Interviews with the top names in the Malaysian Fitness Industry - Noel Chelliah
Here’s the second interview in our series with the top names in our local Fitness Industry - and this time, FitnessIdeas is privileged to have Noel Chelliah on the grill – with 10 years of experience, and a long list of satisfied clients - Noel is a freelance trainer and coach, and specializes in Lifestyle Change, Nutritional Counseling, Weight Management and Strength Training.
FitnessIdeas (FI): Hi Noel, thank you for taking some time off your busy schedule. Can you tell our readers your educational or previous training background?
Noel: I am an American Council on Exercise (ACE) Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant (LWMC) and a Computer Science graduate. I used to be overweight – to cut a long story short, I underwent a life-altering physical transformation through proper eating habits and exercise – it was a long and tedious journey because I had to learn the hard way, with no one to look to for advice - but I got there eventually, and the rewards were sweet - today, I’m a whole different person.
My certifications have really helped me get to where I am today in my career as a Personal Trainer and coach – in my opinion, they are a must to prove that you are competent, and great as the first step as it will give you a good foundation of information – but often, this information is forgotten soon after the exams are written. Besides keeping my certification current (renewal and continuous education), I make it a point to keep learning on my own, and improving myself. I am also privileged to be a facilitator at Fitness Innovations Malaysia (an education centre that prepares trainers for International Certification such as those from the American Council on Exercise. This allows me to always be in touch with the current trends of the Fitness Industry.
FI: In a nutshell - What is your training philosophy?
Noel: My philosophy is to look at the other factors, BESIDES training. You can’t out-train a lousy diet – and sadly, this is often overlooked by many trainers.
What happens the remaining 23 hours of the day when my client is not with me is a very big deal. To give you a clearer picture of how big a deal this is, assuming a client trains with me 3x/week, approximately an hour each time, that’s just 12 hours/month – which is only 1.6% of their time in a month. What about the remaining 98.4% of the time?
If I’m only making a difference in my client’s life for those 12 hours… I’m going to have a very serious problem when my client doesn’t see the results he/she desires at the end of our program.
You can be doing the most advanced, intense, and vigorous workouts, but if you don’t pay attention to what you put into your mouth, you are going to get disappointed.
For example, all my clients, regardless of their goals, need to keep a Food Diary at least for the first few weeks – this gives me a ‘snapshot’ of what their diet is like and allows me to see if they’re making any glaring mistakes that needs to be addressed. I’ve also got a ton of tips and tricks that I give my clients to help them gradually make lifestyle changes, which all add up favourably to their goals.
FI: What are your goals as a Personal Trainer/Coach?
Noel: I’d like to impact people’s lives – permanently. We all know that lifestyle change is the only true and permanent way to whatever your fitness goals may be. For the money my clients invest in me, if at the end of our program, they are unable to take care of his/her own health, or make wiser decisions about their food intake and exercise routine – I would think that I have failed to do my job. Being previously overweight myself, I had to learn the hard way – my clients however, don’t need to.
FI: Who else in the field has influenced or helped you?
Noel: There are just so many, but I’ll begin with two individuals who have made a direct impact on my life – Julian Underwood (the country’s only Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist from the prestigious American Council on Exercise) and Jerrican Tan, CSCS (Executive Director at Fitness Innovations Malaysia). If not for these two guys, today, I would probably still be the regular gym-goer, looking after my own needs. Besides being an inspiration, it was them who made me realise the importance of credible certification and proper knowledge when pursuing my career as a personal trainer and coach.
On a larger scale, legendary strength and conditioning coach Alwyn Cosgrove CSCS and Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS have influenced my methods greatly, while Dr. John Berardi PhD, CSCS is the nutritional genius I look up to. I read and learn a lot, but as a fitness professional, I am also always critical about the information I come across. The more I know, the more I have in my ‘toolbox’ to use on the appropriate client.
FI: What are the three best general training tips?
Noel: 1. Keep it simple - In my opinion, both male and female - nothing builds strength like squats, deadlifts, push-ups, dumbbell/barbell rows, and shoulder presses. Knowing and believing in this, you would rarely catch me wasting time performing various party tricks on the bosu or the fitball – not that there’s anything wrong with them, but if you know a shortcut to your destination, wouldn’t you take it?
2. Challenge yourself – No flipping around weights my grandmother can carry. For example, and 8-12 rep range means that you need to reach failure and not be able to complete more than 12 reps. If only everyone could grasp this, we’d see a whole lot of people reaching their fitness goals faster. I’d like to quote Alwyn Cosgrove on this, who says that “If you’re not questioning why in the hell you’re doing these exercises, or convincing yourself that twice around is enough, you’re not going heavy enough.”
3. Surround yourself with good people (Social Support). They say that the five people closest to you reflect who and what you are now. Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals, who believe in your fitness goals and give you the support will more than double your chances of sticking to your goal and having the willpower to stay on track. As for me, I’m blessed to be in a position that I can consider some of the best trainers in the country as my friends.
