Rightways

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Heavily corrupt Washington cannot produce resonating anti-graft dramas: The Knockout 狂飙; Muhyiddin's right hand man arrested

为什么孟德海是伪善的？高启强是十足的坏人吗？安欣距离真实的警察有多远？《狂飙》里还有哪些隐秘的剧情？【傅正】

最近《狂飙》很火，大家都看了吗？这部剧主要从2000年、2006年、2021年三个时期展开，讲述了高启强从下岗工人到黑社会老大的故事，为什么是这三个时间点？剧中有很多情节突兀的地方又该如何解释？结合原著小说和当时的社会状况来看，这些问题就清晰多了

《狂飙》这部剧确实是难得一见的好，怎么说呢，它完全让我感受到了那种国产老剧的细致、认真与有格调！ ✨ 主要内容 ✨ 00:34 剧情介绍 01:37 细节1-3 03:00 细节4-6 04:25 细节7-9 06:32 细节10-12

The Knockout | Episode 18 (Clip) | iQIYI Philippines

The Knockout Photo: VCG The Knockout Photo: VCG

No matter how some US media outlets use malicious labels to describe Chinese anti-corruption dramas, one thing is indisputable: The US, under the current corrupt political system and toxic political environment, will never be able to produce a similar drama that can resonate strongly with the public.

A February 18 article in Foreign Policy, entitled "China's Newest Action TV Show Is a Propaganda Hit," laid its eyes on the recent hit Chinese TV series The Knockout. It argues that "at base, The Knockout is a tribute to Chinese leader Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign," adding that the TV drama is "part of a broader campaign to popularize propaganda in Chinese film and TV."

The Knockout is among a number of Chinese dramas under the theme of anti-corruption that have received positive reviews and high ratings in China in recent years. The popularity of these series reflects the Chinese public's particular interest in the country's campaign against corruption.

Chinese officials often play a pioneering role in society. As China has a massive officialdom system, how these people behave is closely linked to the ethos of the whole country. It can even be said that, to a large extent, the fight against corruption in China determines the future of the Chinese system.

The Chinese anti-corruption hit dramas are a projection of the country's anti-corruption achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the cultural field. It also demonstrates that China's anti-corruption efforts have been well-acknowledged by the Chinese people.

The success of China's anti-corruption campaign has purified the country's political system, making the society healthier and more vibrant. It has earned more prestige among the people for the Chinese government and the CPC, enhancing the cohesion of the society.

Yet, based on ideological judgments, some Western media have labeled China's anti-corruption dramas as "propaganda." They obviously view China's political environment through tinted glasses as usual and nitpick China's achievements. This only exposes their extreme strategic selfishness and dark mind.

If we take a look at the popular US series that focus on their politics, such as House of Cards, what we will see is the exchange of political interests and the struggle for power in the US. This mirrors the dirty, dark and degenerate side of the US game for power. However, unlike the celebration of anti-corruption achievements in Chinese dramas, these series give viewers only a strong sense of powerlessness.

Fan Peng, a research fellow at the Institute of Political Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the relationship between individual officials and the official system is like the one between trees and forests. The one who fights corruption is exactly the "owner" of the forest, the CPC. Aiming at the whole forest, it tries to eliminate all the rotten trees. Such a dynamic force is the core of China's anti-corruption effort.

But that's not the case in the US, a country plagued by systemic corruption. Their ideology leaves no space for self-correction or self-revolution, Fan noted. This makes it impossible for Washington and its politicians to handle corruption the way Beijing has been doing.

Showing no hope of change or improvement, series like House of Cards can only strengthen the US public's perception that their government and politicians are terrible in nature, continuing to lower their trust in Washington and US politics.

Just look at how US politicians reacted in several recent series in the US. In the dispute over a "wandering balloon" with China, some of these people displayed extreme hysteria and unreasonableness. In the Ohio train derailment, some were either indifferent to the health and safety of the people, while some started their playacting only after the incident had made headlines, acting as if they valued the public's interest. Which type of these politicians cannot be found in House of Cards? How can Americans believe in the US system in light of this?

Fan says that another major premise for China to produce anti-corruption dramas is that the literary and art circles in China create cultural products from a position of righteousness. The US can celebrate individuality and rights, but no one dares to challenge corruption from a social justice perspective.

