SEOJIN CHEONG
EPISODE 2: Just Another Tuesday
Last week, I shared how I left a stable career at Samsung Electronics to become a coach and pursue bodybuilding professionally. This week, I thought I'd share something much more ordinary. A Tuesday. People often imagine that preparing for Olympia means spending the entire day in the gym. The reality is a little different. I'm a freelance personal trainer, and coaching is my full-time job. Training for Olympia happens alongside it, not instead of it. Most weeks, I work six days and take one day off. Three days start at 7:00 a.m. and finish around 5:00 p.m. The other three start later, around 10:00 a.m., but don't end until 10:00 p.m. Every week looks a little different. Tuesday is one of my early mornings. My alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. By 6:00 a.m., I'm already in the car heading to the gym. Breakfast is simple. Usually a bagel and half an apple that I eat on the way to work. It's not a special pre-workout meal. It's just practical, and it works. By the time most people are starting their morning, my day is already moving. My first client arrives at 7:00 a.m. One of the things I love most about coaching is that no two people walk into the gym with the same goal. Some want to lose weight. Some want to get stronger. Some are preparing for their first bodybuilding competition. Some simply want to feel healthier than they did yesterday. Watching people put in the effort every day never gets old. Seeing someone become stronger, more confident, or achieve something they once thought was impossible is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. I spend a lot of time teaching, but coaching has taught me just as much. It reminds me that progress doesn't come from motivation. It comes from showing up, even on the days when you don't feel like it. Especially during uncertain economic times, I never take my work for granted. Every client who chooses to spend their time training with me is someone who has placed their trust in me. That's something I genuinely appreciate every single day. Between coaching sessions, I eat, recover, and train. Most of my meals are prepared in advance. Nothing complicated. Usually rice, tilapia, and roasted vegetables. As I've been preparing for the Fit Model division, my nutrition has changed a little too. I used to rely heavily on chicken breast, but these days I include more fish, lean meat, and tofu. Tilapia has become one of my favorite choices because it's a lean source of high-quality protein, easy to digest, and fits well into my contest prep. More importantly, eating a wider variety of foods makes my nutrition easier to maintain over the long term. Contest prep isn't about finding one perfect food. It's about building habits you can repeat consistently. Training has changed as well. Over the years, I've experimented with four-day and five-day splits, but recently I've simplified everything. Right now, I'm following an upper body and lower body split. On busier days, I train one session. If time allows, I'll train lower body earlier in the day and upper body later. The split itself isn't the important part. The important part is knowing what my body needs. Every training block starts with the same question. "What do I need to improve right now?" Instead of spending more time on the things I'm already good at, I try to focus on the areas that still need work. Preparing for Fit Model has taught me that progress often comes from paying attention to small details. Cardio is another part of my routine. Most days, I run outdoors for 8 to 10 kilometers. I enjoy running outside because it gives me a chance to slow my mind down. Looking at the trees, the streets, and the changing weather helps me reset after a busy day of coaching. Sometimes I don't think about training at all. I simply enjoy running. When the weather isn't ideal, I'll use the treadmill or the StairMaster for about an hour. And yes... Netflix usually keeps me company. It makes long indoor cardio sessions go by much faster. By the time everything is finished, it's usually around 10:00 p.m. When I get home, the first thing I see is my dog waiting at the door. No matter how long my day has been, spending a little time playing or going for a walk together is probably the most relaxing part of my evening. After that, I tidy up the house, prepare for the next day, and finally slow things down. Most nights, I go to bed sometime between midnight and 1:00 a.m. A few hours later, the alarm rings again. People sometimes ask me how I stay motivated. The honest answer is that I don't. Not every day. Some mornings I'm tired. Some workouts feel great. Others don't. I've learned that motivation comes and goes. Habits are what stay. I don't think Olympia is built on one incredible workout or one perfect day. It's built on ordinary days that are repeated over and over again. Days like this Tuesday. Nothing dramatic. Nothing extraordinary. Just doing the work. And then doing it again tomorrow. Thanks for spending a Tuesday with me. See you next week. — Seojin Cheong Behind the Stage One thing I've learned from coaching is that everyone has days when they don't feel like training. My clients do. I do too. The difference is rarely talent. It's simply deciding to show up anyway. This Week's Lesson Consistency isn't exciting. Most of the time, it looks ordinary. But ordinary days, repeated often enough, create extraordinary results. Olympia Countdown Current Focus Building a balanced Fit Model physique while continuing to improve my presentation on stage. Current Challenge Finding the right balance between coaching, training, recovery, and everyday life. Current Reminder Small improvements matter more than perfect days. Next Episode I've competed in nearly 40 bodybuilding competitions. Next week, I'll share why I decided to leave the Bikini division, what Fit Model has taught me, and why becoming a beginner again was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Behind the Stage & This Week's Lesson
Behind the Stage People often ask me what the hardest part of preparing for Olympia is. Most expect me to say the training. Or the diet. Or the cardio. But honestly? The hardest part is learning to be patient. Progress rarely happens overnight. Sometimes you spend weeks working on something as small as a single pose, a slight adjustment in balance, or a little more confidence on stage. Most people will never notice those changes. But I will. And that's enough to keep me moving forward. This Week's Lesson Sometimes the biggest risk isn't leaving a comfortable life. The biggest risk is staying in one that no longer helps you grow. Olympia Countdown Current Focus Building a balanced, elegant Fit Model physique while continuing to grow as both an athlete and a coach. Biggest Reminder Consistency will always take you further than motivation. Next Episode What does a real Olympia prep day actually look like? Next week, I'll take you through one ordinary day—from fasted cardio before sunrise to coaching clients, training, recovery, and everything in between. Because championships aren't built on competition day. They're built on ordinary Tuesdays.
