Coach Aquila

Client : Lady Gaga (Not her real name)

32 Years Old, Weight Trains 2x a Week, 16 Weeks in

Physical/health limitations : Scoliosis (Thoracic vertebrae deviates to the right), Asthmatic

Mom of 1, Loves her books~she’ll always have a recommendation on what books to read, real life Yoda, soft-spoken but has a laugh that can lit up the entire gym

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Goal :
Get stronger and build endurance in order to enable her to hike (Work required her to walk in different terrains), manage aches and pains from her scoliosis diagnosis

I’ve had a handful of clients with scoliosis. Lady Gaga (again~not her real name) however was the most persistent, especially with her homework AND nutrition.

Gaga had undergone physiotherapy prior to signing up with me. So, let me take this moment to clarify that I’m no physio. I just go through her physio’s recommendations and reviews, assess Gaga’s movement and THEN I start designing her program.

Even then, data collection was still ongoing.

Data collection has never been more important than whenever I have a client with some form of musculoskeletal disorder. And Gaga was an amazing person to work with. Hiring a PT is a partnership. And we both could’ve never had the outcome we’ve had if she wasn’t vulnerable with me.

She did splendidly, trying to communicate her discomfort and pain; even the day after the session (in which it starts to lessen over time from week 1 vs week 16)

In no way did we attempt to fix her spine; it was mainly trying to strengthen her posterior chain! (entire back)

To everyone with scoliosis, you CAN lift weights. With the proper guidance, recovery and nourishment; you have every right to be strong in and out of the gym.

I’m sure everyone here would like to carry their luggage without pain?

Lift weights ladies.

Cheers.

Self-neglect is a real thing.

I’ve seen it in my parents. I’ve seen it in my friends. And it’s not necessarily coming from a bad place. They are usually selfless.

Never think about THEIR well-being but always others. They put their kids first. Their career first. The public first (im lookin at you healthcare professionals).

While it speaks volume to your sacrifices; as a daughter myself, i’d genuinely prefer my dad to put himself first for a change.

And i wonder what would have happened if my late mother wouldve just put her needs first before her kids. I’ll have to live with this for the rest of my life 💔

So before you point your finger at your age FIRST; are you regularly exercising? Would this include some form of resistance/strength training? Are you eating your vegetables? Are you walking around 8000 steps a day? Are you eating lean meats most days? Do you drink alcohol often? Do you smoke/vape? Are you open to therapy?

Cheers.

Age is a big BIG factor to muscle loss. But it’s surprisingly not the first or even PRIMARY indicator.

We all have to come into terms with the fact that we CANT control our age, or the nature of time.

But we can definitely take control of our lifestyle. This includes regular exercise, your eating habits, your sleep, getting some sun, how much you walk, smoking, how much you drink etc.

I absolutely despise people who do not take any initiative to fixate on the things they DO have some degree of control over and instead immediately takes out the age card. Seriously sia rasa mau pukul orang ya every time 😂

That victim mindset is gonna make you bitter, aunty. Find some conviction to fight it.

Maybe start by lifting some weights.

Cheers.

Don’t @@ me. Roti kahwin is my religion and toast is my god. Periodt.

Im just trynna make more space for conversations of the annoying CONSTANT ~NeEd~ to finish your plate as is WITHOUT any customisation EVERY TIME you eat out.

You can still change so much of your health while eating outside meals; you just need to customise.

Be it adding in more lean meats, cutting out some saturated fats (butter etc), asking for more greens etc etc

Again, this will need YOU to initiate. Not the kedai. It’s not THEIR job to accommodate to YOUR nutritional needs.

Or you can simply manipulate/reduce the frequency. Portion control makes all the difference.

Again, i love roti kahwin. But i despise gluttony.

Cheers.

Client : Sabrina Carpenter (Not her real name lmao)

36 years old, Weight Trains 2x a week, 6 Months In

Photo on the right is 4kgs down

✨✨✨✨✨

Top 4 Goals :
• Reduce LDL Cholesterol
• Able to jog without constantly panting
• ⁠Would like to feel less “malas”/ sluggish all the time
• ⁠”Challenge myself with something I’m totally unfamiliar with and learn not to give up before i’ve even tried”—her words ❤️

Sabrina came to me after a health check-up revealed she was at risk of heart disease and cardiovascular complications due to high LDL cholesterol. On top of that, she has close family members who’ve had strokes—which really shook her.

When she came in for an assessment, she wrote down a total of 11 goals. Which basically revolves around A LOT of major habit changes.

