In order to celebrate their second birthday, the Oasia Hotel Downtown had recently organised the “Get Fit to the Core” workout themed party, catering to fitness enthusiasts across Singapore.

This fitness party, themed along Oasia’s three wellness pillars of Recharge, Refuel and Refresh, had been marketed as a celebration of a fit and fabulous lifestyle that starts with the core. So as such, the target of the session had been to get the heart pumping and the body moving.

I had been invited to the party, which had kicked off with a HIIT (high intensity training) workout session that was led by celebrity fitness influencer Natalie Dau. 

Known in the obstacle racing circuit for her success at Spartan Race events, Natalie is one of Asia’s top Obstacle Course racers, as well as an avid podium-placed runner and an Asian CrossFit champion in her age group. She hopes to use her influence to inspire people of all ages to lead a fit and healthy life.

As expected, the HIIT workout had been pretty intense and I found myself sweating quite a lot by the end of it. After a few warm up stretches, we then went into a couple of rounds of star jumps and squats – in order to get the heart rate pumping, before the main circuit training session started.

The circuit training set itself had all consisted of body weight exercises and there were four stations altogether. Each of the stations had two exercises.

The first station comprised of push-ups and lunges

The second station was basically side planks, firstly on the left and then secondly on the right.

Our third station had consisted of mountain climbers and boating.

And the final station had comprised of fast feet and sit ups.

Attendees had been required to complete two rounds of the circuit.

These exercises had comprised of both easier and more challenging body weight workouts in order to cater to fitness enthusiasts of all walks of life, from beginners to those who are more advanced.

As well, Natalie gave us several versions of each of the exercises with varying levels of difficulty, in case attendees found it too hard to do the version that may have been originally prescribed.

We were tasked with doing each exercise for 40 seconds and we would receive a 20 second break in between each before repeating the cycle with the next exercise.

For the first round, we had been allowed to do the exercises at a slower intensity so that we could get used to them. But for the second round, Natalie had instructed us to perform them at about 85 per cent of our maximum heart rate. 

I admit that most of these exercises were not new to me. As a marathoner and triathlete, I know the importance of building a strong and stable core, so I do some of these regularly as part of my training. 

That said though, I must admit that I still struggled a bit with a few of the exercises though, such as the mountain climbers, for example. I always find these to be very tiring, so doing 40 seconds of mountain climbers can be quite hard for me.

But I was thankful though that burpees had not been part of the session – because this is the core exercise that I typically dread doing, the most!

The second part of the session though, had been like a game. We were partnered up and facing our partners, we had to get into the squat position. In between each pair was a small plastic bottle of water. Natalie would call out body parts such as ‘head’ or ‘knees’ and we were required to touch that body part. 

But then, when she had called out ‘bottle’, the fastest person in each pair to grab the plastic bottle would be the winner, and move on while the other partner was eliminated.

This was rather fun and everyone had been literally on tenterhooks the entire time, simply waiting for Natalie to call out ‘bottle’ so they could grab the plastic bottle. I must say that I rather enjoyed this part of the workout.

The game had also marked the end of the HIIT session – after we were done and a winner was declared, Natalie had led us through some simple cool down stretches to prevent our muscles from aching, before then ending the session.

Throughout the session, Natalie had been very encouraging, constantly telling us that we could do it, and also trying to motivate us to keep on pushing ourselves.

Once the session was over, we took a group photo – before attendees had then crowded around Natalie, in order to request for individual photos together with her.

And then to recharge our bodies and replenish our energy levels after the HIIT session, there were plenty of healthy food items available for us to indulge in – so that we could eat without guilt.

I had particularly liked the Maple Pecan flavoured granola from Oatberry, a newly launched local brand that prides themselves in producing allergy free granola products. Other flavours available, also include dark chocolate as well as apple & cinnamon.

As well, the dark chocolate flavoured frozen yoghurt from Sogurt had also been rather delicious and I found I had rather enjoyed this too. With its creamy texture, it had reminded me more of ice cream rather than yoghurt though. But being rich in probiotics though, it is definitely a healthier option as compared to having standard ice cream.

But  the Tapped birch water had been quite interesting and unusual, though. 

