Coach Rishi

Fitness confession #25

Spending high school looking like the left pic was not the nicest experience. The name calling & almost zero interest from girls. I was already naturally an introvert & socially awkward. This made it worse 😆

There are some silver linings to bad experiences. I learned to develop other areas of my character unrelated to looks. Once I started to physically change, I noticed a bit more female attention creeping in. But as I was socially re****ed it took me while to figure s**t out properly!

It's not always how you start out but the direction you're going. I'm happily married with 2 kids. Staying in shape is fun, healthy, & good for business.

I now wear my wedding ring around my neck as it doesn't fit on my ring finger anymore. 20 kg lighter than my wedding day! In hindsight, I shouldn't have bulked before getting married 🤷🏽‍♂️

If you say you're gonna do something, do it ✨️

The above piece of advice is simple & was given to me early on in my career. It stuck with me & helps me achieve the majority of the goals I set myself.

I'm not the type of person to make vision boards (nothing against them) or ask the opinion of a life coach, but goal setting is important to keep progressing with our fitness goals & in life in general.

I like to keep it basic, set a realistic goal, be pragmatic & break down how I can achieve it. Once achieved, set a new goal.

To stay motivated, my OCD helps (not a requirement, though), & I feel the necessity to complete the task at hand to make things right again. I keep myself accountable by telling people my goals. Failing to achieve them will make me look bad & I don't want that.

When it comes to fitness goals, I always recommend doing everything perfectly until you achieve the goal. Once you achieve that goal, there's light at the end of the tunnel & you can afford to ease off a bit.

I recently did a cut to get leaner. Now I'm at my goal physique, I can maintain & also get away with more controlled cheat meals whilst in maintenance.

In short, dedicate yourself fully to your goals. Get there as efficiently as possible. This is far better than half arsing it & not quite getting to your goal or taking much longer than it should do.

Most fitness goals are straightforward as long as you're TRULY disciplined!

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Does having kids make it harder to stay in shape?

Everyone's home life varies, & we can't directly compare one parent situation to another. I will use my own experience as a father, having been a parent of 2 kids for 7 years now. Having the finances to have a nanny, maid, driver, & PT will provide a contrasting challenge to someone on minimum wage. It's still difficult either way.

Top 3 factors that make it harder:

#1. Quality of sleep - Kids sabotage your sleep. Even now, although I plan my caffeine, winding down time, & whole sleep cycle, it can be messed up if your kid comes to your room saying they had a bad dream. Sleep affects everything, including appetite, energy to train, motivation, etc.

#2. Finances - The size of your home needs to be larger, hospital fees, food & don't get me started on tuition fees in Thailand if you want an international school. If my wife hadn't recently become a teacher at my kids' mid tier International school, I'd have to fork up 1 million baht per year just on tuition alone for 2 kids. To afford kids, you need to work more, but also be present to be a good parent. This takes time away from prioritising exercise.

#3. Less fun things to do - When kids are young it's less practical to go to the cinema or go to a bar with your friends. Unless you have a helper or family members that chip in regularly, it leaves you with less fun options for the parents. That's where food indulgence during family time is enjoyable but not good on the physique.

Solutions:

It is harder with kids to stay in shape, but it's definitely possible.

You have to manage your time effectively & be a role model to your kids by prioritising your own health. Elevate your career to be in a position to work smarter & not just harder.

Kids can make life difficult in health & wealth. Or it can unleash a gear you never thought you had in different areas of your life. When almost your whole purpose is for your kids, it can be the greatest motivator there is.

F**k having a dadbod, get in shape & be a parent the other parents find fitness inspiration from. You don't need to be a trainer for that! 💪

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The fat kid, the injured kid, & the skinny kid 🙊🙈🙉


Our character & personality traits are formed from our experiences, genetics, & those we surround ourselves with. I mentioned plenty of times that I was fat in school, my sister-in-law suffered a bad injury due to a motorbike accident, & weirdly enough my brother Vishal was skinny. Strength training & focusing on nutrition transformed all of our bodies & lives for the better.

Often, bad habits can potentially trickle down from an individual's parents to their children. If your parents are unfit & regularly eat unhealthy foods, it can influence your kids to do the same as that's the norm to them. But you can break the cycle & create a better path for yourself if you're dedicated enough.

Nobody in my family were fitness role models to my brother & myself. The same can be said for my sister-in-law.

All 3 of us decided on our own to start our fitness journeys. The passion drove us into the industry & now we hope to help & inspire others to achieve their goals.

Strive to different. Strive to be better.

Contact either of us if you wish to be coached by passionate fitness professionals.

What makes a good trainer - Part 2

*Adding Value*

Adding value is how you can improve a particular service or product. There are numerous ways to improve the service you provide your personal training clients. Adding more value will result in better results, better rapport, higher retention, and potentially more revenue.

My goal as a trainer/coach is to do what’s in my power to help the client achieve their goal. I don’t think of it simply on an hour-by-hour process although that’s how I currently charge. I help them with their nutrition, cardio plan to supplement the strength training we do, create a routine to do on their own to maximize progress, share useful articles, and if needed regularly provide supportive messages to them outside of the session, among other things. I do not charge extra for this because I know it will benefit both me and the client. I have numerous clients that have stuck with me for 5-10+ years!

Try to make yourself stand out amongst the other trainers. I like to invest and bring in my own gym accessories to the gym I’m based at, in order to improve the experience for the client and the smoothness of our routine.

Aim to be the best trainer on earth, even though it won’t be likely, you will at least maximize your own potential.

Photo credit -

*What makes a good trainer *
Part 1: Application of knowledge

I believe there's a difference between simply learning a topic matter and being able to effectively apply it in a real life situation. I know a lot of trainers that have numerous qualifications but I don't see it improving their progress with their clients, or even generating more revenue. On the other end of the spectrum someone with minimal formal education can use their limited learning base but really make huge strides with their clients goals.

Practicing what you preach provides an essential source of learning. Having a high level of critical thinking can also separate you from mediocrity.

Critical thinking is defined as ' the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.'

There's a lot of contradicting information out there in the fitness world, so it's hard to filter out the nonsense and to know actually works. Also factor in that there's more than one way to achieve a particular goal.

A good trainer can effectively apply the knowledge they believe to be concrete, ignore the silly fads, and get their clients where they need to be.

A bad trainer may just follow anything that's trending on social media!

I believe one of my strengths is applying the knowledge I've obtained. To progress from this I'm planning to do a new qualification to upgrade my PT game starting at the end of May.