Is there a single industry that holds sway over an audience the way Bollywood enjoys in India? They’re the penultimate trendsetters in this country. 

Bollywood celebs are forever surrounded by doting eyes, looking at them for the latest fashion inspiration, relationship advice, grooming trends and fitness tips. While our intentions might be noble, sometimes, it can border on obsession if we don’t look at the situation with ample nuance. 

One such person who has been up close and personal with these stars is Shivoham. 

MensXP connected with him for Bollywood Insiders, an experience curated by Airbnb India, where he highlighted the herculean efforts these celebrities undertake to look the way they do. 

Shivoham is a pioneer of the Indian fitness scene, introducing the country to Crossfit in 2009. He’s even trained your favourite actors such as Aamir Khan, Jacqueline Fernadez, Ranbir Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha. This decorated trainer-to-the-stars knows what it takes to actually look like these celebs.

Having seen it all, Shivoham is well aware of the perils ordinary people fall prey to in their pursuit to imitate their idols. While you definitely can achieve your dream body, just like your favourite celeb, it shouldn’t be at the expense of your health and sanity. There’s a healthier and more sustainable way to approach your fitness, according to Shivoham. 

Here are a few excerpts from our discussion with Shivoham about why copy pasting celebrity fitness routines is unrealistic: 

© Shivoham

Throughout his career, Shivoham has trained several celebs and he says they know what it takes to get to their goals:

“When you’re training a celebrity they know what they’re getting into. You can expect them to train once a day, twice a day depending on what needs to be done. They’re strict about their diet too. Whatever is needed to get to their goal they’re ready to do. Whereas a normal person has got their job, they’ve got their family, they’ve got other responsibilities so, they should treat fitness as an aspect of their life, not their life completely.” 

© Shivoham

Physical standards keep changing over time. For example, Tiger Shroff’s audience has different fitness expectations of him as compared to his father’s time. 

Being an industry insider for a while now, Shivoham echoed the sentiment:

“Bollywood aesthetic goals 15 years ago were completely different, there was Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty and Akshay Kumar. They also had a different kind of body when it came to aesthetics. Modern aesthetics are completely different, it’s all about muscularity, rippedness and definition. It has its place, but that’s not all there is to fitness. Today, fitness has become more about the mind than just the body. Especially, since we’ve seen this in the pandemic situation in the past year and a half. People have suffered more mentally than physically. That has definitely taken a front seat. People are investing more time and money towards fitness as a whole, which is the mental aspect as well as the physical.” 

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