11: Friendly coach

"Okay, please wait."

Miss had the other receptionists watch the front desk while she led Li Qinghe into the gym.

As they moved from the side of the reception area to the fitness zone, Li Qinghe realized that this truly was one of Hanoi's most high-end gyms.

The area inside was vast; judging by its scale, it seemed the entire floor had been converted into a gym.

Even though it was morning, many people were already working up a sweat in the gym, and the entire space was filled with the scent of hormones.

The receptionist Miss led Li Qinghe to a female trainer who was currently practicing on a chest press machine.

"Sister Xiangcao, this gentleman is looking for a fitness trainer."

The female trainer put down the handles, stood up, and faced Li Qinghe.

She was about 1.65 meters tall, wearing a beige fitness vest and black fitness leggings.

Below her slender waist, which had defined obliques, was a full and shapely gluteus.

Her physique clearly showed the marks of extensive training.

Her face wasn't overly beautiful, but her smile was very pure.

Xiang Cao

"Sister Xiangcao is our gym's most approachable female trainer, and she's very professional, having obtained an SACA certificate in the United States."

The receptionist Miss provided a detailed introduction to the female trainer's background.

"Sir, have you ever exercised with a trainer before?"

The female trainer named Xiang Cao looked Li Qinghe up and down.

"I've exercised on my own, but never with a trainer. Coach Xiang Cao, can I film a VLOG during the training session?"

Li Qinghe looked at the female trainer, who had a good physique and seemed very punctual in her work, and pointed to the action camera in his hand.

"Yes, many of our members bring their phones to film here."

The female trainer didn't object to a camera being placed nearby.

"Then, Coach Xiang Cao, what is your hourly rate?"

"Sister Xiangcao is 400,000 vietnamese dong per hour," the receptionist Miss quickly quoted for the trainer.

"Okay, I'll book for four hours to start."

Li Qinghe took out his large wallet again, pulled out four large bills, and handed them to the receptionist.

Coach Xiang Cao, standing nearby, also saw the money, but having been to the United States, she didn't seem overly excited by less than a thousand US dollars in cash.

"What should I call you, sir?"

Coach Xiang Cao professionally inquired of Li Qinghe.

"You can call me A-He or Qinghe, either is fine."

Li Qinghe replied with a smile.

"Then, A-He, please go change your clothes, and we can begin."

Li Qinghe followed Coach Xiang Cao to the men's changing room, and she waited nearby.

When Li Qinghe emerged, dressed in a fitness vest and athletic shorts, Coach Xiang Cao's eyes suddenly lit up.

"A-He, I can hardly believe you haven't trained professionally."

Looking at the Roman-sculpture-like muscle lines beneath Li Qinghe's vest, Coach Xiang Cao reached out and gently touched him.

However, seeing that Li Qinghe's action camera seemed to be on, she wasn't embarrassed and frankly stated, "A-He, your muscles are even more beautiful than those of many professional bodybuilding athletes."

"Thank you."

Li Qinghe didn't feel harassed; the previous scene had already been recorded by him.

This footage, once edited, could be posted on Kuaishou and Douyin with the title: "Muscles so beautiful, female fitness trainer couldn't resist touching him – was it the thrill of the hunt or an involuntary reaction?"

He believed many of his male followers would strongly relate.

Coach Xiang Cao first took Li Qinghe to measure his body data: 185 cm tall, 95 kg weight.

Coach Xiang Cao maintained an attitude of extreme admiration for Li Qinghe's physique.

However, she remained relatively restrained and didn't completely cling to him.

For the next half hour, Li Qinghe performed upper and lower body warm-up exercises under Coach Xiang Cao's guidance.

He also underwent some corresponding physical function tests, all of which Li Qinghe completed very well.

Only Coach Xiang Cao was a bit stunned, looking at Li Qinghe, who showed no signs of sweat.

Her years of experience as a trainer made her keenly aware that Li Qinghe's physical fitness was too strong; these warm-up exercises had no effect on him whatsoever.

Xiang Cao also noticed that Li Qinghe's flexibility far exceeded that of ordinary people; many somewhat difficult movements during the warm-up were performed with great ease by him.

