MindGym Philippines

by Coach Albert A. Basa

Last Saturday, I attended the 4th BodyBuilding and Fitness Seminar in UP Diliman organized by the Philippine BodyBuilders Association of the Philippines (PBBA).

4-peat Mr. Universe Ramon Cortuna shared a strategic exercise program for basic bodybuilding, Registered Nutritionist and Dietician Janeth Aro talked on Nutrition and Athletic Performance, and 4Fitness Institute’s Director Norman Encarnacion shared about Kettlebell 101.

Don’t get me wrong. I have not thought about shifting from teaching to bodybuilding (yet).

Myths disproven

“Bodybuilding stunts growth in height.”

Ramon Cortuna harvested gold medals in international competitions in the past decade and will continue to do so as he vies for a prestigious bodybuilding competition in Ohio come 2012.

I wonder whether he stopped growing, having reached a height a bit over 5’5”, because of his rigorous bodybuilding routine. But he was quick to dispel Myth 1 and say that his height was predetermined by his genes, not lifting heavyweights.

“Bodybuilding makes a male’s genital smaller”.

“Not true”, said Cortuna. “If it did reduce it, then I would have stopped bodybuilding a long time ago”, he exclaimed. That quip made his audience burst into laughter.

Bodybuilding or Brain-building?

With off-season bodybuilders around, I initially felt thin and quite malnourished although Coach Alice never failed to notice the lean muscled (sexy) body I developed over time, thanks to jogs around the UP oval and my improvised home gym!)…

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Yes! to reach out to the many LET takers in the provinces who can not travel to attend our Intensive Coaching for LET but would like to be part of the MindGym family and benefit from the support and care of its LET coaches and reviewers! We will soon be releasing our very first LET Review Book:  LETers’ Choice Warm-Ups.

This first of three volumes to be released for the 2012 LET will consist of preparatory essentials for LET, MindGym Philippines’ topnotchers’ tips, personal planner and progress trackers, meaningful inspirationals and a comprehensive set of General and Professional Education drills to check for a LET test taker’s current readiness.

Expect the book to be as warm, friendly, interactive and fun as our coaching sessions at MindGym Philippines.  Owning it would be like having a personal companion in your journey towards LET success!

Enrollees of MyReviewCoach online LET review may purchase the book to supplement their electronic distance review.

Reserve a copy now! Call us through 437-5880 or email mindgym.inc[at]gmail.com

by Coach Albert A. Basa

In our L.E.T. review sessions on learning theories, I advice teachers to go on a movie date to understand how “classical conditioning works” by making their movie date crave more for them or even fall in love with them a few movies after.

But I’m not a love guru so you’ll have to discover your own magic motives. I’m a memory coach and my goal now is to show how watching movies can increase your memory power.

Two nights ago, I had a movie date and the most difficult part other than waiting in line to buy popcorn is choosing a good movie to watch. “No Other Woman” remains an attraction with ticket sales close to “Harry Potter” and “Transformers” in the Philippines but a second in a row might be boring.

Real Steel (2011)

So I chose “Real Steel” instead starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Shawn Levy.

Setting: Year 2020 when humans have been replaced by robots in boxing (except Pacquio, he’s irreplaceable!). Fast-forward: Robots Zeus vs. Atom match. Zeus won but with tarnished reputation and Atom as the “people’s champion” by fighting shadow-boxing mode and copying Charlie (Jackman) from the ring side.

Replaying a movie in my mind is sometimes more enjoyable (with no tickets to buy and time waste in a queue). I can recall vividly the detailed scenes and dialogues of my favorite actors.   Try doing it sometimes — that’s if you can remember the movies you’ve watched.  Let me show you how to remember forthcoming movies that you plan to watch.

“Association” is all you need

Remembering movie titles, characters, and scenes plus your movie date’s name (if you’ve had many), is a work of memory.

The technique – ASSOCIATION.

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An earlier LET for the first batch of test takers in 2012 as posted by the Professional Regulations Commission came as a surprise to us (it’s been moved to March 11, 2012!).

