The observance of the International Men’s Health Week and Month is held every June to bring awareness to the common health issues experienced by men. Such observance focuses on encouraging boys and men to take charge of their overall health by practicing healthy living decisions. Specifically, the annual observance is geared towards enriching men’s health and wellness by means of a broad spectrum of national screening and educational campaigns. Men are encouraged to focus on the three equally important aspects of their health- physical health, mental health and social connection and to highlight that these important aspects should work together for a person to live a better life. 

I sat with Captain Cheon Woo Nam, an MPM student from Korea, and Abdullo Shukrat Ugli Makhmudov, an MDP student from Uzbekistan, to talk about what this observance means to them and asked them to share practical tips on staying fit and healthy with the male students of KDI School. While they have different motivations to stay healthy, both share the same passion for health and fitness which I think is something inspiring for all of us. As students of KDIS, we are lucky to be in a school which promotes a culture of school and life balance hence, the bigger opportunity to be physically and mentally healthy. While the question of becoming fit and healthy is a no brainer, the challenge comes from getting the personal motivation to start and maintain our fitness journey.

Sadly, not a lot of people, especially men, know about this very important cause. I asked around KDIS students if they are aware of Men’s Health Month, most of the male students said that it is their first time knowing that such an observance exists. As such, I felt like there is a need to educate the male students about this very important cause and start this conversation by inspiring them through an interview with some students who are good examples of men who prioritize their health and wellbeing while balancing academic and personal life.

Below is a snippet of the interview:

What is your personal motivation in staying fit and healthy?

Cheon Woo 

“For me, it was because of a personal experience. When I was in high school, I was like 120 kg. I started to think of losing weight when I was preparing to enter the military. Once I was in the military, that was the turning point for me because becoming fit was more mandatory than just a personal goal for me. But when I started to see changes in my body, I was slowly getting the motivation to keep my body fit.

One of my subordinates in the military was a fitness trainer, and he taught me some basic exercises and then I also started looking for fitness videos over YouTube and later it became a habit. I think I have two motivations, first is I don’t want to go back to my old unhealthy state and second it has become more of a hobby for me now. Looking back, I realized that the quality of my life was different from when I was overweight than when I started to be fit and healthy.”

Abdullo 

“What motivated me to get fit and healthy is from a childhood experience. My parents kind of forced me to do exercise in the morning. At that time, it was challenging to me, and I did not like it. But looking back, I am thankful for that experience because it has become a habit now. It helps me to be in shape and to be more confident with myself.”

Why do you think being healthy and fit is very important?

Cheon Woo

“I can eat whatever I want without feeling guilty. I don’t want to go back to my old life, and I want to enjoy life more. When I was fat, I felt tired and helpless most of the time but now, I feel different. When I wake up, I feel good about myself and energized to do my daily activities. I think it is important primarily for health reasons.”

(For Captain Nam, being healthy and fit starts with a good combination of working out and doing sports like frisbee.)

Abdullo 

“I think the motivation to be healthy is different for each person. Personally, I think it makes you more confident if you're healthy. Being healthy takes effort and it teaches you to be disciplined. You get to enjoy the fruits of your labor afterwards, but you need to sacrifice time and effort to achieve your goals. At the end of the day, when you achieve your health goals, you enjoy your life more.”

What do you do to stay fit and healthy? What tips can you share with students who want to be healthy?

Cheon Woo

“Going to the gym, I guess. There must be some combination of cardio and weight training. Usually, I do both every day for at least one hour, so like 30 minutes cardio and 30 minutes for weights. I also do sports like football and frisbee to keep myself active.

So, what I do is divide my body into four parts: chest, back, shoulder, and then legs. You can focus on each part every day as you do your workout.

Resting in between workouts is also very important. Without resting, you can be prone to injuries, and you can be too tired and not be motivated to go to the gym anymore. While resting, you can do some stretching, and I think a warmup before doing a workout is also very important for at least 10 minutes. Lastly, cool downs are also very important after every workout for at least 3 minutes.

