When you already spend six days a week in the gym, getting certified as a personal trainer is a logical next-step.

That’s the thinking of Team BDA’s Mustafa Ingham who recently completed the W.I.T.S. Personal Training Certificate at the Bermuda College.

“I wasn’t in school and I was getting bored so I wanted to do something productive,” he said. “Personal training definitely fits my lifestyle, and my personality, and its something I can do after the [Red Bull Youth] America’s Cup.”

Before earning his way onto the team Ingham, 20, said the only training he did was running and that he was “semi-fit”. In the 18 months since Ingham, a graduate of Berkeley Institute, has gone from 181lbs to a robust 209lbs under the careful guidance of Shaun Green and the team at Beyond Fitness.

“Spending time at Beyond Fitness showed me what training is all about,” Ingham said. “It also really helped with the practical part of the course because I could observe it on a daily basis.”

The most important things Ingham took away from his course are: focusing on technique, being thorough and injury prevention.

“An injury can affect someone for life so you have to build a relationship with your clients and listen to them,” he said. “Even a small injury can be the reason someone stops training and from there it can be a long way back. So the trainer has a responsibility.”

For the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, taking place in June in Bermuda, Ingham, and the rest of the team, are on an intensive physical training programme of their own. They are in the gym most days from 8am to 9am. This is followed by breakfast as a group, team meetings and debriefs, boat maintenance and rigging and, of course, practicing to race a foiling catamaran at speeds in excess of 30 knots.

“Sailing, especially the type of sailing we’re doing, is really physical and not as easy as it looks,” Ingham said. “You have to be focused 100 per cent of the time, even when you’re mentally fatigued.

“A professional sailor told me that what separates the pros from everyone else is that they nail the basics 98 per cent of the time. That’s what I’m working on.”

He’s also working on making the most of the opportunity Youth America’s Cup has presented him and his team-mates.

“Sailing is a worldwide sport with people with a lot of money who are not afraid to invest in talent,” he said. “It’s like you are on trial every time you go out there.

“This could be a way to see the world, I can’t wait.”