I've been asked endless of time how to become a personal trainer. Believe it or not I was suppose to start my training for SIA as a stewardess but I always knew I was made for something greater.

So upon graduation in 2009 I was clueless of what I wanted to set my foot on and very much afraid of what the world had to offer. When I was in school I couldn’t wait to grow up into the “working world” but as soon as I was out of it, I swear I couldn’t afford University and I do not want to take my family’s money to pay for my school, so a diploma was all I could afford.

So I needed a full time job and I was tired of my part time night life that did my eye bags no justice, I work at Zouk for close to 3 years as a “front office department” layman’s term also known as a door bitch to get by school and life. I don’t have a dad and my mom don’t work so my elder brother was supporting me and he gave me all he could but of course being a teenager, I could eat a cow and still not feel full, and also all the expense of my vanity didn’t help either.

I send my resume, to 2 different gyms if I could remember and I didn’t even ask them if I could be a trainer I asked if I could intern for them and learn the ropes in time to come. The first gym that got back to me was Sky Fitness, then it was an “atas” gym all the trainers were highly qualified, I heard so much about them and of course I wanted to be the best, so when I went for an interview I didn’t get the job and the manager, I remembered him saying that I was not qualified even when I offered to work for free. A couple of days later Fitness First called me down for an interview and they open their doors to me!

So I jumped on the bandwagon and join Fitness First, everyone was professional at the start, working for a global gym with many outlets worldwide, there was of course an establish protocol that all trainers, be it new trainers or former trainers from different gym had to go through a 10 days course. You are basically taught “everything” fitness related within the 10 days and there are 2-3 tests I can’t recall. I was always hungry for knowledge and wanted to be topped in everything, doesn’t help with being competitive, I slept with the book, read it million of times, if I could blend it and drink it up I probably would and I top the class second, why its still in my head is because Alex my boyfriend was first he beat me by 1 point, I was bitter then!

So after passing this 10 days course you are assign to different gyms, I was assign to Fusionopolis as a full timer, means hanging out in the club more than needed. Obligations  full timers are required to do in a global gym or most gym are listed below.

1) Service call to client make sure they come down for their “trial session “ to close them for new sales.

2) Walk the floor and try to help or close more sales.

3) Oil machines.

4) On and off machine

5) Track report of the club for the department when the club closes.

6) Run all sort of errands for the club.

7) Do more stuff your not suppose to do.

8)Do stuff your boss is suppose to do not all maybe some, depends on how lucky you are. True story.

9) Bring in sales

10) Make sure you hit your sales target or be prepared to be reprimanded or not get any new trial session next month.

See its not a pretty job or influential job when you first start it, but since I was new at it I did everything that was told for 1 year and I got bored!

Why? It wasn’t challenging, I wasn’t learn anything new, my job was rudimentary, I didn’t like my working environment, I didn’t like the management so I quit!

So I went into fashion and sales for a while, worked for a Pilate gym, didn’t quite feel right. For me if I am not learning and growing, losing my competitive edge not having thirst for knowledge doing things without any passion then its time to move on.


Remember the first gym I wanted to join, Sky Fitness, I had an opportunity to work for them once again and it came knocking at my door at the right time! 

Joining Sky wasn’t an easy fit, being the only female instructor, I had to take direction from all these men and my former manager then bullied me called me names and toughen me up, taught me everything at the same time showed me the ugly side of the industry. I work hard every month, I clock in at least 10k -15k worth of sales every month on the bad month I would bring in 6k or so for the company clocking in 75-125 session or so per month, I was in fact on a roll all thanks to the same person who put me down he also raised me up and made sure I work smart, and so I did I took up all sort of course so I could be the best! I didn’t do any sales they just came to me. Maybe being the only female also helped then.  

2013 was when I couldn’t take it anymore, I was exhausted just finding numbers, making my clients renew in advance, making sure I sell more packages and making sure I gave the company more than what they are paying me. I became unhappy.

