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Saify Akhtar

@saifyakhtar

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Building a healthier life, one habit at a time
Co-founder @defy.training
I believe prevention beats hospitals
Sharing what I’m learning in public

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20 days ago

The True Fitness Singapore situation is uncomfortable, but it also exposed a bigger question for me.

BNPL can make borrowing feel almost invisible at the exact moment you want to buy something. That is very different from saying all lending is bad.

At Defy, we may one day be able to help coaches access finance because we understand their earnings better than a bank does. If we ever do, the responsibility is to make sure that finance genuinely improves their economic position.

Where should that line be drawn? taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by @saifyakhtar

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20 days ago

I think a lot of the tension around ClassPass comes from operators expecting the platform to solve a problem they haven’t defined clearly enough.

At Defy, we know what we want from it: discovery, fuller classes, more opportunities for coaches, and more people getting into the habit of training.

We still protect some inventory for direct bookings, and we’re building DefyOS because our own experience needs to earn that direct relationship.

The bigger point for me is simple: anyone helping more people become active is part of the same ecosystem.

What are you seeing in your own gym or studio? taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by @saifyakhtar

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22 days ago

AirAsia is interesting to me for more than aviation. They are now backing HYROX across Asia Pacific, which puts them directly inside the same fitness movement Defy is building around.

But the bigger question is what happens when a major founder-led company gets into trouble. We can scrutinise any taxpayer risk properly without deciding that one company’s failure should permanently define the entrepreneur behind it.

Where do you draw that line? taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by @saifyakhtar

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23 days ago

AI companies suddenly want to slow AI down.

OpenAI. Anthropic. Google.

Companies that have spent billions racing each other to build the smartest models are now talking about coordinating on safety.

Maybe the safety concerns are completely genuine.

But are we really supposed to believe the economics have nothing to do with it?

These are businesses. Google has shareholders. OpenAI reportedly expects hundreds of billions of dollars in compute spending over the next few years.

And here’s the other problem.

I’m an extremely heavy AI user. I pay for multiple premium plans. We use AI heavily while building Defy.

But even I’m starting to realise something:

For a lot of work, the older and cheaper models are already good enough.

When the extra intelligence stops creating enough extra value, I stop spending.

Every business eventually does the same calculation.

Maybe the biggest question in AI isn’t whether people want AI.

Of course we do.

It’s whether the world has unlimited willingness to pay for increasingly expensive intelligence.

Safety may be one reason to slow down.

I seriously doubt it’s the only one.

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #OpenAI #anthropic taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by @saifyakhtar

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24 days ago

The HYROX controversy is no longer just about what happened during one race.

It’s about what happens when a fast-growing company becomes too big to improvise.

Their first response drew a lot of criticism. Their co-founder later apologised, admitted they should have intervened, and the rules were changed.

But the bigger lesson is corporate.

HYROX has just entered a new chapter with institutional investors involved. At that stage, growth alone isn’t enough. You need governance, consistency, controls and accountability across every market.

And founders have to change too.

I think about this a lot with Defy. As we grow and eventually bring institutional partners aboard, some changes may not immediately make sense to members or coaches.

But there is a reason behind the decisions we make.

Eventually, a great company cannot depend entirely on the founder being in the room.

It has to become an institution.

#HYROX #Business #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Defy taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by @saifyakhtar

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25 days ago

The air in KL today is bad. Really bad.

Where I am, PM2.5 is roughly 10x Kuala Lumpur’s normal avg level.

What shocked me more is that there are cities around the world where very high pollution isn’t an unusual haze event. It’s part of normal life.

That puts things into perspective.

We should absolutely care about what’s happening today. But I’m also grateful that air like this still feels abnormal to us in Malaysia.

Building Defy has made me think about health more broadly too.

A healthy country isn’t just one with more gyms. It’s clean air, parks, places to move, good coaches and communities that make movement normal.

I hope this haze clears quickly. And I hope air like this never becomes normal enough that we stop noticing it.

#Malaysia #KualaLumpur #haze taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by @saifyakhtar

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a month ago

The accident isn’t the issue. Her decision to keep going is.

I actually sympathise with HYROX. As a business owner, you can’t predict every possible scenario. Sometimes something happens that nobody ever thought needed a rule.

Then you deal with it, learn from it, and build the process for next time.

What I struggle with is the idea that finishing the race somehow matters more than everyone else sharing the same space. And that it isn’t being called out by the organisers.

Athletes can be tough and still be responsible.

Sometimes stopping is the stronger decision.

And no, “a win is a win” doesn’t quite work for me here. taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by @saifyakhtar

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a month ago

We all know that one person pandai2 cucuk Reta. As someone in the business of getting people healthy, this really worries me. It needs to stop. KKM can only do so much. We each need to help each other avoid dangerous shortcuts.

Need help building muscle and improving functional fitness? Hit my team up at @defy.training. Need to talk to a doctor? Mine is @drnurulain_abdullah. My lead coach is the one and only Eddy Syamin. taken in The Campus Ampang by @saifyakhtar

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a month ago

Anyone remember Cambridge Analytica? This has happened before. AI completely changes the order of magnitude. by @saifyakhtar

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a month ago

Bloomberg reported that Anytime Fitness Asia is considering to sell the business for RM1.62 billion (US$400 million).

600 clubs across Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam that are not always full. Is this a good deal? taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by @saifyakhtar

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2 months ago

Unpopular opinion: at 40, “just try harder” is rubbish advice.

I tried harder for years. Lost, gained, lost, gained. The truth nobody says out loud? Your body at 40 is not your body at 25. Or even 35. Your hormones change. Your metabolism changes. And grinding alone just buys you burnout, not results.

So I’m taking the push I actually need. Medically supervised at Alainn Clinic, under doctor, paired with professional coaching from Defy and nutrition. Bukan shortcut, it’s finally working with my biology instead of against it.

Half of you will say “macho la accept your age”. I’d rather get smart than get stubborn.

40 and just getting started. Millions like me out there, let’s get this right.

Sharing my own journey, not medical advice.

#vitality #40strong #mounjaro taken in DEFY Training by @saifyakhtar

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4 months ago