· By Winnie Cheung
Top 5 Personal Trainers in Hong Kong (2022) for a Healthy Body and Mind
Ready to amp up your fitness journey? Working with a personal trainer in Hong Kong can give you the structure, technique, and accountability that you need to meet your fitness goals. Whether you’re looking for a trainer to help you build muscles, or to get you back into exercise postpartum, we’ve got you covered in this article.
In a fast-paced world like Hong Kong, keeping fit can be difficult. We often shove working out to the backburner while we’re tangled up in our hectic work schedules and busy social gatherings. Not to mention that ever since Covid social restrictions, it’s been hard to keep up a consistent fitness routine.
A personal trainer can be the push that we need to take care of our body and mind. Trainers assess your current fitness level and your goals, and curate training programs that are safe and effective. They show you how to execute exercise poses correctly and give advice on your diet and nutrition. But most of all, they keep you accountable for your goals.
But no doubt, personal trainers are expensive, and you might need to jump through hoops to click with that right person. Is it worth it?
Why should you hire a personal trainer in Hong Kong?
With personal trainers, you can still get a consistent workout even if gyms are closed. You can schedule private sessions with your trainer who can then come to your apartment or a local park near your home. Some trainers even offer Zoom classes, and you can also opt for personal training apps like TodayFit, which will send you workout videos that you’ll need to complete for the day.
Having a personal trainer is also vastly different from joining a group training. Unlike group classes, trainers are personally committed to your fitness goals as much as you are. They can design personalized exercise programs according to your body type and resistance level, and even draw up diet plans and recommend supplements for you.
They’ll keep you accountable every day, and it’s just a good feeling to know that someone has your back if you feel like giving up.
All things considered, a personal trainer can be well-worth the buck if you’re ready to focus on your fitness goals and want a structured approach. If you’re still not sure, check out this article, where we break down the pros and cons of having a personal trainer further.
Once you’ve made a decision, the next step is to find out who the best fitness trainers in Hong Kong are, and to connect with the one that can offer you the right kind of training.
In the next section, we list out our top picks of personal trainers in Hong Kong, based on expertise and skills.
Top 5 best Hong Kong personal trainers
Entrusting someone with your fitness journey is a big decision. Before you do so, you’ll first need to ask yourself what kind of training you’d like (gentle and strengthening like yoga, or hot and heavy like boxing), and which trainer is an expert in that field. You’ll also need to consider the hourly or monthly price they charge, and whether they can accommodate your schedule.
We present our top picks of fitness trainers in a random order below, and you can check out their social media pages or websites to contact them directly.
1. John Chan
THE LOWDOWN
Qualifications:
Specialty: Calisthenics
Location: Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Social media: https://www.instagram.com/jc_.1208/ |
If you’re looking for at-home training with less weights and more natural exercises, calisthenics and John Chan might be the right fit for you.
John Chan, or more commonly known as JC, is a certified personal trainer with 10 years of experience. Passionate about fitness from an early age, JC received formal gymnastics training when he was only six years old. He then moved on to the tracks and fields and started playing rugby at a competitive level during his schooling years in the UK and Australia.
JC isn’t a big fan of weight training, but he specializes in calisthenics. Calisthenics is a type of strength training consisting of a range of movements aimed to train large outer muscles. This type of exercise requires minimal equipment, and is often performed rhythmically.
JC has continued to acquire new skills and knowledge so that he is equipped with the best information to provide elite coaching to his clients. He recently collaborated with Fluid X, the leading aqua bag producer, and now educates others on the benefits of training with aqua bags and how to use them properly.
Aqua bags are more light-weight, portable, and fun alternatives to weights and dumbbells. They can be used in conjunction with a variety of training types, such as instability training, strength conditioning, dance, yoga, and pilates. They’re perfect companions for calisthenics too!
2. Coco Wong
THE LOWDOWN
Qualifications:
Specialty: Pilates, Barre, HIIT
Location: Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Social media: https://www.instagram.com/copalcoco/ |
Coco Wong is a well-known Hong Kong personal trainer who co-founded Coco & the Sun, an online and in-person fitness training center with a focus on empowerment.
Coco believes that through exercise, you can break out of your comfort zone, conquer your challenges, and learn to appreciate your own body throughout the process. Her coaching philosophy is to encourage and inspire people to uncover the benefits of staying active and how it can bring a positive impact to their lives.
If you’re bored of the same old workouts and are looking for a little zest, Coco would be the best fit for you. She believes that having fun is the key to keeping up a consistent workout routine. Her studio is centered around exercises that use upbeat music, and are movement-based, like barre, pilates, and zumba.
Barre is a full body workout that blends components from ballet, yoga, and pilates. It’s a relatively low impact training that leverages small movements to tone and train muscles, especially in the legs. Coco is one of the few fitness trainers in Hong Kong that specializes in barre, and she incorporates her barre and pilates sessions with Fluid X’s aqua bags.