"A-He, since you've stretched out, let's try a slightly more challenging exercise."

Coach Xiang Cao smiled and took out a belt with a buckle and a chain.

Li Qinghe also smiled and walked over to her.

"Come, over here." Xiang Cao led Li Qinghe to a pull-up machine.

"We'll do a few sets of weighted pull-ups; your hands should be slightly wider than shoulder-width apart."

Xiang Cao jumped onto the machine herself: "When pulling up, keep your shoulders down and chest out, avoid arching your back and shrugging your shoulders, this will better engage your back muscles."

Xiang Cao demonstrated several standard pull-ups.

"Give it a try."

At Xiang Cao's invitation, Li Qinghe easily climbed onto the machine.

"Bring your hands in a little closer, good, just like that."

After Xiang Cao's adjustment, Li Qinghe effortlessly performed over a dozen pull-ups.

"Good, stop. Let's try weighted." Seeing Li Qinghe's ease, Xiang Cao immediately called a halt and secured the belt around his waist.

"A-He, let's start with 20 kg." Xiang Cao directly picked up a 20 kg barbell plate and attached it to the chain on Li Qinghe's belt.

"How does it feel?"

"No feeling!"

Li Qinghe easily performed several pull-ups.

"Then add another one."

Xiang Cao picked up another 20 kg barbell plate and hung it on: "How does it feel?"

"Again."

Xiang Cao looked at Li Qinghe, who was still hanging on the machine, a flicker of surprise in her eyes.

But she said nothing and hung another 20 kg barbell plate on.

"Coach Xiang Cao, how much do you weigh?"

"65 kilograms."

"You hang on too and try."

"Huh?"

Xiang Cao was first stunned, then happily stepped forward, gripping the belt tied around Li Qinghe's waist with both hands, and placing her feet on the chain next to the barbell plates.

Li Qinghe actually steadily bore the weight, making Xiang Cao's heart pound violently.

This action attracted the attention of four or five other gym-goers nearby.

Two burly men even got up and stood next to Li Qinghe to observe, looking at the barbell plates and Xiang Cao hanging beneath Li Qinghe with expressions of disbelief.

"Coach Xiang Cao, help me count."

"One, Two..."

Coach Xiang Cao, holding Li Qinghe's belt, counted loudly.

This attracted even more people to gather around.

Over 100 kg of weight was already the ceiling for weighted pull-ups.

Especially the combination of barbell plates plus a beautiful female trainer was very eye-catching.

Especially when Li Qinghe did 25 pull-ups consecutively, Xiang Cao couldn't help but sigh inwardly, wondering how such a powerful man left any room for others to live.

"Alright, A-He, come down and move around a bit, don't strain your shoulders."

As a qualified fitness trainer, Xiang Cao considers the student's training from multiple angles, pursuing limits while ensuring safety.

After jumping to the ground, she first helped Li Qinghe remove the barbell plates, then led him through recovery stretching exercises.

After about ten minutes of stretching, Xiang Cao eagerly asked Li Qinghe, "A-He, are you interested in challenging your personal limit for weighted pull-ups?"

"Is there a standard?"

"Our gym's record is 90 kg for 5 reps; you've already far exceeded that. The Guinness World Record is only 109.2 kg, held by a Dragon Country People."

Li Qinghe turned his head and looked at the surrounding crowd; mostly burly men with bulging muscles, but also a few female trainers and female members with good physiques and ordinary faces among the crowd.

Everyone knew there was a gym-goer challenging the gym's weighted pull-up record, having just reached an astonishing 125 kg.

The news spread quickly through the gym, and half the gym's occupants gathered around. Everyone wanted to see what kind of god could break the Guinness World Record.

Although it was only morning, there weren't many people in the gym, but with everyone gathered, there were nearly 20 people.

The small pull-up machine was suddenly crowded with people.

Xiang Cao brought over several 40 kg and 20 kg barbell plates; she was also a bit excited to encounter such a terrifyingly strong individual under her guidance.

"A-He, come and try."