Category: Fitness

  • My Food Prep Routine

    Weekends are normally the time I prepare my food, some for the whole months and some for the coming weeks. Every new month, I will get my groceries for the whole month or just half of it (depending on how much cash do I have at the moment) straight after work.

    Things I will get first are my protein sources. I will buy:

    • 1 big can of tuna chunks (which could last a whole week if I only eat this one)
    • 6 chicken breasts (for a month supply)
    • 1 big tray of eggs (supply for 2 weeks)
    • 200-300g block cheese (2-3 weeks supply)
    • 2 1 litre cartons of fresh milk (1 for yoghurt making, 1 for coffee)
    • 1 bag of rolled oatmeal

    For vegetables, since I barely have time and energy to cook, I will get those that are edible as it is and add with fruits for my fibre and vitamins intake. These would include:

    • Tomatoes
    • Carrot
    • Cucumber or Japanese ones less water
    • Any kind of leafy greens like lettuce
    • Celery
    • If papaya or honeydew melon is on sale, I’ll get those as well and grab a big one, or oranges and apples. I’ll sometimes add banana

    For source of carbohydrates, I’ll just stock up wholemeal bread weekly and rice.

    Additionally, I’ll add stuffs for my sweet tooth like chocolate malt drink powders, ingredients for baking and making chocolate chip cookies.

    These could last me for a month, except that I might be replenishing my milk supplies about 1-2 cartons a week, block cheese or another bag of oatmeal. I also add 1 kg of soy powder for now to add in my protein intake which lasts for 2 weeks to add in with fruits and yoghurt.

    Once I got home, the stuffs that I prepare are:

    • Grilled chicken (the whole 6 chicken breasts)
    • Tuna mayo sandwich fillings
    • Yoghurt (1 big tub last for a week)
    • Pre-cut fruits (papaya or honeydew melons)
    • Choc chip cookies dough (1 batch could produce 15 ready to bake cookie dough balls)
    • Cook a big pot of rice, occasionally

    As I already know what I’d eat everyday (and these rarely deviate), it’s easy for me to get ready so that I’m good for the whole month.

    My daily menu usually looks like this:

    Breakfast:

    1 bowl of savoury oatmeal (on non-working or non-training mornings, I’ll add 3 boiled eggs or shredded grillled chicken)

    1 cup of coffee with milk

    Lunch/Post-class or Post-training meal:

    If I am outside and have got to eat out,

    Mixed rice with 1 protein source, 1 vegetable source or 2 protein sources (1 animal, 1 plant-based)

    If at home,

    2 shredded grilled chicken with cheese and tomato toast, or tuna mayo toast, or 3 sunny side eggs with toast

    At times, I’ll have rice with 3 sunny side eggs with fruits and salads as sides.

    If craving for sweets, I’ll bake 2-3 of my cookie dough balls for 10-minutes.

    Lunch 2 (normally late noon 2 hours before class or training):

    1 cup of coffee with milk

    1 toast (as in Lunch, refer above)

    Late dinner:

    1 bowl of yoghurt with fruits and soy powder

    1 bowl of mixed vege salad with shredded chicken or tuna mayo or 3 boiled eggs

    1 cup of chocolate malt drink

    If still hungry, I’ll make 1 toast

    Sometimes I cook fried rice but these are rare as I find it less fulfilling. During holidays or my off days, I’ll just eat whatever because I am often at my parents’ home. Once in a while I eat out or order takeouts. Once a fortnight or monthly, I’ll indulge myself with a couple of Big Apple donuts and Zus coffee. But on days that I need to be alert and perform my best, these are the menu that I stick to.

    So this is how I manage my nutrition. Roughly at least I get 100g minimum protein daily. I just make gradual change according to my body’s needs if I need to tweak them.

    If you are just starting out, here are the first few steps that could help you:

    1. Find out a menu that you can stomach for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, day in day out.
    2. Assess your source of protein, and how much you need daily.
    3. Practice and stick to your list and menu for a month.
    4. Have a routine to prepare and buy your food at specific time only.
    5. Only add 5-10% gradual change on your diet if you need to change.

