A year ago (2017), I was overweight and a generally unfit person who only did some light exercise. I was starting to suffer from weight-related health issues: I was always lethargic, out of breath and was slowly suffering from high blood pressure. I needed to do something drastic, but my exercise routine wasn’t really working. I had joined gyms, did my own planned (more like unplanned) workouts but the lack of discipline basically meant everything was all for naught.
Coincidentally, around July, my company (SINEGY) organized a few workout sessions as part of our team-building program. These “Warrior Bootcamp” Group training classes were run by coach Chin Lee and coach Claire.
For an unfit person like me, these sessions were an eye-opener. I was shockingly out of shape, everything I had thought I knew about working out and fitness were horribly wrong.
Once the team-building sessions ended, we were encouraged to sign up for regular WBC sessions, and so we did. When we joined the main bootcamp sessions, we were greeted by a warm community that welcomed us. Even though we were unfit compared to the regular Warriors, they gave us the encouragement to push on and complete the workouts.
For me personally, I felt that working out in a coached session with a group really provided the peer pressure and drive needed to push myself to see what I was capable of. After every session, I would feel like a tired wobbly mess. Yet I could see small improvements, and bit by bit I saw progress. I started to get faster, stronger and better endurance.
Currently, I attend a minimum of 4 sessions per week, although I try my best to do more if time permits. On some weeks, especially when there is extra training for races, I’ve actually done up to 6 classes per week!
My experience this year with Warrior Fitness has been nothing short of excellent. I am at my fittest, even compared to when I was much younger (I’ve always been the fat kid). This is why I keep coming back.
I hope that Warrior Fitness continues to go on. For me, it has been a life (and lifestyle) changing experience, and cliché as it may sound I hope I can rope in more of my buddies into it.
While I can’t say I’ve achieved my current set of health and fitness goals, I’m happy to say that I’ve surpassed what I set out to do at the beginning of the year. I started the year weighing in at 93-94 kgs. My current weight (as of the last weigh-in) was 83.5kg. That alone surpassed my original set goal. But, as I go along, I intend to keep increasing the bar.
My current weight goal is to maybe dip below 80 kgs, and I hope to hit that before the end of the year!
As for my race goals, my original new year’s resolution for 2018 was to complete the Penang Bridge half marathon with a better time than my 3:45 in 2017. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen because I am instead going to Johor for the Spartan Beast (also 21km) and Spartan Sprint to complete my trifecta!
Because of Warrior Fitness, I started the year thinking I’d do one race in November, but I ended up doing the Urban Jungle Challenge, Spartan Super, City of Dreams Penang hill race and various other smaller events.
Without WBC training, I would not have even considered signing up for any of those races mentioned above. I will strive to improve myself even more and hopefully will perform much better in Johor just to show myself what I can do.
Train hard, fight easy!