stories

I had been active during my younger days in Junior College but as years past, I developed knee pains that hindered me from running and I could not even last a 3km run without feeling pain.

But since come to Unpossible, Coach Pek Ya has helped me build strength in my knees and relieved the pain in them when I run. Now, I can do regular runs (that can last up to 5km) on my own without any pain and am able to incorporate exercises into my lifestyle routine even during the holidays! Not only am I able to run pain-free, but my heart rate and blood pressure has gone back to how it was during my younger days too!

I had never been a very confident person, but since joining Unpossible, Coach Pek Ya has taught me the values of not giving up easily and to always put in my best. Previously, I was not really an active person and would not go out of my way to push myself to reach my personal best. However, after the many training sessions with Coach Pek Ya, I felt myself becoming stronger and could see myself running faster! This is evident in how I had previously clocked in the timing of 24 seconds for a 100m sprint, but within a year I managed to reach my goal of 18 seconds!

In my journey with Unpossible, Pek Ya encouraged me to persevere even when there were moments when I felt like giving up and underestimated my own abilities. She tailored my training regiment according to my fitness level, and more importantly, took time to understand my motivators.

This significantly helped me in my training where I was able to increase the number of accomplished sets of functional work (stairs, squats, push ups etc) from three to five sets. Concurrently, I found that my immunity system had also improved as I was less susceptible to the cold and flu virus.

Having undergone training with Pek Ya, my view of exercise has changed given that I have gained a better and fuller understanding of fitness and of the needs of my body. Under the supervision and experience of Pek Ya, I am now equipped with the knowledge of when I should push myself harder and when I should slow down to take care of my own body so as to not overstretch or strain myself.

My son (Bryan) has been taking up Physical Therapy sessions in Unpossible with Coach Pek Ya where she challenges his agility and coordination skills by setting up several drills that targets his physical weaknesses.

At the start, Bryan could barely achieve a single sit-up and struggled to hop and land on a single leg. With this knowledge, Pek Ya developed a drill where she placed multiple hurdles in front of Bryan and asked him to walk through the drill before increasing the intensity by running through and eventually jumping over the hurdles.

Bryan also struggled with his grasp where he experienced difficulties in maintaining a strong grip when holding on to certain items. As such, Pek Ya involved weighted ropes in Bryan’s therapy sessions where it trained him to have a stronger grip and developed his physical strength as a whole.

As a result, Pek Ya has helped Bryan to become more confident, focused and nimble in his overall movement. Bryan’s motor skill and concentration has also improved as compared to before where he can now achieve more than ten sit-ups!

We are truly grateful and appreciative for all the help that Bryan has received and we do highly recommend Unpossible to others!

As a surgeon and parent, I have witnessed many young athletes drop out of sports with injuries. Hence, I wanted to look for a strength and conditioning coach that will help to build the necessary foundation that will reduce the incidence of injuries and allow her to do more intensive training and develop more power in her game.

With strength and conditioning coach Pek Ya, Xin Yi along with her school teammates did the Functional Movement Screening, which serves to highlight areas that she should work on that will prevent future injuries and even deficiency in certain of her movements. One example was the simple deep squat movement that highlighted the muscular imbalance of her VMO (medialis oblique and is part of the vastus medialis quadriceps muscle at the front of the thigh) that could lead to knee injuries, tight back and shoulders. In addition she was screened to have general inflexibility despite above average aerobic fitness and strength.

After 16 weeks of once a week conditioning training coupled with self directed training after her own on court training , Xin Yi has gotten objectively stronger and a lot more flexible. She has thus far avoided her usual hamstring and shoulder strains. I feel that Coach Pek Ya has been able to work well with the girls through effective communication and effective demonstration and on the spot correction. To a certain degree she has been able to put across the need for proper strength training and conditioning and thus motivate them to improve physically.

Before I met Pek Ya, I was a typical weekend warrior – joining cycling and running clubs, and harbouring hopes of participating in an Ironman race one day. Over the course of 2 years, I worked my way up to triathlons and various locally-organized runs. But it began to dawn on me that 2 years of plugging away at my fitness had not yielded much result. My performance showed little or no improvement over the course of that time, and I was no closer to my Ironman target.

