How To Stay Strong | Featuring Tricia Yap | Growing Young With William Louey

In How to Stay Strong, Episode 02 of  Growing Young with William Louey, William Louey visits strength and wellness expert Tricia Yap at her Limitless studio in Central Hong Kong. Together, they explore what it truly means to be physically and mentally strong, and how building strength supports a healthy, active lifestyle at any age.

Tricia shares how personalised programmes, from lab testing and posture analysis to resistance training, can dramatically enhance longevity, mobility, and quality of life.

Together, they bust myths about ageing and exercise, highlighting how even people in their 70s can start resistance training to prevent falls, reduce pain, and build strength. William, now 66, shares personal stories that prove just that - it’s never too late to invest in your health.

Episode Transcript:

William Louey: Hello everyone, it's William Louey here again today. I'm so happy to meet Tricia. She knows everything about health and exactly how I keep myself young and healthy. And here's Tricia.

Tricia Yap: Great. Hi everyone. My name is Tricia Yap and I'm the founder of Limitless in Hong Kong. We're actually a longevity and functional medicine training concept. What we do is we create extremely personalised programmes leveraging lab testing through to posture analysis, through to DEXA scans and as well understanding how they live and the whole idea is to get them to live longer, happier and healthier.

William Louey: And look better.

Tricia Yap: And that's a coincidence? That's right.

William Louey: If you're healthy, if you're healthy, you look you.

Tricia Yap: Look good? Exactly. 

Tricia Yap: Movement is such an integral part of longevity and of health. You know, if you can't move without pain, right? We do start with the very basics right here. So number one, posture analysis is really important, right? So understanding, you know, what is, what are someone's biomechanics, right? If they're hunched over, you know, the hips are tight, they've got back pain, neck pain. Well, how can they train? So we've got, we've got to work with that first, right. First and foremost, one of the things I always see is people getting hurt.

William Louey: Yeah, yeah.

Tricia Yap: If you're injured, that means you're, you're, you're stuck 4 weeks, 6 weeks, a few months, right. And if you're always having pain, you know, as you said, it's not just training in here that's important, but it's, you know, being able to do other things, right. Go for a hike. Hong Kong is full of national parks, right? In enjoy being able to pick up kids.

William Louey: Right. You know, I'm nearly 66. I still pick up my kids. My, you know, we have this custom, you know, we went to Dubai fifteen years ago and my son was sitting on my shoulder. We took a picture, you know, on the, on the, on the desert. So we reproduce this. We reproduced it in February, and he said, Dad, can you still do it? Of course, you know, we're doing it. And then everybody at the wedding would say, well, William be careful, be careful, But I was doing it. And then my wife wants to do it, my daughter wants to do it. So we did it and.

Tricia Yap: There's a huge misconception about weight training. Yeah, right. So here in Hong Kong, people are afraid to lift heavy. So the first misconception is, if you're old, you can't lift heavy. Yeah, right. But actually that is what you need.

William Louey: That's what I'm doing. And the instructors who walk past me, Mr Louey, don't. This is dangerous. Don't do it, I said. Look, you know, I've been doing it longer than before you were born. 

Tricia Yap: You know, a very simple test for and you'll be surprised even 30 year olds can't do it, right. Is this test where you stand up and you put one foot behind the other right. And that's just foot and ankle stability. You know, the number of people that can't keep it stable. It's it's amazing. Yeah. When I, when I do, oh, when sometimes when I do these tests with even some athletes, they're their ankles are shaking. I said, ah, that's not stable. I said, if you're not strong there, how do you expect to stay upright? Pick something up from the ground. Or even squat heavy. Right. You need to do a full biomechanical assessment. Yeah, right. Even on a squat, as you know, some people have really long legs. Yeah. Some people have short. 

William Louey: Some people have a long torso.

Tricia Yap: Yeah, long torso.

William Louey: Everybody's different. 

Tricia Yap: And so the ones with the long torso, Sorry to say, you might look great. Yeah, but man, I've you know your lower back is the weak point, right?

William Louey: I must say I'm very lucky, you know, because at my age I don't have any aches and pain.

Tricia Yap: But it's because you've invested in your health. Yeah, right. That's why. And, and what I see a lot of people is they want to invest, but they're not prepared to commit. Yeah.

William Louey: Right up to now I make sure my luggage have no wheels. I always carry it. 

Tricia Yap: Really.

William Louey: I would use everyday everyday's activity as my gym. I only do weight training in the gym. I don't do running in the gym because I think I can do all the running in in the city. So these are the things that you should.

Tricia Yap: And it’s so important to walk the number of people they say you know. Do you know how many hours you spend a day sitting? Because it creates so many structural balances. It can, you know it it it makes. I call them pretzels. Then they end up in the pretzel position. And then what a lot of people do when they sit, the first thing they say, oh, I need to exercise. So you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to run. Yeah, same. Same position.

William Louey: Yeah, yeah.

Tricia Yap: Yeah, so stand, walk, move. During the day, a lot of people spend hours just sitting down like this, you know, And I said just take breaks. What's 5 minute break? Get up, stand up, do a bit of a round right and come back. Then you're able to refocus, right? It keeps blood circulation going. It helps with digestion, right? So many things.

William Louey: Is it never too late to start at any age?

Tricia Yap: No, I don't think it's too late. I mean, we have people that start here at 70.

William Louey: OK.

Tricia Yap: Good don't because they they don't want to fall.

William Louey: Yeah.

Tricia Yap: When you're 70 and you know you're because one of the things that happens as you age actually two things, right? The age-related loss of muscle mass, sarcopenia and then the age-related loss of bone density, right? Osteopenia. And you can't get a pill for it. Yeah, right. What is the one thing that you know that you can get for it? Training, resistance training. So people come in and say, I don't want to fall anymore. It's like great, it doesn't matter when you start, as long as you start.

William Louey: Thank you very much,Tricia. So nice to meet you.

Tricia Yap: Lovely to meet you.

William Louey: Thank you.

Tricia Yap: Thanks.