SUCCESS-STORIES: DISCOVERING INNER STRENGTH
STEEL Team
April 26, 2024
Even though the idea of personalised training is not new, the Vietnamese fitness industry has been slow to fully adopt it. The #Success-events series of articles by STEEL is based on real events and aims to show how personal trainers and clients with different physical issues, personalities, and ways of life can work together and communicate. It mostly has to do with how we find the best training environment, meet the needs of every customer, and make sure that everyone has the most success possible. Since no two people are exactly the same, there is no one solution that works for everyone.
Toning up, losing weight, or gaining muscle are just a few of the various goals motivating people to hit the gym. However, numerous trainees at STEEL revealed their innate potential and gained a passion for exercises, applying them in their daily lives.
Ms. Ngoc Anh, 24 years old, came to STEEL with the initial intention of losing weight, but then she found so much more—joy and motivation to express her strength previously unexplored. Her story will be shared by Coach Le Dung at STEEL, a gold medalist at Push & Pull Meet 2022 who had played an important role in inspiring Ms. Ngoc Anh's training over the last seven months
Customer Profile:
- Age: 24
- Training Goal: Fat loss, increase buttock size
- Training Duration: 7 months
- Initial Physical Condition: Body with excess fat, lacking firmness
Ngoc Anh, an overseas student, had already successfully lost almost 10kg. However, Ngoc Anh's weight and body fat increased once again after she got home and ceased her practicing routine along with her uncontrolled diet. As a result, not only did her health suffer, but her body also became noticeably less strong than previously.
Ngoc Anh already gained some fundamental health and dietary information from her previous training. Thus, when she came to STEEL, she had a certain aim in mind: to lose weight and reduce her body fat.
Depending on her ability, I would gradually take her from basic techniques to more challenging ones.
Despite her training experience, Ngoc Anh's movements were not always precise, which reduced the efficiency of her training. I re-instructed with simple exercises such as squats, hip hinge, and shoulder mobility, and modified versions such as goblet squats, dumbbell Romanian deadlifts, and machine rows. Sets ranged from 2-3 with reps of 12-15, or up to 20 for some exercises. Once she had a good grasp of the techniques, I moved on to more difficult tasks that were more complicated.
Regarding nutrition, I aimed to provide her with basics about calorie intake and expenditure. To lose weight while preserving toned body, I highly appreciated the importance of protein. Then, I helped Ngoc Anh take charge of her nutrition so that she could both be comfortable and optimize her training results
Following her working out, I noticed that Ngoc Anh had potential for strength - focused exercises. So, after reinforcing her technique basis, I introduced more complex exercise variations and gradually increased the weights. Specifically, I let her practice from goblet squats to barbell squats, from dumbbell with Romanian deadlifts to barbell conventional deadlifts, and barbell bench presses. To maximise strength development for these compound exercises, I planned lower reps of 6 or less.
The method of training was really effective with Ngoc Anh. She enjoyed and was not afraid to lift heavier weights. Her squat, bench press, and deadlift improved weekly, which became a significant motivation for her to keep breaking her own records. Ngoc Anh would even recommend increasing the weights in order to push herself farther. After training, she enjoyed following female powerlifting athletes for inspiration and motivation. I sincerely hope that Ngoc Anh would eventually show herself confidently on stage as well.
Weightlifting often makes women afraid of getting "bulky," but Ngoc Anh was really interested and curious. Her continued success in reaching new weight goals and her eagerness to participate every day showed that this method worked effectively for her. As a trainer, I think we should treat each client as an individual instead of following common standards, which might result in missing out chances to help them explore their full potential.
In my opinion, personalised training requires more than just planning workouts to meet physical ability; it also takes consideration of lifestyle and suitable time. I recently realised that Ngoc Anh's job was becoming more stressful, so I changed her programme to utilise lesser weights but higher reps. The purpose was to relieve strain on her brain, which should not be overworked during her hectic period
As a personal trainer and companion to clients throughout their journey, I must attempt to understand their circumstances and be flexible when they become too busy to make it to the gym consistently. To avoid weight regain, I would keep in close contact, encourage jogging or limiting calorie consumption during those periods
After seven months of training, Ngoc Anh has lost a lot of weight and fat, while also gaining muscle and increasing her hip circumference (by four centimetres). Her body is now slimmer and more toned than before. In addition, she sleeps better; also, her physical and mental health has improved positively.
On top of that, Ngoc Anh's growing passion for exercise is the most important change. This makes every session more pleasurable rather than tiresome, laying the groundwork for long-term active lifestyle habits. Gradually achieving strength targets has also increased her self-confidence, allowing her to discover innate strengths she was previously unaware of.
Thank you, Mr. Dung for your sharing.
