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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Starting Strength?

Through barbell exercises that involve all the body's muscle mass, the Starting Strength System makes use of the body's most basic movement patterns utilised over the longest effective range of motion and loaded progressively, to produce the adaptations necessary for increased strength.

Unlike other popular exercise protocols, Starting Strength is a training system – a long-term process designed for getting stronger over time – not a random collection of exercises that just make you hot, sweaty, sore, confused, and tired after each workout.

Why is strength important?

Of all the physical attributes, strength is the most important physical attribute of one’s physical existence. Getting stronger can positively impact all the other physical attributes, something the rest of the physical attributes can’t do. A lack of strength compromises athletic performance, health, and quality of life as we age.

Regardless of what your training goals are, barbell strength training can get you there (unless your goal is to get weaker).

Read more here.

What's the difference between exercising and strength training?

Exercising is performance of physical activity for its own sake – done to work up a sweat, breath heavily and feel exhausted with no plan or thought towards a goal. Without a goal and structured program, you could be spinning your wheels and be at exactly the same place despite exercising for years.

Training is physical activity done specifically with a long term goal in mind. Each workout is specifically programmed in a way that brings you closer towards achieving your end goal. With a goal and structured program, you have measurable progress that you can track.

Read more here.

I’ve never touched a barbell in my life. I'm older and have injuries (back/knee/hip/shoulder/elbows problems etc). Can I train and is it safe?

In our years of experience, we’ve never had someone in the gym who couldn’t train with barbells due to the limitation they had at that time. Depending on your condition, the way you perform the lifts and/or program will be modified to accommodate your specific situation.

See more videos at our YouTube channel here and here.

I’ve been sedentary all my life. I'm worried that I am not strong enough to do the barbell lifts.

Even if you’ve been sedentary all your life, we’ll find your baseline of strength and gradually work up from there. The weights that you will start with will be established on your first session. If needed, a lighter barbell, broomstick or even just bodyweight can be used to start with – you'll start with a weight that you can safely and correctly perform the lift. You’ll progress from there on subsequent training sessions.

What do I need to wear/bring?

Please come in a 100% cotton T-shirt and stretchy shorts(that end above the knee)/pants/tights that don’t impede movement. We’ve already had a number of clients rip their shorts while squatting – don’t be the next one. Lifting shoes are highly recommended but if you don’t have them, do try to come in hard-soled shoes e.g. Converse.

If you’ve already been training before joining us, do bring along all the gear that you usually use while training e.g belt, sleeves, wraps etc. Please bring along a hand towel to wipe down the equipment before and after use.

What coaching services do you offer?
What happens after I sign up?

You will receive an email at your registered email address with more information. If you do not receive any email after 5 minutes of signing up, please check your spam/junk folder. If you do not receive a notification email, please contact us.

Do you offer memberships/drop-ins?

We do not offer memberships or drop ins. This is to ensure that when you come in as a coached client, there’s a rack and barbell ready for you – no waiting or jostling for equipment.

What are your opening hours?

We do not have fixed opening hours as we’re only at the gym by appointment. Our first session starts at 6am and our last session starts at 9pm. If you wish to drop by for a chat to find out more about barbell training can work for your goals, please contact us to set up an appointment.

I’d like to try a session before deciding. Do you provide free trials?

If you’d like to try out our coaching services before deciding, we offer paid trials. Please contact us to find out more.

What payment methods do you accept?

We accept cash, bank transfer, PayNow and most major credit cards.

Who can I contact if I have queries not answered here?

Feel free to contact us at +65 8786 8792 or drop us an email.

Bio

My interest in fitness started when I was around 19 years old. Being overweight for most of my growing up years, I decided to do something about it. After months of not being able to achieve the desired results, I began poring through books and articles about training and nutrition. The more I read, the more interested I became in this field, and got better results when the the newly discovered knowledge was applied. After 1 year of persistence and hard work, I lost 24kg and felt fantastic. The sense of achievement motivated me to pursue a career in working with people to help them achieve their own fitness goals.

After achieving my weight loss goal, I tried a variety of training programs for a few years, looking for a new goal to train towards. After aimlessly moving around from program to program, I chanced upon a book called Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, written by renowned strength and conditioning expert, Mark Rippetoe. Little did I know that this book was about to change my life and coaching career.

At that point, I had experience training with barbells and was relatively familiar with it but never have I come across any material that gave such explicitly detailed explanations of how to perform the barbell lifts. I devoured the book and modified my lifting technique and program. In just a few months, I was pleasantly surprised by how much stronger he had become. I now had a new goal to work towards – getting strong.

With full confidence in the efficacy of the Starting Strength methodology, I began coaching my clients using this program and got them stronger than they ever thought was possible. The consistent success my clients achieved through the program cemented my confidence in Mark Rippetoe’s teachings. I then decided to pursue the credential of being a Starting Strength Coach and I’m currently the first and only certified coach in Singapore and South-East Asia

In my 9 years of experience, I have given talks and ran programs at numerous companies and worked with a diverse group clientele of all ages with a variety of goals. Today, I specialise in coaching people in their 40s, 50s and beyond because it brings me a great sense of satisfaction to be part of the process of improving this demographics’ health and quality of life by getting them stronger.

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