GREATEST LOVE

Giving ourselves the gift of self-compassion is harder than it sounds. These four health experts explain how you can fix that.

- Syazil Abd Rahim

KIRTANRAJ FITNESS TRAINER

Kuala Lumpur-based fitness trainer turned what started off as merely a passion toward mind-body fitness into full-fledged profession. To Kirtanraj, self-love begins with respecting your body This and taking every opportunity possible to make your meaningful. One of the best ways he suggests in achieving that is through exercising.

How did you get into fitness training and becoming a trainer?

I was bullied pretty brutally when I was in school. People seemed to have a lot of opinions about me – from my body size to my personality and at that time, I didn't know how to respond to them so I decided to channel all those frustrations into weightlifting and fitness training. Over time, I started to realise how I could turn those negative situations in my favour by focusing on my body and mental health.

Snapchat and Instagram rapidly gained popularity during that time, and they became the two platforms I used to document my progress. I shared my diet plans, workout routines and few thoughts on self-awareness, mostly what I learned from the books I read. I took me by surprise when I started receiving a lot of positive responses, from my friends and followers, and when people told me they found my journey to be inspiring.

I started putting my mind to self-loving, acquiring as much information as I could on body anatomy, composition, nutrition and workout. In 2017, I began training some of my friends who wanted to get in shape, and when more and more people came to me for advice, I decided to become a full-time fitness instructor. After getting my degree in 2019, I launched my own personal coaching service Kirtanraj Fitness.

Why do you think your clients reach out to you?