Akshay Kumar is one of the fittest Bollywood stars. He is known to be someone who gives fitness a priority and lives a healthy lifestyle. Trained in martial arts, Akshay is an inspiring figure, and is somebody, who is aging with grace.

But, how he manages to remain fit? Recently, Akshay, who will turn 49 this September, revealed his mantra of staying in shape. His active lifestyle and healthy living habits never let you realise that he is reaching the quinquagenary.

Akshay revealed that he hates night shifts. He likes going to bed as early as 9 pm, and unlike most of us he has his dinner at 7 pm. “I love my sleep and I love to see the mornings,” Akshay said. “People who invite me to a party know that I will leave early because I have to be in bed. And let me tell you, I hate night shifts,”

The Khiladi Kumar revealed that he doesn’t do weight training. The actor rather concentrates on body weight exercises, while mixing them with shadow-boxing and kick-boxing. “Take out at least one hour every day to exercise, in any form,” Akshay advised. “If you can’t exercise, just go for a walk for an hour.”

Akshay had also pointed out the importance of having right food at the right time. He added that he likes to have home-cooked food. “If you feel hungry after 7 pm, eat an egg white omelette or soup or something that is easy to digest,” Akshay suggested. “If I have to go out for dinner, I only eat proteins and try to avoid carbs.”

So, the secret has been revealed. And the best par is, it’s not difficult to follow.

Yoga. It works. An office goer with an eight-hour sitting job like mine, Yoga has given me a new lease of life. I can feel the strength returning; my neck and back pain are gone and it’s helping me to give my best and perform better at work. Getting a toned body in the process is just a collateral benefit, an added advantage.

When I go back in time, It was fun growing up with siblings. We were four of us together – three sisters and a brother. We cared for, fought, loved, and bullied each other by turns. Now my sister used to be an exceptional athlete, blessed with a super flexible body. She could touch her toes and do cartwheels effortlessly and run cross country marathons with some effort; as of me, I could just reach my shins when I bent forward and cartwheels was something I could only dream of ever doing. So mentally I labeled my body as stiff, inflexible, not meant for sports and carried on through school years.

My first attempt at making my body more flexible was going for one of those early mornings Yoga sessions organised in the community park after I got married. This was way before Baba Ramdev burst onto the scene and revived yoga and pranayama in the collective Indian consciousness.  

There was no cost involved; you just had to carry a mat/bed sheet to the park in the morning, spread it out and follow the instructions. The session would be attended by all age-groups. I remember little kids coming with their grand- parents, teenagers, middle aged uncles and aunties; each and every one did the same exercises with the instructor prodding everyone to stretch further and reach that perfect posture in the asana.

Unfortunately my tryst did not last long; while trying to reach the ideal position something in my back snapped and I just couldn’t move. So it was good-bye Yoga for me.

About a year back I was tempted to try this ancient Indian exercise form again when a young friend invited me. I was skeptic as the demon of last injury was still fresh. But I have had enough of living with a chronic back and neck pain, thanks mainly to a desk job and the creaking aging bones added to the misery. So decided to give Yoga another shot.

And I fell in love with it all over again. Yoga is much more than a discipline that requires moving and twisting the body. It is about each and every breath taken while getting into an asana. It is about controlling your breathing in the short term and your spirit in the long term. It is not a destination but a journey; a journey that is inward bound and gently guides you to be independent of your dependence on the outside world. By training the mind to focus on an involuntary act like breathing; we can actually train the mind to stop fretting and worrying about things that are anyway not in our control. The beauty of the form is not about reaching that perfect pose; but about the daily progress that gives you a sense of achievement.  

By Kaamna Jain

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By Kaamna Jain

In our adult life, we face a number of challenges; keeping our body fit is a major one. Nothing can give pleasure in life if we do not have a healthy body to enjoy it.

Have you ever seen kids playing in the parks or colonies in the evening, they spend hours – talking, laughing, running. It all seems so meaningless or maybe there is meaning. While it is okay to spend time like this in our childhood and well into our teens, we adults think it’s a luxury we can’t afford. Especially in this age of whatsapp, facebook and twitter any free time has to be spent judiciously and thus missing the point of chilling out stress free, like those kids in the park. The stress free time the kids spend helps them keep healthy mentally as well as physically.  

Why is it so difficult to keep fit as we grow older? Simple enough question though but it’s been troubling me for years. Here’s a couple of answers I guess makes sense to me now.

·         The metabolic rate slows down as we grow older which means that body burns fat at a lower rate than it did earlier

·         Lifestyle: desk jobs and sedentary routines

What works for me and will probably work for anyone is – Allocate some time for yourself every single day. Choose an activity that you can do daily, is practical and is something that you enjoy. If you target going for swimming to a pool that is 5 kilometres away from house every day or a gym in a far-off location chance of your sticking to the routine are limited.

Choose your fitness regimen, there are a number of options to choose from:

Walking – which is the simplest and most effective fitness regimen…it does not require much investment except buying a pair of good quality shoes and can be done anywhere.

Yoga –  I’ll recommend joining a Yoga class or getting home visits from a registered Yoga practitioner so that consistency in practice is maintained as well as you don’t end up hurting yourself during asana practice.

Gym –  This one is a no-brainer.

Dance – You get to move your body and have fun galore.

Running – Even if you don’t run the marathon, you will be surprised how running increases your stamina and strength if done regularly. You wouldn’t mind the weight loss as well.

Sports – Pick up a game – any game like Badminton/basketball. The only thing is that you will need like-minded people to play with you.

The key is habit or regularity. Practice till it becomes your second nature and your day isn’t complete if you missed your daily dose of physical action.

Taking care of our bodies is one of our prime responsibilities…After all our body is the only place we have to live in. 

It was gala event to celebrate the success of three movies – Baaghi, Jungle Book and Captain America:Civil War. All the movie were released under the banner of Disney. But what caught the attention of all were the poster shaped cakes and Tiger Shroff desperately trying to dodge eating those. The lead actor of Baaghi was offered the cake by many but Tiger refused to take even a single bite.

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Suryanamaskar or Sun Salutation is a key to healthy body & peaceful mind. The ancient practice among its other benefits boosts cardiovascular well being, strengthens the digestive system, aids in weight loss, improves blood circulation & helps keep anxiety & stress at bay! Here Yoga expert Saloni Ramani teaches the techniques of this comprehensive yogic exercise while adding her own twist to it!