So once again I stop and now I am on my own, never been happier, being your own boss, I get to manage my own time, no “ sales talk” not getting reprimanded for not hitting “numbers”

What I am trying to say is, personal training is all about sales. Anyone can be a trainer for a global gym, and if you can sell yourself in your own “package” on a social media platform you can also be a successful personal trainer. At the end of the day its all about hitting numbers, and fitness first isn’t so bad, there is other gym whereby if you do not hit your numbers you are basically fired the next month. Do u ever ask yourself why is there new trainers in my gym always?

What happened to the old ones? Sorry folks they are being recycle, the industry only appreciate you if you put in numbers who cares if you have a Degree in kinesiology or a doctorate in sport science if you cant sell a package, you basically are a waste of time, they would rather get someone who looks buff and walk like they’re drive a bus, look intimidating, and able to close sales. 

I’ll talk about some of the good certification to get if you do want to work in the fitness industry in my next post but if you cant sale and if u cant talk to people and have no soft skills in trying to get people to trust you and have an attitude and always giving up then I suggest you pursue something else, but then again every job is a sales job, everyone have to sell be it fitness, cars, insurance, food or even ideas. 

So if you do want to be a trainer do join global gym they are willing to take anyone who is serious about being a trainer and yes they will help you but along the way you need to help yourself. Everyone got to start somewhere, suck it up and be humble and learn, it’s coming to 5 years and I am still learning everyday.

Ps: this is a very exposed post to people to know what the fitness industry is like, then some of you may be lucky and have a smooth journey in the industry I am sharing my experience from where I came from and I am proud to be where I am today.

A quick update what I’ve been up to, besides working endlessly that my mornings which I use to dedicate to my workout time is now packed with client, I should be thankful for having such a good start at a new club!

Limaran and I are in Singapore Stuff Magazine top 10, how fortunate are we to be able to participate in an event together, and no I am not even competing! If it weren’t for her I wouldn’t be in it! And if it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t even have a website up and running, as much as you know it, im the talker and she’s the do-er and she keeps me grounded in making sure I do what I supposed to do, on my own, you would probably get a 50 word blog in about 5 years! So we pretty much balance out each other in a good way.

So what exactly is this competition about, finding a cover girl for the magazine of course! I’ve been in a couple of pageant, yes it is about popularity and votes and some brains too, but this competition aren’t like most I’ve participated! The organizers really look after us! Mostly Ian Paynton and make sure we look good in every photo taken, they actually treat us with so much love and respect.

Some of my previous pageant, they insisted that I was “fat” to them my muscular arm, broad shoulder, thick trunk was fat, I was suppose to look like stick and bones and eat nothing but air and sit in the sauna for 45 min 3x a week to “lose weight” the Stuff Covergirl gave us the opportunity to work with gadget and write whatever we wanted for their website, we were given the freedom of speech and maybe just some minor proof reading to keep us on track.

To me its never a competition, it’s a journey of learning more about myself and improving myself, and hey meeting new friends along the way, who cares about winning to me throwing myself in a challenge is like a exciting journey that not many people dare to take for the fear of being judge and losing.

You can choose to live your life with the joy of the front row or solemnness of the third row, the choice is yours J

Oh enough of long ass stories here are some photos throughout my journey. 

Recently i grab a burger from Macdonald and asks for an extra patty, they only cost 1 dollar extra right, for more protein maybe? who am i kidding. 

So i got curious and went to their website to check on the ingredient of their patties or any burger per say, what exactly is it made of, and found none no information from the mac donald website! well played Mac Donald, but i must say the website is so well organised if you didn't care about what your food is made of and your main concern is calories,  the math is already done for you! a very detailed break down but no ingredient listed just very briefly of what its made of.. so i ventured to the US website hmm they don't mention how what exactly is in the patties either! until you scroll further down, trust me i glance through all of it. 

In Singapore the patties are chicken/fish/beef while in the state its made out of pork/fish/chicken/beef.

To be honest even if you were to eat junk from the box and times when we dine out, we do not know exactly how our food is being prepared. i can't pronounce half of the stuff on the ingredient list maybe thats why in Singapore mac donald website they dare not post what's in their patties.. have you seen their egg lately, honestly it look like rubber but who am i to complain, its affordable quick and its fast food.

will i eat mac donald occasionally?
 maybe, maybe not,its too salty for me.As much as life is all about balance i prefer spoiling myself with better food than cheap fast food..
check out some example of the ingredient listed in the US webite below and some common burger mostly eaten by many and its calories break down! 