"The US is so torn up that all of its narratives come from only parts of its society. There is always otherness in such a narrow perspective. Therefore, one should not expect the US to produce a drama like The Knockout," Fan noted.

Source link

Video of Thai taxi drivers watching 'The Knockout' goes viral, showing Chinese TV dramas’ overseas popularity

A video of Thai tricycle taxi drivers watching Chinese TV series The Knockout has gone viral on social

Related posts:

Weeding out the worrying graft and corruption among Malaysian youths and politicians !

Making the corrupt fear whistleblowers, not the other way !

Time to take fight against graft to the top, say group

Bersatu’s accounts frozen more than 2 weeks ago

Muhyiddin's right hand man arrested - The True Net

https://www.thetruenet.com/opinion/perspective/muhyiddins-right-hand-man-arrested/

https://www.thetruenet.com/

How The Ex-PM Solicited RM4.5 Billion Bribes In RM92.5 Billion Covid-19 Stimulus Scandal..

https://www.thetruenet.com/opinion/perspective/muhyiddins-right-hand-man-arrested/

Why was Muhyiddin Yassin so power-crazy that he willingly betrayed friends and allies in Pakatan Harapan, leading to the collapse of the democratically-elected government after j……

How The Ex-PM Solicited RM4.5 Billion Bribes In RM92.5 Billion Covid-19 Stimulus Scandal..

Why was Muhyiddin Yassin so power-crazy that he willingly betrayed friends and allies in Pakatan Harapan, leading to the collapse of the democratically-elected government after just 22 months? Why was he so obsessed with power that he didn’t mind being laughed as the first backdoor prime minister? Why was he so daringly ignored multiple royal decrees, just to cling to power during his 17-month regime?

Why was the former premier so afraid of sharing power with Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim despite a royal decree by the King to form a unity government following the 15th General Election that produced a hung Parliament? More importantly, why is Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional still desperately and shamelessly wants to snatch power through backdoor again?

All the answer can be found after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) arrested a chief executive officer of a private company on Thursday (Jan 5) night. The 42-year-old man was detained over his role as “middleman” in brokering government projects related to Covid-19 stimulus packages worth RM92.5 billion (US$21 billion) in exchange for bribes.

The suspect – Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad – turns out to be Muhyiddin’s right-hand man. A former chief executive of Maju Assets Sdn Bhd, Adam is also Segambut divisional leader of Muhyiddin’s political party – Bersatu (Malaysian United Indigenous Party). The best part is Adam is the cousin of Muhyiddin’s son-in-law, Muhamad Adlan Berhan, who in turn was involved in several scandals.

Adlan married to Muhyiddin’s daughter, Nabilah, who is a shareholder of Agathistwo Jia Sdn Bhd, a company involved in the scandalous RM1.2 billion NIIS (National Integrated Immigration System) concession. The NIIS was hatched by Muhyiddin (then-Home Minister under the Pakatan Harapan government) after cancelling its predecessor Sistem Kawalan Imigresen Nasional (SKIN).

Muhamad Adlan was also linked to 1BestariNet, a 15-year project worth RM4.47 billion introduced by then-Education Minister Muhyiddin in March 2011 to provide 4G broadband connectivity and virtual learning environment (VLE) to 10,000 government schools nationwide. However, the “failed project”, awarded to YTL Communications, has been plagued with slow internet access and problematic Frog VLE, which could easily be replaced with Google Classroom.

Adam Radlan’s involvement in Muhyiddin’s web of cronyism, nepotism and corruption was exposed after Muhyiddin-led Perikatan Nasional coalition failed to form a government post 15th General Election. And this is precisely why the former backdoor prime minister desperately wanted to return to power by hook or by crook – to “cover up” the skeleton in the closet.

So, how did Mr Mahiaddin (Muhyiddin) become billionaire during his 17-month short stint as 8th Prime Minister? From the beginning, he saw the golden opportunity to make tons of money from the Covid-19 pandemic. Unlike his former boss Najib Razak, he did not need a complicated project like 1MDB to steal and plunder the national coffers. He just needed to rule with absolute power under a State of Emergency.

