Neil | Hygieia Strength & Conditioning

Neil

by Shaun Pang, SSC | May 23, 2017

I wanted to learn how to squat, bench press, overhead press and dead lift using the Starting Strength (SS) method. I had worked with a coach in Australia who competed in international power lifting competitions but I was never happy that the form she taught me was right for me and it definitely wasn’t aligned with the SS method. I’d read starting strength and watched lots of their videos but wasn’t entirely happy with my form.

Once I found out there was a SS coach in Singapore I investigated a trip. Shaun was very helpful and suggested a 1-1 seminar at his gym. I sent through videos and training logs ahead of time. I was expecting some minor adjustments to my lifts. I flew in to Singapore, went straight to see Shaun, stayed overnight and flew home the next day.

On arrival we looked at my squat, followed by OHP, dead lift and bench. I realized that my execution of the lifts was not aligned with the SS method and Shaun was able to effectively and quickly sort that out. I understood the theory but actually practicing it with a coach was entirely different. It was also very different to the sessions I’d had back in Perth both in the content but also the effectiveness of the explanation and cues during the lifts. Shaun encouraged me to take notes and made some suggestions on my programming. We discussed my nutrition but that appeared to be on track.

It’s hard to believe how much more effective working with a qualified SS coach turned out to be. Those few hours with Shaun were vastly more effective than many hours with my coach in Perth and much more effective than my own efforts to implement the method using the books and videos.

The experience was exactly what I was looking for. Shaun was an excellent coach and left me with a much clearer understanding of how to execute the lifts. I would recommend Shaun to anyone in the region looking for SS coaching.

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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.