challenge BE INSPIRED
IN CONTROL OF HER BODY For 28-year-old fitness trainer and Strongman Challenge finalist Hayati Nuffus, being strong is all about mind over matter. By JOLENE LIMUCO
Hayati uses a sledgehammer to hit tractor tyres, to work her upper arms and shoulders.
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TO BE ABLE TO FLIP A TRACTOR TYRE THAT WEIGHS ALMOST THREE TIMES MORE THAN ME, AND TO CARRY LOGS TWICE MY WEIGHT ARE NO EASY FEATS.
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PHOTO: Steve Zhu
wasn’t really active after I left secondary school. Before that I was fairly fit because I was in the National Cadet Corps, and would go on weekly marches. But when I started work at Fitness First as a membership consultant, I started losing weight by combining strength training and cardio exercises. That motivated me to help other people to lose weight. That was when I decided to take up courses to be a fitness trainer. After three years working at an established gym, I wanted to develop my own training programme so I opened AlphaFit in December 2011 to focus on Kettlebell training. As a business owner, I have the freedom to train my clients in a way I think is most effective. At the same time, it is challenging as well. But it is worth it. I chose to focus on Kettlebell as a training tool because it gives a complete workout with a few simple moves; swinging a Kettlebell for 50 repetitions is good cardiovascular workout for the whole body. It is also great for building strength. I joined the Strongman Challenge in March this year partly to challenge myself and partly to prove that you don’t have to be big in size to be strong.
I’m 1.6m tall and weigh about 60kg. To be able to flip a tractor tyre that weighs almost three times more than me, and to carry logs twice my weight are no easy feats. What I learnt from participating in the Strongman Challenge is that I can complete any task if I put my mind to it. To prepare for it, I did strength training almost every day by lifting deadlifts weighing 95kg and flipping tractor tyres that can weigh up to 150kg. In the Strongman Challenge, I found the log walk — where I had to carry a 50kg log on each arm and walk for 20m — the hardest because all the stress was on my arms and hips. Most people
think that pulling a two-‐tonne car is difficult, but to get it moving all you need is to use your body weight and the right technique. To be able to carry the heavy logs, however, you’d have to use all the strength in your arms and legs. I travelled to Moscow and Belgorod in Russia in May to take part in the Open European Kettlebell Championship where I won a medal in the featherweight category. I have also competed in regional Kettlebell competitions, such as the Hong Kong Kettlebell Open in June last year and the Singapore Kettlebell Championships in February this year. At the latter, I competed in the long cycle event and was awarded overall best female lifter. To me, being physically strong is being in control of my body so that I can enjoy my life. Also, it means that I have the mental strength to complete whatever task I set out to do — whether it is pulling a two-‐tonne car or lifting weights as heavy as 150kg. And to be able to do this takes a lot of discipline. If you can do this, you can tackle anything in life — be it at home or at work.”
Jul-Sep 49