It has never been an easy ride or a smooth one. Having a twin brother didn’t make it any easier as he brought a more competitive edge to the battlefield. It was rooted in my paternal side of the family that fitness and masculinity were among one of the most important things for any male in the family. On my maternal side, there wasn’t that much emphasis on fitness and health wasn’t really that of a crucial aspect of our lives, I would say, we lived a more ‘happy-go-lucky’ life when it came to having food in our bellies. Luck was never on my side since majority of my relatives and grandparents had a bad history of illnesses.
I never had much exposure to sports when growing up, the only thing I did when I was young, was cycling, running and swimming. Besides, the occasional visit to my cousin’s house to play basketball or soccer, I wasn’t that fortunate to be exposed to a multitude of sports or physical activity in my early days. You could say I was more of the thin average sized boy who always tried to be good at any sport but never actually got good at it. The one who volunteered to be a goalkeeper during soccer games in primary school, not because I liked being a goalkeeper, but rather because it was the only position I knew I could not really suck at. And even if I did- there was always the possibility to blame the weak defenders who were supposed to be at my side.
I tried to join more sports in secondary school. I went for soccer tryouts, basketball tryouts and even tried for the track and field team – which was barely my forte yet a skill that I really excelled at. Then, I met floorball. Floorball was good for me, it didn’t require that much running , although I was required to make the occasional sprint here and there. Floorball was also a new sport in Singapore that time, so it did make sense if anyone sucked at it- though that wasn’t the case for most of my friends. There were many pretty girls who joined floorball too, so that was an added bonus. Floorball also woke me up one day, when a national player came to coach us and told me that I wasn’t really doing an actual push-up. This whole ten year journey of sucking so badly at something, despite trying multiple times left a huge mark that can and never will be erased.
Then, Arnold and the Rock arrived. Arnold was and maybe is what every guy aims to be despite how unrealistic and feasible it is. They were the two most influential sporting agents that had the most impact on me as they kick started my fantasy towards achieving the most muscular body I could- not the most fit and functional one. As with any other sport, I didn’t really get good at it after dwelling more into it and learning about performance enhancing drugs, I decided that it wasn’t the thing for me. At the end of the day, I realized that a nice looking body isn’t exactly a fit body that can perform at any circumstances. The chase for speed, agility, strength, stamina, endurance and power all while balancing the other aspects of my life began.
So I decided to adopt a different game plan, one that didn’t have me spending more than 2hrs at the gym or sacrificing my social life and family time and one that was easier on my mood and stomach. I decided to run more often and be as cardiovascular fit as I can, because at the end of the day the health of my heart is all that really matters. And so began the new experience of aiming to be as fit as I can.
