When Shaun started lifting barbells, he often found himself getting injured and stuck in his progress. His search online to fix these issues eventually led him to Starting Strength. The more he read about it, the more it made sense, so he decided to give it a try.

Thereafter, Shaun began making steady progress, grew stronger than ever before, and the frequent injuries stopped. Convinced by these results, he started coaching his clients using the same method and found that they too achieved consistently positive outcomes as they got stronger. This reinforced his belief of the benefits of strength, and that barbell strength training is the most effective way to get strong.

Since then, he has dedicated himself to getting others stronger under the barbell so they too can experience the benefits of being strong. He finds the greatest satisfaction in coaching individuals who stand to benefit the most from strength training – people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s – and he finds it deeply rewarding to see how becoming stronger improves their quality of life.

Shaun earned his Starting Strength Coach Certification in September 2016, becoming the first person in Southeast Asia to receive the accreditation. In February 2017, he went on to open Hygieia Strength & Conditioning—the first Starting Strength Affiliate Gym outside of the United States.

Marvin is Southeast Asia’s second Starting Strength coach. His passion for barbell training stemmed from his pursuit to get stronger and bigger. Being skinny for most of his life, he started weight training in 2009 when he moved to Singapore.

He spent several years trying out various programs with little success until he discovered Starting Strength. It was through following the Starting Strength program that Marvin fulfilled his goal of getting stronger and putting on muscle.

Having experienced the program’s efficacy firsthand, he is convinced that it could help many others achieve the same goal and dedicates himself to coaching barbell training. Marvin is also an instructor of the Starting Strength Coaching Development Course.

Ellie’s first exposure to Starting Strength began in 2021 as a curious journey into the method that helped her friends get stronger and sprightlier. After a short few months of training, the increased physical ability made her long shift hours working in the restaurant notably easier.

Beyond the physical improvements, she saw herself surrounded by lifters of all ages and abilities at Hygieia and how the coaches were directly bettering their quality of life. Witnessing this affirmed her decision for a career change to being a coach.

Her commitment is to make barbell training accessible and approachable, empowering everyone to realise their potential for a stronger and healthier self.