Alex Jonathan Poon•BSc PT, CSCS

"Aaaand it's a wrap!" // After talking about it for so long, we finally recorded our first official podcast episode by the Singapore River! Quick disclaimer: This isn't a podcast about life and/or career hacks, and we're definitely not self-help gurus who are out to sell you a course for SGD499 that claims to turn your life around in '3 simple steps'. What we aim to do is to help our listeners feel less alone as they navigate through various life stages and milestones by sharing relatable personal journeys (not just our own, but those of our guest speakers too) which are filled with all kinds of challenges and triumphs; through this audio experience, we hope that after each episode, our listeners can leave with some actionable takeaways, new perspectives towards life/work/family/relationships, or at least be thoroughly entertained! After all, life is always going to be difficult, complicated and challenging, but having folks journey alongside you can go a long way! If this sounds like your kind of podcast, then stay tuned for the full episode! 🫡 P.S. just a quick shoutout to the @yahlahbut crew for the inspiration and their amazing podcast course that kickstarted this whole journey! 🙌🏻

"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt // It's been a good 9 years since I walked out of the gates of Nanyang Polytechnic with a diploma tucked under my arm into the big, big world of physiotherapy. During this time, I've been around the block a bit - I've had many interests over the course of my career and also made some crazy pivots along the way too (from ICU physio to sports physio?!) - I've worked in public and private healthcare settings and with national sports associations before finally deciding to start my own setup. Why bother starting something from scratch, you ask? I've always dreamt of helping grassroots and student athletes achieve their dreams: whether it was trying to get an edge over the competition in amateur sports leagues, performing better in the next national school games or POL-ITE/IVP games, or simply being able to return to sport after a serious injury (the last one basically describes my school sports career 🙊). Anyways, 'manifest' is a word that has been thrown around a lot lately, and whilst some people have said it's complete BS ("How can something become true just because I imagined it into existence?!"), I think those 'manifestors' might be on to something. I recently listened to a podcast that drew parallels between manifesting and cooking: even before you pick and prepare your ingredients, you need to have an idea of what you're going to cook...sure, you can make some small changes to the recipe along the way, but you're generally not going to end up with another dish altogether; and just like making those small changes whilst cooking, I was making small moves slowly (and unknowningly) throughout my career - I was gaining the relevant experience and slowly inching towards making this dream a reality. It's been a long, arduous journey thus far, and I'm definitely not done yet - to my patients, athletes and friends of @advantagerehabsg , thank you for your unwavering support since Day One - here's to unlocking new levels of performance, and becoming the best versions of ourselves, both inside and outside of sport. 💪🏻 #claimyouradvantage

For today's "Motivational Monday" we are featuring Nat, who has since made a solid comeback after suffering from a lower back injury while deadlifting. After lots of hard work, I'm excited to announce that not only is he back to deadlifting, but he has also achieved a new PR for his back squat as well! On a related note, I'm sure that some of you might be thinking, "Many people seem to get injured while doing deadlifts, does this mean that deadlifts are bad for your back?" - my answer is a firm "No!", and I don't think that there are any "bad exercises" for your back - there are only exercises that you are sufficiently prepared(skill development) and/or conditioned(physical capacity) for, exercises that challenge you (within reasonable limits) and exercises that will "wreck" you (physically, psychologically and emotionally) because you are grossly unprepared and/or unconditioned. Besides exercise selection, here are some other variables that are worth looking at: - volume (reps x sets) - load/(relative) intensity (kg/lbs, RPE/RIR) - tempo (eccentric/isometric/concentric) - form (what's optimal for your favourite athlete/fitness influencer may not be optimal for you!) - recovery between sessions (are you sufficiently recovered before the next training session?) - stressors (emotional, psychological stress) Don't hesitate to reach out if you need help with the variables mentioned above and/or smashing PRs after coming back from an injury! 💪🏻 #claimyouradvantage

