Inspiring a stronger, healthier and fitter Samoa are the new year's goals of the coaches and trainers at MY Fitness Studio.

It’s about more than achieving a New Year’s resolution to lose a certain amount of weight but living a healthier life all-around said fitness coach and personal trainer Philipp Moore.

“In the new year we want to get more people in here and get more people fit and get more people strong and to lose weight but not just for the sake of losing weight that only lasts for a certain amount of time,” said Mr. Moore.

“That is what we want to achieve: get more people in here and get more people exercising for a fitter planet.”

Mr. Moore is a certified Les Mils coach and trainer who worked for 11 years in New Zealand before he moved to Samoa.

MY Fitness Studio is a partner of Les Mils, a chain of workout gyms in New Zealand.

Mr. Moore coaches two Le Mils programs at Togafu’afu’a: Spin which focuses on cardio and Pump which is weights resistance training.

“Of course [Spin] it’s a Les Mils product. I have been working for Les Mils for 10 or 11 years in Auckland and over time, I have seen a lot of people go from this size down to this size...it is something that I love doing,” he said.

“Pump is very good for people who have no background in lifting weights. So it’s a very controlled environment. You isolate the muscle you are working on, it’s low jarring and it’s good for anyone.”

He explained that if someone inexperienced in weights comes in and does some heavyweights they are likely to hurt them themselves.

“But with Pump we are taught technique and we taught that if someone is going a bit too far over we generally walk up and say ‘that’s enough’ because the objective is for them to come back and if it is unachievable they will never come back,” said Moore.

“Statistics show that people join a gym for three months and generally leave after two months because it is unachievable for them. So we have to make it achievable so the goal is to bring a lot of people in and meet their goals whether it be losing weight or toning up or to build their self-esteem and so on.”

Pump is resistance training with low weights and high repetition and Spin class utilizes the bike for cardio.

“It is coached the very same way: do what you can and then we work through and we slowly build you so within six or seven weeks. It’s a long game….the idea is to develop yourself self-esteem and your strength and stamina. One [program] is resistance and the other is cardio training. One helps the other,” Moore said.

He said the more people work out the stronger they get.

“You get stronger and it becomes a part of your life every day. If you don’t do it then it’s like something is missing you know like ‘I have not brushed my teeth’ but it’s ‘I haven’t had my exercise,” Moore added.

“Everybody has a New Year’s resolution and generally it is to lose weight or to get fitter but I think most of the time it fails. That is because everybody finds it hard to get fit. Our job is to make it easier. Our job is to bring them in and then coach them in the safest environment and within six months then you see your body getting fit and that builds confidence and everything stems from there.

 “I believe we can do it I have made palagis very good looking people in terms of skinny. Now why can’t I do that in Samoa? I believe I can it is achievable.”

There is also dance class at My Fitness Studio.

The fee is $10 per session but for 2021 there will be new memberships for the entire year.