M (20)

64 MUSCLE & FITNESS JUNE 2016

Through his methodical
instruction, Tuinauvai has also
added further punch to the
World Cup-challenging Tongan
National rugby league side’s
imposingly physical style of play.
Like many of the athletes he
now instructs, Tuinauvai’s
remarkable career was founded
upon humble beginnings.
“I just started with the average
football player, as a Fitness First PT,”
says the respected coach. “My first
client was a gridiron player coming
back from an ACL injury. It’s only
been in the last four or five years that
my career has really started to grow

• all these athletes and teams have
  started to hit me up for my services.”
  A turning point for Tuinauvai
  came in 2009 – the year the
  Melbourne Storm under-20 side
  enlisted his expertise to build a
  stronger, faster team.
  “I volunteered for the Storm
  for two years to get my foot in
  the door,” says Tuinauvai. “This
  led to the Tongan National rugby
  league team gig. Scott Harding
  is where the gridiron opened up.
  Off all these branches is where
  basketball came in, and boxing.

I recently started working with

current number-one Australian

pound for pound, bantamweight

and featherweight MMA fighter

Rodolfo Marques.”

THE RIGHT MINDSET

Like all good coaches, Tuinauvai

has devised a successful formula

based on both personal experience

and a scientific understanding of

human performance. An ability

to identify weaknesses, both

mental and physical, and an

insistence on rigorous fitness

testing and self-discipline inside

and outside the gym has gained

him the trust many elite athletes.

“I’m really big on identifying

weaknesses and looking for

imbalances,” he says. “For example,

quads versus hamstrings, posterior

versus anterior muscle groupings.”

Tuinauvai is also the Strength-

and-Conditioning coach for

Prokick Australia, an organisation

which assists Australian athletes

to become American football

standouts. “Attention to detail

when it comes to targeting the

smaller muscles a lot of trainers

neglect is what helps my athletes

get to that next level,” he says.

“Take the rotator cuff muscles. In

contact sport these are significantly

impacted with all the tackles and

hard hits. And hamstrings and

VMO [vastus medialis oblique,

“I had to learn how

to walk again and

that was my drive

to get back into it.”

BUILDING CHAMPS

American football player

Eneasi Kavapalu gets

put through his paces.