It was Muhyiddin himself who bragged in April 2021 that the Perikatan Nasional backdoor government under his leadership has splashed more than RM600 billion (RM340 billion in economic stimulus packages and RM322.5 billion for the 2021 Budget to fight the Covid-19 pandemic). The scam was to boastfully create a narrative that massive of funds were used to help people and rescue the economy.

But when opposition Pakatan Harapan return to power after the Nov 2022 national election, all his lies and corruptions are exposed. Newly crowned PM Anwar revealed at a media conference on Dec 5 last year that the Finance Ministry had informed that there had been several breaches involving the Covid-19 funds. Panicked, Muhyiddin screamed that he did not steal any money.

Suddenly, Muhyiddin admits there was no such thing as RM600 billion, contradicting his previous claims. He said it was only RM530 billion. Even then, he played down the numbers. Spilling the beans, he said his administration had only spent RM83 billion in fiscal injections. This means Muhyiddin’s government did not actually help the people to the tune of RM530 billion as shamelessly trumpeted.

However, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has confirmed it will now focus its investigation on the RM92.5 billion directly funded by the Muhyiddin regime after it was established that RM437.5 billion was not from the government. Still, the difference between MACC’s RM92.5 billion and Muhyiddin’s RM83 billion means about RM10 billion might have gone “missing”.

But there are already problems with the dubious spending of RM92.5 billion funds. Unlike Najib’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, Muhyiddin used traditional low-tech tactic to enrich himself and his families. Adam Radlan was sent out as his representative to connect contractors with high-ranking government officials before projects were distributed.

After the MACC raided 8 government agencies and 9 companies in December 2022 as part of its investigation into the suspected misappropriation of RM92.5 billion by the Perikatan Nasional government during its 33-month rule, it was found that at least 5 middlemen of several companies were involved in obtaining projects worth between RM50 million and RM500 million through direct negotiations.

Contractors who have been questioned by the anti-graft agency admitted that they agreed to pay a commission of 3% to 5% to secure projects from those middlemen. But the fact that only Adam was arrested so far suggests that the Muhyiddin’s proxy could be the key man on top of the food chain. It would be interesting to see if other middlemen would turn witness against the corrupt ex-PM.

The commission means more than RM4.5 billion had been paid to Adam and his band of middlemen, who clearly collected the bribes on behalf of Muhyiddin between 2020 and 2022. But get your popcorn because the fun has just begun. About 90% of the projects obtained via direct negotiations had not been executed as no acceptance letters (P.O. or Purchase Order) were issued. What does this mean?

This means about RM4 billion had already been paid by contractors to Muhyiddin and his gang of crooks, but all the 90% projects cannot take off. The dirty money had been deposited into the account of a political party, believed to be Bersatu. Hence, Muhyiddin is in deep shit as the furious contractors might turn witness, not to mention the money trail leading to his party.

Perikatan Nasional, comprising mainly Bersatu and PAS Islamist party, had bet the wrong horse. It thought at worst case scenario, the same Malay-centric political parties – UMNO, Bersatu and PAS – would form a government again after election, the same way they did in March 2020 (Muhyiddin became the 8th Prime Minister) and in August 2021 (Ismail Sabri elevated as the 9th Prime Minister).

The contractors similarly had bet the wrong horse that Perikatan Nasional would be part of the federal government. Now, not only they won’t get the projects, the money they had paid disguised as “political funding” to Muhyiddin to fund his lavish election campaign, including buying Malay votes at RM350 per pop, have gone up in smoke. Muhyiddin has already pocketed RM4 billion – in offshore accounts.

While 3%-5% commission was solicited for Muhyiddin, the middlemen and government officials demanded at least RM200,000 for themselves just to grant a meeting with every contractor – “without guarantee” that they will get projects linked to the RM92.5 billion stimulus programmes. This is how everyone benefited from the gravy train during the backdoor regime.

A good example that leakages occurred was the RM7 billion contracts approved under the RM15 billion flood mitigation project that were awarded through direct negotiations (in exchange for kickbacks) to dubious companies like Mangkubumi Sdn Bhd. Exactly how could Mangkubumi won the deal when it has been involved in a court case for illegal money laundering as much as RM139 million?

