Strength for Community
MobCoach Profiles: Shawn Yong
(Photo: Shawn Yong)
Mobilus’ General Manager Shawn Yong may seem intimidating at first glance, but as anyone who has been coached by Shawn knows, his passion for good movement and generosity with knowledge reveal a coach who cares about serving his community. The husband and father of two is one of the co-owners of CrossFit Mobilus, and pioneered the MobStrong program for the gym.
This month, we sat down with Shawn to find out more about his journey as an owner and coach with Mobilus.
What’s something you do that might surprise people?
I have a lot of children’s games in my phone that were meant for my kids… that’s until I started playing them myself and got defensive of my avatar when my son used up all the gems I worked so hard to collect..What is your biggest coaching pet peeve?
It used to be being asked the very question to which I had just finished explaining… but it doesn’t bother me that much now when you deal with kids… I think what bothers me the most now is when I do not have control over the music. I feel a lot less equipped when that happens.What is your favourite song/music to workout to?
I started wearing headphones for my bodybuilding sessions recently. I guess most people will think I’m on metal or some heavy edm during my heavy sets… but what actually happens half the time is I’m just using the noise cancellation to quieten the background noise and chatter in the gym. The other half of the time, I’m definitely on some korean love songs. Ha!
Shawn: My name is Shawn. I'm the General Manager at Mobilus, coming from my role previously as Head Coach Clarke Quay. I'm married (time wise) to my two lovely kids, Luke and Emma and I'm the biggest child in the family that this beautiful woman called Cassandra needs to take care of.
I’ve noticed that you post your reflections on fatherhood quite often on Instagram. Could you tell us more about how you’ve grown since having kids?
I’ve seen myself change in a lot of ways. I used to be a lot more quick, hot tempered. Like a knee jerk reaction kind of guy. I didn’t give myself a lot of time to assess things before I expressed myself. But I think I started becoming a lot more aware when I realized my firstborn at around two or three was starting to reflect some of those knee jerk reactions, and I suddenly became very conscious…so that to me, was a good thing. Through fatherhood…I’ve become more mature.
Do you think that your growth as a father has had an impact on your coaching?
Shawn: Wah a great deal…I certainly found myself after having kids to be a lot more patient with beginners, and how I used to coach– I think I easily overwhelm them with information and after having kids I kind of realized… simplifying things down to executable tasks is the easiest way to help them through, and not overload them with information. As much as I can now, I try not to use complex jargon.
Shawn and family. (Photo: Shawn Yong)
As a kid, sports came naturally to Shawn, and he grew up hanging out on the basketball court most days after school. From primary school to his tertiary education, Shawn played team sports, but it was in polytechnic that he caught the gym bug.
How did you move from team sports to gym?
Shawn: Gym was something I naturally picked up- it’s one of those vanity things, wanting to look better…tertiary is also where I met my wife and also Edwin…he was very active...
Shawn’s girlfriend (now wife) Cassandra introduced him to Edwin– now a fellow coach and co-owner of Mobilus. The two became gym bros, training together regularly.
Shawn: We became regular gym buddies…Edwin and I had been wanting to get shredded for the longest time during our poly years. We worked out a lot in the gym and we did bulk, but never shredded. It was an ongoing effort– despite never succeeding.
Edwin chanced upon CrossFit…I remember it was an ad that he showed me– it was for Adidas, featuring Chris Spealler and Heather Bergeron. We were so drawn to what he did and his physique that we immediately went looking for a CrossFit gym in Singapore.
Shawn (right), with Edwin, Richmond and members of Mobilus. (Photo: Shawn Yong)
Shawn and Edwin trained at CrossFit Hub for about two years before they decided to drop in on a small group that was running CrossFit classes in a borrowed space in the Singapore Weightlifting Federation. After joining the group as regular members and building a friendship with original owners Joshua Kwah and James Lu, the two of them, along with Richmond were invited to be a part of the Mobilus team.
Shawn: Ed, Richmond and I attended a class at Mobilus back then when it was still operating in the training facility of the old SWF (Singapore Weightlifting Federation).