    I find this very helpful for me, as it avoids decision fatigue on what to eat every single time, I don’t go too hungry for a long time as my meal preparation takes only 5-10 minutes each meal and I know how much to budget for my groceries.

    You can try it out if you want and, yes, it takes practice to be disciplined and systematic with your meals choice and preparation to ensure that you have adequate nutrition.

  • Change is Inevitable

    Having chitchatted with other women and observing post-partum trainers as well as athletes, I noticed this thought comes across so much – that ‘I’m training to get back my old body’ or ‘I’m training to be like how my body looked like 20 years ago’. I love looking out for post-partum examples as me myself am terrified of the bodily changes that could happen to me after childbirth if I got pregnant someday.

    I had similar thoughts before, but maybe not so much, as I had been at the heavier scale and blessed with big strong builds since forever. Having been criticised on how huge I was, while having no time to exercise (years back before I know the science of fitness), I often resorted to quick fixes – short period of intense exercises, got lighter, stopped working out and gained back what I’ve lost. It’s basically years of yo-yo weight loss for me. I was clinging to the expectation that I could reduce my weight to my range in my 20s.

    Our body is a dynamic system. Our circumstances years back are different than what we are now. We are consistently changing from what our body experiences – hormonal change, trauma from childbirth, muscular growths, life stressors, foods we eat and a lot more. The society’s obsession with small and lithe figure as the benchmark for a woman to be considered attractive too doesn’t help women to view themselves positively. Look at it like how our brain learns and process experiences. Our maturity and experiences cannot be the same like it was 20 years ago (unless you are stuck in fixed mindset and resist growing up ). So it’s the same with our body system.

    Once I embrace my body’s journey and keep training to be the healthiest version of myself physically and mentally, and on what I could be right now – not based on previous ideals, or comparing with others, I am able to build and maintain my physique for years. Though there were setbacks, life happens, but I’m able to bounce up and be better. What I’m trying to say here is to reframe what fitness and exercise means to you. Are you working out because of shame, is it because of fear, or is it because of the love and care you have for yourself. I invite you to deeply think about it to be more intentional about your approach in fitness.

  • Hopper Warrior 2024 and I Turn 42

    Just finished my last event a few minutes ago. Not feeling too exhausted compared to yesterday. How’s my performance for this event? I feel that I really did my best but I could have done better. I liked my performance yesterday better than today.

    What’s unlocked in this event? I broke my snatch PR from 42kg to 47kg (105lbs), I did 8 toes to bar to pull up complex, I am getting better at DUs. I know now I’ve got good muscle endurance and I’m quite strong and good at lifting. Still feeling a bit unsettled and unhappy about my performance.

    Everyone was so great and supportive. People are like, you’re so strong and brave. But in my head it’s like, just go for it what are you afraid of? Maybe not everyone is as crazy as I am. It’s not bad crazy, it’s just Nurul’s crazy. I’m never naturally good at things, I got better because I go for it and put my best effort.

    I think my preparation for the event sucked, I could do a lot better for first event if I had prepared for the movements. Considering that I had to submit my thesis and actually finished it as scheduled and intense training at the same time, is something to be proud of. It’s an ego thing. That’s ok. I am just human, I couldn’t possibly know what’s coming up. I’ll come back stronger! So proud of myself on how far I’ve come. I’ve got this. Just stay in my lane and move forward. Till the next competition!

  • Training for Hopper Warrior

    I thought I’ve got 3 weeks to practice. After 1 week of recovery from Borneo Pangazou, finally went to gym to start training yesterday. My upper body has gotten weaker and I was still traumatised by the rope climb fails during the Pangazou event. The more senior ladies there at the gym freaked out because I don’t train enough. Everyone tried to help me with the rope climb technique which I find so endearing. I told them, okay, if I don’t show up to train at the gym you all can make a fuss and hold me accountable. They’re lovely.

