I’m a small dude – standing at 1.58m tall, weighing in at 54kg. I’ve read a few of the inspirational stories on this website and from what I’ve gathered, I think I’m quite lucky. I’m not down with any chronic illnesses nor did I get bullied in school; my insecurities came from myself mainly.

I’ve been short and chubby all my life, but I wasn’t really affected by it until i was about 13. Moving on to secondary school, people there weren’t as nice and some playful ones started calling me names. Though I didn’t take them to heart, at times it would hit me really hard and I would amplify the jokes. Although they were just kidding, I was the one who was actually putting myself down.

Fast forward to Junior College, I was still very self-conscious so I started to go to the gym. As an introvert, I was kinda intimidated by all the big guys in the gym so I just tucked myself into a corner doing my own exercises. Eventually, I stopped going to the gym because I felt lonely and bored. However, I have since found another lifestyle that suited me. Everyone had their own interests, and for me, I love doing pull-ups and that’s where I discovered calisthenics, the art of bodyweight training.

I love calisthenics because what I derive from it is that no matter how much weights you can lift, your biggest enemy will always be yourself, so why not start with mastering yourself? I’m about two years into calisthenics and I may not be very proficient at it, but that’s not going to stop me. Most importantly, the only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.