'You understand your body best' Vivan Bhatena

Do you follow any fitness regime?
Yes, I do. I love going to the gym for working out.

How much time do you spend in a day for workout?
I go to the gym about five days a week. I spend around one and half hours each day. I do three days of weight training and two days of cardio. I don't train any body part one after the other. If I do weight training on one day, I do cardio the next day and so the routine follows. I make sure I take appropriate rest in between.

Apart from this have you taken up any sport or habit that helps you maintain body?
I swim.

According to you, how important is it to follow a fitness regime?
It is very important. Good health is the basic necessity to any other good thing that you can look forward to in your life.

Do you at all make excuses to go to the gym?
I don't nowadays. But I used to.

What were your usual excuses?
'I'll go tomorrow' and 'I'm too tired'

What's your usual diet?
To be very frank, in my profession it's very hard to maintain a proper diet. But I try to stay away from processed food and aerated drinks. I try to consume as much natural food as I can. I heavily depended on protein shakes at one point of time but now I don't anymore. I've realized your body needs more than liquid food.

Do you look upon calories when it comes to eating?
Yes I do, up to a certain extent. But not so much that I ruin a good evening with my friends.

Anyone that you idolize when it comes to good physique?
Well, as kids we all used to admire Arnold Schwarzenegger but nowadays I've realized that a leaner and fit body will do. Your body should be able to carry off anything that you wear. That's what you call a good body shape.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated towards your workout schedule?
It's just my mind. We all eventually grow up to realize what's best for us and not.

Do you equate fitness with the shape of the body?
Not really. Your mental fitness also accounts a lot and not just your bodily one, for your overall health.

How were you in your teen years and now?
I was very fat. But my dad was a physically fit person and so he put me in a weight-loss camp. So that's how I lost some of my weight. And then once I was in college, I saw what good looks can do for me. So saw to it that I didn't put on any weight.

Do you have a dietitian or an instructor to maintain your fitness?
No. But I have learnt from a lot of fitness trainers and body builders including Prashant Shinde. Now I use the knowledge on my own body keeping in mind my own limitations. Ultimately it is you who understands your body best. So it is better if you learn about physical training and try to push your own limits and overcome your mental barriers.

Suggest some fun ways for working out.
Nintendo Wii. It's a video game where they provide an electronic mat and a lot of other controls. It measures your body weight and suggests different cool things to burn calories like hoolahoop, boxing etc.

Reporter and Author: Susan Jose