It’s moving room only
Flash video (1 min 47 sec)
Videography by Ken Zukin; produced by Paul Pfotenhauer
Download Adobe Flash (free)
Andrea Khoo profiled
In “I Don’t Want to be Barbie. I Want to Benchpress Her: The Lifestyle of a Female Bodybuilder,” UC Davis student Michelle Jones tells the story of a remarkable UC Davis graduate. (PDF)
Our most popular PE teacher kicks, punches and inspires
Andrea Khoo has three words for you: Strength, grace and athleticism.
Once a self-proclaimed “junk-food junkie” who did anything to get out of P.E. classes in high school, today Khoo is a UC Davis P.E. lecturer and competitive bodybuilder who uses her own fitness to motivate others, as shown in this NewsWatch video.
“Exercise, fitness and good health are the catalyst to helping men and women appreciate themselves and be happy with their lives,” she says.
Khoo is teaching four PE activities classes this quarter: three fitness classes and Self-Defense for Women. All of her sections are full, with 48 students wait-listed.
“Her classes are, indeed, the most popular in the Physical Education 1 activities class curriculum,” says PE Chair Jeff Weidner, professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior.
“She teaches 14 over the course of the academic year, and all her classes enroll to capacity every time she offers them. There are usually many wait-listed students, easily more than 100 for the year.”
Khoo, who earns her living as a freelance apparel designer for national retailers, started teaching 18 years ago “as a hobby” at UC Davis while she completed her undergraduate schooling in design.
During evenings and weekends, the Davis resident also coaches kickboxing and group weightlifting at a local gym.
Among her many hobbies, Khoo competes as a “natural bodybuilder,” a sport in which athletes are supposed to be tested on- and off-season for banned substances, hormones, steroids and illegal use of prescription medications. And she also competes in “figure bodybuilding,” in which athletes are never tested. And she models.
“What makes Khoo happiest in life is making others happy. She considers herself a catalyst of happiness via fitness and nutrition,” wrote UC Davis student Michelle Jones in her Prized Writing profile last school year.
On the home page: Andrea Khoo is a professional bodybuilder and UC Davis’ most popular P.E. lecturer. (Florence Low/photo)
“The entire goal of my P.E. lectures is for UCD kids to regard working out as ‘fun.’ That way, we are more prone to exercise because it doesn’t feel like a chore,” Khoo says in Jones’ article.
“If someone shows me they are committed to changing their life, I’ll do whatever I can to help them acquire their dream.”