Results built to last
Samudra had years of experience training, including time with personal trainers and time on his own. He was strong, having lifted heavy weights before, chasing personal records on the major compound lifts with his rep count rarely going above 6. Then a wrist injury forced him out of training for months. Without exercise, his nutrition drifted off track too, and the motivation went with it, leaving him 11kg heavier.
Working smarter
When a client arrives with real training experience, the fix is often to give them more of the work they’ve been avoiding. Samudra had built his training around chasing strength: heavy loads, low reps, PRs on the big lifts. That approach works, but over time it can place a heavy toll on recovery, and the joints and soft tissue can get overwhelmed.
You don’t need to do a huge amount of things, just make some small adjustments to your lifestyle, eat sensibly and workout regularly.Samudra
A different approach
At ATP, Samudra was introduced to functional hypertrophy: building muscle while improving movement quality and function, not just chasing numbers on the bar. His programme moved him into higher rep ranges than he was used to and diversified away from pure barbell strength work, adding dumbbell, cable and bodyweight training that took his muscles and joints through a far greater range of motion than before.
Stop waiting for the right time to start. The right time to start is now.Samudra
Getting nutrition right
Nutrition was the bigger challenge. Samudra was sceptical of the calorie target set to help him lose a kilogram a week, convinced it was too low. He agreed to trial the plan for two weeks, and it worked: he started losing weight consistently by sticking to his daily tracking. Having recently gained 11kg after years of eating more at maintenance, the shift in mindset mattered as much as the plan itself.
If you want to change something do it now and you’ll be happy you started.Samudra
Coached at ATP Personal Training Singapore
