PushPullGive: A Local Social Enterprise That Lets You Sweat It Out & Give Back To Society Through Fitness

Health and fitness companies who are also social enterprises are few and far between in Singapore. You can only imagine my excitement when I chanced upon PushPullGive, a company which operates exactly like that.

With its motto “Forging Social Impact Through Fitness”, PushPullGive aims to inspire individuals and corporations to exercise, and at the same time support initiatives that help underprivileged children and youths in Singapore and Cambodia.

We signed up for a free trial on a sunny Saturday morning at MacRitchie Reservoir for the Boot Camp, which in my opinion sounded pretty intimidating.

Two co-founders of the company, Razif and Herzy, warmly welcomed us as we arrived. After setting up yoga mats and some upbeat music, Razif began the session and led a group of about eight of us through a simple series of warm-up exercises.

Classes are kept small for the purpose of giving a fair share of attention to each participant. All three co-founders will attend every session as well (the last co-founder was away in Germany).

After the warm-up, we started the boot camp —  for each set of exercise, there were three different poses to be done for 30 seconds each. We would then take a 30-second break, before completing the same set for a total of three reps.

After each completed set, the trainers would allow a two-minute break, where they would constantly remind us to hydrate ourselves.

Razif would demonstrate the various poses, so you’ll be able to keep up even if you’re a newbie in exercising. Herzy on the other hand, was right beside us completing the reps and supported us with encouraging words at the same time — which definitely kept me going as I felt motivated to push myself further.

The yoga mats proved to be useful against the rough and hot brick surface on the ground. Even though we did not bring our own mats, the PushPullGive team came prepared with a couple more mats. Kudos! 

Thankfully, after 40 mins or so, we begun to wind down and proceeded to the cool-down exercises. By now, we were all beat — especially by the merciless sun!

After some well-deserved rest, we sat down with Razif and Herzy to gain some insight into their thoughts on the company and how it came about.

What motivated you to start PushPullGive?

Razif: “The three of us took a trip to Cambodia in August 2016 and visited Tiny Toones, a charity that provides shelter for kids and teenagers who come from the poorest neighbourhoods in Phnom Penh. Tiny Toones provides basic education and also teaches break-dancing to the kids.

We were interested in the idea of fitness as a form of empowerment for the kids. So, we came back to Singapore and raised funds for the youths there, a total of S$5,000 in about 3 months. We then went back again in December, to help coordinate the building of fitness amenities for the kids.”

Herzy: “The kids were in rags… They were from a broken place [and] want to do something with their lives. We wanted to do something for these kids, and that’s how the idea came about. We then started PushPullGive, to help at-risk youths in Singapore and Cambodia by working with beneficiaries and providing free fitness classes.”

We left the place feeling sore from the workout, but inspired by PushPullGive’s dream of helping at-risk youths with fitness as a form of empowerment. If you’re interested in getting fit while helping underprivileged children at the same time, do hit up PushPullGive and give their lessons a try.

Price: Two sessions (S$46), 10 sessions (S$200), 25 sessions (S$400), Unlimited (S$99 per month) 

PushPullGive: Classes | Website | Facebook