Adam Radlan, who has since disabled his Instagram, is also a council member of the Tan Sri Muhyiddin Charity Golf Foundation. Without Muhyiddin’s protection, he was dressed in the MACC’s iconic orange suit and will be charged under Section 16(a) of the MACC Act 2009, which provides imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine of up to 5 times the amount of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

When Muhyiddin claimed that he was not afraid to be investigated, he lied. He was incredibly terrified, but as usual, trying to play poker with the new premier. Thinking PM Anwar was bluffing, he has even challenged the prime minister to prove it. The PM warned Muhyiddin not to challenge him as he has all the files and evidence. A month later, Muhyiddin son-in-law’s cousin has been nabbed.

The new unity government has not even started exposing how Muhyiddin obtained proceeds from gambling companies to help finance the 15th General Election campaign. Under Muhyiddin government, special lottery draws were increased from 8 to 22, despite the anti-gambling stance of Islamist party Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), which is part of the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition.

The special draws, designed to boost the government’s revenue, contributed RM80 million in extra revenue for the government in 1999 (the year it was first introduced during the premiership of Mahathir). Revenue reached as high as RM238 million in 2017, and averaged RM200 million a year in recent years – money that enabled Bersatu and PAS spent lavishly.

Another dumb person who kept shooting his own foot is former finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz. Trying to protect his former boss, he said there was nothing suspicious in the Perikatan Nasional-led government’s management of funds when it was in power. The clueless and incompetent Zafrul might have signed some documents that could come back to haunt him.

Source link

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Don’t click that link, check before clinking link, victims can call 997, the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) for help

为什么孟德海是伪善的？高启强是十足的坏人吗？安欣距离真实的警察有多远？《狂飙》里还有哪些隐秘的剧情？【傅正】

The Knockout | Episode 18 (Clip) | iQIYI Philippines

The Knockout Photo: VCG The Knockout Photo: VCG

Source link

Video of Thai taxi drivers watching 'The Knockout' goes viral, showing Chinese TV dramas’ overseas popularity

A video of Thai tricycle taxi drivers watching Chinese TV series The Knockout has gone viral on social

America made this war possible

Related posts:

Weeding out the worrying graft and corruption among Malaysian youths and politicians !

Making the corrupt fear whistleblowers, not the other way !

Time to take fight against graft to the top, say group

Bersatu’s accounts frozen more than 2 weeks ago

Muhyiddin's right hand man arrested - The True Net

https://www.thetruenet.com/opinion/perspective/muhyiddins-right-hand-man-arrested/

https://www.thetruenet.com/

How The Ex-PM Solicited RM4.5 Billion Bribes In RM92.5 Billion Covid-19 Stimulus Scandal..

https://www.thetruenet.com/opinion/perspective/muhyiddins-right-hand-man-arrested/

Why was Muhyiddin Yassin so power-crazy that he willingly betrayed friends and allies in Pakatan Harapan, leading to the collapse of the democratically-elected government after j……

How The Ex-PM Solicited RM4.5 Billion Bribes In RM92.5 Billion Covid-19 Stimulus Scandal..

Source link

Monday, February 20, 2023

How to prepare for cyber risks

How to manage your cyber risks

Minimising the chances of attacks Cyber threats are evolving and escalating at an alarming rate for asset-intensive industries such as the energy sector.

ARE organisations only concerned with undertaking the right measures to mitigate cyber risk after they have been cyberattacked?

This may be the case in most situations but the more important question to ask is – what are the cybersecurity controls that should be considered by organisations?

The answer is straightforward – the controls that have the biggest impact on reducing the likelihood or the impact of a successful cyberattack.

Cyber risk is generally defined as the threat to the system, the system’s vulnerability and the resulting consequences.

Therefore, to successfully protect information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems, companies must understand the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPS), which threat actors use to achieve their desired objective.

Here are several examples of well documented cyberattacks on critical national infrastructure over the past two decades:

In 2010, arguably, the most sophisticated cyberattack was executed on an Iranian uranium enrichment facility that exposed the weakness of cybersecurity controls and vulnerability of OT environments.

The STUXNET worm was designed specifically to target these environments which allowed the threat actor to exploit and disrupt production operations causing downtime and business impact.