Life has been pretty busy lately, and the weather has gotten really wet and dreary too...but we definitely haven't forgotten about Episode 2!✌🏻 And whilst we couldn't record it at our usual spot today due to the heavy rain, we still got it done (albeit at a different but equally scenic location; DM us if you want to know where)! 💪🏻 To everyone that has been waiting for this episode to drop: thank you so much for your patience and support thus far - we'll be doing our best to give you the best listening experience, so do give us a wee bit more time before we share it with y'all! (And we hope to be able to say that we are a "monthly podcast" 😬) Until then, stay dry, take care and have a great weekend - catch y'all soon! 👊🏻

Ended the rainy work day with a solid bench press PR from @machakevv ! After taking some time off to work on his IPPT stations, we're back with a PR of 85kg for 5 reps; well done my good sir! 🫡 Special shout-out to @viviantangimi for capturing the moment too! On a somewhat related note, please swipe left and take a moment to appreciate the wisdom of my Vietnamese tour guide from my last trip to Da Nang - very apt for today's weather and fatigue at the end of the work week! 🙌🏻 It's only onwards, only upwards from here on! 💪🏻

Aside from writing 'grandfather stories' and long Instagram captions, I used to dabble in a bit of 'educational' stuff (to be fair, educational is a pretty subjective! 🙊) This lil' piece of work (or rather, an excerpt of it), which I just rediscovered in the forgotten corners of my Google Drive yesterday, is the result of several discussions with physiotherapy undergraduate students reaching out to ask about clinical placements and how to 'survive' them. It's interesting to see my thoughts about the profession and clinical practice as a younger lad, and it's also cool to see how I've grown over the years. That being said, I think I should just stick to writing long Instagram captions about random life observations/reflections, 'grandfather stories' and perhaps the occasional unsolicited (and unsponsored) food review. 😂

'Tis the season to 'eat, slay, love' (definitely more of the first one as of late though). #1: @ramen_matsuri always delivers a comforting bowl of mazesoba that tastes especially good when it's been a busy work day/week; it's been my go-to mazesoba place since @stopitkev recommended it to me! #2,3,4: field trip with the Field Assembly folks - haven't been to Amoy Street Food Centre in years so I was super excited to revisit @hankeefishsoup and experience the joy of sliced fish soup again (how can anyone refuse those thick, fresh slices of fish in that flavourful soup!) Aside from everyone's favourite fish soup stall, @spicywifenasilemak is definitely a strong contender for "Top Stall in ASFC" (in my heart, at least) - $6.50 for a glorious serving of meat (we went with the 'aromatic chicken'), an egg, a delicious sambal and a ton of ikan bilis and peanuts on the side - what else can one ask for?! Special thanks to @taneeehui and @simwangg for the amazing recommendation! 🙌🏻 #5: nostalgia and vibes galore at this famous, old school dim sum place that most people should be able to guess correctly after 3 tries - friendly staff and quick service definitely made the dining experience enjoyable, but unfortunately, the food isn't what it used to be. That being said, it's always a good time with the gang (@jasgui @aishiteruzejing ) though, regardless of how the food tastes! #6 & 7: birthday pasta at a cafe along Clarke Quay; lovely view of the river, comfortable seating and an attractive one-for-one promotion! Thanks for the treat boss @ongerin ! 🙏🏻 #8: Mala buffet in the House of Cheng - I'm no longer the man I used to be and age is catching up - when we did this a few years back, I remember bashing through several bowls before tapping out, but this year, I could only manage 2.5 bowls...is this what it's like to join the mid-30s club? 🥲 Anyways, can't wait for the next hangout @scubadoobadoog @smokeycaramel @claudiacsr !

