173
‘‘I f
I’d known it was going to
be this hardcore, honestly,
I might not have done
it,” says Sabrina Fung-
Lam, scion of the Hong
Kong-based global trading
behemoth Fung Group, as
we discuss the punishing
exercise regime she embarked upon two years
ago. Glowing and animated, with an athletic
physique, it’s hard to imagine the woman
before me could once have needed an overhaul,
but for Sabrina, these past 24 months have seen
dramatic lifestyle changes.
“It just started out as a typical, ‘Let’s get
a trainer, let’s get fit,’” says Sabrina, recalling
how the struggle to return to optimum weight
after her third child provided the motivation
to make a change. The personal trainer
recommended by a friend, however, turned out
to be anything but typical in his methods. “My
friend was looking good so I just asked him
for the name and number of his trainer and I
booked myself in. He didn’t tell me that it was
going to be super intense two-hour sessions
during which you’re not allowed to drink water
or wipe your sweat with a towel.”
The founder of Asia Performance Training,
Anson Cha—or Coach AC, as he prefers to
be called—has Sabrina on a gruelling regime
of daily sessions that last two to three hours.
These can consist of anything from indoor
weights work to cardio and obstacle courses
in the park, and even running up The Peak
wearing three layers of thermals in 32 degree
heat. “As someone who never used to drop an
ounce of sweat two years ago to now being
able to go trail running for four hours under
the strong sun and thunderstorms at midday,
Sabrina has demonstrated that willpower and
hard work can produce endurance,” says Coach
AC. While the workouts vary, they are all high
intensity and are undertaken every day without
fail. No excuses.
“A workout tends to be the first thing that
most people cancel each day,” says Sabrina,
“but I organise my day around my training.” On
the advice of one of her father’s fitness-focused
friends, she has learned to be unashamed
about giving exercise absolute priority on her
calendar. “He told me you put it in your diary
and when people ask if you are free at that
time, you just say you’re not. It sounds simple,