ACT is a tough 45-minute bodyweight-only high intensity (HIT) workout. I designed it to be hard not because I wanted it to be the toughest class in Shanghai, but because of all the physiological effects that I discussed about in my last blog and what needs to be done to reverse metabolic syndrome. If you recall from the last blog on sugar, one of the main issues we have in society is an over-consumption of

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When you’re training HIT, especially in a group where others seem fitter than you (‘seem’ is the operative word), it’s kinda like browsing your WeChat Moments. All you see is people posting how great they are. They may be at a new restaurant or hotel grand opening, or they may be on vacation to somewhere exotic, or how amazing their food tastes. Everyone’s amazing except you! Hopefully you know that not everyone’s amazing except for

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So you have aspirations to get fit this year. Maybe you have written down some new year’s resolutions to go back to the gym. You may have been a regular gym-goer in the not-to-distant past or maybe you were even an athlete at one point. But you aren’t exercising now and you can’t seem to get started. You know you should because you constantly hear your friends mentioning how they run 10K every morning; or

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4 days in Whistler, Canada, 100 ambassadors from around the globe, 2 long-haul flights, 1 snowboard adventure and tons of amazing people were just some of the highlights of lululemon’s global ambassador summit that took place last week. What an honour it was for me to represent the China region and attend this phenomenal event that holds such an awe-inspiring reputation to those who know about it. Whistler, B.C., Canada, home of the most famous

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Less than a week remains as Olive Branchers make final preparations before this Saturday morning’s Spartan Race! Some of us may be feeling super excited, especially those who have done long distance sports or obstacle courses before, but others with much less experience in these settings may be feeling a bit nervous - anxious even! For a lot of us who are trying a new event for the first time, it can feel daunting and

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Are you’re feeling just a bit slow and sluggish these days? Do you find that you crave sugar and refined carbohydrates a lot more than before? Has your workout schedule fallen by the wayside? Perhaps, even your waistline has increased a bit. Inevitably, you feel a bit guilty for letting yourself go - maybe even a bit self-loathing at the extreme. While it’s not ideal that you gained fat and lost a bit of muscle,

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If you’ve come to one of our classes before, then you would have probably heard me say “PUSH TO FAILURE”.  This is ingrained in our training philosophy because of one main ideology - stimulus equals adaptation. If you’re trying to make your body stronger (ie. adapt), then you need to apply a stimulus (ie. training) that is strong enough so that the body can hear it and then make the necessary improvements to build up.

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It’s not easy kicking ass in Shanghai. There are so many challenges to overcome in this megalopolis like dealing with the heavy traffic, food safety, pollution, the highly competitive environment, the transient nature of the city, the temptations of all the indulgences that has made Shanghai infamous! That’s why we all need a social support network to back us up and to keep us going! I’ve written about how powerful a community can be for

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Entering China, lululemon style You may be surprised to hear that lululemon’s Unroll China event is their main event to showcase to the world that they’ve officially entered the China market.  That’s because they’ve been very slowly, but deliberately planting the seeds of their core values in Shanghai and Beijing for the last four years! I remember that early beginning very distinctly because they reached out to me before they even had a store, a

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  In a previous blog, I wrote about how to motivate yourself to train during the winter months.  This time, I’d like to share a few points why I actually prefer to train in the winter! 1.  There are less distractions during the winter! Because it’s so cold outside, there are less events held outdoors - less barbecues, less, outdoor concerts, less beach volleyball days!  People organize less social outings so that gives you more

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