9 January 2026
Starting again after a long break: the first four weeks
Most people I coach after a long gap want to make up for lost time in week one. That is the fastest way to a sore back and a week of missed sessions. The first four weeks are for rebuilding the habit of turning up and for finding loads that you can repeat, rather than loads that look impressive on a whiteboard.
I start with a movement screen: squat to a box, a hinge with a dowel, a press to a height you can control, and a short walk or easy row. I am looking for what you can do without holding your breath and without your knees collapsing in. From that I write a three-session week. Each session lasts sixty minutes. Ten minutes of easy work — bike, row, or a walk with a light carry — then the main lifts at a weight you could do for two more reps, then a short finisher that leaves you warm rather than wrecked.
I rewrite the numbers every week, but the pattern stays. If a joint complains, we drop the range or the load and keep the session. If you miss a day, we do not double the next one. Four weeks of this is dull on paper and useful in the room. By the end I have a clear picture of your working weights, your hip and shoulder range, and how many sessions you actually attend. That is the base I use to write the first proper twelve-week block.
2 February 2026
Why I cap groups at four
A group of four is the largest I can coach and still see every rep. That is a room limit, not a marketing line. In a sixty-minute session I have time to set the floor, watch each person through a warm-up, and stand next to the bar when the load is new. At five or six, someone is always behind a rack or waiting, and I start coaching the plan instead of the person.
The work itself is strength-biased: squat or hinge, a press, a pull, then carries or a short row. Everyone uses the same pattern; the loads and the range of motion are individual. I write those numbers before you arrive. I do not invent them from the board while you wait.
Four also keeps the room quiet enough to talk. If your back is sore that morning, I need to hear it before the first set, not after the third. I can swap a back squat for a goblet squat or a hinge without stopping the session for everyone else. That is why the cap exists, and why I do not add a fifth person when the diary looks full. I would rather keep a short wait-list than run a group I cannot actually coach.
6 March 2026
Training in Singapore humidity: what I change
The studio sits in Tiong Bahru. Through the wet months the air holds heat even at 06:30. I change three things, and I tell you in advance so it does not feel like a surprise on the day.
Warm-ups get shorter and easier. Ten minutes on the rower at a pace you can speak through is enough; I drop the extra mobility circuit that looks tidy on a plan and soaks you before the first squat. Main lifts stay. I would rather keep your working sets and lose the extras. Rest between sets runs longer — two to three minutes on heavier days — because heart rate comes down more slowly when the room is wet.
I keep water in the room and I watch for people who stop sweating or go quiet. If that happens we sit, we drink, and we finish with carries or a shorter set. Online clients who train in uncooled spaces get the same instruction: cut the conditioning piece first, keep the strength work, and stop if you feel dizzy. Humidity is a condition of the work here. The plan should still fit the week, including the weather that week.
11 April 2026
Grip, hips and the two tests I repeat every block
Every twelve-week block I repeat two tests. They are not performances. They are checks I can do in ten minutes at the start and at the end, with the same set-up, so I can see whether the work did what I wrote it to do.
The first is a hip check: a squat to a box at a height we recorded on week one, and a hinge to a mark on a dowel or a kettlebell. I note depth, whether the heels stay down, and whether you can breathe at the bottom. I do not chase a number on a phone app. I write what I see. The second is a grip and shoulder check: a dead hang or a farmer carry for time, and a press to a height you reached on day one. Grip often tells me more about recovery than a mood score. If hangs drop and your notes mention short sleep, I deload before I add kilos.
I track working weights and a simple RPE — how many reps you had left — on the main lifts. I do not track thirty metrics. Three honest numbers, taken the same way, beat a spreadsheet you stop filling in by week five. At the retest we look at those two screens and at the loads you used in week ten. Then I write the next block.
15 May 2026
Desk-bound week, 30-minute session: what I'd pick
Some weeks the diary wins. You have thirty minutes, a sore neck from the screen, and no wish to pretend you have an hour. I would rather you train for thirty minutes than skip the day and try to stack it onto Saturday.
If I had to pick: five minutes of easy row or a brisk walk, then a hinge, a squat to a box, and an upper-body pull — three sets of each, loads you could do for two more reps. Finish with a carry or a dead bug if your back has been tight. That is the session. I skip the circuit that leaves you on the floor and the extra core finisher added from habit.
The point is to keep the pattern of the week intact. Two or three of these short days still count as training. I write them into the plan when I know your calendar is heavy, so you are not guessing in the lift lobby. If your back or knee is loud that day, we swap the squat for a supported hinge or a step-up and we keep the rest. Thirty minutes is enough to practise the lifts that matter. It is not enough to do everything. I choose the everything for another week.