As a personal tip, it's better to have a cold shower after you work out because it releases muscle strains, cools down your muscles and helps you sleep well. To keep the motivation to stay fit, do it step by step and once your body gets used to it, it becomes a normal thing to you.

(For Cheon Woo, getting fit and healthy becomes a habit when you do it regularly and doing sports is one helpful way to maintain your stamina.)

Abdullo

“I think KDI School offers a lot of opportunities to be fit and healthy. We have all the sports clubs, like frisbee and badminton. Personally, I didn’t really know how to play these sports going to KDI School, so I started learning about them here. So even if you don’t really know the sport, just being with the clubs and the community is very helpful and motivating.

Other than that, I go to the gym at least two to three times a week. As students, we are usually stressed with academic life and to deal with it, while some students choose to drink and go out, I try to do exercise as a stress reliever. 

A healthy diet is also very important along with the exercises. When I was a child, whenever I got sick, it took time for me to recover but when I started working on a healthier diet, when I got sick it did not take long to recover, and I think my immune system became stronger so that I don’t really get sick very often now.”

(For Abdullo, staying fit and healthy through exercise, proper diet and sports helps him to be more confident as a person.)

Mental health is as important as physical health. How do you keep yourself “mentally healthy”? 

Cheon Woo

“Working out keeps me mentally healthy. After exercising, the guilty feeling when I eat what I want decreases. I usually enjoy having some good food with friends after a good workout. Working out and having a healthy lifestyle is a stress reliever for me in general that keeps me mentally healthy more than my physical health.”

Abdullo

“When you’re stressed, exercising and working out helps release stress but also, I think talking to your friends and sharing your problems and stressors helps. By sharing your problems, you might hear solutions from them and feel that having problems is normal since your friends also experience similar problems.

Talking to friends and classmates and discussing your problems helps release your stress and probably get solutions in an easy way instead of keeping it to yourself because if you bottle things up, they may blow up eventually.

Personally, talking to my family is also very helpful because you can share your problems with them freely without hesitation. They understand us better, so they can help us with our problems”.

(As mental health is as important as our physical health, Abdullo believes that going out with friends and sharing your problems can help us to stay “mentally healthy”.)

June is celebrated as “International Men's Health Month''. What does this celebration and recognition mean to you?

Cheon Woo

“I think it is an important reminder for everyone to start working out and be healthy. June is in the middle of the year, and so I think it’s a good reminder to set a goal to be motivated to be fit and healthy. This is especially important when you kind of fail or do not sustain your fitness goals at the start of the year after the holiday eating for Christmas and New Year.”

Abdullo

“I think it is like when countries celebrate other occasions like Independence Day which reminds people of why we celebrate them. Celebrating Men’s Health Month can help shift the focus to motivate men to stay healthy. It is an important step to educate men to strive to be healthy and a reminder to monitor our health and prevent ourselves from getting sick. It should also inspire all of us to feel better about ourselves.”

(KDI School ensures that students have a school-life balance; sports clubs, field trips and facilities allow students to engage in interactive and fun activities while they are studying.)

Cheon Woo and Abdullo’s inspiring journeys to health and fitness should be an eye opener for all of us on the benefits of focusing on our health and how mental health is a very crucial component of one’s overall wellbeing. And while getting fit is usually easier said than done, we are lucky to be in KDI School where school and life balance is given importance and the school offers a lot of opportunities to help us start with our fitness journey through sports, clubs, facilities and other activities which will help our focus not just on the academic side but also on staying healthy.

In the end, the challenge in finding our motivation to stay healthy should be easier when we look into our future and our plans in life. That whatever it is that we want to achieve, we might not achieve if our health is challenged, and we do not have the stamina to keep the fight and hurdle all the hardships along the way. With the recent health scare of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in today’s modern society where technology and convenience are within reach, let us not set aside the idea of keeping our health at its optimum level because indeed, we can do less and survive less when our health is at stake.