You know those days where you want to get out and work out, but can’t seem to find the will to? The bed is a tempting place to lay for an entire day, with some Netflix and chips, but we all need a little push. So here’s a list of strong, inspirational ladies who will ensure you are motivated everyday!
1. Andrea Ong
Andrea is a part-time model, entrepreneur and fitness trainer. She went from being a girl-next-door to a fitness model 2 years ago when she started going to the gym regularly and switched to a healthier diet. This change of diet has also led to her discovery of nut butter spreads, which were also popular amongst fitness models in Australia. She also said that she would always take up new projects, with her most recent one being making terrariums.
“People always ask me how do I stay fit and motivate for years. And I don’t mean using fad starving diets, working out 10 hours a day kind. I mean healthy, wholesome enjoyable and most importantly sustainable lifestyle.”
“One of my favourite exercises. Gives my ? the ? . Keep toes pointed out and curled in on feet pad, heels in, knee touching the pad and come up slowly letting the weight put resistant on your bumbum, atleast 3 secs ?.”
2. Sherlyn Tan
Sherlyn first realized her dream of owning a business when she founded Twenty3. Currently, she’s working towards her dream of living a fit and healthy life. Her motto has always been “The beauty in perseverance” and she has inspired many to never give up on what they want.
“…I want to learn to focus on how I feel about my body. I don’t want to hate it. I want to take up this challenge to do it because I want to see my body potential what my body can do not focusing on the flaw of my body. It took me really long time…”
“It’s very important to focus on knees to elbow when you do Mountain climbers. If you do it without the knees towards the elbow (like the one shown on the right), it makes the work out easier for you to do and which will not help to increase your heart rate enough to burn fat / build muscles. It’s important that you feel the muscles when you do it. If you can’t feel it, even though you progress to faster or adding weights it doesn’t help as well.”
3. Nana Al Haleq
Nana has always been an active girl who has been a part of the Selangor State Track and Field Team during her secondary school years and she was also crowned the Best Sportswoman of the Year when she was only 15. She is now a freelance fitness model and motivator with an Instagram filled with photos of her abs, videos of her working out and ideas for Malaysian-inspired healthy meals.
“To simplify to all dearest beginners, this exercise hit the lower glutes muscles; to lift the bum up! So if you have saggy bum, you can try do this exercise at least 2x a week on 15reps for 3sets. Of course start with both leg planted on the floor and work your way up by adding weights or perform in a single leg manner like in the video. Always ensure to squeeze the glutes on top (kemut the booty), drives with your heel (feet planted on floor) and endure core is tight at all times.”
“We are all different. And each of us have our own hurdles. Everyone fitness journey is never easy. What separate between the one who succeeded and the one who not is the time, effort, focus and discipline.”
4. Angeline Ong Li Min
A jack-of-all-trades, Angeline is a photographer, blogger, yoga instructor and personal trainer with a fitness background of over 17 years. If one needs to learn yoga, one would search for Angeline who posts her yoga poses long with motivational quotes and snapshots of her everyday life on her Instagram.
“Be in love with your life. Every minute and details of it. Enjoy every little things in life…for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things. Every struggle in life has shaped you into the person you are today. BE THANKFUL for the hard times, they can only make you STRONGER. Your life is your message to the world. Make sure it’s inspiring.”
“Life isn’t meant to be easy, it meant to be Lived. Sometimes happy, other times rough… But with every up and down you learn lessons that make you Strong.”
5. Linora Low
Linora is a host of The MIXBlitz and the MIX Sweat Club on MixFM where she is a celebrated radio talent. She’s also a fitness personality who has emceed for a number of events including Spartan Race and Colour Run Malaysia. She’s known to be an enthusiastic person who has a passion for fitness. Her Instagram is also filled with amazing heavy lifts, updates on fitness events and also occasional reminders that women can do what men can do, and sometimes they do it better.
“…Here’s another video on how you can tone that tush by activating your glute muscles. They don’t look hard but do them for a while, you’ll get a good burn on them peaches. Remember to really think about your butt muscles…”
“Fitness and wellness is so much more than fitting into clothes in my opinion. Aesthetics I always say is the by product of taking care of yourself – nutrition wise, physically and mentally. It all starts with mindset. When you see the results you just don’t want to stop. Enjoy life and let being healthy be your addiction.”
6. Joanna Soh
Known to be bright and bubbly, Joanna lives a healthy life and also strives to prove to everyone that it can be really fun. This real and positive lady is a certified personal trainer, nutritionist, and women’s fitness specialist. She is also a popular YouTuber who shares her workout videos, meal plans and tips on building a positive image.
“Change that mindset! Workout because you LOVE your body and how amazing it makes you feel. You don’t need to wait to lose 10lbs or 50lbs to start loving your body. No matter what size or weight you are at, accept it, love yourself right at this moment and strive to improve yourself further. When you LOVE your body, you celebrate your achievements, your self esteem increase, you always do your best and you are at peace with your inner self.”
7. Hanisah Sharil
This graduate in Marketing from Monash University is also a certified by the Australian Strength Performance for Fat Loss Bootcamp as a bootcamp instructor. Hanisah’s passion lies in helping others reach their physical health goals as well as enhance their self-esteem. She began coaching fitness in 2014 and has appeared on television, giving advise on living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. She also loves sharing her experiences with you and strongly believes that to hit your goals, you have to be determined, sweat like hell and also put in a lot of hard work.
“If it is your first few times attempting, don’t have to go heavy. What matters is the quality of the workout meaning, feeling it in the muscles and fatiguing them right.”
“Also, there is nothing more motivating than oneself. The muscles might not have a brain but it certainly has great memory; muscle memory.”
8. Nor Soraya
Soraya is one of the nominees for Influence Asia 2015 in the Health and Fitness category, and represents Malaysia. She also has over 52k followers on her Instagram and showcases her yoga poses on her account alongside her advices for life. This yoga enthusiast can teach you anything and everything about yoga.
“Stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and start being excited about what could go right!”
“Habits become values and it’s these values that mould our character. Cultivating good habits helps us house good values, and cultivating good habits happens over time with practice. Like building a muscle, you have to keep going every day, making that conscious decision in you to uphold those values as part of your beliefs and who you are.”
