Celebrity Fitness - 20th Club Launch with 20 Celebrities doing a 20 min Workout

3 November 2015, Celebrity Fitness proudly opened it's 20th club in Malaysia and this time in Quill City Mall. What better way to celebrate the opening then to invite 20 celebrities and media and challenge them in a 20 minute Celebrity Fast Fit workout?!

I need to tone up. My goal is Victoria Secret Model body hehe

I was very excited to get invited and at the same time a bit nervous. Nervous because I wasn't sure if I will make it through the challenge but I gave myself a pep talk and told my self that I'm gonna win it! Yes, I am!

Killer motivation

I set out early as hadn't been to this mall before. It was actually pretty easy to get to and located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur's business district. I suppose it is very convenient for those who want to work out before and after office. There are also 'ladies parking' bays with guards constantly walking about, so although I reached early it did feel safe.

PT Area - Set Up and ready for the Fast Fit Challenge to begin

Once I reached the centre which is located on the 4th floor, I had to chill out for a bit while I waited for the others to arrive. I silently wished in my heart they would give me a prize for being early =p

I was then handed a white t-shirt with the hashtag #everydayIgetBETTER which somehow made me feel better already. As I sat there waiting eagerly, I watched the trainers setting up the Fast Fit stations for the challenge that included Dynamax Ball Burpee, the Kettlebell Swing, the classic RMT Squat among others.

Hooi Mei Sim on Bosu Lateral Plyo Jump

Once everyone arrived the highly qualified and experienced abang sado instructors and personal trainers were at hand to guide us. We got to try out, practice and ask questions about Fast Fit. I learned that Fast Fit is a full-body functional training workout that improves stamina, muscle strength and helps to tone. That means it makes sure you use every function that your body was designed to do. Meaning as a human you were designed to more that just walk or do jumping jacks right? So through this training you will work every muscle in your body.

Frederick Lee doing the RMT Squat

We then gathered back for the official launch by Celebrity Fitness Vice President, Ryan Cheal. “Celebrity Fitness constantly works to improve our quality of services, in line with our philosophy #everydayIgetBETTER,” said Ryan. “This year, we had the founder of ViPR, Michol Dalcourt and  MMA champion, Martjin de Jong visit us to share their fitness knowledge and expertise with our Celebrity Fitness trainers. November is also a month with much to rejoice as we are celebrating the 11^th anniversary of Celebrity Fitness’s first club in Malaysia at 1 Utama on 11 November as well as the anniversaries of three other clubs, Celebrity Fitness, Nu Sentral, Celebrity Fitness, Wangsa Walk and Celebrity Fitness, Endah Parade.”

The humble and friendly Amaris on ViPR Ice Skater

We were divided to 2 groups for the challenge and took turns to have a go at the stations. Before that we did a group warm up session. One of the trainers by the name of Ratnam gave me a very good analogy about warming up before a workout. He described the body like pasta, "cooked pasta is very flexible whilst uncooked pasta easily snaps," he said while holding out his hand in two fists and mimicking pasta snapping.

Vinodh and Yours Truly doing the Kettlebell Swing

Fast Fit is actually quite fun, especially if you have a short attention span and despise doing the same action over and over again for a long time. Through the Fast Fit workout, your body continues to burn fat even the day after! So running on the treadmill for hours on end is quite a waste of time if your goal is weight loss.

Themodelmom doing the Dynamax Ball Burpee. Honestly the reason why the instructor is doing it with me is because he was motivating me to do it as I really sucked at it haha

The challenge that was judged based on form, technique and performance was won by Hansen Lee who is no noob to fitness (he even has his own workout TV show) and blogger Elana Khong who really stood out among the girls and was better then some of the guys too! 

Hansen Lee, Challenge Winner - Male

Selfie with Female Challenge Winner - Elana Khong

If you are interested to try out this workout or get Celebrity treatment checkout the centre in Quill City Mall or log on to www.celebrityfitness.com or http://facebook.com/CelebrityFitnessMalaysia.

Since we all shed sweat and tears and completed the challenge, we are all winners! Yeay!