SAUSAGE & SCRAMBLED EGG MIX:
Ingredients: Pre-Cooked Egg Product (Whole Eggs, Nonfat Milk, Soybean Oil, Modified Food Starch, Salt, Black Pepper Flavor [Corn Starch, Spices, Mixed Triglycerides, Flavors, Silicon Dioxide, Gelatin, Carboxymethyl Cellulose, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Gum Acacia], Extractives of Black Pepper, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Butter {Cream}, Lipolized Butter Oil, Flavors, Artificial Flavors]), Pre-Cooked Sausage Crumbles (Pork, Water, Salt, Dextrose, Spices, Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar, BHA, Propyl Gallate, Citric Acid [Added To Help Protect Flavor]), Vegetables (Tomatoes, Green Chiles, Onions, Calcium Chloride, Citric Acid).
CONTAINS: EGG, MILK.


SAUSAGE PATTY:
Ingredients: Pork, Water, Seasoning (Salt, Corn Syrup Solids, Spices, Dextrose, Sugar, Spice Extractives), Preservatives (BHA, Citric Acid and Propyl Gallate).


SCRAMBLED EGGS:
Ingredients: Pasteurized Whole Eggs with Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Citric Acid and Monosodium Phosphate (Added to Preserve Color), Nisin Preparation (Preservative). Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid Soybean Oil and Hydrogenated Cottonseed and Soybean Oils, Water, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Mono-and Diglycerides, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), Artificial Flavor, Citric Acid, Vitamin A Palmitate, Beta Carotene (Color).
CONTAINS: EGG, SOY LECITHIN. 

If I could pick a hobby, it would be going for massages.

 It would be an expensive hobby but it comes with so much benefit especially in this society, we work so hard, chase numbers, countless hours of sitting or standing, stress from what the world have to offer and pressure we put up for ourselves in this country, cause man it is expensive!

There are so many types of different manipulations but Rolfing is by far one of the most productive massage techniques.

If I could pick a hobby, it would be going for massages.

 It would be an expensive hobby but it comes with so much benefit especially in this society, we work so hard, chase numbers, countless hours of sitting or standing, stress from what the world have to offer and pressure we put up for ourselves in this country, cause man it is expensive!

There are so many types of different manipulations but Rolfing is by far one of the most productive massage techniques.

“Rolfing is a massage therapy marketed by the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration (RISI). The Institute states that Rolfing is a "holistic system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that organize(s) the whole body in gravity”. Rolfing is essentially identical to Structural Integration, whereby a forceful massage technique is used in an attempt to reposition tissues under the skin. “

I fall of the bed, don’t ask me how but I hurt my hip so bad, the pain didn’t subside even after 1 day, and I m really anal, the minute something hurt or don’t feel right I have to fix it immediately! My usual masseur was out of town and I had no choice but to find another and I remember friends mentioning about Rolfing! So I search it up and obviously I didn’t want to go some local massage place that I would go too if I had no issue and just would want to relax.

The terms Rolfing® and Rolfer® are today registered trade marks of the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration, which has expanded on the work of Dr Ida Rolf. And Only Certified Rolfers® are allowed to use the term Rolfing® and Rolfer®. Honestly these days everyone is a massage therapist, you press here presses there and somehow your qualified to work, I had bad massages, it wasn’t the technique, and it was just a bad massage.

I headed over to Rolfing Wellness, which fortunately was open on Sunday I was in so much pain, getting of the bed, and twisting felt like someone was stabbing my back and butt worst than a bad break up.

Mr. Vincent Lee who runs Rolfing Wellness was both welcoming and professional! He is also Singapore first Rolfer! Boy was u lucky to be treated by the best.

First he made me fill up mandatory questionnaires and also asked question about my exercise history and condition.  After which he analyse the profile of my body, back, front and side to make sure to check for misalignments and after telling him my limitation of movement, I laid down by my side as he applied pressure on my gluteus. He would find knots (The medical term for muscle knots is myofascial trigger points) which come in form of bumpy lump that produce a lot of pain when force is being applied.

