Fitness in the time of corona: Vicky Kaushal, Alaya F, Vidyut Jammwal, Nushrat Bharucha, and other B-townies have found innovative ways to work out at home during the lockdown

B-townies have found innovative ways to work out at home during lockdown

█ Alaya F

I just dance for 20 minutes in a hot room

I am one of those people who, on a non-lockdown day, keep myself so busy that I forget about being hungry. But now, since I have nothing to do at home all day, I snack a lot. We don’t realise how everything adds up and end up consuming so much of unnecessary and unhealthy food. So now, I just have to make sure to control my diet by eating right.

I also try to stay active, but some days you just don’t feel like working out. And nowadays, that happens quite often actually. On those days, I take the help of online dance workouts. I make mine a hot room by switching off the fan and AC, and just dance for about 20 minutes. It’s a great way to stay fit and be energised at the same time.

I also try out new workouts I find online, to keep it interesting. I have started posting yoga videos on Instagram. It’s motivating me to get it right as I have never done yoga in my life.

█ Vidyut Jammwal

I displayed how extreme fitness can be achieved by pulling a bullock cart or lifting a gas cylinder

Normally, we only focus on what we know about the human body, mostly the muscular system. But during the lockdown, I realised that through the social media, I can help people get in touch with their internals. So, I started teaching things like bone prana—breathing into your bones to create healthy bone marrow and white blood cells—and worked on other organs as well, like kidney, liver, heart and lungs. How to breathe into them, make them healthy and remove toxins. Many people who followed it, practised these exercises, too, and started seeing instant results.

Training doesn’t just mean to have big biceps and looking fit. The important part is to train your mind as well. To be mentally fit and steady, people need to do some kind of physical movements as well. I got messages from body builders, saying they don’t know what to do without weights. So, I displayed how extreme fitness can be achieved with minimalism in their own homes and with things around them, like by lifting a gas cylinder or pulling a bullock cart like I do, living in a remote village, and spending a lot of time alone outdoors.

█ Nushrat Bharucha

Half of my workout gets done while completing household chores

Most of my time goes in helping my mom in completing household chores, so half of my workout gets done in that and it’s tiring as hell! Most days, I get so exhausted that I am not able to bring myself to work out at all, but I am fine putting on some calories as I have bigger things to care about. So, no stress there.

When I need to exercise, I use filled grocery bags, as weights to do biceps and deadlifts. I had this one elastic belt that I have wrapped at the end of my bed and use it to pull myself in and out and do some stretches. I also use filled water bottles to do jumping jacks and even turn to dancing from time to time.

█ Vicky Kaushal

Sunny and I have been working out for an hour every day

I have not ventured out in the last two months. Staying at home is something very basic and a little thing that can bring a big difference in flattening the curve. My brother Sunny and I are taking it easy when it comes to workouts. We have a small make-shift gym at home, which we use for basic exercises like push-ups, pull-ups and crunches. We have been working out for around an hour every day.

█ Rakul Preet Singh

My couch is my punching bag

For me, fitness is as important as brushing my teeth every morning. I would work out in hotel rooms and even in remote shooting locations with no equipment. So, exercising at home is nothing new for me.

I have increased the time I spend on yoga and meditation to reboot my system. I have also been posting videos online about the exercises one can do without equipment, including burpees, mountain climbers, lunges and squats. I use chairs and water bottles filled up with sand as dumbbells, my couch is my punching bag and I run up and down the stairs for my cardio.

█ Neil Nitin Mukesh

Two bags of rice, weighing 5 kg each, have become a part of my weight-training

I haven’t been exercising regularly for the last one-and-a-half months and I can see the difference in my muscle tone. So now, I am trying to maintain a routine. Since the last one week, I have been running almost eight km a day. Unfortunately, I don’t have weights at home and our society’s gym is shut. So, I am trying to do whatever weight-training I can do by myself. My tables and chairs have become my bench-press. We have an empty cylinder which I lift. My wife (Rukmini) has given me plastic bags of rice that weigh five kg each and they have become a part of my weight-training while my theraband has become my back and leg machine. But I am afraid my little monkey (Nurvi) might try imitating me. So, I am limiting myself to stuff that is safe.

Also, trying out new exercises might sound exciting, but weights are supposed to be lifted in a certain manner. So, I am making sure that I don’t do anything just for a nice picture and suffer from a slip disc or a torn ligament later. I would rather sweat it out with walks, push-ups or pull-ups.

█ Rohit Roy

I’ve started doing Surya Namaskar with my wife

Fitness can be maintained anywhere, anytime, if you put your mind to it. Many people have been inspired by my recent transformation and I cannot let them down. At the same time, I don’t think this is the time to start something new without guidance, as that can put you in harm’s way.

Since I cannot workout as much, I have become more stringent about my diet. I have a little dumbbell set I bought during the filming of Mumbai Saga, which I use now. And I have started doing Surya Namaskar with my wife (Manasi) as that opens up my joints and muscles and helps me relax.

I have also learnt a couple of things from Instagram. I had a resistance band that I got for my rotator cuff injury. I have bound two of them on different levels around my window grills and do my chest workout with them.

█ Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor
Since there is no routine, you need to create one for yourself

Iam trying to stay disciplined by waking up at a decent hour every day and trying not to sleep in as that can ruin your whole balance. Since there is no routine, you need to create one for yourself. I walk up and down the stairs or around the house. If you live in a quiet lane and maintain social distancing, you can also take a walk there too. I also try to get some weights done. Luckily, we have a fully functional gym at home. And since my father (Anil Kapoor) and I both use the gym, we take separate sessions.

█ Radhika Madan

My meditation is dancing to Daler songs

Imake sure to work out every single day. I do virtual yoga with my teacher and some functional training. Most of my workout is with body weights, so I haven’t needed to replace gym equipment. You inadvertently end up picking buckets full of water while swabbing, so, I end up getting some weights done automatically.

We are all watching a lot of content online and I have found an active way to do that too. I watch one or two episodes, of the show I am following, at a stretch on my phone while taking a walk.

People have different type of meditations, mine is dancing to Daler Mehndi songs.