Sandra Riley Tang Teaches Us Simple Yoga Poses To Do On Vacay

WHY: Stretches hamstrings and calves.
HOW: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Stretch out your hands. Lengthen your spine and open up the chest as you inhale; then fold forward diving down from your hips as you exhale. Important: Do not bring your head to your shins, but bring your belly as close as you can to your thighs. If it’s more comfortable for you, bend your knees slightly. You can also grab on to your elbows, relax and let gravity do the work. Stay for three to five breaths.

WHY: Stretches hamstrings, calves, arches and hands.
HOW: Drop your palms to the floor, step back, and push yourself into position. Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Spread your fingers wide open and press them into the mat. To make sure that you’re not leaning over your wrists, bring your chest behind both your shoulders, over your ears. Send your hips up towards the sky. Keep your back flat, bringing your belly as close as you can to your thighs. If it’s too tight for you, bend your knees slightly. Stay for three to five breaths.

WHY: Works out upper back, chest, shoulders, abs and neck.
HOW: Roll yourself forward into a plank pose. Make sure that your heels are in line with your toes, and your shoulders are in line with your wrists. Do a couple of push-ups to work out your arms. You can either drop your knees to the floor in a half-plank pose, or bring your chin to the floor and push yourself back up; or if you’re feeling strong, come on to your toes, bring your heels over your toes and do the same thing. Bring your chin forward and come to a half plank pose. Hold for 30 seconds to one minute, and repeat up to three times.

WHY: Stretches upper back and opens the chest and lungs.
HOW: Inhale and roll yourself into position, pull your shoulders back behind your ears, chin up and look up. Hold for four to five breaths.

WHY: Stretch your hip flexors.
HOW: Inhale and slowly push yourself back up. Exhale and come to a downward facing dog (Step 2) once more. Step one foot forward between your palms. Drop the back knee of the other leg to the floor, release your back foot and rise up into a low lunge. As you inhale, reach your arms up towards the sky, pull your shoulders back and open up your chest. Stay here for three to five breaths, then switch legs and repeat.

WHY: Work out your core.
HOW: Sit on the mat. Lift your shins and arms parallel to the mat, palms facing up. Pull your shoulders back and open your chest to engage your core. You can do some core exercises — lower down into a low boat pose, then come up into a high boat. To do a low boat, lower your middle back to the floor, engaging your abs. Keep your head and shoulders off the floor. Simultaneously lower your legs until your feet are about six inches off the ground. Repeat as many times as you like, or about 10 times.

1) Join a yoga class
“I’ll try to look for a studio near wherever I’m staying. So I get to continue my training program while experiencing how things are like in an international class. When I was in Florida, I went to a yoga studio and it turned out to be a class full of old people. It was supposed to be a more intense power class, but it was not at all intense (laughs).”

2) Work out in your own room
“There are a lot of bodyweight workouts that you can do, which don’t require any equipment. Sometimes, I use the Nike+ Training Club app. They have workouts that you can just follow, so you don’t need to think of what to do. Keep your workouts short and intense. Sometimes, all you need is 15 minutes just to stretch it out or do a couple of HIIT workouts, and that makes a whole lot of difference.”

3) Go on a flexible diet
“I don’t really like to restrict my diet when I’m overseas. I’d be very depressed if I can’t eat this or that. If I’m overseas, I’d just eat whatever I want, but in moderation. So if I had a lot of fried food the day before, then the next day, I’ll try to eat a bit cleaner.”

The Yoga Collective is located at 43 East Coast Road and 2A Haji Lane. For more info, visit www.theyoco.com.

IN HIS TRAVEL GYM BAG: Supplements and knee-length running tights.

HIS WORKOUT: The 32-year-old hunk hits the gym daily. He usually looks for accommodation with a gym. Otherwise, he goes running outside. He explores the city on foot, so that it counts as cardio too. “When I stayed in the suburbs in Taiwan, there was no gym, so I jogged around the neighbourhood. In Bangkok, instead of taking cabs, I walked to the train station, which was a good 2km away. Before you realise it, you’ve already burnt off some calories!”

WORK IT: “As an actor, my face and body are my best assets. Exercising daily is a challenge I set for myself so that I can show viewers the best version of me!

IN HER TRAVEL GYM BAG: A TRX suspension trainer, skipping rope, and a pair of regular walking shoes. “The TRX trainer and skipping rope are light so I can bring them anywhere to use in my workout, even if it’s just in the hotel room for 15 minutes,” enthuses Jaime, who exercises every day, whether she’s at home or overseas.

HER WORKOUT: The 40-year-old actress exercises in the morning, just before she heads out to sightsee. “Once I get my heart rate up and break into a sweat, I feel good about myself for the rest of the day. When your body’s metabolism is fired up, it continues burning calories for the whole day too. Sometimes, I just do 50 squats and 25 push-ups right before I shower. If I’m just skipping on that day, I skip 1,000 to 2,000 times. Skipping is a good cardio exercise that works my whole body. I use a weighted rope so I work my arms as well.” When she’s not doing cardio, Jaime does High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts such as burpees and mountain climbers for a minimum of 15 minutes.

IN HIS TRAVEL GYM BAG: TRX suspension trainer. “It’s portable and it’s more than enough for all the different whole body workouts I need to do,” says the 26-year-old actor.

HIS WORKOUT: The first thing he does when he checks into a hotel is see if there’s a gym. “I hit the treadmill and do weights training. If there’s no gym, I do push-ups and squats in the room,” he shares. He attaches his TRX resistance band to the hotel door for an ab, arms and legs workout. He exercises on alternate days on vacays. “Mornings are good ’cos I get it out of the way and then I can whack the breakfast buffet after that!” he quips.