    Then I trained in the morning today and chit chatted with the guys there after a week of not training together, one proceeded to remind me that we’ve only got 2 weeks to prepare and suggested me what I could do. Love these guys, they’re like older brothers I never had. My coach also insists that I do all the planned workout for athletes.

    At first, I was doing it to challenge my limit and the experience and feeling inside the arena is just undescribable especially when there are people I’ve never met who were rooting out for me. I guess I just love the adrenaline of challenging myself and the excitement from the crowds. Now, I’ve got to really train and master my skills, fairer fights for me and be respectful of others whom have trained so hard.

    So the stuff I need to learn and practice for the competition:

    • Pull up skills and endurance
    • Toes to bars
    • Rope climbs
    • Double unders
    • 5km run

    Other than these moves, my strategy is to just skip or just attempt the moves that I could partially do. And then, I gotta lose more weights. I already lost about 2kgs from my usual 75-73kg range. Maybe I could do 70kg by next month. That or I gotta increase my upper body and core strength.

    I’m afraid my body would become dysregulated and so stressed out again. For the next 2 weeks, really need to intensely train 2 sessions a day, watch my nutrition and sleep. At the same time working on my thesis. Let’s see how it goes with this strategy. Just got to stay disciplined. May Allah ease.

  • How Did I Go After 1 Year Working in Fitness Industry as Fulltime Fitness Professional

    This week is the second week that I work and teach almost full schedule again after fasting month – and first week in with full CrossFit training on. My body is adjusting to it. The feeling is so messy and uncomfortable. I feel stressed all the time coupled with feeling fatigue, anxiety on ongoing data collection tasks as well as the hot weather condition. Next month, I am adding another class on top of my existing ones. All these classes need reviewing sooner or later. Sometimes, I feel that I could not sustain this kind of intensity day in day out for a long time. Then again, there are more instructors doing way more classes than me. I got to figure out how to take care of myself better.

    I am so grateful for being able to teach fitness classes. It is one of the times that I do feel like myself and I could share my full authenticity with those who attended mine. It has not been so rewarding financially yet, but experiencing things like witnessing a fitness transformation of someone that I play a part of is so satisfying. I have never been happier at my work than ever before. I have progressed from teaching 2-3 classes a week into potentially up to 11 classes a week if I don’t have to cover for anyone else. I also look different, way better, more defined and muscular (the weight has not changed much). It is safe to say, I really like the way I am physically and never have felt better before. However, the fatigue that comes with it is so real, it really affects my life and overall daily functioning. I need more time for self-care like doing nothing, be alone and away from people (I meet people everyday), sleep and do self-audit like right now. It is the first week that I have been able to do this. I am not frustrated, just feeling a tad bit out of alignment.

    My daily routine starts with getting up early at 5.00am if I am going to train or 6.45am to get ready for morning class. If there is no class, I would usually be at home by 9.00am, recover and get extra sleep for 2 hours. If there is class, I would be at home by 12pm earliest. I would do whatever to recover, whether eat or sleep before 2.30pm. Normally, my body would settle down and is OK to function at 3pm onwards. This is when I do other things that require thinking and calling people – those that are not fitness related. Then, by 4.30pm I would get ready to get to 5.30pm class, and usually stays out until 9.30pm earliest to reach home. I got a wee bit hours after that to relax and get in tune with myself before going to bed usually by 11.30pm or 12am-ish. My typical sleep would be 3-4 hours maximum. So, this is me with this non-optimal, consistently in pain and fatigue body. Something has to be done, otherwise, I would not progress and just stay in this cycle of agony.

    Today, I actually was researching about my nutrition for hours, almost half of the day – looking for the most cost-effective way to stay nourished and hit my micronutrients so that I could function better. It was really crazy, I have never worry about what I eat before. Now it’s like, how could I hit 165g of protein daily? What are my options? Real food? Whey? BCAAs? What are the costs involved? At first I thought to myself, why was I spending so much time trying to solve this. Now it occurred to me, if I don’t change the way I eat, it will affect my job and my ability to function according to my values. It is the core, if I am not healthy and fit to teach and role model, there goes my salary. And I might not be able to progress at my CrossFit training as my body is almost always in pain after training. Creating balance with planning my nutrition intake with real food and supplement with restrained budget can be really frustrating. Maybe it is that hard, I need detailed planning and survey my options. I, for sure, am not alone facing this kind of issue.

