SINGAPORE — Television host Dominic Lau describes his relationship with his trainer, Yasir Harun, as “a love-hate relationship”.

“He loves ‘legs day’, I hate it,” said Lau, who works out at Pure Fitness Asia Square, where Yasir is a personal trainer.

“I met Yasir while I was working out one day. It wasn’t a planned personal training session — he just took the time to come over, introduce himself and give me pointers on my form and technique,” said the 35-year-old.

Yasir said: “I noticed he had been doing the same exercises (over time). I wanted to share new techniques and exercises that I felt would give him a different perspective on his training.”

That was five years ago. Now, they have a regular thing going.

Yasir, 45, is not a lenient trainer. Lau describes him as a “no-nonsense guy”, but one who makes you feel at ease.

“His jokes are terrible,” said Lau. “But training with him has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

He added that Yasir has taught him to “leave my ego at the door”. Even when Lau is working out, outside of a personal training session, Yasir may spot him doing something incorrectly.

“Yas may come over and berate me,” said Lau. “He’s always on my case, which is good.”

It is such training that has led to results. Lau said that when he first walked into the gym, he was a “scrawny little guy”.

Today, he is no monster, but is lean, toned, and pretty darned ripped. He has even competed in events such as Reebok’s Spartan Race.

Because Lau has a busy schedule that requires him to fly out of Singapore frequently, “I make sure I maximise his sessions by doing a lot of full-body and metabolic conditioning workouts”, said Yasir.

That means that the trainer has Lau gravitating towards exercises that yield the fastest results by combining functional training and compound movements.

“Think high-intensity moves for maximum strength,” Yasir said. “I try to switch up his routines to keep things exciting. One moment, it’s a Strongman method type of training, where he’s doing Sled Pushes or even a Farmer’s Walk; another moment, it could be circuit-based exercises. The idea is to keep him guessing as to what he’s going to do for the day, and not let his body get used to any one type of workout.”

When overseas, Lau uses moves that Yasir has taught him to keep in shape.

Even if he cannot find a gym, he will work out in his hotel room.

Body-weight exercises such as squats, dips using chairs and incline push-ups (with one’s feet are elevated on a chair) are three moves Lau uses frequently. Crunches or Supermans are easy body-weight exercises he incorporates as well.

Yasir is proud of such dedication, saying that Lau “makes sure to use what I’ve taught him and make the most out of what is available”.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FAITH WONG