Latest / 987 The Shock Circuit / INTERVIEW: SAMUEL LIM

Transcript

INTERVIEW: SAMUEL LIM · 987 The Shock Circuit

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Is our guest up before we interview him or her,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: and today in the studio, look, when it comes to
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: high rocks, especially here in Singapore, you've seen your favorite
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: influencer do it. You've seen Amorty do it many times.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: I walk in the park for him at this point,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: give Amorty PR la. I don't think he left. He's
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: still here somewhere. And then when I saw this circulating
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: on social media, I said, Hey, this is really inspiring stuff.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: I really.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: We shared it. Then I think our friends over at
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: CNA picked it up as well. They, yeah, they actually
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: released some articles. It's a video of a gym trainer
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: leading visually impaired athletes through the whole course, and it
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: was inspiring. You see the judges cheering for that. I
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: DM'ed the trainer and said, Hey man, are you keen
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: to come on our show? He said, Yes. When, what time?
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: He's here in the studio. Say hello to Samuel.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Hey, thank
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: you
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: very
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: much
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: for having me. Good morning, everyone. Good
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: morning. This morning stuff, nothing for you, right? It's a
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: piece of cake. Yeah, I'm sure your training starts wake
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: up? 4:30.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: OK,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: I start at 6.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Likewise, likewise. Oh, no wonder. Before we ask the hard-hitting question,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: can I ask, why is your Instagram username that Uncle
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Sam when you look nothing like an uncle?
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Wow, it's an endearment. Everyone in Singapore is an uncle.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: I mean,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: definitely.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: That Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe. I cannot hear that. Please
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: repeat that again. OK, Sam, to people who are tuned
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: in who are unfamiliar with you, why not just give
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: us a quick intro of who you are and what
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: you
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: do.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: So I am the owner and trainer in Fire City.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: I've been a trainer for over 25 years. Um,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: yes, but
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: you literally don't look past 30.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Where's the uncle in this?
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: OK,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: how old do you think I am?
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: This is a great one. OK, let me guess. Now
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: that you say 25 years, you are, you cannot be 40.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Are you 40?
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: I'm 44 this year.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: What? Wait, that's the drop your skincare routine right now.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Excuse me. That's the bio age. What's your body
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: age?
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Well, I haven't tested it. Probably about like in the 20s.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: I'm shocked. I'm shocked. OK, we need his routine, whatever
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: it is.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: I'll share with you later.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: So what, what got you started in this whole fitness
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: journey and fitness regimen that you put yourself through and
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: to the point where you even opened your own gym?
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Well, um, long story short, I was a trainer in
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: the military, um, and then thereafter, I just really enjoyed
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: the process of guiding, supporting, helping, learning, constant learning.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: And um 25 years.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, what have you learned in this, you know,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: that you've had I'm sure you've changed as a trainer
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: from day one, like what were the main differences
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: you feel?
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Well, my wife once asked me before, like, hey, you know,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: isn't what you're doing the same? And I said, no,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: actually not because I, I meet different people every day
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: and every person has
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: own challenges, has their own different goals and different way
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: of learning as well. So I'm learning differently at the
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: same time.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: I know, you know, people always assume that they're like, oh,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: you guys go on. Aren't you bored? We're like, every
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: day is a different experience, right? Yeah, I agree. We
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: we love what we do. So Sam, you've seen the
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: fitness industry go from weightlifting.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: And then a bit of CrossFit and then now suddenly
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Highrocks has kicked in. Have you seen an increase in
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: signups to your gym saying, I want to train for
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Highrocks to my gym? Not yet. So shout out, you know,
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: whoever wants to join the gym, please, um, but yes,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: I think definitely there are a lot more people who
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: are engaged in physical activities and that's like the most
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: awesome thing. The, the key note is, of course, just
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: be safe, be, be patient.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: And uh take it one step at a time.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Well, speaking of which, you know, when you've done this
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: as you mentioned earlier, when you visually impaired athletes through this, um,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: did it teach you more about your communication style and
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Did you have to
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: improve that? Yeah,
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: 100%. That's like the toughest thing. So, um, for, for
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: anybody who has gone through high ranks, you know, it,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: it's just you yourself, you know, the, the strategy and
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: you just kind of it. Yeah, but when you're at,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: and it's very different doing it simulation in the gym
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: versus in the actual space itself.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: During a simulation, everything is still very controlled. We see
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: one another, we see, right, but on the actual day itself,
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: you got people cutting through competition mode, right? Yeah, that's right.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: And then there's also like the lane change and stuff
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: like that. So definitely changed the way I communicate and
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: I'm still learning through the VIs themselves like how, what
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: is a better way. In fact,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Guiding BK and guiding Peipei through the communications is entirely
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: different as well. Like Peipei wants to be on my right,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: BK is on my left, right? So the teeter, the
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: way we hold it is very different. Peipei likes to
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: sling it across the arm. BK is like holding.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: And I've got a turbo mode with BK as well.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: So when I switch the sling over to my shoulder,
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: he knows he has to stay close because things are changing.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: So especially when there's a bunch of people coming up.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: So once I sling him over my shoulder, his hand