Since the time MindGym started coaching in October 2009, the initial LET for a given year was usually scheduled on the first week of April.  With this change, we will have to start conducting our intensive coaching for LET sessions before the year ends or just after the release of September 2011 exam results.  This means a working Christmas season for licensed teachers-to-be and MindGym coaches and teachers.

PRC Chairperson Teresita Manzala’s memorandum announcing the PRC schedule for 2012 reads:

The PROFESSIONAL REGULATION COMMISSION announces that the first Licensure Examination for Teachers (L.E.T.) for Calendar Year 2012 will be held on Sunday, March 11, 2012 in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga.

All qualified applicants may file their applications on the dates and places below:

Filing Period :

First Timer : October 3, 2011 to January 13, 2012

Repeater : October 3, 2011 to December 29, 2011

Filing Centers:

PRC Regional Offices in the cities of:  Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga

NO APPLICANTS WILL BE ADMITTED BEYOND THE ABOVE STATED

With the above announcement,  it’s about time you prepare for your PRC LET requirements for application now.

Looking for a LET coach? Contact MindGym Philippines at 437-5880 or text 0927-877-0800 now.

For LET test takers who are not from Manila or are quite far from MindGym Philippines’ review center in Quezon City, you may want to check our online LET review site, take a trial LET test and decide whether you want to review live or take our online LET review through MyReviewCoach.com.

File at your nearest PRC office and start reviewing as soon as you can! For more details about our LET review sessions, click here.

Use it or lose it is a cliche which applies for muscle building as much as memory training.  Students have to use their memory powers to remember information, pass exams, and get good grades.  When students graduate from their educational institutions, they tend to stop using their memory and to exercise their brains, thus leading to the misconception that memory worsens with age.  It may deteriorate  BUT only if we allow it.

Boost your memory power by learning simple memory techniques useful for school and everyday living!  Enroll at MindGym Philippines’ Memory Advantage Workshop (MAW) facilitated by memory coach and professional teacher Albert Basa (as interviewed at GMA News to Go by Kara David).

This October, MindGym will start conducting a 3-hour workshop to provide basic, easy-to-use, and effective memory techniques which requires shorter time and lower training investment.  The cost of the workshop including materials, certificate, and light snacks is a very reasonable  amount of P 1,500.

With the use of memory techniques, here’s a range of things students and adults can achieve.

Students will have better chances to ace exams in any academic subject by remembering and recalling lessons to the details; eliminate test anxieties; and remember twice as much facts in a fraction of a time — thus, leaving more time for play, relaxation, and family affairs.

Businessmen, professional, housewives/husbands, and senior citizens can expect to improve their memory throughout your lifetime (yes, even with age); remember people’s names and faces, quotes and lyrics of songs; deliver noteless presentations; associate products with their prices and shop efficiently; and make mental notes of important actions (like where you parked your car or kept valuable things).

Enroll now.  Call MindGym Philippines at 4375880 or 9860944 for updates on schedule of classes.

by Coach Albert

Every memory technique starts with “attention” and “observation”.

Surely, you know what these two words mean.  But do you know that these two words are the first two (or the most important) things you need to have a phenomenal memory.  If you focus your attention on things that matter, they will never slip away from your thoughts. If you observe powerfully, you can make things stick forever.

But first things first. Let ask you a question:

Would you mind improving your memory?

On my way to the center and craving for Caramel Macchiato yesterday, I stopped by Starbucks at the ground floor of Araneta Colisuem, Cubao. What caught my attention: several coffee drinkers with thick books, perhaps medical students reviewing for their exams.  Certainly, all of them shared one wish: to remember everything before the effect of caffeine runs out!

I wanted to ask one of the students if she wouldn’t mind my pulling a chair by her side and sharing memory tips to help her remember important terms that heavily-highlighted page she’s had been staring at until I received my Macchiato. She would have loved memory tips which I myself used to excel in my classes and exams.  I thought about giving her the easiest basic memory tips but before I was able to make my first move.. She was already dozing.

I never thought that studying can have such quick and strong drowse effect despite a 175-mg caffeine in a grande coffee cup!

Next time, I’d make sure to mind my timing.

Tired with too much information to remember?

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