Prepared straight from the forests of Finland, this is a natural source of anti-oxidising manganese with a light delicate flavour and is billed as a low calorie alternative to coconut water, with only eight calories in a 160ml package. 

There are a few flavours available and my favourite was the Bilberry & Lingonberry one because the fruity taste had reminded me a little bit of Ribena and at the same time, had helped to mask the slight woody natural flavours coming from the birch water.

Samples from the United Kingdom brand, Boundless nuts, had also been available at the party. A bold and refreshing new brand, Boundless is pushing the boundaries of conventional snacking by delivering on both taste and health.

This is because Boundless uses ancient Aztec and Aborigine techniques of soaking and baking the nuts and seeds to unlock their nutrients for better digestion. 

I had thought that their nuts were definitely quite tasty and delicious so it is good to know that they are nutritious at the same time, more so than eating ordinary nuts. In fact I had been told that one single Boundless almond nut contains the same amount of vitamins and minerals as five ordinary almonds. I love snacking on nuts, so this was rather good to know.

I also felt their flavours had also been unusual and interesting, and the Cayenne & Rosemary flavour had particularly left an impression on me.

Other brands that were present, had also included Euglena green superfood sourced in Japan and the Nutrition Evolution Australian superfood spices and protein bars.

As I have a sweet tooth, I quite enjoyed Nutrition Evolution’s chocolate coated protein bars, because this meant that I can satisfy my sugar cravings while knowing that I am not sabotaging a healthy diet at the same time.

And while we were all snacking on these healthy foods, Dr. Melvin Look from PanAsia Surgery Group also gave us a short talk on the importance of eating well in order to maintain a healthy gut.

Dr. Look had stressed that having good gut health is something that we should all try to aspire towards.

Said Dr. Look, “A healthy functioning gut allows you to absorb nutrients correctly. If you do not have a healthy gut, your body is unable to process food and this leads to health conditions.”

Some of the common symptoms that may indicate problems in the gut can include diarrhoea, constipation, bloating, nausea, and heartburn.

But besides affecting your body, poor gut health, according to Dr. Look, can also affect the brain because the gut does not function in isolation, but rather, is inter-linked with the brain. So poor gut health can lead to mental issues such as anxiety and depression and this can have a major impact on your mental well being as a result. 

Stress is also another key factor that leads to poor gut health too, according to the doctor. He said “If you are stressed, the brain secretes neurotransmitters which affect the gut negatively.”

What happens If you have any of these symptoms though? In order to improve your gut health, it is all about eating the right foods according to Dr. Look. He recommends taking in plenty of fibre, from fruits and vegetables. 

As well, he strongly advises taking both pre-biotics and probiotics, which are found in foods such as Vitagen, Yakult and yoghurt. Taking supplementation for these is also good if you are not able to get such foods into your diet on a regular basis. This is especially so if you find that you may be getting sick easily.

However he declined to recommend any specific brand of probiotics supplements though he mentioned that if you are trying to make a choice and you read the labels, those with ‘more bugs’ listed in the ingredients are usually the better ones.

Said Dr. Look “Diversity is important; the more different types of bacteria that are present in the supplements, the better it is.”

But on the other hand, Dr. Look pointed out that a diet high in sugars and saturated fats are harmful to gut health. So eating these type of foods should ideally be kept to a minimum. Also, smoking is harmful to the gut as well, together with taking alcohol and red meat such as beef and pork.

While Dr. Look does not recommend to completely abstain from alcohol and red meat though, he instead strongly suggests that you consume these items in moderation if you want to have good gut health.

Besides watching what food you are consuming, Dr. Look also recommends doing meditation as a way to improve your gut health. This is because meditation parts the body in a relaxed state and this leads to positive endorphins which, in turn, contribute to improving your gut health.

Overall I must state that the “Get Fit to the Core” workout party had definitely been an interesting session. It was adrenaline pumping, interesting and educational at the same time. I certainly learnt a lot about my gut from the session.

And I can also see myself checking out some of the health food brands that had been present at the event – in order to take more care of what I am putting into my body, so that I can improve my gut health and hopefully this will then lead to improvements in my sporting performances, in turn.

Thank you Oasis Hotel Downtown for the invite to the “Get Fit to the Core” session.