Singapore #Fitspo of the Week Andrew Tan: 'It's even more important to age actively to maintain a good quality of life'

Life goes beyond the digits on the scale and your body is capable of so much more! Yahoo’s #Fitspo of the Week series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. Have someone to recommend? Hit Cheryl up on Instagram or Facebook!

Name: Andrew Tan (@tys.andrew)

Age: 32

Height: 1.77m

Weight: 65kg

Occupation: Doctor

Status: Attached

Food: I generally try to have a clean low-fat diet with about 50 grams of protein each meal. I do not really crave fried food so that isn't too big of an issue for me, but I do have a soft spot for dark chocolate and durians.

Exercise: I work out in the gym about three to four times a week, twice of which is with a personal trainer. I'll also try to do one or two sessions of run or swim a week.

Q: When you were younger, were you active in sports?

A: Quite the opposite actually. I was in some of the geekiest CCAs in school: symphonic band and audio-visual club. During my school days I generally didn't really like sports, probably because I wasn't great at it and it was rather intimidating to join a sports group where almost every other person already had years of experience playing competitively.

What did you get into as you got older?

I only started to enjoy sports during national service (NS), where we ran quite a lot. In fact, I signed up for my first marathon during NS because one of my platoon mates managed to convince a group of us to join him – and several of them also had bank card discounts, so that probably made it slightly more compelling.

Since then running has been my go-to sports activity, and I've made it a point to take part in the Army Half Marathon every year since – quite an irony considering how much I disliked running in school. I've also tried my hands at windsurfing during university days and HIIT type of workout classes thereafter.

When did you decide to start going to the gym?

I started going to the gym more regularly sometime during the COVID-19 pandemic, when gym outlets were having discounts for healthcare workers, and I guess I'd been wanting to put on some muscle to look better and feel more confident about myself.

There was a confluence of factors that lowered the "activation energy" for me to start going to the gym more regularly: discounted rates, gym located just below my workplace, and it being less intimidating with fewer people in the gym.

What made you decide to engage a personal trainer (PT)?

I decided to engage a PT after a period of a few years trying to work out on my own in the gym and not really achieving the results that I wanted. I was also a bit more financially comfortable at this point and could afford to spend a bit more on myself.

Engaging a PT has definitely helped me towards achieving my goals of gaining muscle and strength. Knowing exactly what I'm doing right or wrong during each of my workout sessions provides a helpful feedback loop, and having a PT to plan my workout programmes also makes life a tad easier for me.

What made you decide to commit to a physical transformation?

I was quite encouraged to start on this journey after witnessing a friend's inspiring transformation within a year, and I started my journey with my PT about eight months ago.

The biggest challenge was definitely having to diligently track my macros and control my diet, especially during my cutting phase. I've come to appreciate the importance of diet (and the macros composition of the diet) in the body recomposition process.

The other key takeaway was learning how to activate the right muscle groups for the different exercises to achieve the intended results. This has helped visibly correct both my form and posture.

Have you received any comments?

I'm quite thankful for all the encouraging comments from my friends and colleagues who remarked that I looked fitter and leaner.

What's next?

My next goal is to continue improving my strength and gain lean muscle. In the longer term, I'm hoping that this will help me age more healthily and gracefully. It's always inspiring seeing older folks who are still very fit-looking and just living their best lives out and about exploring the world.

In your line of work as a doctor, is there any pressure to lead by example and be fit?

Definitely, and it would also give me greater credibility when I counsel my patients on maintaining a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent the onset of various diseases. With increasing longevity due to medical advances, it's even more important to age actively to maintain a good quality of life.

When you were younger, did you experience any incidents that made you feel insecure about yourself?

Growing up, I was always the skinny kid who often looked awkward in photos and I would often be envious of the athletes who would naturally exude confidence and charisma. I've had difficulties gaining muscle mass since young. Thankfully aside from the insecurities, there weren't major adversities that I encountered.

When did you feel the least confident about yourself?

I think throughout my schooling years I've been rather unconfident of my body, up until university years where I started doing more sports activities and gained a little bit more muscles. "Fake it till you make it" was a mantra I picked up years ago and that has kept me going since – emulating behavioural traits of charismatic and confident personalities and gradually turning those into habits.

I wouldn't say that I've overcome my insecurities, but I've learnt how to feel more confident about myself and it's still a constant work in progress.

Are you satisfied with your body now?

I am rather pleased with the results I've achieved thus far, because I managed to gain some muscle mass while attaining my lowest body fat percentage ever. Any good progress is definitely worth celebrating, and I believe my younger self would be proud of what we've achieved thus far.