When I was a student-athlete 18 years ago, I watched how professional athletes would prepare for a season in the weight room, on the track, and on the field with their strength & conditioning coaches, and I often dreamed about being part of an athlete development programme that would equip me with the knowledge of sports science that would enhance my performance on the rugby pitch; unfortunately, I wasn't a professional athlete, and my junior college didn't have the budget and/or infrastructure for a programme like that (on that note, I'm forever grateful for the coaching that I received back then; this has helped to form the basis of my coaching philosophy - massive shout-out to my rugby coach, Mr Michael Kwok! 🙏🏻). So when the opportunity arose to co-develop an athlete development programme some 15 years later, I obviously put my hand up and said yes! 🙋🏻‍♂️And over the course of the last few years, I'm really proud of what we've achieved here - looking beyond the medals and personal bests, I think the biggest wins were watching these athletes develop into better versions of themselves - becoming better and more responsible teammates, being more accountable for their actions and behaviour, developing resilience and an understanding of the value of consistent effort. It's been an incredible journey and a massive privilege to have served these athletes for 3 seasons - and as I close this chapter of my strength & conditioning coaching career, I hope that I have left a positive impact and that upon graduation, they will retain some knowledge of strength training, stretching and mobility drills, recovery protocols and basic sports nutrition. To all my student-athletes and the graduating class of 2026: this isn't goodbye, and it's more of a 'see you later' - please treasure the friendships that y'all have developed over the years in school and in your sport teams, continue to give your best for everything that y'all choose to embark on, and I wish everyone nothing but the best in life! 🫡 And as always, #oneteamonetemasek ! 👊🏻

"THIRTY-FIVE" // As far as I can remember, going to work on my birthday has pretty much been the norm for me - I can't remember whether it was the hassle of handing over my patients just for that 1 day of rest, or the fact that my birthday always happens to be right smack in the middle of the week, that got to me - but alas, this year was no different. That being said, I'd say that at least I spent the day with people that matter to me, doing work that I believe in, and doing things that I love; for many years, I've made the rookie mistake of forgetting to enjoy the moment (especially when I was a younger lad) because I always somehow assumed that there were always going to be even bigger and better moments when I grew older...but if there's anything that I've learnt in the last few years, it's this - sometimes these moments are as big as it's gonna get, so try and live a little; life's too short for regrets, too transient for take-backs, and the only moment that matters is the here and now. Up to this point, I can say that today is the oldest that I will ever be - though at some point in time, it might be referred to as 'a time when I was younger' - and regardless of the big decisions and consequent changes that will happen soon, it's been a nonsensical and fun journey thus far, and I just wanted to thank everyone for being a part of it. P.S. for the folks that sent me birthday well wishes today, I am extremely grateful; for the folks that didn't, please know that your time and company was more than enough for me 🙌🏻 📷: OOTD, the boys working hard for S&C and physio sessions, Pancake King for the nostalgia and mum's tiramisu to end off the day! ✨

To all our listeners and friends, the @ehhowahpodcast crew is really grateful for the support and love that y'all have shown us thus far! ❤️ We really, really appreciate every single like, comment and share; we've also listened to all of your feedback, and we're working hard to give everyone an improved listening experience, and a solid second episode! 🎧 In a 'noisy' and distractible world that prioritises speed and quantity, we are deliberately choosing to stick with quality - because we strongly believe in creating and sharing quality content that we hope can entertain, enrich and educate, thereby providing value to our listeners. ✨ So once again, thank you for supporting our unsponsored (no ads!), unfunded (only fuelled by our love for podcasts, sharing stories and @yakunkayatoastsg breakfast sets) and unserious (okay la, maybe somewhat serious) podcast! 🙏🏻 P.S. This is us at our favourite spot putting in the work and staying consistent with the weekly routine - 11am weekly check-in, breakfast (for champions) and podcast content creation before a solid training session at @fieldassembly !

Finally caught up with the OG gang that has hung around for what seems like our 18th year together - it's cool to see how much life has changed, and how all of us are in very different seasons of our lives. Thank you @casualchaser001 for the delicious feast and the unexpected gifts - I may have unintentionally wiped the floor with Moltres (RIP) on my first Pokémon Yellow version playthrough in primary school (my Pikachu was a bit too overpowered 😅), but hey, I guess he lives on happily with his buddies Zapdos and Articuno on my bookshelf now! In the meantime, please take care everyone, and I'll catch y'all again soon! (Also, catch you at the next one @national.eater 🫡)

Throwback to when @machakevv shared a day in the life of a prison officer with @chuaenlai on @channelnewsasia ! 🫡 Swipe to hear a short snippet of our first @ehhowahpodcast episode where we talk about how he became a Captain of Lives - there's so much more to his origin story, so head on over to the link in our bio to listen to the rest of the episode! 🎙️🎧 Video credits: @channelnewsasia