    Currently I am taking whey proteins as supplements. However, I feel that it affects my mood so much and I am consistently feeling inflamed and hot inside. That really bothers me, and my body, too, does not recover as quickly as I have expected it to. Probably I need more BCAAs (recommended intake 4-20g daily) and could use real food to fulfill my protein intake. So that is about 130-150g of protein spread out throughout the day – probably I could do something like 25g, 30g, 30g, 45g, 20g. What is left now, is to determine what menu to have depending on budget and my choice of food. Option 2, should I continue with whey protein (the hormonal effect I really diss, but let’s see for another month if it is going to become better); I could opt for 2 daily servings (50g), and then the 110g spread out in 4 meals so it could look like this – 20g, 30g, 30g, 30g. Looks achievable. My daily caloric intake could be around 2400-2600kcal, so there’s a lot of room for variety.

    Next strategy, is to research potential high protein sources from food that is available to me and within my budget. I am looking for chicken, black beans, eggs, cheese, yogurt and tuna as my source of protein. What meals that could come out of this, I am still figuring out. My monthly expense for food normally goes around RM200-350 (this was before whey protein, and I was still undernourished). Good whey protein costs about RM250 a month, BCAAs around RM60-RM90 depending on the amount gram per tablet. I am really skewing towards BCAA for the cost and also for functionality as it is the speedy and effective muscle recovery that I am looking for. Whey protein has BCAAs too and I could potentially consume up to 20g of them daily. I can’t know for sure how my body feels until I go through and feel it. Cost-wise, with BCAA, I have got to buy more quality food. With whey, less food and I have to be selective with what I am going to buy. I have just ordered another month supply of whey protein. In June, I would start with this BCAA strategy. The most important thing now, what should I buy for groceries to cater for 110g of protein daily while not neglecting other nutrition needs like vitamins and minerals.

    Getting in tune with my body and ensuring that I take care of it is definitely a process. My body is just so strained and stressed as I teach and train for about 4-5 hours daily. Theoretically, I know what had to be done. Practicing it is another struggle. I am determined to nail this and be good at it so that I will feel more confident when offering general meal suggestions towards my clients; and ultimately for my own well-being.

  • How to Get Started to Working Out Consistently

    The first step is the hardest for most people. But once you get the ball rolling, you will be in it for life with less effort.

    These are a few strategies that you could use to start exercising consistently. The key word here is CONSISTENT, everyone can start, but sticking to it is another story.

    1. Set the INTENTION, you need to exercise because you love yourself and you want to get healthy.
    2. Try any exercise type or setting that is accessible to you. Be it kickboxing, dance class, yoga, running or hiking clubs, powerlift, crossfit or any group class. PICK SOMETHING that you enjoy doing and have the means to do so.
    3. Adjust your daily schedule, you need to MAKE TIME for exercise 3-5 days a week – from as little as 20 minutes to 60 minutes, your call. Relying on free time to workout won’t do it.
    4. Set SMALL MANAGEABLE GOAL or intention every week or month to achieve with your workout. Example, this week, I want to run extra 1km or I want to do extra 10 burpees today. A trainer can help you with setting your weekly or monthly goals.
    5. BE ACCOUNTABLE with your weekly workout by tracking them and regular scheduling. Find someone credible, like personal trainer or coaches, to help you with this.
    6. COMMIT. Stick to your schedule as best as you can. It’s sometimes a trial and error thing as you figure out what’s best for you. Adjust accordingly as you go along. Sometimes unavoidable things come your way that could stop your track, just slowly get back to your plan. Don’t give it up altogether!

    It’s the simplest breakdown. Try it out!

  • Serotonin

    I was scrolling through my Instagram just lying on my couch having millions of thoughts on things that I should be doing right now.

