Nana Al Haleq's journey into weightlifting
March 19, 2018
31-year-old Nana Al Haleq serves as the fitness television host for Astro, a fitness magazine advisor, celebrity icon coach for Jom Kurus 1 Malaysia, and Under Armour's ambassador for South East Asia and Malaysia in addition to her many other accomplishments.
Buff female of Javanese-Malay Chinese-Mamak mix parents; Nana Al Haleq realized she was naturally athletic at the age of five after being exposed to a variety of sports from an early age.
My mother, who was an athlete herself in the past, always encouraged my brothers and I to participate in sports, so I was extremely active as a child. I used to play badminton, run and jog. She entered trials for the 100 and 200 meter runs at the age of 12. At the time, my mother assumed it would be enjoyable for me to do. She was surprised, however, when I competed in trek and field and won the Selangor Sports Womenship Junior prize at the age of 13. During that time, I was at Taman Melawati Secondary School.” Since then, she trained hard until the age of 16 when she decided to focus on her studies. Even then, she would frequently roller blade and go ice-skating with her mum. Moving on at 18, she met a friend who was into rock climbing and soon started climbing occasionally, went hiking and travelled for fun. “At that time, I was not so much into going to the gym as I couldn’t afford a membership. However, when I secured my first job after a degree in Monash at the age of 25, I rejoiced as I could pay for gym membership and could start training.” Not before long, she met an old friend at a primary school reunion who was a trainer. One thing led to the other and she hired him as her personal trainer. I used to weigh 42 kilos. I told myself I wanted curves to resemble Jennifer Lopez. "I could see the results after six months of training, which was such an accomplishment. This increased my enjoyment of working out. Over time, her friends and personal trainer encouraged her to take action. "My friends used to claim that there aren't any strong Malay women to look up to in Malaysia. They claimed there are probably several, but they don't advertise themselves on social media. But I never thought I could influence or serve as an example for others. Nonetheless, I started publicizing my regimen and followed their recommendations. The word got out through her friends' networks, and after a year, a supplement firm called 'Be Fit Malaysia' approached her about working collaboratively to advance in the field. The 31-year-old serves as the fitness television host for Astro, a fitness magazine advisor, celebrity icon coach for Jom Kurus 1 Malaysia, and Under Armour's ambassador for South East Asia and Malaysia in addition to her many other accomplishments. She was also named one of Malaysia's top 100 sexiest ladies. |
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