In September 2012, I decided to find myself a coach and met Pek Ya. Our first training objective was to complete the full Standard Chartered Marathon 2012, and to do it without injury. Within a short span of 3 months, I not only achieved this objective, but also went from a 6-hour finish to a sub 5.30-hour finish! With that, Pek Ya and I crossed our first milestone as a student and teacher. She has continued to change the way I train and think about fitness, athletics and physical performance. Pek Ya is not a coach who simply stands at the end of the pool or finishing line with a clipboard and whistle. She takes the time to understand my priorities and capabilities, and uses her expertise to design a programme that is both versatile and lots of fun!

I am so glad that out of the many trainers and coaches in the market, I managed to find Pek Ya. She has become a mentor and a friend whom I am able to share my thoughts, my feelings and training aspirations with. With her guidance and encouragement, I have continued to achieve performance targets that once seemed impossible – from improving my running times, to learning how to swim at a decent amateur level.

When I first started working with Unpossible, my goal was just to complete a triathlon. Though the training was initially difficult, it proved to be fruitful and rewarding. After successfully finishing my first triathlon, I felt the rush to do the next one and have set my sights on IronMan in 2016. With my weekly training routine, I have grown much stronger since my first race!

Why not train on my own? I think self-training can only work if you have the time to explore, watch and understand. Unfortunately, I don’t really have the luxury of time due to work and family commitments. I also realised that my swimming technique was non-existent, something which was highlighted when I could not even out-swim my (then) 10 year old son. I knew that I needed to work on my technique with a coach; and Unpossible’s Pek Ya was a natural choice since I knew her and had seen her in action.

What do I like about Pek Ya’s coaching style? I would say it is her ability to break the process down into simple steps. She slowly introduces new actions and techniques in manageable increments. In that way, it helped me to build the confidence to keep going and not give up. Particularly with swimming, it’s pretty tempting to give up when you are sinking half the time! But Pek Ya’s approach helped me to gain the necessary confidence to push ahead. And she is strict in a good sense - something which I feel is necessary for a coach!

Another other highlight of our training was doing the open water swim with her at Sentosa. Having her beside me was a great comfort. I had a slight phobia of swimming in the sea but thankfully, her company was assuring!

I would recommend Pek Ya to friends who are thinking of going into triathlons. I would tell them to prepare for an intense workout, a systematic approach and a good friend!

"When they say- "No Pain, No Gain", they mean it or at least Pek Ya means it. I was always a keen sportsperson but after being inactive from the sports fraternity for a bit, I had put on 11 kgs in a year without realizing it and trust me "the weighing scale never lies".

After being shortlisted to represent Singapore at the Indoor Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2013, I had to bring my fitness level at par with my skill level. This meant enrolling for boot camp sessions and going all the way to Bukit Timah (I live in the East Coast) to get a 45 minute workout.

The first 2 sessions were painful and I was declared the most unfit guy in my team which only inspired me to go harder, stronger and I didn't have much time. Pek Ya made me work on my core which meant extensive planks, push ups, squats, lunges and other excercises to make me nimble.

To make a guy who was 91kgs nimble wasn't an easy ask. I was determined to get rid of the extra weight and my aim was to lose all the "excess weight" and get into shape in 4 months.

Pek Ya pushed me to the corner and made me challenge myself every day. Even her recommendations on what to eat or rather what not to eat were magical. With Pek Ya, fitness is a journey and not the final destination (I still try to ape that routine even a year later).

4 months down the track, I was fitter than before and silently confident that my fitness would complement my skill set. Thanks Pek Ya for looking out for me in my fitness lows and converting them to real match winning performances in South Africa!

My fitness journey started with preparations for the 2013 South Africa Masters Indoor Cricket tournament. Thanks to the fitness sessions conducted by Unpossible, I lost nearly 8 kg and managed to build up the stamina to survive the extremely demanding tournament.

I am unable to focus and enjoy training on my own, which is why I find the Unpossible fitness bootcamps very helpful. The variation of workouts in each session blended with continuous drive and motivation by coach Pek Ya makes our sessions interesting, and keeps the entire group focused. Being coached by a professional helps me to achieve levels which cannot be touched by self-training. Also, workouts which are not backed by a coach's expertise can lead to injuries.