    Then there’s one post by Derric Chan I guess, I’ll check back what’s the handle, sharing on feel good hormones. There are 4, and based on my lifestyle, I’m pretty much ok with most of the hormones except serotonin.

    No wonder meditation appeals to me a lot these days, and that I’m consistently trying to reduce my stress as I have been living under chronic stress these days and I avoid stressful people and situations. It seems to me that my body is protecting me by telling me that this is good for me cause I lack of it.

    Coping up with today’s lifestyle and my expectations and others, often I find that I am consistently stressed because I put myself as a high performing person at work. I gotta unravel this needs to be high performer. I am now ok being the last person among others. I don’t compete with people anymore. I only compete with myself. And maybe cause I still attach myself to the idea of success as according to my parents – that I gotta be a good child and not disappoint them; that made me feel less than who I actually am.

    I don’t want to blame my family anymore it’s unfair to them. Maybe I haven’t confronted myself enough. True, I gotta set my standard, but not to the extent of torturing myself. I guess everyone at some point has this. Like my PT client, she always wants to do more. It kind of triggered me. Maybe I am upset cause I used to, and sometimes, be like that. She sounded disappointed when I said that she should take it easy with her training. I just want to be kind and for her to not torture her body. Maybe I have crossed her belief. Whatever it is, I have found her obstacle to become better with training. This is also a huge reminder to always be kind to myself; body, mind and spirit.

  • What is BodyPump workout?

    BodyPump is one of the many Les Mills scientifically-backed group exercise program. It is a strength and muscular endurance conditioning workout where we work on different muscles isolation work (with some compounds) together with music. I would like to highlight 2 things here in this post: the exercise and the music.

    The 55-minutes workout is structured to start with warm-up and ends with core before cooling down. The muscles worked for conditioning in between are legs with specific tracks on squats and lunges; chests, back muscles, triceps, biceps and shoulders. Each muscle group will be train in isolation, creating fatigue with tension over time with high repetition – which really is the essence of BodyPump workout. The duration for each muscle work would roughly be in 5 minutes. Imagine, by the time we finish a class of BodyPump, we managed to complete 200 reps of squats (I kid you not!).

    The magic in this workout is really on the synchronicity of the moves and the music chosen for each exercise. You often will find yourself struggle to go on with fatigue already building, but the upbeat music will drive you to push yourself to finish. I find myself exerting my effort more when I enjoy the music and be overwhelmed with disbelief that I did that! The music is fresh and carefully picked to give the drive we need to complete an exercise.

    Because of the nature of the workout with using lighter weights than usual strength training – add that with high repetitions, you would find that your body gets more toned and defined arms and shoulders. Your core gets stronger too, which helps with body posture; as well as adds up for the strengths and endurance that we need to perform daily chores.

    Those who are new to BodyPump usually struggle to cope with the tempo and muscular pressure combination. That is normal. The good news is, your body would adapt to the training as you keep practicing the moves in every class, making it easier as your body also grows stronger. Don’t be surprised that over time, you would need to add more loads to feel similar muscular pressure as you did the first time around.

    If you haven’t tried the workout, you could find a class near you using this link provided from Les Mills website. Here also, I am sharing BodyPump teaser for you to get an idea what it is all about.

  • How to Create A Healthy and Supportive Environment for Everyone’s Fitness Journey

    Training is hard. Being consistent at training is even harder. My fitness journey started kind of accidental actually and I had to be forced to commit to train in the beginning. At my fifth year in my fitness journey, I understand the hardship and insecurity of individuals trying to embark on this journey as beginners or as recurred attempts to get fitter. Here are some the things that I thought would be helpful in creating a conducive and supportive environment for those who want to exercise and take care of themselves consistently.

