Rahul says, “I mostly do a very standard kind of exercise format. And it’s a bit organic in the sense, like it involves everyday life movements for instincts, whatever is utilised in life. If I’m training for 6 or 8 packs, I personally see that these things become the buy products of your exercise so the form is very important to me.”

Pull-up and Push-up
He says, “At the gym, most of the people when you observe around you do ‘the negative movements” if I drop a phone it’s going to be a free fall to the ground with the gravity. So any movement when you’re utilising any weight, whether it’s your own body weight or kettlebell, you are using the negative movement and it’s very important for any exercise. Positive movements is when you lift something like when you picked up the phone and taking it to the ear is the positive movement that is away from gravity. Normally, people utilise a lot of force in that positive movement and the negative movement is almost like a free fall. So I take immense care of any kind of exercise and as a principal in the exercise, positive movements have to be good and in your control.

I love pull-ups live functioning movements, for example, how do we open the door? We just pull the handle and when you shut the same door you have to push forward. So pushing and pulling both are like everyday movements. So I definitely do pull-ups because it’s a real life movement, it’s the essential part of the human body design like any other movements which includes bending, lifting and rotating. All kinds of pushing which involve push could be benching or shoulder presses. One has to approach exercise in a meditative way and whenever you exercise do warm-up and stretching is important to avoid any injury.

For any human body design, the kinetic chain of work is behind your body and it’s not in front. Everybody has got a bit of a narcissist skill streak in them. When you observe anyone inside the restroom they will give one final glance to the mirror to the way they are looking even in a hurry. So the prime side is what people get obsessed with because that is visible. People who expect Abs, should know that their back should be strong enough to hold those 6 pack Abs.

From the head to the toe is one body and each muscle is connected to the other so the entire connectivity has to be stronger. In real life situations, a lot of people ignore leg workouts because they’re hidden in jeans or skirts and that is a mistake most people make. Legs are very important which are like tree trunk which are connecting us to the earth.”

Squat and Lunges
“In real life situation, every time when you sit down in a chair or a bus and stand up, it becomes one squat. Squatting becomes an essential part of human body design. Our Indian toilets and excretion method would have compulsorily sat in and squatting position. Indian style toilets are extremely scientific, because when you sit in that position it will squeeze out your area that is passing out and today, a lot of people who have constipation, eczema and other excretion issues, is because of western toilet systems.”

Running and walking
“The exercises I do are more conducive to everyday sort of existence. If I want to run I will run outside, not on a treadmill, because the human body is designed well enough to run outside, but people say your knees will go off. When I was shooting for the movie Mubarakan I met Fauja Singh (former marathon runner) he was 106 years old at that time. He would run 10kms once in a week and he has taken care of his knees, so nothing is wrong with running outside with care. If you can’t step out, one can use their place however small it might be. Take a timer and walk for 40mins. Avoid the objects around and keep on walking. Yes, you need some self-motivation but you can make it interesting by playing your favourite film or song on television,” explains Rahul.

Vehicle Vs Human body
He adds, “How a vehicle functions with fuel is pretty much the same as the human body functions with nutrition. When a vehicle is used continuously for 3-4 days it will get heated up and breakdown, it needs rest. In the same way, the human body needs rest every day and the most important things for a human body are exercise, nutrition, and rest. We all work so hard to put food on the table but are we ever attentive to the food on the table? Most of us ain’t! Try eating your meal without binging on television programs or scrolling on your mobile phones. You won’t be able to eat or digest properly, because you will be swallowing the food rather than chewing it. Have patience whenever you eat.”

-By Vinitha Venkatesha