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: goes on my shoulder. He knows that we are maneuvering.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: How do you all
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: simulate this before the actual rock itself,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: uh, with BK.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: We learned it on the spot last November.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: because during simulation, we just thought everything is like peace time, right? Nothing,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: nothing changed and then when, when we are in the
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: gym and we're training at the station itself, there is
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: always like, all right, make way for each other. It's
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: hard to recreate the moment, but when we're there, when
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: we were there last November, all the strategies just out
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: the window.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Nothing's the same, but shout out to the Hiros team,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: the Hiros crew, um, them, the whole entire crew, all
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: the judges were super nice, you know, the good thing is,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: we sort of recognize each other. The, the judges are
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: mostly trainers and, and regular gym goers from the other
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: gyms as well, so we sort of know each other.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: So when they see me and when they see him, like, hey,
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: this guy looks a bit different and then he's visually impaired,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: they kind of like create the space for me. That's right,
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: that's right, and they calm each other as well so
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: that's really good. You did it as they did solo
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: or doubles or what what was the category they did
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: it solo.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Uh, who,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: athletes,
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: um, my members, they, they do it as they are,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: but if I, if you're talking about BK and myself, we,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: we did it as doubles in the regular opens category,
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: not the adaptive ones. And then, same thing, opens in
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: the regular category. So she has to do the wall ball,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: she has to do the actual weight slats, she has
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: to do the actual weight sandbags as well. So for Pipei.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: To go on a 20 kg sandbag, no joke, man.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: I saw her knees just buckling like a giraffe,
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: like shaking,
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: shaking. I, I have so many more questions about Pei
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Pei's journey in because I think that's the video that
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: went viral and I want to focus a little bit
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: on the walls just in case. Just before we take
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: a very quick break here, um, for you as a
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: trainer and also in your process of like guiding these athletes,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: were there ever moments
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Where you felt like, wow, this is tough. Like I,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: I don't know if I can, I can complete this.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: How do you psych yourself out and also motivate the
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: athletes that you're with that you're guiding?
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: To be honest, I never actually have that. Like, oh,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: this is tough. I prefer to think of it on
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: a positive note. And then of course, pream, think about
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: my strategy, my process before getting them to try something
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: like the war, and we'll talk about it later.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: Um, but there are several moments where, you know, the
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: tears was not like, it's not coming out, but it's
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: just really inside because watching them pushing through the resilience
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: that they have, the determination then then on the spots,
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: knowing that this is really tough for them, but they're
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: still willing to do it during practice and during the
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: actual race itself. It's really tear jerking, but also on
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: the other hand, it's just, you know, motivates you, you know,
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: like your topic today, I'm a man, I cannot show
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: my emotions.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: So in the studio, you might have seen this video
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: the past week where there was a gym trainer leading
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: a visually impaired Hrock athlete during High Rock Singapore here.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: It went viral. Lots of people are really touched with
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: it and inspired by it. We have that very same
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: gym trainer in the studio, Samuel Lim in the studio. Hello,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: good to see you.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. Hi everyone.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Let's walk us through this year's Hirocks. So when, when
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: your client Pei Pei, is that her name, when she said,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: I want to do Hirocks, what went through your
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: mind? And she went the other way around. So for Peipei,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: it was me going up to her and saying, Will
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: you be my Hirock doubles partner.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so, uh, but, and also before that, so a
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: little bit of background was that I, I did the
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: high routes with BK last year and then quite naturally
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: everyone was like, you know, he's a guy and look
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: at his abs. He got like really solid, like turtle
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: shell abs. He can do it. I cannot. And I'm like,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: but he's visually impaired, but still he's a guy. And I,
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: so I said, I tell you what, this time around,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: I'll do it with a female. So I went out
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: hunting and looking for a female, and then we have Piping.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: And graciously Pepei says, yes. So, so how, that's how
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: we did it. Um, and then the journey was the
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: same as everybody. We, we, we practiced the movement.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: So the major difference for everyone to understand is that
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: as a visually impaired and Peipei is visually impaired since born,
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: so she's never seen a ski before. Nevertheless, the rower,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: not the lunges and things like that. So literally has
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: to go through the process of getting her to touch, feel,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: sense the machines, the movements, the movement standards, what we're
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: looking for.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: And the process is once again the same as for
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: everybody as well because the first time you see a ski,
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: I would still have to go through the same thing
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: with you. This is the handles and this is, you know,
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: how we're gonna do it and things like that. A
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: little bit slower, a little bit clearer in terms of
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: the instructions, but the journey is the same.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: What else have you learned from Pei Pei and at
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: this point? Well,
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: um, with them, um,
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Uh, two things actually. So one is that, wow, they're
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: really willing to try, right? So, giving them, giving them
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: an opportunity means that they will do it and they
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: will do it for sure and the amount of resilience
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: and the determinations that they put in is crazy, right?