    1. Stop shaming people who want to make a difference in their lives. People sometimes can get jealous when a person around them is suddenly trying to build better habits for themselves. Remarks like, “She’s not gonna eat that, she’s on diet”, even said as a joke, is not helpful and could indirectly bring up guilt for the person for trying to change. It is indirectly separating the person from your ‘tribe’ and could dampen the person’s motivation to stick with the change.
    2. Stop sexualising/objectifying people who hit the gym. People go to gyms primarily are for a good workout not to get hit on – maybe some do, but not from creeps. Respect others as how you would not like to be objectified. If someone looks good, it is fine to appreciate from afar in a non-creepy way. Or if you need to let them know, do it respectfully. We know when someone is looking and staring at us while working out. These kind of behaviours made man and mostly women feel conscious to work out, worrying not looking modest and attracting the wrong attentions from others at the gym.
    3. Stop the negative stigma, thinking that you need to exercise because something is wrong with your body. Exercise is a privilege, a loving action towards your body and for the longevity of your health. More often than not, people only start to exercise because they hate their body, or they ate too much and needed the caloric burn. It is true that one of the usual drives behind working out is to look and feel good. The danger behind this mentality, is that, once people get to the desired body goals, they started to neglect the work to maintain exercising. Often, people indulge in crash dieting or doing a surge of high-intensity exercises for days until they ‘lost’ the perceived weights or body fat, then getting burnt out, which is not sustainable to keep for a long time as a lifestyle.
    4. Support a person decision to commit time to exercise over social invitations/events. This happened to me a lot when I was just starting out. There were many times that I prioritised training over going to family social events. At first, I was guilty because I had rarely miss family events except when I was out of state or traveling away – also due to my tendency to people please. It held me back and regressed my progress when I started to miss the frequency and rhythm of my training. Eventually, I just focused on what I needed, and everyone was okay with that. Exercise is a necessity, same as when we need to shower, eat and brush our teeth daily. Stop making it harder for others who want to make the change.
    5. Don’t shame them when they stop for a while to adjust. We all know the feeling when we try something new, got overwhelmed and stopped doing it for a while, or sometimes for good. To be committed to a training plan requires being disciplined as habit. And habit needs to be developed over time. There are so many barriers to getting fit. Sometimes it is time management, financial, work commitments, family obligations and so many things that could happen in someone’s life. Ask them what is it that is holding them back and try to look for solutions together on how to best motivate and start again.
    6. Don’t look down on overweight people when they are working out at gyms. Individuals, as they are, already have a lot of insecurity about their own body. Be kind to those who are working extra hard to improve their health. People are generally mildly anxious on looking stupid or not training as hard as others when hitting the gym and doing new routines. Be helpful when needed.
    7. Support people’s journey or effort; not compete and compare with yours or with other people to show that they are better. Different individual’s body each has different abilities and needs. Sometimes, people are not showing much results despite of training, potentially, caused by physiological factors. Individuals with hormonal issues transform relationally different than those without similar issues. Other people do not need to please or impress you with their training. They only need to focus on themselves. Save your insecurity for yourself, do not project onto others.
    8. Celebrate people’s fitness achievement. Be happy when someone shows you their progress and give out positive encouraging words to keep getting better. There are also people who show off their workout or progress for attention and admiration to feed their egos. It does not hurt, though, to give kind words instead of insulting or putting down people’s efforts.

    Changing the attitude towards creating a more positive environment could definitely help and encourage more people to embark on this journey. It is called a journey, because it is hard, and it is a long-life commitment. Being fit should not be only for athletes or for hustlers. Being fit is everyone’s birthright. Let’s help create a healthier and fitter community by supporting everyone around us and have healthy attitude towards fitness and exercising.

  • Journey to Become A BodyPump Instructor

    After a long wait, I finally am certified to teach BodyPump at the gym I am working at. It was a long journey, but a pleasant one – the outcome was too perfect, far from what I had imagined! Thankful for my mom for supporting me, as in finance my certification fees and some of my travelling costs. Thank you for understanding my situation and acknowledging that I was willing to start again to boost my career and passion in the fitness industry. Also thankful for my mentors, Raven and Bobby – especially to Raven for giving me the chance when no one would, to build and practice as an instructor; and Bobby for sharing and giving me the space and time to develop myself to become a BodyPump instructor. It was a team effort or rather project with a mission, to have another BodyPump instructor at the gym. The gym personnels were helpful to allow me to practice prior to final assessment day; and the feedback and participation of the gym members that gave me the confidence and drive to become better after each of my practice sessions. So much love given and accepted!

