The Amercian Club - Summer Magazine 2022

FEATURE

One such fitness activity that Team Wel lness has signed the Club up for is the National Steps Corporate Chal lenge that sees organizations nationwide and inter-company compete against each other based on the highest dai ly average step count. At the end of the 15-week chal lenge, the Club placed 13th in the industr y ranking and 60th in the national ranking.

“Since I am already walking so much ever yday, why not earn myself some voucher s whi le doing so?” Angie on why she decided to take par t in the National Steps Corporate Challenge. Angie has consistently been the Club’s Top 5 “stepper s” week on week since the chal lenge star ted in Januar y, and has no plans on stepping down from the top.

Wonders of BriskWalking

Walking to Good Health

For Lifeguard and Swim Coach, Rodel , his motivation for joining the National Steps Corporate Chal lenge was dr iven by health reasons and his desire to l ive a long l ife. “Although I have been doing different forms of exercise throughout the year s, I l ike the idea of constantly moving and explor ing beautiful scener ies – so I decided to join the National Steps Corporate Chal lenge,” he explained. Three months on, Rodel is the Club’s top stepper week on week, clocking in an average of 30,000 steps a day. Rodel shares, “When I fir st found out about this chal lenge, I shared it with my fr iends and encouraged them to join me so that we can go br isk walking and jogging together.” Rodel ’s go-to br isk walking spots are the Botanic Gardens, Mar ina Bay Sands and MacRitchie Resevoir where he frequents twice a week. As par t of his dai ly routine, he also chooses to take the stair s instead of the l ift at the Club, and walks to the nearby mal ls dur ing his breaks. Apar t from keeping fit, another benefit that he reaped was weight loss – he had shed close to 4kg since embarking on the chal lenge. He also shared that br isk walking has helped him rel ieve stress and get better sleep at night. For those who are sti l l unsure about stepping up to the chal lenge to reap the health benefits, Rodel ’s advice is to “star t slow, do what you can and work your way up. When you star t, it’s actual ly much easier than you’d think – the more you walk, the less lethargic you feel .”

Ever y morning, Senior Director of Finance, Angie, leaves the house at 5:00 a.m. for her morning br isk walk, she straps on her steps tracker to clock the number of steps she wi l l take. On weekday mornings alone, she hits 11,000 to 12,000 steps easi ly as she walks and jogs around the vicinity of her home. Dur ing lunch time, she makes an effor t to get out of the office to clock in more steps. At the end of the day, Angie would have clocked in an average of 20,000 steps, equivalent to walking near ly 15km! A nature lover, Angie unwinds with her fami ly on the weekend by ventur ing to the var ious parks and nature reser ves around Singapore such as Thomson Nature Reser ve, Bedok Reser voir, East Coast Park and Bukit Timah Nature Reser ve. She also gets out of the house to do the occasional weekend grocer y shopping in order to break away from lounging at home al l day. Angie is no stranger to the wor ld of exercise. She star ted exercising dai ly since she was diagnosed with diabetes in 1999. Initial ly, she would do more high impact exercises such as running and cardio activities, but as age caught up with her, she turned to less strenuous forms of exercise such as br isk walking and jogging. “Br isk walking is an easy, convenient and effective way in keeping my blood sugar down. It also helps me maintain a healthy l ifestyle so that I can have the occasional indulgence as I love food,” said Angie.

16 THE AMERICAN CLUB SINGAPORE 16 THE AMERICAN CLUB SINGAPORE