Jayve Goh: Passionate about sports & keeping fit.
Credit: Running Shots.

21-year-old Jayve Goh has always loved sports, ever since she was a little girl.

Said Jayve, a part-time lifeguard and charity athlete, “I’ve always been a heavy kid since my primary school days and when I joined the track & field team in secondary school, I wasn’t any star athlete, but I was driven to improving my fitness.”

But now with a weight of 53.5kg and standing tall at 169cm, the part-time lifeguard and charity athlete would no longer be considered a ‘heavy kid.’

A drive and passion to stay fit

Since then, Jayve has definitely come a very long way, in her drive and passion to stay fit. She has experienced many different types of sports, and her two favourites are endurance running and triathlons. Jayve has run in many different races, ranging from 10km ones to full marathons, and challenging 100km ultras – all of which she does, to raise funds for two charities, the Handcycling Association of Singapore (HAS) and the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS).

Jayve’s personal best timings show that she can indeed run. For example, her personal best for the 10km run is 41 minutes, while for the 21km distance, it is 1 hour and 51 minutes. And for the full 42km race, she can run it in a personal best of 4 hours 40 minutes.

“It’s always been about challenging myself, I guess. The motivation came from learning about every training session and race experience, understanding myself and reaping progress from my commitment,” explained Jayve.

Committed to her exercise regime

A good workout can be done anywhere. Credit: Jayve Goh.

And she is indeed very committed to her exercise regime.

Every week, Jayve does three to four runs, each ranging from 45 minutes to two hours, depending on whether it is a Long Slow Distance (LSD) run or a normal workout. In addition, she also does two weight sessions, of about one to one and a half hours each.

“Besides these, I also keep myself ‘occupied’ during television commercial breaks by doing static workouts,” she added.

Important to incorporate core workouts together with running

As an avid runner, Jayve explains that it isn’t enough to simply go out on runs, without doing anything else, in order to stay fit.

“It is important to incorporate core workouts for runners as it helps to achieve a good posture for running, minimizing on injuries and attaining efficiency in running,” said Jayve.

In fact, she added that every week, on Wednesdays, she also helps to coach a group of runners, at The Runners Edge, where they incorporate various workouts such as core workouts, HIIT and body weight workouts after every running session.

Investing in a good pair of running shoes is important. Credit: Jayve Goh.

“Our objective of these workouts is to help with the strengthening aspect for runners,” she explained. So these extra sessions will help to tone the entire body of the runner, rather than simply having strong legs for running, according to the charity runner.

Added Jayve, “Having a toned body is beyond achieving this whole ‘ideal body’ image though. For example, by reducing body fat percentage from the workouts, it will also mean reducing the risk of injuries and cardiovascular diseases.”

Important not to overdo the workouts

At the same time though, while it is important to work out, Jayve strongly believes that it’s important not to overdo it.

Said Jayve, “Listen to your body. Your body reacts to fatigue and your body reacts to recovery. It’s important to do workouts in moderation. For the amount of time that you put your body through physical intensities, it demands the same amount of recovery time, if not more.”

“I usually set myself a range of distances to clock and it varies according to how my body feels. On some good days, I may feel energized enough to push harder. But on other days, I go easier on myself,” she added.

May not always be easy to find the motivation to exercise

Exercising with a smile! Credit: Jayve Goh.

Jayve admits though, that it is not always easy to stay motivated to exercise and that despite her passion for staying fit, she has sometimes felt this way herself, too.

“There are bound to be lazy days or even lazy weeks. And when you’re out of motivation, it is always essential to look for a change in your training regime. This way, training feels more refreshing and you’ll be driven to seek for motivation,” she explained.

“Never force yourself into doing something you don’t find the joy in. Enjoy your workouts. Once you find passion in doing a sport you like, you will find the positive drive in achieving progress. And no matter how big or small the progress is, every progress deserves to be celebrated,” Jayve added.

Eats everything but in moderation

She admitted though, that she doesn’t adhere to any strict diet, when it comes to fuelling her body for her workouts.

Jayve’s fun side! Credit: Jayve Goh.

Said Jayve, “I eat everything in moderation. I still have days where I’d eat fast food and ice cream and that doesn’t make me feel guilty. However, during the race season, I’d be a little more disciplined where I make sure I eat well in order to recover effectively.

“Some dietary recommendations for runners would be, there is no such thing as a low carb diet. In pastas we shall always believe!” she added.

Tips to stay committed to an exercise regime

What tips does Jayve have to share, for those who want to stay committed to an exercise regime?

Said the charity runner, “Enjoy the journey. When you treat your training and workouts like a therapy session, you’ll find yourself drawing positive energy from it. When you find yourself looking forward to it, it’ll become an outlet where you’ll relieve yourself from the stress. You will feel good, mentally and physically.”

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