I like Pek Ya's workouts because she takes the trouble to keep them varied and interesting. Useful information on food and diet, as well as a dose of humour during workouts also make the session enjoyable.

My fitness goal is simple – to stay fit, healthy and injury free!

My fitness journey started when I was selected to be part of the Singapore Indoor Cricket team to represent the country at the Masters World Cup held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2013.

In order to get tournament ready, I joined the Unpossible bootcamp and saw a phenomenal improvement in my overall fitness level.

I have continued to workout with Unpossible since the tournament and feel it has improved my overall fitness and core strength tremendously. More importantly, my previous nagging sports injuries have all but gone … and it couldn’t have been possible without the hard work and dedication of my coach and founder of Unpossible, Pek Ya.

Additionally, my son loves outdoor sports, such as swimming, skating, rock climbing etc. Thanks to Unpossible, I have been able to keep pace with my son and be involved in all these activities on a regular basis.

There is virtually no comparison between training on your own and training with a coach, especially with someone as qualified as Pek Ya. When you train on your own, it is easy focus on the wrong areas and this often leads to injuries. It’s also easy not to have a sustained cadence and stay motivated. Coach Pek Ya has helped keep me motivated, and focus on the right areas for overall fitness improvement. In addition, it is a lot more fun training with others than training on my own!

I started working with Unpossible when I was a triathlon newbie. I wanted to ensure that I trained correctly and without injury. Under coach Pek Ya’s guidance, I have enjoyed both the journey and the races.

Working with a coach (as opposed to training entirely by myself) gives me a better understanding of myself as an athlete. A coach can provide details and observations which we are not able to see or discover on our own. Of course, this has to be supplemented with self-practice and training in order to put the recommendations into practice and benefit from the coaching insights.

I like working with Pek Ya because of her personal approach - she is able to encourage and support me when the task ahead seems daunting, and to design a training program that takes into account my lifestyle and scheduling constraints. I would recommend her to anyone wants help to fit exercise/sports into a busy life.

My Unpossible Dream is to ride in Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) - an endurance ride (randonneuring) requiring amateur cyclists to complete a distance of 1,200km in 90 hours. I'm currently working through the qualifying series for PBP2015. Even if I finish the qualifiers, I might not get a place to start at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines come 16 August 2015, due to overwhelming subscription. But that is no longer important, because in the past year, I've come to realize that the journey towards that goal is the bigger achievement.

With the internet at our disposal, YouTube cycling tips are a dime a dozen. But nothing beats being coached in person by someone who can observe and correct our cycling mistakes, as well as offer practical advice on the best way to train in our own environment. My fellow PBP aspirants and I chose to work with Unpossible coach Pek Ya, to improve our bike handling abilities and to devise a training program which we can implement to suit our individual schedules.

I'd recommend Pek Ya to friends who are serious about embarking on a fitness goal. The foundation that she builds does more than simply get you to the goal. She also wants you to enjoy the journey that takes you there. Pek Ya is experienced enough to find and use every bit of your natural potential to your own advantage, and coach you towards achieving your goals.

My husband and I wanted Athena to be able to swim confidently, and not be afraid of the water. Swimming is a good way to stay fit, and we want her to have a good foundation to swim competitively in school too, if she is interested.

Before starting with Unpossible, Athena had been attending a group swimming class. But her progress was very slow; and the location and timing of the class were not ideal. Hence, we decided to let her try 1-1 sessions with coach Pek Ya.

Athena really enjoys her lessons with Pek Ya, and we can see significant progress. We really like Pek Ya’s emphasis on establishing a good foundation in swimming technique. She is a very good coach who is dedicated in the sport, and good with kids too.

Coach Pek Ya’s structured approach to training has been very helpful for me.

She is able to adapt her knowledge and experience to my adventure racing demands, particularly my need for core strength and balance.

It was fun and motivating working out with her especially since pre-race training wasn’t easy. I couldn’t have done it on my own.

I joined the Temasek Polytechnic aquathalon team in 2005, when Pek Ya was coaching them. At the time, I couldn’t even swim the freestyle properly, and thought that running simply meant putting one foot in front of the other. Under Pek Ya’s guidance and strict insistence on proper form, I gained a better understanding of my body and sporting style. Without her, I definitely would not have finished so many races.

