KUCHING: When he began his fitness journey, 30-year-old personal trainer Vincent Mallang Alfred did not expect it would turn into a full-time professional career.
Embarking on the journey at 17 when he was in secondary school, he was active in sports and even competed in bodybuilding.
Since then, he has coached and trained over 200 people besides giving talks and tips about fitness at several places in Sarawak.
In 2016, after years of working in the fitness industry in Kota Kinabalu, he returned here and worked at a fitness gym until 2018 when he opened his own place called Borneo Wolves Studio.
Vincent is not showing signs of slowing down and although he has other ventures such as acting and modelling, his love for fitness remains.
The New Sarawak Tribune spoke to him about what inspired him to start his fitness journey, the things he has learnt and re-learnt, his fitness studio and its programme, his thoughts on the fitness industry in Sarawak, and advice to people who want to be healthy.
Fitness as his escapism
When Vincent was in secondary school, he used to be bullied a lot by his peers due to his appearance.
“Back then, I was very skinny, small and a soft kid. That is a reason to get into fitness in the first place.
“I use fitness as a coping mechanism. I did not want to get involved in activities that are not beneficial to me,” he said.
Not only did he use fitness as his coping mechanism, but he also used it to build self-confidence alongside improving his mental health.
“When I finally get to see the transformation, somehow I like it, and it helps me to perform better in physical activities and sports that I got involved in when I was in secondary school.
“Since then I have been actively training myself and somehow after a few years, my physical appearance becomes better than ever,” he added.
One of the better examples he revealed involved his friend during secondary school who was overweight.
“I taught him a few things here and there about fitness, motivated him, and when he saw the transformation, he was happy.
“And I am also happy to see him happy and excited upon seeing the transformation.
“Because of that, it makes me fall in love more with the process and I vowed to help other people through fitness,” he explained.
Learn, unlearn and relearn
Among the things Vincent had learnt throughout his fitness journey were perseverance and never giving up.
“By the grace of God, I was able to pursue this and up to this day, I am still able to continue doing what I love.
“Because when I started this, I do not have anything at all. I started early and come back at night, and even my parents feel sorry for me because that was the sacrifice I have to do,” he said.
At the same time, he felt that it is not troublesome for him, nor did it break his spirit.
“Because I love what I am doing, and it is my passion. Therefore, it is important to love what you’re doing and most importantly to enjoy and grow from the things that you have been doing.
“For you to be able to step forward, specifically when things go wrong, you need to have the right mindset and always maintain positivity,” he explained.
The other thing that he had to unlearn was the knowledge he had gained throughout the years.
“I believe we should never stop learning, and most importantly we should continue to learn new things.
“Never feel satisfied with what you have achieved, always strive for better things. Plus there is always something new for you to learn, and to improve as well,” he added.
Borneo wolves studio and its programme
Vincent revealed he often dreamt about having his fitness centre, and he is thankful for having a business partner, Glysentte Mier Jutan, who believes in him.
“She supported me throughout the way, including funding the studio as well and becoming my partner.
“I handle day-to-day operation, and she handles the administration,” she added.
Among the reasons he chose the location, which is at Canaan Square not far from Kuching International Airport (KIA) was because the location is guarded.
“The place is being monitored 24 hours a day seven days a week, plus the design of the building is beautiful.
“Most of my clients live somewhere near this area and at the same time, I also do have clients from Kota Samarahan, Batu Kawa, and Petra Jaya,” he added.
When it comes to the fitness programme, he explained that he wanted to approach fitness holistically.
“We focus on flexibility and mobility, that is where we provide yoga class and suspension training, and we also focus on strength and conditioning, alongside anything related to weight loss and fat loss.
“Some of the classes we offered here including a yoga class, tabata training (physical training in a short period) and we have to sculpt class, where the focus is on toning up,” he said.
According to Vincent, there are no monthly membership fees, instead, the studio sells class passes.
“You can come to our class through walk-in, which costs RM20. For four class passes, it costs RM70, for six class passes, it costs you RM90, and the last one is 10 class which is RM140.
“The class is valid for one month from the date they purchase, no sharing is allowed. Which means one person with one pass,” he added.
In the first two years, the studio managed to gain as many as 30 people, to the point Vincent and his partner decided to open a second unit.
“The second unit consists of hardcore training and that is where the flooring is quite different.
“Then again, COVID-19 came and during those time, students are getting lesser, and of course, we have to close the studio due to Movement Control Order (MCO), so we did not make tons of money that time,” he added.
He said that he has to transition the class to an online class, and, it helps him and his partner to sustain throughout the pandemic.
“At times, we often think about closing the business for good, but we managed to sustain the business, thanks to our family and friends who helped us to cover the expenses monthly,” he added.
Although the MCO is over, Vincent said that they were still focusing on recovery.
“Yet, we are very thankful that some of our previous students came back and join the classes, but we are still being careful in our decision making” he added.
The fitness industry in Sarawak
Vincent felt that the fitness industry in Sarawak is flourishing more than ever, as more fitness studios are opening up.
“Not only that, I believe people are getting more aware of healthy lifestyles and fitness activities.
“There are also a lot of upcoming physical activities including Spartan Race, Borneo Trail Classic and others,” he said.
He felt that the time was different compared to when he started in 2016.
“At that time, people do not know what is cross-fit, as they only know the conservative gym, which is a body-building type of gym.
“But now, you can see there are other functional training and boot camps. All I can say is fitness industry continues to grow here in Sarawak.
“People are taking fitness seriously and they can accept fitness coach as a great profession,” he explained.
He believes in the next 10 years, the fitness industry will develop even further with much better technologies, programmes and facilities.
“Now we can see more people are getting into it as well, so I believe if the demand is there, more facilities will be available.
“I can say that the fitness industry will never die and it will always be better than ever. It is just a matter of time,” he added.
He explained that he loves to work with dieticians, physiotherapies, nutritionists and doctors as well as other coaches for their insights and opinions about the industry and how they can work together.
Start with a simple exercise
Vincent stated for someone to start a healthy lifestyle and start a workout, all the person needs is willpower and goals.
“You can find tons of workout videos on Youtube, TikTok, and a lot of fitness influencers these days sharing workout videos and nutrition to the public.
“What I do to encourage the people is I share simple workout videos alongside sharing my knowledge on the fitness lifestyle,” he said.
He added that people can start with the simplest exercise such as jogging or brisk walking.
“The most important thing is that they must incorporate it with a healthy diet, then what they do would work.
“There is no need to start with a fancy workout, movement or whatever trendy exercise out there,” he said.
He said that at the end of the day, it is all about one’s willingness to get healthy than they were before.
“That is how I would do as my role in this industry, and I can only guide them and motivate them to be better than ever,” he said.
