Singapore #Fitspo of the Week Benjamin Kheng: 'You can overcome any mental or physical obstacle by preparing'

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: Benjamin Kheng (@benjaminkheng)

Age: 33

Height: 1.73m

Weight: 63kg

Occupation: Actor, musician

Status: Married

Food: Happiness and intermittent fasting.

Exercise: I’d like to get in two to three swim training sessions and two to three weight-room sessions per week.

Q: When did you get into swimming as a child?

A: I was always around water. I was obsessed with the feeling. My dad, ever the talent scout, saw my interest and chucked me into a competitive swimming club at six years old.

When did you realise you wanted to be competitive in swimming?

I was never the tallest swimmer, but I realised I had the ability to experience pain for longer periods than most people (I guess adults call it lactate threshold), and kind of used that as leverage in competitions.

What was your first swim competition?

I was six, at what they used to call Junior Age Group Swim Championships. I got a couple of gold medals in breaststroke, and later on, the individual medley (IM). I was hooked.

Why did you decide to enrol into the Singapore Sports School?

It was the exciting, shiny new thing in town at that point. They also promised all of us an actual milo fountain. If you told any kid that, you could get them to do anything. I was also having a horrid time in my old school, so making the switch to a school where I could live in boarding school with my friends and drink Milo was a huge sell.

I had the best time there; I learnt so much about discipline and what it takes to be a professional athlete. There was no Milo fountain though, just a dispenser that would sometimes be refilled.

When did you walk away from swimming?

At 18, I fell in love... with something else. I think I always knew I wanted to make music and act. Realistically, I also knew I didn’t have the talent and tenacity to make it to the Olympics, and it was either Olympics or bust for me. It would be a long time before I learnt to love swimming again.

What are some highlights of your swimming career?

Whenever I got to wear the nation’s colours and compete. I think I held the national youth 200m and 400m IM records for a few good years, and won a bunch of medals at the Australian Open Championships, Southeast Asia Age Group Championships and International Children’s Games.

Post-swimming, how did your fitness regime evolve?

Great question. Ironically, all that fitness regime in the Sports School didn’t take a hold on me after retirement. I took a long and flabby break from fitness for what felt like a decade.

In hindsight, I think the act of learning the HOW as a kid doesn’t mean squat if you don’t learn the WHY. And generally, you learn the WHY much later in life. That’s when the love for health, fitness and moving your body really kicks in.

You’re a very talented singer and actor – what are some of the challenges you face?

I wouldn’t say I’m very talented, as much as I am obsessed. I’ve got heaps of insecurity and imposter syndrome. But the one great thing sports has taught me, is you can overcome any mental or physical obstacle by preparing. No one can take that away from you.

How do you balance everything?

I struggle deeply. My work schedule is wonderfully erratic, so slotting in workout times can be a crazy challenge. I’ve taken 3am runs before and wouldn’t recommend it. I think my best advice would be to fall in love with the process of each of these pillars and not rush the journey. Celebrate the now.

Do you face any form of pressure to look or behave a certain way because of the industry you’re in?

I think social media has introduced us to enough deviants for that rule to be broken – you can find success without adhering to a certain aesthetic or behaviour. But I’ve been around a bit, and I think with age comes a deeper understanding of YOU – what works best for you. And I like to stick to that. That also means no more skinny jeans.

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

Losing a parent at a young age – that’ll give anyone a generous portion of separation anxiety. I think it also showed me the beauty of impermanence and that so little of what we think is important, really is. I learnt to not sweat the small stuff and to really live in the moments. I’ve hence lived many lives.

When did you feel the least confident about yourself?

Ironically, whenever I doom-scroll social media these days. We’re constantly pit against one another, competing with metrics and status, even if we don’t subscribe to that belief system. I try to remind myself that, much like my days in swimming, I’m racing against only one man.

Did you ever struggle with your body?

I’ve struggled with height more so (than weight) — I was one of the shortest kids in the Sports School and my friends never let me forget that. It was a long time before I felt confident in my stature.

Are you satisfied with your body now?

Not as much as I am satisfied with the work I’ve done mentally to overcome those hurdles. I’ve stopped overcompensating... I think.

What kind of comments do you receive?

These days it’s more snarky or slightly jabby remarks from people in the entertainment or fashion industry. I’ve gotten “you’ve gotten pudgy”, “you’re losing lots of hair”, “your complexion doesn’t photograph well” from photographers. Ironically, I do think they actually mean well – they view their act of informing you of your physical shortcomings as courtesy. I tend to block these out and let myself be judged on the quality of my work.

If you could change anything about yourself, would you?

I’d change the way I speak about myself; I’m sometimes my harshest critic. But I’m working on it!