Take note the next massage that you receive there are some spot which hurt more than the other and there seem to be a bump, that is basically knots. What Vincent did was work his way from the starting point of the knot and to where it end and yes it was painful! But once he was done, he spend like 10 min or longer on just one point it felt like a total release right after, I was willing to bare the pain for that relieve.

Vincent would also question how much pressure I felt on the scale of 1-10 or asked me if I felt discomfort on that region, he made sure throughout the session I felt comfortable and no sharp pain when he was working on my muscles. He got me to stand and move accordingly to access how I feel before working on that region again.  He explained everything he did and made sure I comprehended every tiny detail.

After an hour or so, I was done! I really liked the stroke that he used it was very precise and the pressure was spot on to feel a release, it wasn’t teeth grating and it wasn’t like those masseur that hands are so soft I wonder if they “ate rice”, he also used his elbow for more pressure but it was one of my favorite massage by far!

I know I wouldn’t be feeling instant relieve after the session but I did feel looser and less pain while twisting. At night the area that he pressed felt worst but I know its due to the fact that the blood is being circulated better and it a process of healing that the muscle will feel tender.

In the morning it felt so much better! I worked accordingly and even threw in a light workout and there was No aggravation at all! It’s amazing even in 1 session I felt so much better! I cant believe why I didn’t try this much sooner!

I would go back to Vincent in 3 days if it gets any worst but so far with movement and light stretches that he recommended I know I’m in good hand! Who knows maybe in time to come I would take up Rolfing 10 series just to help with my posture! 

If you do have nagging pain don’t wait till its too late or go to a usual massage, it would only give you momentarily pain relief, seek help from a Rolfer! 

visit  Rolfing Wellness website
Location at: 
Far East Shopping Centre 
545 Orchard Road, #05-10B 
Singapore 238882 
(Opposite of Thai Embassy and beside Hilton 
For Enquiries or an appointment, feel free to call us at 
O): (65) 6423 1685 
Email:  rolfing@pacific.net.sg 

Price is $150 per session

The first gym that I stepped into was none other than my school gym, took me a lot of hesitation and self talk to get my self started even thought the community was small, I was in fact still shy. I know right ! jasmine danker is shy.

Here are some of the reasons, which I am sure you can relate too!

1)   So many muscle head (obviously men/boys are more common gym user)

2)   What do I wear?

3)   What do I do?

4)   Oh my! Everyone is staring at me!!

5)   Maybe ill just stick to the treadmill, no one will see me!

6)   What if I get manly

7)   So many cute guys around, I’m too shy for this!

8)   It looks so scary!

9)   No body wants to go to the gym with me.

I could have possibly had a million excuses and reason why I didn’t want to be seen in the gym! But let me tell you this, if I didn’t do my first bicep curl with a 2pound weight in 2006, I wouldn’t be where I am today!

There is no right or wrong way to overcome that fear! Being young also means that we succumbed to peer pressure, but my peer pressure became a positive measure! I got to thank my ex boyfriend for getting me started in this fitness journey which I m planning to make it life long and so can you!

Here are some just some ways I got over it! Do leave a comment and share me yours!

1)   I made friends with people who went to the gym! You can tell the from afar if your still in school, a shoe bag is a gym go-er accessory! Come on the world will be a better place with you being friendly!

2)   Yes I started doing just abs at a gym! I don’t think it was a waste of time, and the more I talk to other gym buddies, I slowly creep near the weights area!

3)   I would Google on exercises or read magazines and books and grab whatever I need from the gym floor and find a corner! Trust me every gym is a corner!

4)   Every day I would try to force someone to go to the gym with me! Some days I won! Some days I loss what who cares! When I had company I was slightly more confident to touch a new machine that I’ve been watching another person do!

5)   I saw result! Whatever I was doing! And no I wasn’t being a she hulk! I’m still tiny mind you but don’t let my petite frame fool you of what it can do! I started somewhere! So can you! There’s nothing better than seeing result and day by day I assure you will look back to where you started and be glad you did!