Coco and her business partner, Natasia, also offer other unique training like sculpt and zumba, as well as HIIT classes with Fluid X’s Cube aqua bag every Thursday night. All are centered around fun and positivity. They also offer online live classes.
Visit their website to learn more: www.cocoandthesun.com.
3. Aileen Wong
THE LOWDOWN
Qualifications:
Specialty: Boxing, HIIT, Strength Training
Location: Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Social media: https://www.instagram.com/aileenjwong/ |
Looking for a more holistic approach to health and fitness? Aileen is your gal.
Originally from Panama, Aileen Wong is an award winning certified personal trainer from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), a Group Class Instructor, and a BoxBeat HK Creator. She started her fitness career teaching spinning in Panama’s best gyms, and later moved to Hong Kong.
Aileen possesses an extensive and varied work portfolio in Hong Kong. She first worked at Torq as a personal trainer, from which she became a Certified Rebounding Instructor in Bounelimit. Then, she taught boxing, HIIT, and strength training in Lights Out Boxing Club. Currently, she teaches boxing and weight training in XP Fitness.
Aileen is also a co-founder of Mindfit HK, a coaching community that blends fitness and self-awareness to improve your wellbeing. At Mindfit, Aileen goes beyond the physical side of things, and aims to inspire you to live a healthier lifestyle and lead a kind and loving relationship with your body.
She leads her training programs on her decked out rooftop, where she works closely with her clients to make their fitness journey enjoyable. She teaches proper techniques, and creates dynamic and fun workouts, while helping her clients build confidence and treat their bodies with kindness.
Check out Mindfit HK here: www.mindfithk.com.
4. Jenny Lam
THE LOWDOWN
Qualifications:
Specialty: Martial arts, kickboxing, meditation, yoga
Location: Mid-levels, Hong Kong
Social media: https://www.instagram.com/trainwithjennyhk |
Want to jump back into a fitness routine after giving birth? Or embark on a spiritual journey of hypnotherapy and reiki? Meet Jenny Lam.
Jenny is your ultimate fitness guru with over 20 years of experience as a professional athlete and personal trainer, and over 30 qualifications in health and well-being. From having her first child at 18 to becoming a competitive kickboxer a year later, Jenny has had an exciting fitness career.
Her career highlights include being featured as a stunt woman and martial artist in Hong Kong cinema. She is also a fully-qualified global PTA (personal trainer) and a Pure Yoga Advanced Instructor, and has had both pre and post natal physical training. Jenny says her favorite clients are those who she goes on a journey together with, through marriage, pregnancy, and working with them postpartum.
After being temporarily blinded in a kickboxing fight, Jenny embarked on her meditation and spiritual journey. She completed the “Awakening the Illuminated Heart” workshop, which focuses on connecting with a higher self, healing trauma, and activating “light body”. She has also spent 300 hours of yoga training in India.
Stemming from her personal journey, Jenny now offers private training services spanning across physical exercises like kickboxing, pre and post natal training, injury recovery, and spiritual practices like hypnotherapy, neuro linguistic programming, and reiki.
You’ll be sure to flourish in a positive environment with Jenny’s playful yet mindful approach to health and fitness. Find out more on trainwithjennyhk.com.
5. Jen Mackay
THE LOWDOWN
Qualifications:
Specialty: Body composition / fat loss, HIIT, Muscle building, Functional movement
Location: The Gym, Soho, Central
Social media: https://www.instagram.com/jenmackay/ |
Whether your goals are to lose weight or to improve your lifestyle habits, Jen’s got your back.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Jen Mackay has 12 years of experience as a personal trainer and a bachelor’s degree in Sports and Exercise from Hong Kong University (HKU).
When she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition at a young age, her personal journey with fitness began. Even though Jen was thin and always active, she was on a vicious cycle of fast-food and insufficient sleep which left her feeling unhealthy.
This was when Jen realized that being healthy was not just a matter of exercising, nor of how you looked in the mirror. She believes that it is “a state of being”, both physically and mentally.
Throughout her personal coaching journey, Jen has helped her clients realize their potential through working out consistently and leading a balanced lifestyle. She believes that individuals must make the choice for themselves to take control of how they live their lives, and she will be there to guide them along the way.
Jen now works as a fitness coach at The Gym in Soho, and she also offers one-on-one personal training, small group training, corporate team building, and online coaching.
Find out more about Jen’s services here: jen-mackay.com.
Wrapping up
In this article, we’ve provided a comprehensive round up of top personal trainers in Hong Kong, who each specialize in a different type of training with unique approaches to help clients get fit. Ultimately, your decision will depend on your fitness goals and your interests.
If you’re exclusively looking for online coaching, try out the TodayFit app, an online one-on-one personal training service with Fluid X’s aqua bags. Once you download the app, you’ll get matched with your ideal personal trainer who will assess your fitness level and draw a custom training and diet program for you.
Purchase an aqua bag here and get a 7-day free trial.