Plate. It’s a machine with a vibrating base that 'intensifies whichever exercise you do on flat ground', including sit-ups and squats. “Fat and efficient workout”, “Burns a lot of calories”, “Reduces the appearance of cellulite” – exactly what I need!

Selective Fitness is a boutique gym housed on the third level of a shophouse along Tras Street and they specialize in Power Plate (and soon, Power Bike) workouts. I made an appointment for a free trial with Chris, director of the gym during one of my leave days.

It’s not where I’d imagine a gym but I gotta say, nice use of the space. There’s the reception, the Power Plate studio with 6 machines, a (soon to be for) Power Bikes studio and 2 showers. The target crowd is definitely the corporate woman, seeing the Malin + Goetz toiletries provided (I like).

My trial class was a total body workout and it lasted about 45 minutes. Class size was small, which was good. We started with some light jogging and jumping on the machine. Easy does it. Then, we moved on to a mix of exercises targeted at the lower body muscles, the upper body muscles, and the abs. Pretty intense stuff!

I thought I was pretty fit, but at the end of the 45 min, I was left huffing and “Oh, my muscles are so going to hurt tomorrow”. The cool down exercises were good, especially the stretching ones on the machine, which massaged the muscles. I could have laid there all day.

I was a convict by the end of the session. Sign me up please, I told Chris. And guess what, I was the 100th customer! (yay 2 complimentary sessions) You also get Strip, Browhaus, Spa Espirit, Qi Mantra and even Tanjong Beach Club vouchers upon signing up.

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So far I have been back to Selective Fitness for the abs class (which was good too, though less painful - i like pain) and next week I signed up for the CRX (cardio) class. Can't wait!

Shape Run

Considering I've been doing about 20km (cummulatively) a week, 5km really shouldn't be a problem. But I'm not a morning person and it was a bad idea drinking all that wine the night before. Although I finished the run within a respectable time, I was worn out!

Breakfast with the colleagues helped alleviate the pain somewhat. Nothing like a good bowl of prawn noodles to brighten up my Sunday. I grew up eating at this stall along East Coast Road - yum, the soup stock is as robust as I remember it. But seriously too pricey, $5.80 for a bowl of noodles with two prawns? Gulp.

I love the ngoh hiang there. It's a bit of a wait but everything is freshly made, beautifully fried and oohh I love that chili sauce! Hands down the best ngoh hiang in town.

Kallang - Tanjong Rhu Run

Watching reruns of American Idol on the hamster mill are fine on weekdays but weekends, I like to run outdoors. I read this article a while ago and have been meaning to check out the recommended routes.

I'd normally just head to the old Kallang track to jog whilst watching cute caucasian kids attend overpriced soccer classes but today, I decided to try something different. The recommended Kallang - Tanjong Rhu route is literally in my backyard lor.

Weather was excellent and it was a nice run, with scenic views of the river and families having picnics (go figure) and flying kites. I simply walked from home to the Macs near the stadium and started running along Kampong Arang road, Tanjong Rhu Road, turning into Tanjong Rhu Place, going further out to the riverside and making a loop right beside the river. Thankfully they cleaned up the river, no bad smells! 5km was just nice as my muscles were still aching from the workout yesterday.

Happy Easter everyone!