FI: Do you train or rehabilitate females any differently from males?
Noel: Not at all – I get my female clients to work hard. In fact, some of them can outdo my male clients! I make all my female clients understand the necessity of strength training, and we include the exercises that have been branded as the ‘manly exercises’ – such as push-ups, squats, deadlifts, chin-ups in our workouts. If my 57-year old female client can do her push-ups and experience the benefits, I don’t see why the rest of them shouldn’t be doing it.
The human body is truly incredible and can adapt very quickly to the challenges you give – the last thing I would want to do is to underutilize that capability. My clients come to me because they want results – and I will do everything I can to make that happen.
FI: Can you describe what a typical training session consist of for your clients?
Noel: With a majority of my clients coming to me for fat loss, I’ll describe my approach to training for fat loss.
For fat loss, I believe in full body training – so a typical session will consist of compound exercises, done in supersets, tri-sets, or even in a continuous circuit format (with non-competing exercises/muscle groups) – all depending on the fitness level of the client of course. Once the hardest parts are over – we then progress to work on certain chosen exercises for the day, usually addressing the client’s problem areas.
I usually get my clients to warm-up before I arrive, so they really get to maximize the time in a session with me. I am also a big believer of interval work. It burns more calories than steady state cardio and elevates metabolism significantly more than other forms of cardio. The downside is that it sometimes sucks to do it! It saves you time, but it is hard. Of course, this is not for all my clients - for those with heart problems or hypertension, this is a definite no-no.
My workouts aren’t easy, and will often push you out of your comfort zone – it may be uncomfortable at first for beginners, but it is very rewarding for the client knowing that they completed something they never thought they could. I often get a text the next day telling me how great they feel.
Also, for fat loss, setting numbers as a goal can motivate you, and losing a pound a week is a reasonable goal. But doing it too often just gets clients too worried about the scale. There are times where I don’t weigh my clients for a whole 2 months - focusing instead on how they feel, and before you know it, the numbers take care of themselves. This isn’t a reality TV show – this is real life, and real people under my care.
FI: How do you monitor training intensity - how far do you push?
Noel: The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines are there for a reason – so based on their level of risk, I would watch very closely that I don’t come up with an exercise program that would push them beyond anything that could potentially cause problems. During a session, I often get feedback on how they feel, and of course, look out for body language and certain physical/facial expressions that could indicate that the workouts are too much. If I see or sense something not right, I won’t hesitate to stop what we’re doing.
Of course, there are days when I know that my clients can go a little beyond their usual limits - and I would certainly maximize that. But, safety always comes first!
FI: Who are your typical clients?
Noel: I have clients ranging from those in their early 20s, right up to those in their 60s –a majority of them are women, and by far the single biggest client request has been fat loss - my specialty.
FI: Do you use any supplements?
Noel: Is this a trick question? Well yes, I do. Besides a comprehensive multivitamin, I supplement with fish oil, protein powders (usually post-workout), and on occasions, meal replacements (MRPs). Being on the move, there are only so much of pre-cooked meals I can carry with me – so although it may be a bit expensive, nothing beats the convenience of whipping up a ‘meal’ by simply adding water. Don’t get me wrong – nothing beats real food, and I actually enjoy cooking my own meals. I’d like to think that I have a pretty healthy and balanced diet. But for those times when cooking just isn’t possible, that’s where my supplements come in.
I guess the key word here is ‘supplement’ – supplements should be used to supplement a good diet, not to REPLACE poor eating habits.
FI: Noel, thank you for your time and knowledge. Do you have any comments you would like to add to our readership?
Noel: Yes – and this one’s for the benefit of all trainers and coaches out there. Often I meet people who just aren’t too sure if Personal Training is for them, or unsure of what to expect. This is quite common here in Malaysia - people aren’t used to paying a professional to help them reach their fitness goals - but the trend I see is that things are slowly changing. My advice to those still contemplating is to give it a try – even I have reaped the benefits of hiring a trainer at one point in my life.
There is much to look forward to when you hire a Personal Trainer – more than being a coach, he/she will become your friend, workout buddy, your sounding board, and the person who makes you do what you know you should do. Now that’s a really good deal – don’t you think?
To contact Noel or to know more about his services as a Personal Trainer, do view Noel’s listing on our Trainer Directory.
FitnessIdeas would like to thank Noel for his time having contributed to this interview. Stay tuned for more interviews with the big names in the Malaysian Fitness Industry - only at FitnessIdeas.org! Subscribe for free updates at the top of the page.
Do you know someone who deserves to be ranked among Malaysia’s best trainers? If you do, drop us an email at info@fitnessideas.org with details of your nominated trainer, and WHY he/she deserves to featured on FitnessIdeas - and we will do the rest!