STUXNET was the eureka moment for the energy and manufacturing industries that OT environments can be breached and what impact it can have on their business, human lives, environment and economies.

Unfortunately, it was also an eureka moment for threat actors too. OT cyberattacks surged rapidly and suddenly the attack techniques from threat actors, in terms of creativity and smartness of achieving their malicious objectives, evolved since then.

In 2015, Ukraine was hit by another massive cyberattack that shut off power at 30 substations and left millions of people without electricity for up to six hours. SCADA equipment was rendered inoperable and power restoration had to be completed manually, which further delayed restoration efforts.

So how was this achieved – must have been very sophisticated? Actually, not.

Spear phishing was used to introduce the Blackenergy malware that exploited the macros in excel-based documents on computer systems at the plants. Meaning that the threat actors did nothing different than using known TTPS for cyberattacks on IT environments.

The same exploitation tools were used to find user credentials to escalate their privileges to move laterally in the network or to send malicious commands to disrupt plant operations.

The 2015 cyberattack seemed like an experiment as barely a year later the Ukraine Power Grid was attacked again and this time the capital city Kiev went dark, breakers tripped in a large number of substations.

However, this time the threat actors also jammed the utility’s call centres to prevent customers from reporting the outage by launching Telephone Denial of Service (TDOS) attack.

The approach was more sophisticated as the threat actors directly manipulated the SCADA systems using CRASHOVERRIDE – the first known malware specifically designed to target the power grids directly around the globe with the ability to wipe or delete files, disable processes like malware protection and even the software from OT vendors.

This was another eureka moment – national power grids are not safe from threat actors either.

One of the most concerning cyberattacks was in 2017 where the TRITON malware targeted the specific safety critical Programable Logic Controller’s (PLCS) in the Middle East. The function of these PLCS is to protect plants and people from disasters caused by mechanical failure.

In 2018, advanced persistent threat attacks on industrial environments continued to rise, and industrial espionage increased.

After 2019, there was a drastic increase in ransomware activities in OT environments including the manufacturing, water treatment and pipeline industries.

Recently, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency launched the Cross-sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals as a prioritised subset of IT and OT cybersecurity practices, aimed at meaningfully reducing risks to critical national infrastructures and the community it supports.

These cybersecurity controls are not meant to be the only considerations for organisations. The purpose is to form the foundation to protect IT and OT infrastructures against cyberattacks as part of the defence-in-depth cybersecurity strategy.

These are some of the logical first steps to consider:

User account security

User accounts are generally one of the first gateways for threat actors to gain access to the network to establish a foothold and move laterally. On the surface, this may seem simple but maintaining user account security hygiene has been a long-standing challenge for many organisations.

Here are the suggested foundational controls that should be considered:

> enable the detection of unsuccessful user login attempts

> change all default passwords and implement multi-factor authentication

> update the minimum password strength > separate user and privilege accounts > enforce unique user credentials (not just email addresses as commonly used)

> revoke the credentials of departing employees.

Device security

Device security are measures taken to secure computing devices (hardware and software) from cyber threats but also to maintain service continuity.

Here are the suggested foundational controls that should be considered:

> approval process for new hardware and software deployment

> the disablement of macros by default > maintaining an up-to-date asset inventory

> prohibiting the connection of unauthorised devices

> documenting device configurations.

Data security

The purpose is to protect sensitive and confidential data from unauthorised access, theft, loss and destruction.

Here are the suggested foundational controls that should be considered:

> strong and agile encryption

> enable log collection

> secure storage of the said logs.

Governance and training

A strong governance structure is a key success factor for any cybersecurity strategy and operations to manage cyber risks effectively and to ensure adequate protection of data and systems.

Here are the suggested foundational controls that should be considered:

> appointment and empowerment of a single leader to be accountable for cybersecurity

> a single leader to be responsible for Ot-specific cybersecurity

> basic cybersecurity training for all employees and third parties

> OT specific cybersecurity training for OT managers and operators

> establish an effective relationship between IT and OT cybersecurity to improve the response effectiveness for OT cyber incidents.

