What keeps Physical: 100 star Amotti grounded – even after global recognition and 210kg deadlifts

The CrossFitter and fitness YouTuber is still "fascinated and surprised" by the attention he gets outside of South Korea, and he'll autograph you anywhere you like (yes, even on your face). Just let him finish his set in the gym first. 

Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST

Remember that nail-biting sack toss event that almost got Team South Korea eliminated on Netflix’s Physical: Asia? No one recalls that scene better than Kim Jae-hong, better known as Amotti. “Till this day, I still remember the fear and pressure,” said the 33-year-old through a translator.

“That moment – between the team getting eliminated and making it through – was the most fearful for me. After we got through, we had a fried chicken party back in our hotel to celebrate. That was really memorable for me!” he grinned, relishing the delicious memory of his favourite cheat food to cap that momentous day. Yes, the man may love bak kut teh when he’s in town but he’s still Korean at heart.

In Singapore to front the one-day Lululemon Training Ground event at Clarke Quay on Saturday (Jan 24), this was Amotti’s third visit to our sunny island. Still looking fresh after his personal workout and a high-energy training session with participants that could power the entire Singapore River, the 33-year-old seemed unfazed by jet lag – although the attention from fans is still something that takes some getting used to.

“I was fascinated and surprised when people started recognising me outside of Korea,” he said when asked how the fitness survival franchise has changed him, particularly after winning Physical: 100 Season 2. “I don’t really think much of the fame. I didn’t start working out for the fame. But thanks to my fitness journey, I have the opportunity to be here today.”

Amotti in real life isn’t that different from his TV and online personas – positive, real, humble – but taller and more sculpted than the version you’re familiar with on the screen. And might we add, he exudes a still-detectable sense of disbelief that he'd struck the Toto equivalent in his fitness career. 

In any case, the exercise enthusiast certainly hadn’t let his fitness schedule slide post-win and while on the road. “I managed to work out twice yesterday,” he said of his morning routine. Yes, he’d already been to the gym twice on a Friday morning when the rest of us had barely finished our lukewarm kopi in the office. 

“Even when I’m travelling, feeling that post-exercise joy is important to me, and I’ll always add exercise to my itinerary," he said.

Not that he was a nobody pre-Physical: 100. Amotti (a mishmash of his former Instagram handle @armour_hong and the cutesy Korean suffix "tti") was, and still is, a popular professional CrossFitter and fitness YouTuber in Seoul – and certainly no stranger to autograph and picture requests, even right in the middle of a training session as we saw. “The most memorable autograph was for a fan in Singapore who asked me to sign his face,” he laughed.

But the man would rather you let him finish his set before approaching him in the gym, especially when he is deadlifting 210kg, bench-pressing 120kg or back-squatting 190kg (which, by the way, are his PBs or personal bests) – and all done with an ankle injury sustained from a car accident in 2021 that required 10 hours of surgery to fix.

“This is the maximum angle that I can flex my left ankle now,” he said, looking down at his foot. “It affects my squat posture and my body will lean more to one side. This also affects my back, so my back isn’t good.”

On the upside, the incident made him pivot to his YouTube channel, which he’d already begun in 2020 – and that caught the attention of Lululemon. “It was during my ankle injury when I was first contacted by the brand. I told them I couldn’t work out, move like before or go for competitions. Was that okay?” he recounted.

“They told me it didn’t matter and in fact, me showing my process of rehabilitation and returning to my fitness level is an image they’d like to be associated with. Now, it’s an inseparable relationship, so please don’t throw me away!” he laughed.

For an athlete who wears many hats (or shall we say, headbands), Amotti has another one to add to his collection: fatherhood. “I think I’ll be sleeping less when the baby arrives this year. I haven’t started yet but I think all mothers and fathers can vouch for it!”

Newsletter

Recommended Read

Subscribe to CNA's Recommended Read

A single handpicked story that we think you shouldn't miss. Just one a day.