One of the key roles of a strength coach or personal trainer is to teach exercise technique. This is actually not a “difficult” thing to do.

As a personal trainer or coach (fitness coach, sports coach, pretty much any coach at all) we have to believe that there is a correct way to do things.

A correct way to run, jump, land, change direction, turn, squat, lift, press etc.

These have been covered many times in magazines and videos and DVD’s and websites.

The problem occurs when we are forced to adjust to individual differences. This is where a coach earn his/her money when it comes to teaching technique.
people differ in:

• height
• shoulder width,
• hip width
• angles at the knees and ankles
• natural flexibility
• muscle imbalances
• ratios of arm length to height
• ratio of leg length to height
• ratio of upper arm/leg to lower arm/leg

All these things mean minor adjustment in technique and leverage to perform exercises safely and effectively.

With serious imbalances or postural issues, this also means adjustment to loading and finally to exercise selection.

Some general guidelines:
Thickly built people tend to have shorter legs and longer torsos. They are good at squatting and squat with near perfect form with just a bit of careful instruction.

However they need modifications to their dead lift technique to make it more effective.

For the upper body these guys excel as well in pulling and pressing movements because the total distance lifted is less and thus they can handle more weight.

Longer limbed people need more help with squatting sometimes going wider and opening up the hips more. They also will likely not lift as much as the stoutly build thicker people. However these long limbed guys will usually excel at dead lifting because their long arms and short torsos give excellent mechanics for good pulling.

Longer limbed people tend to do better in ball sports because they have more reach and have long limbs that can, with proper training be put in good control.

Even among Singaporeans who are all supposed to be of Asian descent, there is a huge variance in body types. But rest assured with the correct training, anybody can achieve an awesome physique that is aesthetically magnificent, and performs just as well as it looks.

World class physiques come in all shapes and sizes. And they do need modifications in training to help them reach their potential!

That is why the exercises prescribed to you as part of out athletic training and personal training programs help you get results so fast! Not only do we tailor the program to you goals (i.e. a person trying to lose fat is on a different program from one trying to build muscle or trying to jump higher) but we tailor the performance of each exercise to your body type as well.

I recall a story about Paula Abdul and how she hurt herself pretty badly trying to avoid stepping on her dog. While I don’t mean to laugh or poke fun at the misfortune of others, there is a point we can learn here.

Agility is not just for professional athletes.

Paula tore some cartilage, and had bruises all over. It could happen to anybody. But with the correct amounts of strength, coordination and balance, the chances of you or I hurting ourselves is FAR less.
As a fitness and sports performance coach in Singapore, I experience situations like this in real life too.

I have a client who blew out a knee ligament avoiding a person who accidentally stepped into his way. This is unfortunate! Now we have to spend months building back his pre injury strength levels. It’s not the end of the world, but it is unfortunate.

My philosophy in injury is that all non-contact injury is preventable. If you get injured without somebody hitting, kicking, tackling or assaulting you, that injury can be prevented with correct training and recovery methods.

That is why we emphasize  “Athletic fitness” because that I what I want to give my clients.

We train like athletes (of course adjusting to each individuals current fitness and ability) so we don’t just look good, we can also avoid our dogs or other small animals that get in our way without hurting ourselves or the small animals in question! What a wonderful Win-Win situation.

Our Athelte Specific Programs are not the only ones that help you perform better. Athletic fitness is built into all our programs. Personal training programs, bootcamp fitness programs and of course our Pre NS Fitness Training as well.

That is the logo of our company, the Genesis Performance Center. I wanted something “active” looking, not just those “one bicep and a dumb bell” kind of logos.

It really is a symbol of the way I feel fitness should be. Not just the muscles, or the leanness or the small waistline, but rather athletic fitness that improves all areas of life and makes daily living a joy.

One of my favorite sayings is that “the body is made for movement” and thats the way my clients and I train.

Regardless of which programs our clients are on, personal training, bootcamp, athletes programs or Pre NS Training… we go for high performance in our training plans and our nutrition plans. That’s how we consistently get great results!

Women are special. They are different, they think and act differently from men and they are important. If Singapore did not have women, no doubt our country would be a testosterone fueled mess.

But as a fitness coach in Singapore providing fat loss, weight loss, athletic training, fitness coaching and personal training services to both men and women, I’ll tell it to you straight.

There are subtle differences when it comes to how women and men should approach fitness and exercise.

Women:

• Have less muscle mass (especially in the upper body)
• Are more suited to endurance activity (which explains all the “cardio only” women, we tend to do what we like to do and are good at)
• Have different hormonal levels (which is why it’s close to impossible for a woman on a good nutrition and training plan to get “HUGE”)
• Are usually motivated differently (which is where the “art” of coaching meets the “science” of exercise)
• Women’s muscles are the same as men’s, they respond to stress the same way (but not in the same magnitude),
• Women’s muscles are as strong as men’s (per unit volume/area),
• Muscles look nice on both men and women (in a figure skater, athletic kind of way)
• This means that all of the fundamentals movements and all of the principles of exercise are the same for both men and women.
• Should be able to do chin-ups/Pull-ups
• Have more trouble than men with overhead lifting exercises

My lady clients all do total body movements and challenging training (relative to their fitness level of course). They also eat similar awesome, nutritious foods, and they all try to improve their performance in training each and every session.
Sticking to these basics for both men and women allows both genders to get consistent, measurable, and yes, impressive results.

To join some ladies who have achieved great results, check out those who take part in our women’s fitness bootcamp as well as those who take part in our personal training program.