Vulnerability management

To reduce the likelihood of threat actors exploiting known vulnerabilities in IT and OT systems, the following foundational controls should be considered:

> mitigate known vulnerabilities

> gather vulnerability intelligence by security researchers and enable the researchers to submit discovered weaknesses or vulnerabilities faster

> blacklisting of exploitable services on the Internet

> limit OT connections to public Internet > conduct third-party validation of control effectiveness.

Supply chain/third party

To ensure the integrity and reliability of supplier products and services the following foundational controls should be considered:

> establish supplier cybersecurity requirements

> immediate disclosure of known cybersecurity incidents and vulnerabilities to enable rapid response.

Detection, response and recovery

Here are the suggested foundational controls that should be considered:

> capability to detect relevant threats and TTPS

> a comprehensive response and recovery plan (including appropriate back-ups) in place helps organisations be prepared for the inevitable security incidents that will occur and ensures that they have the processes and resources in place to minimise the impact and recover effectively.

Network segmentation

Network segmentation reduces the likelihood of threat actors accessing the OT network after compromising the IT network and vice versa.

Here are the suggested foundational controls that should be considered:

> segment IT and OT networks

> segment safety critical systems form other systems

> segmentation of temporarily connected devices

> segmentation of wireless communications

> segmentation of devices connected via untrusted networks/internet.

Email security

By implementing effective email security measures, organisations can reduce the risks from common email-based threats and ensure the confidentiality and integrity of email communications.

Here are the suggested foundational controls that should be considered:

> Email encryption

> Email account authentication

> and email filtering.

In conclusion, cyber threats are evolving and escalating at an alarming rate for asset-intensive industries such as the energy sector.

Strengthening the cybersecurity foundations are imperative to build a defence-indepth model that would reduce the chances of cyberattacks and safeguard IT and OT environments.

By JACO BENADIE Jaco Benadie is partner, Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.

Source link

Related:

Exclusive: Hacker group with members from Europe, North America found to have launched cyberattacks against China

Chinese cybersecurity experts have exposed a hacker group, with its core members coming from Europe and North America, which has been launching sustained cyberattacks against China as its primary target, posing a serious threat to the country's cybersecurity and data security, the Global Times learned from a Beijing-based cybersecurity lab on Sunday.

Related posts:

Don’t click that link, check before clinking link, victims can call 997, the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) for help

Beware links asking for banking details, it's likely a scam, say cops. With online businesses on the rise, the scammers are getting more..

THE FIGHT AGAINST CYBERCRIME IN FINANCIAL SERVICES

China captures powerful US NSA cyberspy tool

Cybercriminals beware: public must be aware of how scams work, Putting the brakes on cybercrime

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Know your fitness lingo

To navigate the fitness world, it helps to have knowledge of certain terms and acronyms.

When it comes to strength training, using your bodyweight to perform the exercise is adequate for beginners. — Photos: 123rf.com

On your active recovery day, gentle stretching is a good way to relax the body.

Little jumps that can raise your heart rate count as cardio activity.

GYM-GOERS and some personal trainers like to throw jargon and acronyms around, even if they may not fully understand what the terms mean.

A few months ago, I met a college-going chap who had just started lifting weights and I queried him on his workout regime.

Most of his knowledge was taken off the internet – he was working out his arms and legs on alternate days six days a week, and looking tired, but good.

“I’m setting a PR every day,” he proudly told me.

PR? I was puzzled (I’m old school) and asked what that was because I only knew of PB (personal best).

The PR that I’m familiar with is the abbreviation for public relations – after all, as media practitioners, we frequently deal with PR professionals.

“Personal record, aunty!” he said, smiling while wondering which era I came from.

“Oh, that’s possible to do on a daily basis, huh?” I commented, intrigued.

Trying to keep up with the youngster, I then questioned: “Are you doing supersets or trisets?

“And don’t you suffer from DOMS, especially if you’re lifting so frequently?”

He gave me a blank stare because the terms threw him off.

Never assume middle-aged souls with mini muscles don’t know much!

So, I patiently explained them to him.

This encounter is not quite reflective of the generational gap, but is bound to happen to anyone as the fitness world has its own lingo and it’s tough to keep up with all the abbreviations and acronyms, especially the newly-created ones.

And it can be daunting for the beginner who enters the gym or has a conversation about fitness.

Upon checking with my personal trainer friends, I discovered that PR (the fitness acronym) is gym lingo that can be used for any kind of fitness activity.