Pek Ya is very experienced and places a great deal of importance on race planning. I appreciate her patience and how she is able to craft an effective training programme which takes into account my busy schedule.

Even though I have graduated from Temasek Polytechnic, I still choose to train with Pek Ya because she was more than just a coach – she is a friend and a mentor in life.

Pek Ya is much more than a physical trainer – she’s a coach, a mentor and also a friend who truly cares about building an athlete with a healthy mind and soul.

I joined the triathlon team at Temasek Polytechnic merely to satisfy the school’s extra-curricular requirement. When I started, I was not athletic at all. But Pek Ya never made me feel slow or incompetent. Instead, she patiently coached me on my running form and swim strokes. I was surprised and proud to find myself finishing races and intensive training programmes which I had never imagined myself capable of. None of this could have been accomplished without Pek Ya’s encouragement and emphasis on team bonding.

You might say that Pek Ya helped me to achieve the “unpossible”.

My Son (Elias) has been suffering from severe sinusitis and moderate asthma since he was 17 months old. Over the years we have frequented hospitals and tried both Western and Chinese medicines which became part of Elias’ diet ever since.

I have previously engaged a swim coach (who is also asthmatic himself) to teach Elias how to swim, however Elias would often develop a cold OR fever after each lesson. I shared this with Pek Ya and she suggested that Elias could begin classes with land exercises to warm his body up before going into the water. This suggestion made a huge difference in Elias’ swim journey as he is less likely to succumb to cold or fever after a swim class and has ceased to breathe asthmatically when he sleeps!

Before approaching Pek Ya, I would often find myself at wits end whenever Elias developed a fever, which could occur every six weeks and it usually hovers between 39 to 41 degree celsius. After 15 lessons with Pek Ya, Elias grew physically stronger with the body conditioning and swimming exercises, and I could finally see a glimmer of hope that my son could be free from medicine.

On hindsight, my fervent and desperate pleas to God as to how I should bring up a healthy child was answered through Pek Ya’s commitment and devotion to make a difference in her student’s life. Not only has Elias begun to dream of playing sports competitively, he has also witnessed that despite having limitations, they need not remain as weaknesses but they can be overcome when you put your heart and mind to pursue your goals!

The entire experience can be summed up in one word: Life-changing.

Race bib. Checked.

Googles. Checked.

Shoes. Checked.

And the list went on, as I stared up at the ceiling, at 4am, March 2011, the day of my first Singapore Biathlon. I couldn’t sleep. My heart was racing.

RACE. The mere mention of this word still sends blood pumping adrenaline down my veins. 2 years ago, Coach wisely disguised this terrifying word with 2 simple Cs – “Complete Challenge”

Never did I expect myself to be signing up for challenges one after another, each one more exciting than the last. Soon, this whole sport became addictive.

It was addictive because it gave new meaning to life, it taught me to fear and to conquer and most importantly, it taught me to try. This newfound impetus to try opened many other doors that I once closed upon myself, ones I never had the courage to open.

From a 10k run (which took Coach 1.5 years to convince me to sign up) to 2 biathlons, 1 DNF-ed Tri, countless runs, a 5k swimathon, right down to trying out for the Waterpolo and Dragonboat school teams. Looking back, I never once regretted that one phone call to Coach which changed my entire life. To me, it really meant undoing the “im” in “im-possible”.

Her passion for the sport, and for life rubbed off on many of us, and the active lifestyle and joy of fitness became an essential part of living. We learnt to love and live through training sessions that would make us better, fitter, stronger. We all looked up to Coach and convinced ourselves that the sheer discipline she put herself and us through, would help us achieve that attainable

Personal Best we so longed for. But of course, we also enjoyed the fellowship of ‘makan-ing’ after the slave-driving sessions.

I am also thankful in coming to know her as a good friend I can look up to, beyond the sweat and races. Working out every Tuesday at CCAB was so much more fun, with her community of committed athletes.

With Coach, I have seen how sports can impact my life in so many positive ways.

Is it time for you to jazz up your life too?