#SUCCESS-STORIES: A HEALTHY HEART IS A TRAINED HEART
Minh Nguyen
June 6, 2024
Personalization in training is not a new story but has not been truly appreciated in the fitness industry in Vietnam. #Success-Stories is a series of articles by STEEL, built on real-life stories, aiming to provide a closer look at the collaborative process of personal trainers and clients with different physical conditions, personalities, and lifestyles. Above all, it is a story of the effort to deliver tailored experiences, an ideal training environment, and optimal results for each individual. Because every person is a unique individual, and there is never a one-size-fits-all formula.
People with specific medical conditions, can they engage in gym workouts? This is perhaps a question that many people wonder about, especially those with cardiovascular issues. Particularly for individuals with heart-related diseases, activities like weightlifting or high-intensity resistance exercises may seem distant and challenging. The case of Mr. Hung, a 31-year-old currently living and working in Sài Gòn, serves as an example that individuals with congenital or chronic illnesses still have the potential to engage in training, provided that their health condition is carefully assessed, and they follow a workout program tailored to their health status.
Mr. Hung has been a client of STEEL for the past 9 months, guided by Coach Nguyễn Thai Minh. He has a history of heart-related diseases and has a lean body with underdeveloped muscles. Through conversations with Coach Thai Minh, this article will take you through the training process, the nutrition designed specifically for Mr. Hung's condition, and the physical and mental results he achieved after more than half a year of dedicated workouts.
Customer Profile:
- Age: 31 years old
- Training Goals: Improve overall health, gain weight, build muscle
- Training Duration: 9 months - from October 2021 to August 2022 (including a one-month break)
- Initial Physical Condition: Thin and frail, with a history of heart-related diseases
Firstly, regarding his health condition, Mr. Hung has a congenital heart disease. Although the symptoms do not significantly impact his daily activities, it poses a limitation when engaging in high-intensity physical activities or activities that exert excessive pressure on the body.
He has a sedentary lifestyle, with little physical activity and a low dietary intake, resulting in a lean body and underdeveloped muscles. Mr. Hung shared that he had previously attempted to go to the gym, but the workout routine did not yield noticeable results. This led him to give up midway, taking a considerable break before deciding to give it another try.
Mr. Hung is also concerned about nutrition, but due to the nature of his job and hobbies, his eating habits are inconsistent and lack a specific routine. He often skips meals, a significant factor contributing to his difficulty in gaining weight.
For Mr. Hung, the primary goal when he joined the gym was to gain weight and build muscle, ultimately aiming for improved overall health.
For clients with a medical history like Mr. Hung, I always have to be particularly careful when designing workouts. With the goal of three sessions per week, I arrange exercises with low intensity, divided into Upper-Lower-Full Body sessions to develop each muscle group. During this initial phase, I must closely observe to ensure that he can keep up with the exercises and assess whether this is the most suitable approach for his physical condition.
Regarding nutrition and dietary habits, I closely monitor and continuously gather feedback on his meals throughout the day, guiding him towards simple, processed foods and minimizing excess fats. In the long run, my aim is to provide comprehensive nutritional information and assist him in establishing a scientific and stable eating routine.
After a month of training, I observed that he often only participates in 2 sessions per week instead of the initial goal of 3, due to a busy work schedule. Therefore, I decided to modify the program to three full-body workouts. This way, if he misses one workout, his body still gets comprehensive exercise twice. In this approach, the number of exercises for each muscle group in each session will be lower and evenly distributed across the three sessions. According to many studies, this training method is also more effective than lifting heavy for one muscle group in a session and waiting a whole week before repeating, especially for busy individuals with specific health considerations like Mr. Hung.
His major issue is feeling pressure on the heart during exercises that require abdominal engagement. For instance, in lower body development exercises like Squats, heavy loads necessitate abdominal bracing, creating internal pressure within the body, leading to a sensation of pressure on the heart for Mr. Hung. Recognizing this reaction, I switched the primary leg exercise to Leg Press to increase the load-bearing capacity of the leg muscles. As for Squats, I opted for lighter dumbbells to allow him to practice the Squat skill without affecting his heart condition.
Personalizing exercises involves considering the individual's training ability and body response, finding the best, convenient, and safe ways for him to exercise with a substantial load, thereby providing stimulation for muscle development.
Additionally, as a Golf player, Mr. Hung tends to use one side of his body more than the other, leading to an imbalance in posture. Therefore, during workouts, to ensure proper technique execution, I would guide him through warm-up exercises to bring his body back to a balanced state.
After 9 months of training together with me, averaging approximately 2 sessions per week, including a one-month break due to family commitments, Mr. Hung has gained 6kg in weight, with a larger frame and more developed muscles. Particularly noteworthy is the significant improvement in his heart health. Previously, during exercises like Leg Press, he often needed breaks in between sets, and missing a beat would leave his body fatigued. Now, he can push very heavy weights with minimal impact on his heart. Furthermore, in the initial assessment session, Mr. Hung shared that since childhood, he couldn't squat without support due to poor ankle flexibility. After a few months of training, this issue has improved significantly; his ankle flexibility has increased, and his squatting ability has visibly progressed.
Post-training, Mr. Hung enjoys his meals, and as a result, he eats more consistently without skipping meals as he used to. He can now self-regulate and adjust the type and quantity of his daily food intake based on his own weight changes.
Currently, we often set exciting goals together, such as bench pressing 100kg, doing 10 consecutive pull-ups, etc. I am delighted to witness how training has brought to Mr. Hung the same sense of purpose it once brought to me – a goal to strive for, conquering oneself in both the short and long term.
Thank you, Coach Thai Minh, for your insightful sharing!
“I am very pleased with my STEEL experience so far. Minh - THE coach - is very knowledgeable and always eager to guide me through the journey. He is also very fun to be around, both professionally and personally. His expertise shows in his flexibility with his program by meeting my needs given my physical limitations. He thinks outside the box with his solutions and suggestions, and they are always on point.
Thanks to the staff and especially my coach, my overall experience with STEEL is amazing, and it is showing real results.”