It is, however, normally associated with the heaviest weight you’ve lifted for a particular exercise, or the maximum number of repetitions you performed using a certain weight.

People usually toss around this acronym when speaking about big lifts.

There are no hard and fast rules over using PR, but some people substitute it for PB.

They also use it to refer to other isolation exercises such as biceps curls, jump height, sprints, or even the length of time it takes to run a certain distance.

Here are a few common fitness terms you might want to know – and use – when necessary.

Cardio

Cardio, or cardiovascular or aerobic exercise, is any rhythmic activity that makes your heart beat faster and increases your breathing.

This is as you would require more oxygen to keep up with the pace of movement.

Examples of cardio activities are running, brisk walking, cycling, marching in place, etc.

Getting your heart pumping at a faster rate on a regular basis keeps it in shape and healthy, thus reducing the risk of heart disease.

The role of cardio exercises is to help burn calories so that you can shed weight.

Strength/resistance training

This form of exercise is intended to increase muscular strength and endurance.

It involves exercising muscles using some form of resistance, i.e. weights, bands, or even your own bodyweight working against gravity.

To lose weight faster, combine your cardio with strength training, and watch how your body transforms.

Your bones can benefit from resistance training too.

Studies have shown that doing resistance training consistently can maintain or increase bone mass and density.

This is something most doctors are asking their older patients to do as it also helps improve balance and stability.

Hypertrophy

This refers to an increase or growth in muscle size achieved through strength-training exercises.

This style of training is popular within the bodybuilding community, where there is often a focus on the growth of certain muscles, e.g. thighs, calves, biceps or arms, to achieve an ideal physique.

Achieving this happens via moderate weight-lifting and moderate repetitions.

On the opposite end, muscle atrophy is the decrease in size and wasting of muscle tissue.

Rep/set

Rep is the short form for repetition, i.e. how many times you do the exercise.

One rep means one time, two reps mean two times, and so on.

The term “set” tells you how many times you are to repeat a particular number of repetitions of a given exercise.

For example, if you are doing squats, saying three sets of 15 reps means you’ll be doing 15 squats three times in total, with a rest (for an allotted time, perhaps 30 seconds or a minute) in between sets.

Supersets/trisets/giant sets

Supersets are doing two exercises back to back with no break.

Giant sets are doing four or more exercises back to back with no break.

During these sets, you can either pair exercises that are non-competing, i.e. opposing muscle groups, or you can target the same muscle.

For example, you may do one set of 12 reps of chest presses, followed by another set of 12 reps of push-ups.

This is a superset exercising the same muscle group.

Or you may do one set of 12 reps of push-ups, followed by another set of 12 reps of squats, then another set of 12 reps of calf raises.

This is a triset exercising different muscle groups.

DOMS

All of us experience DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, at some point from doing any activity that is either new, done for a longer duration, and/or at a harder intensity.

It’s caused by inflamed muscle and connective tissues.

Symptoms range from muscle tenderness or soreness, to severe debilitating pain.

The temporary discomfort starts a day or two after a workout, and eases off by day three or four.

The soreness is a sign that your muscles have been worked and your fitness is progressing, but you shouldn’t be getting DOMS after every workout unless you’re exercising only once a month!

HIIT

High intensity interval training (HIIT) is a form of cardio exercise characterised by short periods of all-out exercise, interspersed with rest or active recovery sessions.

It combines both cardio and strength training, with the intention to maximise athletic performance.

It incorporates several rounds that alternate between several minutes of high intensity movements to significantly increase the heart rate to at least 80% of one’s maximum heart rate, followed by short periods of lower intensity movements.

There is a ratio that is followed, i.e. the amount of time spent working versus the amount of time spent recovering – also known as the work-to-recovery ratio.

For example, when you perform 60 seconds of work, followed by 60 seconds of recovery, your HIIT ratio is one-to-one.

Tabata

This is another form of HIIT consisting of short workout blocks.

Tabata training breaks a workout down into clearly defined intervals – typically, 20 seconds of a push-it-to-the-limit exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest.

One cycle is repeated eight times for a total of four minutes.

You can mix two exercises in a cycle, e.g. 20 seconds jumping jacks, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds crunches, 10 seconds rest, then repeat.

