From a self-described Biology geek to fabulous fitness trainer, Raifanna Buntar found her calling thanks to gym buddies and competing in Crossfit and weightlifting. She’s dived into her role as a personal trainer and co-founder of the popular women-only ‘Ladies Strength and Sweat’ class at the PEAK family club, and mot recently as a new mum to her daughter who made a starring role in her Instagram workout and weightlifting videos as the unmistakable baby bump. Although she is certainty not the first or only woman to be working out during pregnancy, her dedication to doing so while building and supporting a safe women’s gym space with the motto that ‘movement is for everyone’, is admirable. We sat down with the petite force to be reckoned with, for a chat about all things health, happiness and motherhood.
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Really nice to meet you! You impressively documented your first pregnancy journey on social media where you were not only working out well into it but also weightlifting. It was genuinely inspiring to see. What are your reflections looking back on that period?
Raifanna Buntar: Honestly before I got pregnant, I didn’t have much knowledge about pregnancy and fitness so I was kind of scared. Because, you know fitness is like my life. I’m always at the gym or working out. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to do the things I used to do. I knew of a few ladies who went to the gym during pregnancy. But I only had the basic knowledge of their practices like lowering weight limits or not doing things as extreme. I did take some time to process things at the start and it was definitely quite scary. But along the way, you kind of accept it and learn your body better. During the first few weeks of being pregnant, it was just about leaning my body, symptoms and researching things before I actually did any weightlifting. I guess other people maybe didn’t share their journey as much so I guess that’s why people were quite surprised when they saw me doing it. But actually, it’s fine to continue as long as your doctor says it’s okay. And that you don’t have any complications in your pregnancy. It also depends with how you were before pregnancy. If you were pretty fit then you probably can do 60 to 70% of what you were doing. As much as I want to lift heavy weights, I know I have a little human being in my body that I’m responsible for. I’m not taking myself away from doing something that I love and am passionate about but at the same time, I’m not being selfish not to think of my new responsibility as well so it’s a lot of balancing it out.
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Were you kind of surprised at how much you were able to achieve still?
Raifanna Buntar: Yeah, actually I’m quite surprised, I really didn’t know much, I just thought, you’d get a bump and have some symptoms. Some people might see those work out posts and go “Oh! That’s heavy and she’s doing it while pregnant”. It looks scary to others but everyone is different. I believe that a lot of the things we go through during pregnancy are also because of our mentality. If you believe that the pain or symptoms are going to stop you from doing things then that’s how it is. And of course, I understand that we need to know when to rest or push ourselves a well. I’d say, for me, I just tested things out.
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You mentioned that being pregnant and going through your fitness journey at the same time was very humbling for you. Is that sort of reflective of that?
Raifanna Buntar: Yeah, definitely. I think during pregnancy was okay actually. I think I feel like I still have my strengths during pregnancy. Postpartum was much harder because that’s when I rested a longer time. I worked out throughout my pregnancy and during postpartum, I has seven weeks of no workouts at all. After that, I just started out with like really light weights, much lighter than during pregnancy even. When I just started going by to the gym, holding 2.5kg dumbbell didn’t motivate me because it was still so early after giving birth. So, you know, you have to give yourself a little break. For someone who is very competitive like me, I can be quite impatient but you learn that you just gave birth and you know that your body is still recovering. I believe that this is just a season where your body is recovering and you have something else to prioritise other than fitness and my baby grows up, I can go back to fitness and I can be who I was again. I’m three month postpartum and I feel like only recently, that I like how I feel at the gym and how I look in the mirror. It takes time for some people, it might be quicker or longer to get there.
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Speaking of balance, how do you find balance now?
Raifanna Buntar: I’m still trying to figure out and not stress about it. There’s gonna be a lot of trial and error. At the moment, I’m still trying to balance my schedule and last year when I just got back to the gym, at first it was tough and then it was okay about two months into postpartum. I was only doing classes twice a week so it wasn’t much. I started taking Personal Training clients this year but again, still not as much. I feel like it’s still quite tough now with managing Personal Training and taking care of my baby at home — and also finding time for myself as well. I thought it would be fine. But the plan right now doesn’t seem like it’s working and that’s okay. I need to figure out how else I can manage my time; work and also take care of my baby. I think it helps even if you have a busy day or it’s chaotic at home, you do need to still find time going out for yourself; go out, do things. When you get back home, I feel like things will be better, smoother.
