In 2008, I started my fitness journey joining the local school gym in hopes of building a reasonable stature and join the brotherly community the gym offered. I wasn’t a very confident kid. I was 60kgs soaking wet and predisposed by mainstream media in regards to my ethnicity stereotypes and traits; being skinny, timid, obedient, socially lack. I saw myself heading towards this stereotype hence I picked the lowest hanging fruit to change, my body. Little did I know this pursuit would lead me to trials and tribulations which has grown me for the better.
After a year of training, I was still hungry for knowledge about the body, wanting to learn more. In 2010 whilst completing high school I decided to split my time and do a personal training course. In early 2011 I enrolled in Bachelor of Human Nutrition, knowing that I had the arsenal of knowledge from my studies, lecturers and co-students, I started eating the conventional way still in the pursuit of getting bigger, stronger and leaner.
Throughout the year I kept on dieting, playing around with conventional way of eating and caloric surplus. I ended up at an unhealthy body composition of 21.8% body fat. Additionally, my blood test results showed an increase in risk of diabetes & cardiovascular disease. Being unsure of what to do I sought guidance and met Mark Ottobre.
As a university student studying Human Nutrition, Mark’s knowledge and lifestyle plan was controversial and different from what the conventional diet recommends. Sceptical, yet I listened 100% to his advice. In early 2012 Mark got me from being unhealthy and a body-fat of 21.8% to a healthy 13% body fat in a mere 3 months, then 9.8%for my first bodybuilding competition.
This lead to Mark being one of my first mentors and I started working under him as a personal trainer. After completing my Bachelor of Human Nutrition in 2014 and qualifying as a Nutritionist I kept working in Enterprise Fitness. Testing out diet strategies on myself and others, coaching clients in reaching their health and fitness goals.
In 2015 I had the itch to step on stage again and decided to leave no stone unturned. This lead me to doing a one year prep and achieving 4th place in IFBB Vics and 1st place Amateur Olympia IFBB Gold Coast in the Novice Men’s Physique Division. Through the process of competing, I had to personally break down a food disorder I had created for myself during my prep and I did so successfully.
In 2016 I decided to resign my position as a Master coach in Enterprise Fitness and pursue growth in a more worldly manner hence leaving Melbourne and embarking to Dubai. In my 4 year stint, I’ve worked with clients from all ranges of life, from competitors, general population to health complicated individuals. I was eventually hired as a private personal trainer & nutrition advisor to some of the members of the Royal family of Dubai and eventually perusing rehab and manual therapy under their support.
In 2019, I decided to work for myself and started doing personal training, nutrition consults and manual therapy in Dubai. This lead me to doing manual therapy for top international amateur and professional bodybuilders. Whilst doing work on these top bodybuilders in which I can now call good friends, I was immersed into the sport and had the opportunity to observe and learn more on how they got to the pinnacle of their sports.
In 2020 I came back to Melbourne, Australia. Now with a true arsenal of experiences and education from my adventure. As mentioned the trial and tribulations of my own journey has grown me. Without being in the trenches of competing and working with many others, I would not have learnt the ability to guide others.
In the coaching and education process of training and nutrition, I integrate the psychology of the client to help create habits for a healthy mindset in regard to pursuing one’s health and fitness goals.
Have a listen to a podcast I did with Mark Ottobre on food psychology, food culture and nutritional dogma below:
I specialise in transformation, body composition, comp prep and teaching people how to have a scientifically-good relationship with food. Hit the Book an Appointment button to enquire about training with me.
Marshall Tan
Qualification & Furthur Education
- Cert 3 & 4 Fitness, Australian Institute of Fitness
- Bachelor of Human Nutrition, Major in Human Physiology (LTU, Melbourne, Aus)
- Level 1 Poliquin BioSignature Practitioner
- Level 2 Poliquin BioSignature Practitioner
- Applied Muscle Testing (Bio-Reflective Analysis) Practitioner
- Canadian Centre for Strength and Conditioning (CCSC), Andre Benoit Hypertrophy Academy
- Milos Sarcev 3 day Training Camp
- Clean Health PT Internship Level 1, 2 & 3
- Enterprise Fitness Internship, Level 1 & 2
- John Meadow IFBB Pro, 4 day Training Camp
- Tom Platz 3 Day Muscle Camp
- Raynor Massage Therapy by David Raynor, London
- Mindhacker Level 1, Hibabal Faqih, Dubai
- NeuroKinetic Therapy Level 1, Dubai
