By Grace Chng
Senior Correspondent
chngkeg@sph.com.sg

 

SINCE I stopped playing competitive squash nearly 10 years ago, I've had to look around for a sport to replace it. 

I've been using squash to get fit. Friends have told me for years that I should get fit to play squash, but what the heck, it's easier to play squash to get fit!

So when it came to retirement, I had few workout options. Jogging and running was out of the question since my knees are injured after over two decades of punishing my knees in the squash courts. Yoga was difficult because I couldn't bend my knees. So it was walking on the treadmill and weight training. 

Morning workouts at the gym have become my routine for the last 10 years but I don't know if I'm really fit, whether the fat accumulated around the tum-tum is being burnt.

That's when a friend told me about the Polar heart rate monitor about 10 months ago. Not only does it monitor the heart rate, it also can tell you how many calories and fat you've burnt. 

I'd read about the Polar watches but was sceptical. Coincidentally, the annual medical check-up revealed a rather high sugar level. Lose a few kilos, said the doctor. So with the help of a trainer, I set out to do brisk walking wearing a heart rate monitor - and I was wowed by the numbers it gave.

After one particular good workout of a 5km brisk walk on the treadmill and a weight programme, I had spent 700 calories and burnt 15% fat. I was encouraged to continue the next day... and the next. Soon I had a notebook filled with these numbers: Pulse rate, calories and fat burnt and distance walked. 

It was addictive, recording to those numbers. I was always eager to find out how many calories was spent and how much fat I'd burnt after each workout. The thing about numbers is that it pushes you onward. Every day, I wanted to do burn more fat, walk faster and longer distances.  If I forgot to bring the heart rate monitor to the gym, I would be irritated not knowing how I'd performed that day. 

The 5 kg weight loss added to the high feeling. It was worth it all. I can shed a few more kilos, I thought.

Then my knees started to ache. I wasn't running but the brisk pounding on the treadmill every day for at least 3km soon did my knees in. 

I haven't stopped the workout routine. In fact, I've changed the programme - one that is as intensive as the first plan - so that the body doesn't get an opportunity to get used to one exercise plan. 

But I've learnt one thing: To listen to my body. If something hurts, stop and attend to it. If I feel tired in the morning, workout at night or go for a walk instead. Never mind if the numbers from the digital trainers are not as high as they use to be. The idea is to have a workout programme that is sustainable and most importantly, enjoyable. 

I still keep a record, but I've learnt to be pleased not by the numbers but by how lose my clothes have become. At the very least, I can get a new wardrobe as a reward. 

Read Digital Life's cover story tomorrow on digital workout buddies that let you meet your fitness goals.