Many find it hard to stay healthy in Phnom Penh with the hot weather and the easy access of restaurants and bars. Then a personal trainer can be a great tool to regain focus and motivation.
Phil Kelly is a Personal Trainer from New Zeeland that lives and works here in Phnom Penh. He has been working with fitness and health since 1996 and is the founder of Kiwifitness. To find out more about what a personal trainer does we met with Phil.
What does a personal trainer do?
A personal trainer should prescribe exercise, monitor the application/technique of said exercises and ensure the client achieves their fitness or wellbeing goals. Personal Training has many different levels of application. Some trainers solely provide exercise routines where at KiwiFitness we provide holistic services. We include coaching on lifestyle, nutrition, posture and biomechanics/movement enhancement.
Who typically uses a Personal Trainer?
People use personal trainers/coaches for a wide range of reasons. Generally it’s people who want to achieve a set goal through the safest, most effective and quickest method. Goals can range from fat loss, improved health, improved feeling of wellbeing, better performance in both sport and everyday life, motivation to exercise, a special event or even social reasons.
What kind of services do you offer clients?
KiwiFitness offers individual One-2-one training, group-coaching programs and educational courses. I developed KiwiFitness: Body Expert Systems to create simple, effective and holistic methods to enable clients to achieve optimum fitness & health. Our systems are individualised and very successful, resulting in a high percentage of our business coming from repeat customers and referrals. We generally offer customised programs but also provide packages.
How long do you usually work with someone?
The length of time we work with someone is really up to the clients’ goals, budget, timeframe and requirements. The longest I have worked with a client is 9 years but we also conduct single session consultations. To fully understand the advice provided and to allow for individual adjustments the minimum recommended amount of sessions is 5.
How does a typical training session with you look like?
Typically the session will begin with mobility/stability exercises, then strength while incorporating core exercises throughout the session. We accommodate all levels of ability from complete beginner to advanced exercisers by applying the same principles but using specific exercises and energy systems for the client.
What do you like the most about Phnom Penh?
The weather!! After living in London for 9 years the clear sky and sunshine is heaven.
Which is your favorite sport in Phnom Penh?
My favourite sport is Touch Rugby (played on Saturday 3pm, at ISPP field). The club is extremely social and welcomes all levels of ability to enjoy the friendly environment. The club also enters competitions. We recently competed in a tournament in Bangkok and finished in 3rd place.
Read more about Phil Kelly and KiwiFitness on his website: www.phil-kelly.com