I’ve been gymming for almost 20 years but never had I worked out as hard as I did in the past month. And I felt a difference. Not only do I feel that my stamina is improving, but my clothes are starting to feel tighter. *smile* The muscles are not bulging yet but my biceps do feel firmer and I can trace little humps on my quadriceps. I’ve achieved more growth in a month than the last two decades!
Being too cheap to engage a personal trainer, I’m one of those gymmers who tries every technique and exercise recommended in fitness magazines and bodybuilding websites. Following their advice and recommendations, those paper and digital experts were my trainers. Eventually, I settled into a set of comfortable exercises that I repeat each time I’m at the gym. There was growth for some time but my muscles soon got bored with the routine and fell asleep. Worse yet, I’ve sustained injuries to my lower back, left wrist and knees along the way. I was training hard the foolhardy way.
While there are many self-taught musclenauts who achieved impressive physiques just from following what they read (good genes play a big part too), for someone like me who is a hard gainer and a slow learner, personal training is the prince who delivered that waking kiss to my comatose muscles! But inking a personal training package doesn’t guarantee results. The trainer makes ALL the difference.
In the last 4 weeks, I’ve been training under one of SAFRA EnergyOne‘s most hardworking and dedicated Exercise Specialist, Roy Chan. Yup, his title is not a Personal Trainer or Fitness Instructor but a Specialist! However, I have a nickname for him…
Roy destroyed many myths I held about bodybuilding as well as bad training habits I’ve developed over the years while introducing new concepts and exercises to stimulate muscle growth. He’s a very friendly and jovial guy but when it comes to training, horns grow out of the side of his head.
The destroyer no give chance one. Thanks to his firm adherence to training sequences and rest intervals and encouraging words, I pushed myself harder than I did before. Every so often, I can’t speak after a set because I just don’t have the breath to. With Roy, there’s no compromise on proper form when executing an exercise no matter how much my muscles burned.
Holding a Masters in Sports Science from Edith Cowan University, Perth, Roy is a fitness coach who runs various programmes for schools and organisations while lecturing part-time on the care and prevention of injuries for an overseas institution.
His expertise in fitness and wellness spans across weight loss, strength / muscle building, pre-National Service preparation, and sports specific training (eg. golfing, team sports, etc). With such impressive credentials in academia as well as field experience, there’s a peace of mind training with him. But more than that, this guy really knows what he is doing.
After assessing my fitness level, physical condition and understanding my ultimate goal, he tailored a custom training programme to have me training hard, but training smart. Roy applies that motto for all his clients. He also believes in the adage of “no pain, no gain” but he doesn’t subscribe to going all out just to feel pain. The right kind of pain leads to muscle enlargement. The wrong kind ends you up on a stretcher.
The aftermath of another legs training session with Roy. My butt used to look like roti prata… now I see dim sum being served. *smile*
Having trained with Roy for some time, I would say that he’s probably one of the best around. He follows up with me about training sessions constantly to the point that I feel guilty for cancelling on him due to a trip to Bali and work.
One of the things I appreciate most about this trainer is his commitment and drive to help me achieve my physique goal, no matter how impossible it may seem, through a systematic and safe approach grounded in the efficiency of train hard… and smart.
To rebuild, we need to totally destroy mindsets that are limiting our growth potential and get acquainted with new bodybuilding sciences that will half the gym time but double the results. “Safe speed” to reach my goal is the essence because let’s face it, I’m no spring chicken. I’m in a race against my biological clock to get that ideal bod before everything sags to the floor.
And with Roy as my body sculptor, I believe I will achieve visible breakthroughs (have you seen my butt in the above photo yet? LOL). I have 4 more months of training with Roy and I look forward to the new me at the end of it.
Meanwhile, stay tuned to this blog as I leak training secrets and techniques taught to me by my Destroyer. So join me to welcome pain and gain the hard but smart way!
Tagged: Bodybuilding, fitness, Health, Personal Training, SAFRA, SAFRA Toa Payoh
