LONGITUDE: Can you tell us a little bit about your professional background and what brought you to ONE˚15 Marina?
EHSAAN KHALID: As a Singaporean, born and bred, I naturally served my National Service and in those days it was pretty intense—we would start working out early in the morning using rubber tyres, kettle bells and makeshift equipment, and even late at night we would be doing bench presses and pull ups. I absolutely loved it though and realised I was also pretty good at it. In my teens I had been a Muay Thai champion and so being physical came naturally. After I completed my two years, I went into the Auxiliary Police and was posted in Woodlands, but honestly, I missed the buzz that I got from the gym. I took a short break and then decided to go into personal training. At heart, I am a sun-and-sea lover, so when the opportunity to join ONE°15 Marina presented itself, I didn’t look back.
Describe your typical day here at ONE˚15 Marina.
We work in two shifts, but even when I am not scheduled to be in until the afternoon, I reach the Club by 7am. I love it here. Also, I believe in working to my clients’ timetables rather than to mine, so one of the first things that I do is to get to know my clients and understand a bit more about their lifestyle so that we can create a realistic workout timetable for them. If the Member is a family man for example, there is simply no point in trying to squeeze in a session over the weekend because the missus is likely to get annoyed! So I’ll suggest a couple of early morning workouts and another two in the evenings to try and ensure that everybody is happy. If that means I have to be in at 7am as well, that’s totally fine for me! Every last Sunday of the month, I can also be found up on the rooftop of the Club where I run a boot camp for Members and their guests. Every session is different and we often have guest trainers hosting. But the goal is always to workout, have fun and sweat!
What role do you believe physical exercise plays in our general wellbeing?
I always tell my clients to think of their body as their house—if you don’t take care of it, there are going to be holes in the roof and cracks in the walls and rot under the floorboards. Ultimately, you only get one body to live in, so you should treat it well and that really does start with feeding it a good diet and giving it a good exercise routine.
Can you guide us through some of the ways in which you help clients achieve their fitness goals?
I work with between three and seven clients a day and with all of them I use a combination of methods, from Muay Thai to resistance training to Pilates. Before we even get to the physical part though, I start with a full body analysis—identifying each client’s body type and the areas that they need the most help with. Humans typically fall into three different genotypes, so it is always helpful to pinpoint which type they are. Then I look at their posture, because that is a good indicator of lifestyle and muscle weakness—I might notice they have rounded shoulders, which usually indicates weak “lats” (latissimus dorsi) or I can see that they have a protruding chin which suggests sitting at a computer all day looking down and overstretching the neck. I also always work on their nutrition because achieving the body that you want is 70% diet and 30% workout.
What areas of your job do you particularly enjoy?
I love training people, I really do. You go on this journey together and it’s fun and it’s messy but it’s also really rewarding when you see them achieve the body that they’ve always wanted or reach the fitness goals they never thought they would achieve. I have never had a difficult client so I don’t really feel like my job is work.
If you would like Ehsaan to be your personal trainer, you can reach out to him at gym.sc@one15marina.com or enquire here!