Before we started
• Meals were mostly outside food
• Steps were inconsistent (4k–6k on some days)
• Outings with family and friends came with no boundaries around food or recovery

So we had to work on a lot of the deep stuff.

Learning how to say no, with the occasional yes.

I wanted her to honour her cravings—but i also wanted her to honour her fullness.

And honestly? Her adherence surprised me—in the best way.
Her steps? More consistent.
Her meals? More mindful.

Now, just shy of 6 months later, her follow-up check-up shows that her LDL is lower. Not quite in the normal range yet—but at this rate, i’m pretty sure after another 6 months she’ll be in the all clear.

My end game for her is she’s able to practice these habits for the rest of her life even when i am no longer in the picture to membebel.

And so here are some reality check for yall; this results didn’t come from her just showing up at the gym twice a week.

This was possible because she showed up for herself EVERY SINGLE DAY.

What you do OUTSIDE of the gym matters

Cheers ✨

If you’ve never went to the emergency department in a hospital, lemme tell you a story that’s similar (not identical in any way lol) to where the scale of 1-10 can be very useful to the healthcare workers as much as it would to us personal trainers.

When you arrive and if you can still talk, you’ll get asked from a scale of 1-10; how much pain are you in? From your response, they’ll figure out if you need URGENT care (red zone) or not.

Long story short, i had a new piercing in my ear that accidentally got hit by someone and my ear got so swollen in the middle of the night, I couldn’t find the earring (true story). Pain scale; 7/10.

Similar to training but instead of actual pain, we grade difficulty. You’re not suppose to be “in pain” when you are training effectively and safely. But it can and SHOULD be difficult.

So the grading system helps us PTs and clients to navigate intensity as well as progress; if you know how to properly use it.

I’ve trained plenty of people that has underestimated themselves and gave gradings that isn’t reflected during the training. By right, if you gave me RPE10 or 0RIR; you should shake and look like a rotten tomato at that point aside from involuntarily slowing down said movement (we’ll cover this in future posts). Most would give me RPE10 but then still look like my adorable cat at the end of the set 😂

So this is where, in time; you’ll get better at grading yourself. Oftentimes, there’s a lot more variables as a coach that I can’t dismiss that can influence your grading efforts. If you are still fearful of weight training, paranoid, you have a lot of self-doubt etc; chances are your RIRs/RPEs would’ve been skewed.

Solution to this?

Make mistakes. Face your doubts head on. Keep showing up.

Cheers

Client : Nicki Minaj (Not her real name; also she was the one who chose this alias lol)

36 years old, Weight Trains 2x a week, 11 Months in (6 Months Pre-conception; 5 Months Pre-Natal)

Cat lover, has the cutest cheek dimples i swear , guilty pleasures include watching Indian Matchmaking 😂

🤰🏻🤰🏻🤰🏻🤰🏻🤰🏻🤰🏻

Pre-conception Goal : Feel less “squishy”, get stronger specifically upperbody

Pre-natal Goal : Survive Childbirth lol (her words not mine)

Nicki Minaj (again not her real name) came in with a goal of trynna get stronger as she was planning to conceive.

After about 6 months in, nicki was with child!

FYI medical clearance is needed PRIOR to continuing her training. So, we had to halt and wait for her OBGYN to advise.

As prescribed by Nicki’s OBGYN, she was only allowed to continue training upon reaching her second trimester.

So she had to stick to walks for her first trimester. At week 13, clearance was given and we continued her training with a lot of tweaks but familiar exercise selections.

She did amazing, with performance and energy levels being pretty similar to her performance prior to getting pregnant!

The 3rd trimester however was rough. Easily tired and fluid retention was at an all time high, so momma was swelling everywhere and the program had to be manipulated again. Momma was still in good spirits tho and managed to still come in up to 38 weeks (full term).

And then christmas came with a baby!

Nicki is now recuperating nicely and with fluids almost completely flushed out ❤️

To all the women out there; you are not weak. As a matter of fact, don’t you think this is the very definition of strong? To be able to train while your body is going through a number of adversities; that’s STRENGTH.

A heartfelt gratitude to Coach Shaz as well for extending her professional insight for both the training program I’ve devised and the emotional aspect of it all. I’m not a mother myself, so I wouldn’t be able to understand the intricacies a mom would go through emotionally and mentally~ unless you count my 3 furbabies at home lol

Cheers to every mom out there! If you are waiting for a sign to start strength training, this is it ❤️