    With my mentors Raven and Bobby

    I, at first, attended an audition some time in August last year presenting a track from GRIT Cardio release 35. It was track 2. I wanted to present Track 7 as well. But by the end of Track 2, we were all so exhausted and quickly went for feedback and brief interview about myself and my experience. I thought I did not make it because I did not receive the result email on the time that was promised; but so elated that the email actually came later saying I got it! It still made me smile reading our initial emails, Raven’s to myself regarding the audition. I began training for RPM and BodyPump in September as I was interested to get certified to teach these programs. I can’t remember when did I sign up for IMT, but it was for early December 2022. I was training for half marathons as well while consistently attending RPM and BodyPump classes twice a week. Boy, I was so exhausted all the time but I gradually became better to manage my recovery and training. It was not so bad too as I really enjoyed doing these classes at the gym. Then, the IMT was postponed due to lack of participants to a later date in April 2023. A bit of drama from the gym side, but that can’t be helped too. I was disappointed at first as I planned to make teaching there as my main source of income. I had to accept the reality, made peace with it and carried on looking for other opportunities to get more income; but continued to work on my instructing skills as it was my responsibility to become a good instructor to the gym members. Hopefully, I can be great one day.

    I was given the confirmation email for IMT about less than 2 weeks prior to the training dates stating that I would be assessed to train with Track 3 (Chest Track) for release 124. The first week, I read all the resources, learnt the track and choreography notes line by line. Did not start on the coaching yet, just trying to remember the moves and transitions along with the music. The following week, Bobby and I started with practicing with the moves and scripting cues. First few attempts were so uncoordinated, but I was okay with that as I knew that I still would have the opportunities to learn scripting during the Day 1 & Day 2 IMT. My journey to KL from KK was quite packed, it was so generous of a friend who lives at the city centre to let me stay at her house while I was there attending IMT. I really just did shopping for snack just before departing to the airport with my mom. Like I really just went through the motion and did my best to stay fully present during training. It was fasting month, obviously I did not fast considering how tired I was from travelling the day before (last flight and arrived early morning same day with Day 1) and were going to jet home straight after IMT to be ready to teach on Monday morning! The short stay was awesome as I managed to catch up and break fast with old friends that I hadn’t met in years.

    Evening with long time friends, Huda (far left) whom I met in 2000, and Muna, high school friend in TKC

    During Day 1, we started with doing the whole release 124 with our trainer, Kong Sei Key; and then, after first learning session, everyone took turn to present their allocated track on the stage while the rest follow as participants. Our trainer gave her feedback and we tried again with focus to apply what was recommended. The day felt long, when I got home at my friend’s I was struggling to stay awake but still had a great time with my friends catching up on our lives. Woke up on Day 2 not feeling the slightest muscle soreness, pretty amazed how my body adapted to the program training. For Day 2, I can’t remember if we did the whole release again, I think we did. Then, learning time (it is like a brief lecture class) before we proceed to the BodyPump challenge. The warmup for the challenge was familiar – the Burpee 2-minutes beep test! I had it before – it was the GRIT challenge during my GRIT IMT in 2018. Still felt like crazy but it felt easier after all those years of training. So we were divided into pairs for the challenge, and we had to motivate our partner when he or she was on the drills. We took turns doing all the exhaustive list of exercises. My partner, she is a seasoned Les Mills instructor and basically had the technique, endurance and great mindset to finish. At first I tried the motivational types to stay with the drill; after observing how she responded to it, I tried giving her positive affirmations that she looked great, how powerful she looked executing with great technique and stuff – she responded better. It was a great challenge not only on our physical endurance, but also in finding solutions and making quick decisions in seconds. I really value her for being such a sport during the challenge and her dedication inspired me. We ended the day with our final presentations, and home after getting our feedbacks to work on for the next 8 weeks prior to the final assessment, that is Day 3.