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: But also on the other hand, according to them,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: The, the, by and large VI community, they are usually
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: very timid.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Oh, OK. Is it about confidence in
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: a way as well,
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: as well. So, little side note once again is that
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: since last July, we had an opportunity, the gym, uh,
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: to have a collaborative effort to work with the VI
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: community and then, uh, since, so we started from there
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: and uh so from there, we're trying to recruit and
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: trying to engage more people and the idea about this
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: is to
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: enable and also to include um the, the VI community
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: into the fitness world and from there observe their, their
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: developments in terms of their like confidence and their, their,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: their inclusion into society as well.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: I was gonna say back to high rocks, right? I
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: know for the skier you can feel the machine and
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: then for the rowers you can also feel the movement.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: But then for the stations like slap pool, slap push, lunges,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: farmers carry, and then wall balls, which we'll get to
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: in a while. How did you guide Pepe and BK
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: through it? Uh,
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: it's a lot of
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: to make sure like it's straight and not the machine
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: not saying it or yeah, on the lane and
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: all that, yeah.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: So I rely on clapping.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Oh, OK, OK.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: So my guys call me the clapper.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: So I rely on clapping. So if I clap to the, to,
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: to his left, that means that he has to steer
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: to the left. If I clap to the right, then
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: he has to steer to the right. If it is
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: going straight, I will just go on a very consistent clap.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: So he kind of like have a sense of the
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: directions as well. The same thing goes for the lunges
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: and the burpees because the movements, especially burpees is a
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: lot faster, especially the jump.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: So I'm gonna make sure that I clap close, but
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: I move back fast. So every time she, they stand
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: up or every time she steps up and Pepei jumps
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: really far, like really far. So I would clap and
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: immediately back, back off for wall
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: walls, must you hit the target, or was there like
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: a special ruling for Peipei and BK?
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: No.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Oh wow, OK.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: He just came up to me later on and say, hey, Sam,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I'm so sorry we have to no rep you. I say, no, you,
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: you did the right thing because if you hadn't no
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: repped us, we wouldn't have the true experience of high rags.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: And I'm sure for the two of them, they want
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: the real experience. They want it. 100%. Before we wrap
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: things up, I just want to say thank you so
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: much for sharing. It's been really inspiring. Can you please
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: plug your gym, your business.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Just tell us, tell our listeners on air right now.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Go ahead.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: All right, thank you. So, um, Fire City was started
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: in 2011. We are located in Lavender, very near ICA
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: or the train station. So we run all sorts of classes,
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: once upon a time, CrossFit style classes and high ros
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: classes as well. I think the key thing about what
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: we have is community. We, we have a very harnessing
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: a very inclusive community and we also run um visually
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: impaired class every Saturday at noon.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: So we do welcome like anybody with a visual impairment
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: or deaf or any other, you know, this kind of
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: ability to join us and we also have our members
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: as volunteers to support them through the, the session as well.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Oh, beautiful.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Love that. OK. Thank you so much, Sam, for what
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: you do. It's fantastic. Thank you.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: Can you Sonia for
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: 100%.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: I cannot, my headphones not working. I cannot hear you guys.