By Reg Tolentino
FOR many, the shift from an active varsity lifestyle into a sedentary corporate one is disastrous – weight gain becomes inevitable, a slow, creeping doom only exacerbated when the middle-ages hit. Often, the 30-40s shift also comes with hypertension, diabetes, and gout. Ian Cang is one such person, and like most people, he first turned to exercise to up his metabolism.
“I tried Muay Thai, boxing, running, but none of these held my interest for more than a month,” he laments, “I was too tamad.” Then came CrossFit.
The 38-year-old started CrossFit at Primal Ape at the behest of a long-time friend, promising it would change his life. “And it did!” Ian recounts. “I started it mid 2016, but only got serious this year.” He remembers how his knees could not carry his 270-lb body for a single lap around Primal Ape’s 100m track, opting instead to row the distance. He recalls how he could barely lift 15-lb medicine balls. Through consistent training, however, he’s made impressive gains.
Now, half-kilometer warm-ups are standard, and 100-lb thrusters are commonplace. With CrossFit’s metabolic conditioning workouts burning helping him burn calories inside and outside of workouts, his weight and blood work have also seen improvements.
To date, he’s lost somewhere in the vicinity of 20 lbs, and has his cholesterol and triglycerides within acceptable ranges.
“It’s the community,” he says, “it’s the people around you, urging you on. Primal Ape has great coaches, great members – once I got the habit going, it was really hard to NOT go.” And where he used to regret going to workouts, now, Ian regrets not going to a workout. “I have never regretted going to a workout. Even when I end up panting and sweating at the end of it.”
This mindset of grit – simply pushing oneself past uncomfortable scenarios, has helped Ian lose weight, but also, gain confidence. “Nowadays, when I face an exercise or movement or challenge I can’t do, instead of saying: ‘I can’t do that,’ now, I say ‘I can’t do that…yet.’”
Ian is a member of the community of Primal Ape CrossFit where people from all walks of life come and train, to challenge their status quo. Visit their facility for a Free Trial at Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati. FB: Primal Ape CrossFit. IG &Twitter: @weareprimalcf