BY Fresh from surpassing his personal best by three seconds on his first outing representing Team Singapore in the 1500m event at the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam – budding national track and field athlete and Decathlon Ambassador Ethan Yan was already back to his weekly training routine when we caught him for a quick chat.
Ethan’s passion for running started at a young age when his parents would take him out for family runs and the occasional local race. It was no surprise that he eventually decided to join his primary school’s track and field team and subsequently went on to compete - and excel - at multiple Singapore National Schools Championships from primary three up to junior college, even representing the nation twice at the ASEAN School Games in 2018 and 2019. The rest is history.
He has always resonated with Decathlon on a personal level – appreciating the wide range of products Decathlon offers as well as the low barrier of entry to performance training equipment for athletes of all abilities and background. As a competitive athlete, the training he undergoes weekly places immense stresses on his body - to avoid injuries and speed up post training recovery, the first product that he started using in 2018 was the Decathlon small massage ball - which helped him target and massage tight muscles or deep tissues from the upper back down to the feet, something a conventional foam roller would not be able to access.
Ethan’s current strength and conditioning routine consists of basic weight exercises that include a variation of squats, lunges, and step ups done every Monday and Thursday evening after a hard interval session on the track. There is also a strong emphasis on body weight exercises such as push ups, planks, and sit-ups coupled with a hip muscle activation and strengthening routine that is diligently completed almost every day of the week. He is a huge fan of the DOMYOS fitness resistance bands and yoga mats that he uses on a regular basis during these routines – owing to the versatility of the triple band pack, which allows the user to gradually build up their strength and progress over time and is easy to pack in your workout bag to supplement pre / post run movements.
Training in Singapore’s hot and humid conditions is a major pain point for all endurance athletes residing here and this is no different for him. He generally leans to apparels and shoes that are comfortable to train or race in, with high priority placed on them being lightweight and breathable. His choice of apparels are Kiprun Care Breathe Running T-Shirt and Kiprun Light+ Running Shorts while his choice of shoe is the KD800 – a light and responsive shoe build for speed and with a breathable upper. Whether it’s a speed interval session or hill repeats the shoe’s dynamic cushioning and excellent grip even at top speed thanks to the new sole geometry and rubber design makes it a very effective trainer.
With his first SEA Games experience post pandemic under his sleeve, the eye-opening experience of rubbing shoulders with many professional athletes and top runners in the region whom he got to interact with and learn more from, about training and racing at the highest level – will certainly push him to greater heights as he continues to hone his craft.
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