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You mentioned that you were quite a competitive person. What exactly is it about, the element of competition that you loved of gravitate towards?
Raifanna Buntar: I don’t think I’m an athletic person to start with. I was more of an academic person at school. If I join competitions, it’s not really about winning for me. I will try my best of course but other than that, I think for me it’s the elements of challenging yourself mentally and physically. Like how you handle the workout that is given to you, or how you handle situations under stress, and if things don’t go as planned. If it didn’t go well, you learn a lot of things from just going to competitions, besides winning.
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And how has learning to handle loss competitively helps you with things with life as a whole? Was there a particular loss competitively or personally that you found especially challenging to handle?
Raifanna Buntar: Whatever I learnt, when during competitions, definitely helped me with my everyday life. When I encounter negative situations, I know how to handle things and my emotions better. How else do I say it? I guess there are times when I compete within a group as well. There’s that pressure of doing good for yourself, and there’s also another pressure to do well for the team, right? I think there will be times when you feel like you tried your best, but you ended up not doing well for the team. And you’re scared of disappointing other people. But when it comes to teamwork you need to understand that we need to understand each other. Everyone works together; they planned out who’s going to do what, and if things don’t work out it’s just not your fault. If you have a good team, they will be understanding. You have to try to not blame yourself too much.
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You seem to have to have this very open attitude towards life. Where does that come from? Is that a conscious thing?
Raifanna Buntar: Yeah. Honestly, I don’t know. You create something, it’s nice and it makes you happy. It’s the same thing with working out – it makes you happy because you work hard for it and you get the results. Same thing with creating things. You find something, you learn about it, you try to do it, and then try to fix it, make it better and then at the end make something nice, something pretty, and it just feels nice. I’m the type to want to see results
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So, between patience, consistency and trust, which of those three for you has been the most difficult to master? And what instances did you feel like you were taught the biggest lessons about yourself in relation to that?
Raifanna Buntar: I think in different parts of my life, I’ve been tested by all of those. Patience for me, is the hardest. I don’t think I’m a very patient person. (Laughs) Especially at the start, when you just started working out and you see other people already so fit and strong. I think at that time I was quite new and I would say I was immature, wanting to get to the same level with other people who’ve been at it for a long time. I’d get really frustrated when I didn’t reach the same level as others because when it comes to CrossFit, it gets very competitive right? But I learnt along the way that it’s okay to just do things at your own pace and time. I think now, I kind of understand better that patience is necessary if you wanna see results. Especially now with postpartum, right? I know I need to set my expectations, and that it could take longer for me to get back to who I was before. But I believe that I can. I think consistency is more towards if I have a busy schedule, so I need to balance it out again. But for me, it’s okay if you’re not consistent at first as long as you don’t give up.
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Okay, so in terms of moving from being on your personal fitness journey, towards being a personal trainer, is there anything that you have changed in terms of your mindset towards fitness as a whole?
Raifanna Buntar: When I first started out, I was exposed to the competitive side of CrossFit where people focused on challenging and pushing their limits, while working out with a group of people who just did it to stay fit and healthy. So I was exposed to both types of fitness and I think that was a good balance for me to see that actually it doesn’t always have to be always about competition or lifting the heaviest. I think that helped me to be who I am as a personal trainer now as I understand both sides. When people come to me I need to understand who they are, what type of person they are – are they the type who want to push themselves or do they just want to learn to stay healthy and find what works for them.
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Yeah. As a trainer, how do you approach your sessions?
Raifanna Buntar: For the ladies’ class, definitely I want them to feel safe and confident. One is for them to feel safe when they work out, and then I want them to actually feel the benefits of working out so they feel strong, more energetic, satisfied and feel good. And after a few sessions I hope they feel more confident with coming to the gym and working out, and touching the dumbbell or barbell cause I know quite a number of ladies are still scared of lifting weights.
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Okay, so, I know you love fitness but not all fitness is fun. Is there a particular exercise or fitness routine that you lowkey don’t enjoy.
Raifanna Buntar: I think I mentioned I’m not really a patient person so I’d say yoga or rehab, mobility and stability work for your joints, and everything like that is quite slow and requires a lot of patience. I struggle with it a bit but I know it’s beneficial for me. I think that’s what helps me to still do it even though I don’t like It haha! If you want to lift heavy, you need to have strong shoulders and healthy hips so, you do need to do the mobility and muscle stability work. Yoga is good, so I do it from time to before my lifting session, to warm up properly.
