David - On Strength & Commitment
With the current pandemic, continued closure of fitness facilities isn’t surprising anymore. But having a closed facility does not give you an excuse to take a pause on your health and fitness goals. In fact, this is the time you need to be fitter and healthier. It’s a challenge that David has committed to—and he’s been consistently smashing his goals!
David is a member of Pinnacle BLACK since November 2017. He is what most people would call a ‘Lifestyle athlete’—he was looking for a way to address his chronic back pain, and incorporate fitness in his everyday life.
David shares, “I originally joined because the wear and tear of a high stress, high travel job was really wearing on me and I was starting to get chronic, debilitating back pain. I had tried a few other things, but needed a disciplined, holistic program that could also have some flexibility to accommodate a busy and always changing schedule. It took a lot of hard work, and the back pain went away after about 9 months in—and I have kept right on going with the program after that.”
Early this year, David has already celebrated his 2km row time improvement from 8.17 in January 11, to 7.19 by March 28. Coach Danny, David’s Lead Coach in Pinnacle BLACK, shares that David was able to accomplish this by committing to complete two additional row conditioning sessions to his usual three Strength and Power sessions per week.
In addition to that, at the start of the year, David’s goal was to bring his bodyweight from 104kgs, down to 100, while improving his overall body composition. Again, he was able to hit his goal, weighing 99kgs, and maintaining it for about 4 weeks before the fitness facilities in Hong Kong were closed.
With David’s accomplishments, coach Danny was determined to keep David focused on his goal even while at home. To guarantee progress, coach Danny ensured that they get David a dumbbell and a rowing machine from the facility to his living room. With the additional equipment, and the bands that David already has, David has maintained his 3-4 sessions a week online.
In August, coach Danny found a challenge that David could participate in.—Concept 2’s challenge: The Dog Days of Summer 100k. The goal is to complete 100k of rowing from August 1 to 28, starting the first week with 10k, the second with 20k, the third with 30k, and finishing 40k on the last week. Coach Danny shares, “originally, I was doing it for myself just at the gym, as we still have access to it. But when we arranged for him to pick up a rower, I figured he may as well get into the challenge, it’s good for his goal of improving his body composition.’ Coach Danny is impressed at how David listens to his advice, and understands how it can help work towards his goal. Coach Danny made sure that David is consistent in training while managing his programs accordingly to keep David on top of his game. Through Pinnacle’s Engineered Strength and Conditioning method, coach Danny developed a program that included row sessions, and managed how David spends his non-training days — either for recovery or mobility.
Because of this, the result was that David, along with coach Danny, finished the challenge logging in 105.5k and 104.96k respectively.
By August 28, David’s overall body composition has improved. His lean muscle mass increased by 2.2kg since February 1, while his body fat decreased by 2.2kg, decreasing his overall body fat percentage from 25.6% to 23.6%.
“I think it is nice to hit the weight goal, but at this point I just see it as part of a broader journey to just be in better shape. Setting intermediate goals, whether it is weight or the 100k row is great to have some focus, but the overall target is still to feel good, have better energy and have better functionality and mobility with less pain overall. This is doubly important now with the arrival of the twins and trying to keep up with them!”
And since it’s only September, our tandem has set their eyes on another challenge: Concept 2’s ‘The Fall Team Challenge’, which is set on September 15 - October 15. The challenge is for a team (minimum of two) to row as much as they can. David and coach Danny’s target is to complete 200k individually— double of what they have accomplished in August. Coach Danny plans to get more Pinnacle members and coaches involve in this challenge as well.
“David will have two additional rowing sessions incorporated into his thrice a week Strength and Power Programs in Cycle 9 and Cycle 10. On top of this David has invested in his own Concept 2 Rowing Machine which hopefully arrives this week as having one at home during closure kept him motivated, committed and with no excuses to not get something done.”
Besides this, David is also preparing for the Pinnacle CON event on October 10.
Cheers, David! You’ve shown us that with your relentlessness and commitment, proper guidance, and engineered strength and conditioning, it’s possible to achieve goals whatever the circumstance. We look forward to hearing more of what you have still yet to accomplish the rest of the year!
