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Neha Banu & Tyson Moktan prove that fitness is more than just a personal pursuit—it’s a partnership built on trust, discipline, and shared passion. As competitive athletes, coaches, and now gym owners, they have carved a unique path that blends professional ambition with personal growth. In this candid conversation, they open up about their fitness journey as a couple, the habits that keep them grounded, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Together in Fitness
Do you train together often? How and when did you two start work out together?
Yes, we do. We started off as friends so we individually went to our own gyms and had our own training programs, different training times. But as we got along more, we joined the same gym and Tyson started writing my training programs and helping me with my workouts. He actually started his online athlete training program with me and I was his first client who competed in an actual competition. Then after a few years in 2017 we joined Gymkhana as trainers and ever since we haven’t stopped training and competing. It’s been a year since we started our own gym, Ox strength training ground in Bansbari. We both have our individual coaches and training times now, I train 6 days a week and Tyson trains 4 days, we compete in different sport now but we make sure we are there for each other to support and celebrate new PRs.
How do you motivate and support each other in your fitness goals? Are there specific ways you keep each other accountable?
Honestly, at this point of time we don’t really need motivation in terms of training, it’s simply a way of life now. Good day, bad day you just show up and perform. But in terms of nutrition, the marriage has actually helped me stay on track. Tyson is very strict with his nutrition timing and what he eats, he’s very particular, but me, I like to keep things easy, I love eating out, Tyson has really helped me keep my nutrition on check. Every morning we track our body weight, that helps us keep ourselves accountable, we have a white board in the kitchen where we write all the meals down for the day with The portion size, and we try and limit eating out by keeping goals like we’ll just eat out on Friday or if someone makes a remarkable record in some lift we’ll go out with friends and treat ourselves to a healthy meal in a restaurant.
With everything going around in life, how do you both manage to prioritize fitness as a couple while juggling busy schedules?
The main priority is the workout and everything else revolves Around it. Example if we have to train from 3 pm to 5 pm, we schedule everything around it like classes in the gym, personal training clients, gym duties, online clients, eating time, family time everything is usually fixed. But days when we have to make time for things like important events, birthdays, weddings, we try and finish the workout early so we can make time for the event, it’s never like I am too tired or it’s too early, too late, let’s work out tomorrow, never like that. There are also instances where we have to travel in the day so we finish exercise in the morning or find a gym in a different city and train or even train late at night sometimes even train as late as 9pm. But if the training program says you train today, we have to train that day, no excuses.
How do you support each other when one of you is feeling less driven?
There’s a lot to lose if You feel less driven, we are both competing athletes, Tyson more than me, he is Hongkong’s 2 times powerlifting national champion, everybody wants to beat him in the game, if he lags one day he has a lot to lose. So, feeling less driven is not an option. As for me, I recently changed my sport to CrossFit and CrossFit demands a lot of discipline, every day you have to show up even if you like it or not, I am not very fond of competing but I love training and eating like a real athlete, and I like to think of me as a perfectionist I like having everything on point, I have everyday list of things I have to do hour by hour and I like ticking them off the list, it keeps me driven.
Do you plan meals or follow a nutrition plan together? How do you align your dietary preferences to support your fitness goals?
Of course, we have our respective diet coaches. And we also have a subscription-based food tracking app, we have someone who measures everything that goes in our food and makes delicious meals. At our home, everybody eats different meals, everything measured and made specifically for us, also grateful for our family who understand how important this is to us, even in family gatherings and events they make special food measured and made just for us. Also, our food isn’t too difficult to manage, we go for a very sustainable approach, it’s not just boiled vegetables and chicken, potatoes, it’s hearty meals like pasta chicken, oats pancakes, meat and rice, we eat everything but in moderation.
Relationship Dynamics
Has working out together strengthened your relationship? How?
Definitely. There’s a deep sense of understanding because we share the same passion for fitness. we spend maximum time in the gym and if it weren’t for this, I don’t think we would’ve understood each other better. For example, if I don’t know how sore muscles feel, how much a certain weight feels, how working so hard for months and not being able to meet your expectations feel, highs and lows in training, how difficult it is training and still managing life, mood shifts while on a calorie deficit, the emotion of winning and losing, I think fitness is the glue that makes our relationship stronger.
Any fun memories or fitness milestones you’ve achieved as a couple?
Training while travelling is something we have mastered. Our gym turns one in May 1st and that’s a big milestone for us.
How has your shared fitness journey strengthened your relationship? Has it brought you closer in any unexpected ways?
Now that we own a gym, so our work life is basically aligned, all day we are together so that takes away all the misunderstanding that could arise in a relationship, so yes maybe this has brought us closer in an unexpected way.
Influence & Lifestyle
What advice would you give to couples trying to build healthier routines together?
Healthy lifestyle starts at home, switch to healthy eating, teach your kids to make healthy food choices, nothing happens overnight you need to give it time and patience is needed, fitness should be a lifetime goal and not something you do it for a while and leave. And also love what you do to stay fit, it could be any sport doesn’t have to be spending hours in the Gym, find something you love and stick to it.
How do you balance fun and fitness—do you cheat on workouts or meals together?
Workouts, no. But meals, yes. Especially while traveling we don’t restrict ourselves, we go all out on food. In Kathmandu, there are a few restaurants we love eating at and actually crave their specific food, so we just go in and restrict our order to one dish each, eat and leave haha.
How has focusing on fitness impacted your mental health and well-being, especially given the pressures of the modelling industry?
Now that I think of it, I never was meant to be in the industry. I was always strong growing up, I ate a lot, had broad defined shoulders and what you see in the industry is completely opposite. So, I was definitely a little insecure growing up but getting into fitness and meeting Tyson actually changed my whole perspective on life, I now cherish things I was insecure about before, like I love how much I can eat to fuel my workouts, my broad shoulders give me the confidence and strength. I love what I have become and I give full credit to my fitness journey.
Role Models or Inspiration
Are there any fitness icons, trainers, or even personal connections who have inspired you along the way?
I don’t think there’s a particular person for both of us but we do find inspiration in a lot of places. Example, initial days when we were training in Thailand, I would get really inspired by the women in the gyms training, super fit, strong and looked amazing. Tyson finds his inspiration in his online clients, they have so much respect for him and they look up to him, their love for Him probably inspires him too to do better every day.
For someone just starting their fitness journey, what advice would you give based on your own experiences?
Have goals, but not short-term goals, look at the bigger picture and choose your inspiration wisely. Surround yourself with people with the mindset as yours. Fitness, when embraced as a way of life rather than a fleeting goal, can transform not just bodies but relationships, careers, and mindsets. Go for it!
