MANILA, Philippines — It's a new year, and like many who have drafted their resolutions, they might find out that achieving these could only be done through consistency and intentionality.
Undoubtedly, many New Year's resolutions focus on losing weight after gaining quite a lot of pounds due to binge-eating holiday food. Now that everything has slowed down, it is time to hit the targets, including losing the added weight.
For celebrity coach Culver Padilla, an effective weight loss journey involves a bespoke and intentional routine that becomes a habit, and eventually a lifestyle.
Coach Culver or Kel talked to Philstar.com last year at his gym Awaken in MetroWalk Pasig.
Habit formation
Padilla admitted that when he started his fitness journey in 2010, his aim was to look good for the camera.
"When I started my fitness journey, the intention was I wanted to be an actor or model or you wanna look the part. That started in 2010," the coach said.
Padilla said that it would take years more for him to take fitness way more than looking good. It was a health scare that involved his lola that made him realize about how looking good should also be synonymous to feeling good inside.
"I'm not just a fitness coach, but I'm a habit coach. 'Yung habits kasi ang magdadala sa atin kung anuman man 'yung goal natin. Hindi lang naman 'yung goal natin, but rather kung ano man 'yung habit natin, either nagpapadala o nagpapalayo doon sa goal mo," he shared.
The coach has had a long fitness journey himself. He started with bodybuilding, got a job at a famous chain of gyms, and even joined the Century Tuna Superbods in 2016.
This opened many opportunities for him and earned him celebrity clients that include Iza Calzado, Denise Laurel, Ria Atayde and Arjo Atayde. He was even tapped to prepare Jane de Leon for the latter's role on the 2022 series "Darna."
In the same year, Culver co-founded Awaken Gym in Pasig. It is a holistic center that offers customized training for those who want to lose weight and maintain it for the long run.
"The system that we do is actually bespoke. This training is very bespoke. It's unanswerable by Google kasi hindi ka naman kilala ni Google. 'Pag in-analyze ko katawan mo, kung paano tayo magsisimula, iba. It's very personal," he said.
Habit vs fitness
Apart from his lola, the coach said his own personal health scare also prompted him to take a different perspective to overall wellbeing.
A few years back, he was into muscle and bodybuilding. One time when he was out, he had an extreme cramp that he was rushed to the hospital.
"Nag-cramp 'yung shin ko, gumapang siya sa mga quad tapos muntik siyang umangat sa chest. Sabi ko, dalhin na ako sa hospital. That happened in 2018. After that, hindi ako pinayagan mag-gym for six months," he revealed.
This further cemented his goal of transitioning from merely bodybuilding to strengthening his overall building, not just his body.
Culver explained this is where he defined the difference between a habit coach and a fitness coach.
"For me, a fitness coach is someone who will teach workouts. With habit coaches like us, more than the workouts, we teach you ways how to optimize health even when you are outside the gym. We check on your routines to optimize your movements," he said.
Culver said forming a habit is a more sustainable approach because it would be ingrained in one's system.
Small, smart choices
The coach shared one key practice he shares to his clients, which involves a fitness diary.
"Let's say in a the diary you have one hour of siesta. Let's do that but we can put in a time for short mobility exercises. The strategy is small, smart choices. If we start big, the body or you can be intimidated that could lead you not to do it.
"It's similar to eating. Let's say you take three to four meals a day. Just fixing one meal, it's okay. As simple as that, as long as there is change. It would take only consistency plus time to see the results. That's the formula. Small, smart choices plus consistency and time equals radical difference. It is called The Compound Effect," he explained.
These small steps, he assured, could lead to more productive effect in the long run.
"The intention is always getting better 1%, more than 100%. The reason behind this is because 1% is sustainable. With setting 100%, what if by tomorrow one is not inspired to give 100%? What if you're tired?" he said.
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