The Life I Never Planned
"The stage is only a moment. The journey lasts a lifetime." If someone had told me ten years ago that I would be preparing for the Olympia stage, I probably would have laughed. Back then, my life looked completely different. I wasn't a coach. I wasn't a professional athlete. And I certainly wasn't planning to compete in bodybuilding. I was an Information Technology major at university, and after graduation I spent seven years working as a UX Designer in Samsung Electronics' Mobile Communications Division. My job was to understand people. Every day, I designed digital experiences that would make technology feel more natural, intuitive, and meaningful. It was a career that many people dream of having. A respected company. A stable future. A comfortable life. Everything looked exactly the way success is supposed to look. But every evening after work, another part of my life began. I changed out of my office clothes, put on my training shoes, and headed to the gym. At first, training was simply how I relieved stress after work. Then it became my passion. Eventually, it became the place where I felt the most like myself. Without realizing it, I had begun living two different lives. One was the life I had built. The other was the life that kept calling me. As the years passed, one question became impossible to ignore. What if the thing I truly loved wasn't the career I already had—but the one I was too afraid to choose? Leaving Samsung wasn't an easy decision. I wasn't running away from something. I was running toward something. Toward a life that felt meaningful. Toward work that allowed me to change lives face to face. Toward a dream that had quietly been growing inside me for years. So I started over. I became a fitness coach. Today, I coach women from all walks of life. Some simply want to become healthier. Some want to build confidence. Others dream of stepping onto a bodybuilding stage for the very first time. No matter where they begin, my goal is always the same—to help them discover that they are capable of far more than they imagined. But I have always believed that the best coaches never stop being students. That's why I continue to challenge myself as an athlete. Over the years, I have competed in nearly 40 bodybuilding competitions. Some ended with championships. Others ended with disappointment. Every single competition taught me something. Discipline. Patience. Humility. Resilience. Competition became my classroom. For many years, I competed in the Bikini division. I loved it. It shaped me into the athlete I am today. But as I continued growing, I realized something had changed. I was no longer chasing the leanest physique. I wasn't trying to become smaller. I wanted to build something different. Balance. Elegance. Athleticism. Strength without sacrificing femininity. Confidence without needing to prove anything. That realization led me to the Fit Model division. Ironically, becoming a beginner again was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Years of posing habits had to disappear. My physique had to change. My presentation had to evolve. I had to let go of what once made me successful in order to become something even better. That experience taught me one of the greatest lessons of my life. Growth doesn't happen when we keep doing what we're already good at. Growth begins the moment we're willing to become beginners again. In 2025, I earned my IFBB Pro Card at the Taiwan Pro Qualifier. Today, I am preparing for the biggest stage of my career. The Olympia. People often ask if Olympia has always been my dream. The truth is… Olympia isn't my dream. It's the result. It's the result of thousands of ordinary days. Early mornings. Late-night training sessions. Missed social events. Long flights. Countless meals. Injuries. Failures. Self-doubt. Small improvements that nobody noticed. Choosing consistency when motivation disappeared. Olympia isn't one decision. It's thousands of small decisions repeated over many years. Alongside bodybuilding, I also compete in HYROX. At first, many people didn't understand why I wanted to do both. Bodybuilding taught me precision. HYROX taught me resilience. One challenges every detail of my physique. The other challenges every limit of my mind. Together, they've made me not only a better athlete, but also a better coach. This blog isn't here to show perfect photos. Instagram is already full of those. Here, I want to share everything that happens before the lights come on. The training sessions that don't go as planned. The days when confidence disappears. The adjustments no one notices. The lessons hidden inside failure. The quiet moments that eventually become unforgettable memories. Because every athlete has a performance. But every performance has a story. And this... ...is mine. Thank you for joining me at the very beginning of this journey. I hope that by sharing both the victories and the struggles, I can remind someone that it's never too late to choose the life that truly excites you. Welcome to my Road to Olympia. — Seojin Cheong