Malaysia Urban Retreat Festival - 13 to 15 November 2015

Are you a Fitness Freak? Do you Eat Clean? Do you like to Dance? How about some Music? Yes to any one of those? MURFEST may pique your interest.

BREATHE.CONNECT.MOVE

MURFEST is the first Malaysian Wellness Festival and pegged to be Top 5 in South East Asia. Over the span of 3 days, there will be more than 80 classes and workshops to choose from. Among which are yoga, aqua yoga, zumba, capoeira, motivational speakers, sound healers. 

Get Jiggy to the beat!

Learn to Sway your Hips

Hop on one foot on a tight rope?

According to Festival Founder & Director Shobie Malani, "The main aim of MURFEST is to educate the young and invigorate the souls of our seniors to embrace a wellness or fitness practice that they can adapt into their lifestyles." She acknowledges that most people have been exposed to at least one of these workshops. MURFEST aims to bring communities together to gain knowledge, change mindsets whilst cultivating a mindful and healthy society.

Simon Borg Olivier in his element

Yoga enthusiast? You will be thrilled to know that Simon Borg Olivier, Melissa Smith and Kosta Miachin are part of the line up along side our very own Singing Tinkerbell cum Yoga Fairy, Ms. Atilia Haron who is also the ambassador of MURFEST.

Atilia Haron - MURFEST Ambassador

The newly launched JUST BE Market sounds quite interesting too. Apparently it is a niche place where communities get to connect and network with wellness experts and artisans from all walks of life. Expect to be sipping on organic coffee, meet natural healers and check out semi-precious healing jewels. You can also look forward to getting pampered with an Ayurvedic massage, sample essential oils, explore raw food delicacies, cool off with cold pressed organic juices and shop for unique trinkets and brick a bracts. 

The URBANITE Concert is for all ages and all walks of life

The signature event of MURFEST is the URBANITE Concert that will be happening on 13 November 2015 at the Grand Ballroom, Hotel Pulman Kuala Lumpur. It aims to bring people together with the power of music and dance. Expect to be moved by Artists & Bands performing world music, reggae and fusion while sitting on sustainable up-cycled furniture and bean bags, Expect relaxed, traditional and healing music while you mingle with others.

Bhangra Workshop - No wonder Bollywood actors are so fit ey?

Move to the pumping beat

Some Interesting Workshops I extracted from the 3 Day Schedule:

- Active Movements From Your Core: How to get in to a Posture 

- Masala Bhangra Dance Workout 

- Everything You Need to Know about going Vegan

- Qi Qong Therapy

- Constellation Workshop

- Capoeira

- Living Your Dreams

- Bellydance

- Raggeathon

- How to Speak and Understand "Man Language" (For WOMEN ONLY)

You can see the full schedule here. Seriously! It's packed with awesome workshops and can be so much fun for the family or like minded friends.The cool thing about the schedule on their website is you can bookmark your favorites and sync them to your phone or calendar.That's neat!

Excited yet? Here are the deets:

Venue : Pullman Hotel, Kuala Lumpur - Bangsar

Date : 13 to 15 November 2015

Website : www.murfest.com

BREATHE.CONNECT.MOVE

UPDATE

From left to right : Shobie (Director of MURFEST), me, Atilia Haron (Ambassador of MURFEST), Jojo Struys (Ambassador of MURFEST)

I attended the Press Conference on 16 October and found out a few new things:

- This festival is an ideal Urban Retreat. To fully enjoy the workshops and concert, you can book yourself in at Hotel Pullman Kuala Lumpur where all events will be held or other nearby hotels (5 to 10 mins away) at special negotiated rates. Checkout their website for special packages,

- If you can't find a baby sitter don't worry as there are many activities for the kids as well. In fact you can even bring them to the Urbanite Concert! It will make a great family outing.

- Expect a very relaxed atmosphere and positive vibes during the Urbanite Concert where everyone is encouraged to dress in something white and comfy.

- Aseana Percussion Unit is definitely not to be missed!

- This festival is for anyone and everyone regardless of fitness level.