It wasn't long before we were involved in a conversation with the owners (Joshua and James) about expanding Mobilus after we became regular members. It was an easy decision to be a part of the team because Joshua and James were two of the smartest people we had ever met. We were also equally excited by the idea that we no longer needed to pay for membership.
Over the years as Mobilus grew, the team needed to adapt to the changing needs of members. Designed with a focus on building strength in compound movements, MobStrong was borne out of a need to provide more basic strength training for members to supplement their CrossFit training.
(Photo: Shawn Yong)
Shawn: Naturally we found that a strength specific class would benefit some of the newer guys who didn’t have the opportunity…it was borne out of necessity…someone had to go look into a strength program and that task fell upon me.
My interest in Strength training was born purely out of purpose. Back when I started taking programming responsibility for classes, establishing strength training principles was probably the most important thing in ensuring effectiveness, rationality and safety. As I dove deeper into the topic, I became drawn by the knowledge behind simple compound exercises. It taught me this saying "How you do one thing is how you do everything".
With a breadth of content available surrounding strength training, Shawn’s approach to identifying good programming was to test it out himself before programming it for member.
Shawn: I was only really assured of what worked when I tried it myself…
From there, for a good 7 or 8 years, strength was my main thing…I would come in and press, squat and deadlift for most of my training…
I remember when I started, I was squatting maybe 140 kg, and I brought myself up to 189 kg which was my highest peak…after two children, I no longer know how much I can squat (haha).
Beyond his contribution in developing the MobStrong program for Mobilus, Shawn is interested in making strength training accessible for all. He started recognizing the long term relevance of strength training when he began taking on older clients.
Shawn: Strength training is super important for anyone past their 30s…that’s where you stop growing like a young person…quality of life is tied to muscle mass…the more muscle mass you can carry into your silver years, the better quality of life you can keep enjoying…
I think if we just take a closer look at some of the examples you see of the elderly around us, you will find very similar stories, with everyone…an aunty, and uncle, or touch wood- even parents who fell and fractured their hips and everything goes downhill really quickly…once you’re injured and no longer able to move as much, you also lose the ability to preserve your muscle mass. And that robs you of your independence.
In April 2022, Shawn hosted a ‘Bring Your Parents Day’, welcoming Mobilus members to bring their parents or elderly loved ones to the gym. Shawn coached participants through a simple workout and educated them on some key aims of exercise to empower them with better independence.
Participants of bring your parents day 2023 at Mobilus Chinatown.
Mobilus New Bahru
With Mobilus’ third location opening in July, we asked Shawn about the new gym. Shawn shared that with Mobilus New Bahru, the goal was to provide a space for more people to enjoy Mobilus’ programs.
Situated within the latest Lo & Behold Group’s new venture - New Bahru, Mobilus New Bahru is Mobilus Singapore’s third outlet, located at 46 Kim Yam Road, #05-06, Singapore 239351. This new outlet will be offering functional fitness classes programmed for more accessibility, along with new versions of the existing MobBuild, MobEngine and MobStrong classes, designed to make full use of the freshly outfitted space.
Multi-functional cable machines at Mobilus New Bahru.
Shawn: New Bahru is our first expansion that is a little different from what we usually do…we are known as a CrossFit box, but New Bahru is a condensed version of what we’ve developed over the years. We wanted to see if this new concept in a smaller area can still allow people to enjoy functional fitness, with a slightly lower barrier to entry. The usual intensity will still be there, but with less of the higher skill movements and heavy weights.
What are you looking forward to with the new space?
Shawn: I’m looking forward to new people and new opportunities. I think one of the most exciting things about opening up a new gym is you really wonder what kind of people you’ll meet and what kind of people will form the community– cause a lot of that we think we have control over, but we really don’t. It’s really an organic process when it comes to the community…I’ll say, with Clarke Quay and Chinatown we’re super lucky that almost all the people we’ve met are really good people– like everyone supports each other in and out of the box, they make new friends, make long lasting friendships here. Some met their lifetime partners here– I think it’s really amazing and I hope we get to see that with New Bahru.
Mobilus New Bahru
Mobilus New Bahru is now having an opening promo from now till 11 Aug 2024. Get 10% off your memberships + additional weeks when you sign a 6/12 months upfront membership! Find out more here.
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