THE NEW CHANGE MUSCLE MAKERS

WITH SYSTEMIC ISSUES both inside and outside the health-and-wellness industry, fitness professionals from marginalized backgrounds have long been held back.

But a new generation of mavericks is breaking through financial roadblocks, cultural stigmas, and age-old prejudices to change how all of us train and sweat. Here they break down how they're pushing forward-and highlight their continuing struggles.

THE BATTLE AGAINST IMPOSTOR SYNDROME

Fitness trainer ERIC SUNG, 31, works one-on-one with clients in Queens and is the creator of MH's Ultimate Summer Sweat workout. Before that, he struggled to believe he fit into the fitness industry. -AS TOLD TO TATIANA LAMPA

I STARTED WORKING out fully in college because I just wanted some abs. I was going to Queens College for accounting and economics. I worked at a firm for about two years. Then I figured out it wasn't for me. There's very little blueprint to follow in terms of being Asian in fitness.

Most of the media coverage is on nonAsian people. Not being in fitness is the expectation of Asians. Like, "Oh, you should be a doctor, you should be on Wall Street or do finance"-which I was. People| don't really expect me to be a trainer.

The pivotal moment for me was seeing my parents and grandparents struggling with their health, in part because they got too little physical activity. That's what drove me to help other people find their niche in terms of fitness. When I got into it, my parents were really chill about it. Maybe behind my back they were concerned, but they let me do my thing. I feel like most of my concerns stemmed from impostor syndrome with myself in terms of like "Am I making it?"

I was the only Asian face I saw on social media and in the magazines at the time.

One major brand had a Lunar New Year campaign, and models and images were Asian Americans or Asian figures. Then that month is over, and what I see right now is white and Black fitness models.