    Pretty pleased with ourselves at the end of Day 2

    Going back in KK, Bobby and I were all like straight into the drills of training. I started with team-teaching 1 to 3 tracks with him, with him giving me feedback. I also initiated a practice class when there was free slot for me to film myself and practice teaching the full release. The morning ladies that I usually teach were so sweet by volunteering to join my class. It was good for them too to practice getting back their strength and endurance for BodyPump class. Basically, if there were no class cancellations or public holidays, I would be teaching up to 4 classes of BodyPump each week. Initially, I wanted to run for Borneo Marathon 2023, but I did not want to risk my training and my physique prior to Day 3; seeing that I was almost exhausted everyday just from gym training and other commitments. First few classes were really scary and I could not imagine myself teaching the class by myself. Bobby said my body will get used to it, just keep practicing – and thank God it did! It was the willingness and openness of everyone towards instructors making mistakes that allowed me to learn, be confident in teaching and finally be brave enough to express my own flair in teaching.

    My travels to Day 3 were pretty smooth and relaxing. I stayed at my sister’s and a pleasant quick catch up with a friend from Kuching who I could not meet for her wedding, who happened to be there as well after she found out from Instagram stories that I was around. I planned to just sleep in on the day before Day 3, but she was nearby, so my sister and I went out to where she was. On Day 3, I woke up early and just gambled through travelling from Putrajaya to Ampang via MRT after quick research. Public transport in Malaysia is mostly inefficient and not punctual which gives me anxiety on travelling on one. Turned out it was very convenient and cheap, given that I placed ample travelling time and buffer for delay – took me less than 40 minutes. Again, I prayed that we wrap up early so that I have time to travel to the airport via public transport again after that. We finished earlier, about 4.30pm. I was so relieved and proceeded to take MRT to Putrajaya Sentral, and then took the KLIA Transit train to airport from Putrajaya. It took me almost 1 hour which was quicker than what I had expected and costed only RM13 in total of ticket fares combined, more or less.

    With Feeza, whom I have known since 2017 when we both were the typical ‘entrepreneurs’

    Back to the Day 3 training, we began with doing the whole release 124 again. Everyone was given 3 tracks the present on the spot. So, I got track 1,3 & 4, which was a huge relief as these are the tracks that I felt I had most confidence in presenting. Thank God it’s neither squat or lunge track! We took turns to present 1 track after another. When all of us were done, we were all rounded up together for feedback and areas to work on for the next presentation. Before the final presentation, our trainer asked us to instill the performance and connection elements in our presentation; encouraging us to chill and just be ourselves. Everyone was tired, but I believed we all did out best. I was the last presenter on that day. I was really tired already but knowing that it will be the last track, I focused on hyping everyone up that it was almost over. I was okay and contented with how I did. This was unusual because I tend to overthink and expect for the worse and how it could be better (trauma, yes!). It must have been because of all the practice I did back home. And then, the most anticipated (and dreaded) moment arrived where the trainer gave us our results and feedbacks. She did it so discreetly and respectfully by calling group by group that she thought had similar areas to work on. So when it was my turn, I was called with 2 other instructors as a group – apparently our performance were above average and that we could go far in teaching according to her! I did not expect this, but welcomed the feedback so much.

    I made it!
    End of Day 3

    It was a tremendous morale boost and validation for me after experiencing my first IMT for GRIT. I admit I was horrible during that time as I lack the fitness and my energy did not match my performance during presentation, even during the first few classes that I tried teaching last time. It really was quite a process and life-changing experience. I obviously did not envision myself becoming a pretty fit and strong person from being obese years ago, what more becoming a Les Mills instructor. I truly believe in consistency and good work ethics now. When I spread the news to my mentors and gym members, they were so happy! I have started teaching my own class last Monday. Now I am certified (with flying colours!), my goal now is to maintain and teach with excellence for each class. It really is the highlight of my year so far!