Fitness secrets of 4 Bollywood hunks

They work hard at their work but they work harder on their fitness. That’s the reason they can show off perfectly chiselled physiques.

SALMAN KHAN

Height 5 feet 7 inches

Weight 81 kg

When it comes to enviable bodies, Salman Khan leads the fray. But there’s a lot that goes into getting that bulk – the actor reportedly works out about 3 hours per day! On Monday/Wednesday/Friday, he focuses on weight training. He begins with a warmup that includes jumping, squat thrusts and push-ups (he loves them and can do 1,000 a day!). After sessions of deadlifts, bench press and shoulder push press, he cools down by slow running on the treadmill. On Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, he does cardio and abs exercises. He begins by working on a treadmill for 15 minutes. The abs circuit – 25 each – includes crunches, reverse crunches, back extensions and side planks. He does 3 circuits at least and then focuses on sit-ups, following it up with an hour of cardio.

Try Experiment with cycling, which is Salman’s main cardiovascular exercise. He cycles for at least 10 km a day.

Tip to steal Salman’s body is a result of his dedication and discipline. He sometimes works out at 2 am if he hasn’t found time during the day. What excuse do you have?

RANVEER SINGH

Height 5 feet 8 inches

Weight 75 kg

Ranveer Singh blew minds away when he showed off a ripped body in Ram Leela’s Tattad. But how can you get a body like Ranveer’s? By playing to your strengths. He has a lean body and to make the most of it, went with two workouts in a day – one hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. The morning workout was to burn fat and focused on cardio, mainly HIT (High Intensive Training) and including vigorous exercises such as dips, thrusters, pushups, pull-ups, and burpees. His functional training now also includes a lot of free hand exercises for core strengthening, running as well as swimming. The evening workout was for strength training – the trainer would take one muscle and obliterate it.

Try Split your workout into two and see whether that works for you. Two smaller sessions may be more doable.

Tip to steal The diet is as important as the training. Ranveer believes his diet was “80 percent of the programme, the balance 20 per cent being the training”.

HRITHIK ROSHAN

Height 5 feet 10 inches

Weight 74 kg

Hrithik Roshan’s body took quite a bit of a beating after ailments and he also ended up putting on weight. His goal when he got back to the gym was clear – to enhance his stamina, flexibility, endurance, strength, and get a well-developed, athletic body. Despite not giving up his foodie ways. He started with exercise on four days of the week, splitting workouts into two sessions a day. His workouts – never the same on any day – emphasised on CrossFit, cardio work, and weight training. The warm-up exercises included lunges, single-legged squats and smith machine squats to relax his joints and reduce the risk of aggravating injuries. Ten weeks after he started this rigorous training, he whittled his waist down by 6 ½-inches and dropped about 10 kg.

Try Hrithik’s diet in the initial days focused on boosting metabolism, something which he says is key to getting the body in good shape. So eat at regular intervals.

Tip to steal Diet doesn’t have to mean boring. Hrithik’s nutrition plan was changed every week, and apart from being rich in nutrients was not short of taste or variety.

AKSHAY KUMAR

Height 5 feet 9 inch

Weight 75 kg

The Khiladi continues to be an inspiration when it comes to fitness – his body, in fact, is better chiselled now than it was 20 years ago. But fitness comes naturally to Akshay, a martial arts expert, and an adventure sports enthusiast. He shuns regular fitness advice and has forged his way ahead with functional fitness programmes as he believes that gyms are important but “not a must in order to get in shape”. So he prefers natural ways to stay fit – running, trekking, jogging, playing basketball, stair running, rock climbing and others. He practises kickboxing and martial arts whenever he gets the opportunity, and makes time for yoga to maintain inner balance.

Try Mix various fitness routines through the week so that exercise doesn’t seem monotonous.

Tip to steal Akshay believes in the adage that “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” He wakes up at 4. 30 am to finish his exercise before the day’s events take over.