I was really struggling to find balance - until I took a complete break from training at the age of 20 and went to live in the mountains and trek for 34 days. These 34 days were a complete 360 from the lifestyle I lived at home. I was now trekking 6 hours a day, eating extremely light, organic vegetables, and traveling through serene mountain ranges in Himachal and Sikkim.
1. Tell us something about your background and journey.
My journey had started before I really even knew it – my father was into boxing and bodybuilding himself as a teenager, so I grew up around those types of influences. Before I was 10, I was watching and idolizing 90s boxing and action movies with muscular, ripped guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
My dad was muscular and all my idols were muscular, so that’s how I always wanted to look. That, combined with a healthy dose of bullying at school gave my childhood all the exact elements that would create a rebellious athlete or entrepreneur. I was training seriously by the age of 13, and at 16 started studying the science behind nutrition and training on the internet.
While I was in college, I decided to get my first international certification in nutrition and start an online fitness business to help people who couldn’t make time to get in shape. So I started helping people a few people from my gym, and before I knew it, I had people from all over the country calling me about my nutrition plans, and before I graduated college, I had figured out how to earn a living doing what I love.
2. What was the inspiration and idea behind the 'muscle manual magazine'?
Very early, maybe one year into my coaching career, I realized how underserved the Indian fitness industry is. The trainers were underpaid, they weren’t educated enough – especially about nutrition and training itself. People, in general, had a really poor, awareness about health and fitness. Even when looking for a fitness program or coach, most clients don’t really know what to look for or what questions they should be asking.
As a result, the market started getting saturated with ‘online coaches’ who have never trained a client in-person and often don’t have any real knowledge or qualifications other than a $25 certification they got online. Even today, clients still don’t know exactly what to look for and end up spending their money on coaches who may have a large following on Instagram, but use apps to create programs for their clients or copy-paste programs from the internet, rather than design each program meticulously.
It didn’t take me long to figure out that I could only help and impact a handful of people as a coach – I would need a much bigger platform or outlet to create awareness about health and fitness, and I wanted to do it exactly how I learned about health and fitness growing up – by reading books and magazines about fitness.
So the idea behind Muscle Manual was simple – to create a publication that would spread awareness about how the average individual can improve their quality of life through basic concepts of health and fitness. Things that every individual should know, and should probably be taught in school.
The magazine is completely free to access on our website, has been read by over 400,000 people in over 60 countries, and has featured world-record-holding athletes, Mr. and Ms. Olympias, and some of the biggest fitness coaches and influencers from around the world.
3. How does diet impact our fitness and how can one maintain the balance between them?
Look at it this way, your body is really not that different than a car – the human body is much more complex, but functions similarly nonetheless. If you have to get in your car and get from point A to point B or take part in a race, that car is going to need fuel – without that, you wouldn’t budge an inch closer towards your goal, you’d but stuck in place, completely stagnant.
That’s how important diet is when it comes to health and fitness. It’s really the base and fundamental reason for any progress you make. You can have The Best trainers and workouts in the world, but if you don’t eat right, nothing is going to get you results. When it comes to finding balance, take time to experiment.
Getting in shape is a process and a journey. Take your time to do it right. Nobody achieves a physique overnight, and everyone has setbacks along the way. However, the more time you take to experiment with different workouts, diets, eating, and lifestyle patterns, the more you’ll be able to read and understand your body and how it responds to different programs.
There’s no fixed formula to finding balance – you have to try a few things and figure out what works best for you, what’s most sustainable to your lifestyle, and what makes you happy.
4. What challenges did you face in your initial days and how did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced has always been my own body image issues and how I feel about how I look. Growing up skinny, I certainly had a certain degree of body dysmorphia. Even after I put on some muscle and looked healthy, it wasn’t enough, I had this compulsion to keep getting bigger. At one point, the routine completely took over my lifestyle, I was missing every social gathering and family function just to train and stay on track with my diet.
I was really struggling to find balance - until I took a complete break from training at the age of 20 and went to live in the mountains and trek for 34 days. These 34 days were a complete 360 from the lifestyle I lived at home. I was now trekking 6 hours a day, eating extremely light, organic vegetables, and traveling through serene mountain ranges in Himachal and Sikkim.
I think that experience completely changed my perception of fitness, balance, and sustainability. It taught me that there was much more to life than being in the gym and eating restrictive foods. After all, if I didn’t have the freedom to enjoy myself with my friends and family, what was the point of being so healthy and strong?
5. Who do you admire the most and why?
I admire Arnold Schwarzenegger because he was probably my earliest and biggest influence – seeing the humble beginnings he came from and the challenges he had to overcome, is exactly why I am where I am today.
6. What message would you give to aspiring fitness trainers?
Put your integrity, morals, and ethics above everything else. People will always debate your approach to fitness, but don’t give anyone a chance to debate your character.
7. Which is your favorite book and why?
This is a tough question! Body By Design by Kris Gethin is my favorite book, it was the first book I read that gave me a good understanding of sustainable eating habits – and I have a copy of the book signed by Kris Gethin who was also on the first issue of my magazine, so I might be slightly biased here.
Interviewed By - Khushi Garg
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