Mad about her coach
Fitness trainer Malibongwe Ketelo teaches Masasa Mbangeni to find physical and mental strength after he overcame a drug addiction.
Thespian Masasa Mbangeni doesn’t hide the admiration and gratitude she feels for her personal trainer, Eastern Capeborn Malibongwe Ketelo, who she says doubles as her fitness trainer and therapist.
Ketelo became a fitness trainer on a journey to beat a drug addiction by seeking solace and sobriety in the gym.
“I started working here as a cleaner.
“I needed to shake off some addictions I had got during my early years living in Cape Town. In 2008, I moved to Joburg to seek a new start, which I found in the gym.”
While working as a cleaner in the gym, he learned how to develop his body into the machine it is today. “I was coming out of rehab and needed something new to occupy my mind. So I would clock in in the early hours of the morning so I could clock out at 1pm and start training.”
Having decided he wanted to become a qualified personal fitness trainer, Ketelo resigned from his cleaning job in September 2010 to join the gym maintenance division and acquire experience of the mechanics of the training machines.
During this time he began saving to study at the Institute of Fitness Professionals in Sandton. The course he wanted to do cost R36 000 and his salary was only R2 500. But luck was on his side and one of gym managerial staff, who had noticed his focus and dedication, organised a Virgin Active scholarship for him.
“It was one of the managers who used to see me training and the passion I had for it who gave me a scholarship, which meant I could also get promoted from being a handyman to a lifestyle consultant.”
In 2013, Ketelo achieved his goal of becoming a personal trainer, however, his greatest success isn’t what he achieved in a short space of time but rather how he did it. “My proudest moment has been deciding to seek help for my addiction and focusing my mind on bettering my life through training and fitness. All these other things are addons and proof of what can happen
Strong is the new sexy
when you put your mind to a goal.”
When Ketelo became actress Mbangeni’s personal trainer, he put his philosophy of mind power into practice again.
Mbangeni says: “My first trainer resigned and handed me over to coach, not knowing how much of a blessing that would be.”
When she’s not waxing lyrical about her trainer on social mediae, Mbangeni is in the gym with her trusted “man crush”.
“I am quite a spiritual person and believe that fitness should be holistic (involving mind, body and soul).
“What I learnt from my sessions with coach, especially our boxing training sessions, is that putting my feet firmly on the ground both in life and training allows me to effectively plan my next move without fear of being swept off my feet by life’s challenges,” she says .
For Mbangeni, who is inspired by world tennis champion Serena Williams and local actresses Hlubi Mboya and Khabonina Qubeka, “strong is the new sexy”.
“My goal for 2018 is strength, both mental and physical. Working with coach has taught me how strong I am. My endurance threshold has increased,
which reminded me of Whitney Houston’s song I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.
“It’s no longer about being lean, but about being strong, not only having muscle strength but also being strong enough to show vulnerability because there is power in letting yourself be vulnerable.
“At times I don’t want to work out so I am grateful to have a coach who doubles as a therapist and reminds me that just showing up is half the battle won.
“The rest is in the mind.”