The recommendation is to do four to five cycles for a 16-20 minutes’ workout – you’ll be sweating buckets by then!

Tabata, founded by Japanese scientist Izumi Tabata, is a highly effective training style for building power and cardiovascular fitness.

However, bear in mind that Tabata is gruelling and you’ll need to be fit enough to meet its physical demands without getting injured.

Also note that Tabatha is HIIT, but not all HIIT is Tabata.

Active rest or recovery

This is usually one day in a set time period when you give your body a “break” and do some sort of movement that is less intense than your regular workout days.

But this does not mean you can lounge on the couch or scroll through social media throughout the day.

Instead, active rest means scheduling a low-intensity activity like a leisurely stroll, foam-rolling or gentle yoga to help with circulation.

You can even opt for a massage. Your body needs time to recover (just like the mind needs to recharge) so that the muscles can rebuild stronger.

By Revathi Murugappan, a certified fitness trainer who tries to battle gravity and continues to dance to express herself artistically and nourish her soul. For more information, email starhealth@thestar.com. my. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.

Related posts:

Science on high intensity interval training: HIIT, or SHIIT?

Weights and protein: Are protein supplements really the whey to go?

Happy and healthy, not hunky

There are many benefits to weighlifting

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Learning is key to resilience in business

NINE out of 10 learning and development (L&D) professionals in this region believe that proactively building employee skills for today and tomorrow will help navigate the evolving future of work.

L&D helps organisations thrive amid uncertain economic times and a people-centric culture recognises that organisational success depends on people’s success.

Management, communication and sales are some of the top in-demand skills that are highly sought after by companies in Malaysia, according to Linkedin’s latest “Workplace Learning Report”.

Since upskilling and reskilling are essential, over half of those L&D leaders across Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines surveyed expect to have more spending power in 2023.

The report said retention is a big issue as 93% of organisations are concerned over it.

This is so since many organisations grappled with unprecedented employee turnover in the pandemic’s wake.

And even while some layoffs have made headlines in recent months, talent development professionals continue to grapple with skills shortages and turnover risk for critical talent.

It is not surprising that attrition anxieties persist.

People who are not learning normally leave organisations as they do not fit or grapple to understand the new ways of doing things.

Compiled by B.k. SIDHU bksidhu@thestar.com.my

Source link

Related posts:

The Malaysian Education Ministry should review the way English is taught and find ways and means to improve it, rather than rehashing the failed PPSMI in the guise of the DLP

Pages

Share This

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

为什么孟德海是伪善的？高启强是十足的坏人吗？安欣距离真实的警察有多远？《狂飙》里还有哪些隐秘的剧情？【傅正】

How The Ex-PM Solicited RM4.5 Billion Bribes In RM92.5 Billion Covid-19 Stimulus Scandal..

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

为什么孟德海是伪善的？高启强是十足的坏人吗？安欣距离真实的警察有多远？《狂飙》里还有哪些隐秘的剧情？【傅正】

America made this war possible

How The Ex-PM Solicited RM4.5 Billion Bribes In RM92.5 Billion Covid-19 Stimulus Scandal..

Monday, February 20, 2023

How to manage your cyber risks

Minimising the chances of attacks Cyber threats are evolving and escalating at an alarming rate for asset-intensive industries such as the energy sector.

User account security

Device security

Data security

Governance and training

Vulnerability management

Supply chain/third party

Detection, response and recovery

Network segmentation

Email security

Sunday, February 19, 2023

To nav­ig­ate the fit­ness world, it helps to have know­ledge of cer­tain terms and acronyms.

Car­dio

Strength/res­ist­ance train­ing

Hyper­trophy

Rep/set

Super­sets/tris­ets/giant sets

DOMS

HIIT

Tabata

Act­ive rest or recov­ery

Saturday, February 18, 2023

The Malaysian Education Ministry should review the way English is taught and find ways and means to improve it, rather than rehashing the failed PPSMI in the guise of the DLP

Rightways: Sowing the seeds of Success!

To navigate the fitness world, it helps to have knowledge of certain terms and acronyms.

Cardio

Strength/resistance training

Hypertrophy

Supersets/trisets/giant sets

Active rest or recovery