He hit the headlines recently for his destination wedding but even newly wedded bliss cannot stop the dishy Kunal Kapoor from maintaining his fitness regimen. While he accepts that staying fit is part of his profession, Kunal has always been involved with some form of sport or physical activity since childhood. He still plays tennis regularly and used to learn Tai Chi as a teenager. Of late he has even been picking up the basics of Kalaripayattu, the ancient martial art form from Kerala. A few years ago he even practiced the free running style Parkour in London.
His tryst with fitness started when he hit 16 and shot up suddenly. Every skinny, gangly boy that age wishes to flaunt a rippling body and Kunal was no different. That’s when he decided to hit the gym, more a traditional akhada actually where he would do dand baithaks and push-ups. The obsession with looking all beefed up has gone now, to be replaced by a desire for a body which is functionally strong.
As Kunal puts it, he is an actor and it is important that his core muscles are kept strong for stunts. In order to ensure they do, he trains with Prashant Sawant at the Juhu Gymkhana. He keeps changing his workouts and does core exercises like Pilates. Cardio, he avoids, as his stamina is good and his metabolism, high. And what keeps that metabolism high is his regular dance training, wherein he perfects his hip hop moves along with modern dance and the Bollywood basics.
Interestingly, Kunal is no fan of the eight-pack obsession. His belief is that an eight-pack implies the upper muscles of the abs, which are the superficial muscles. It’s more important to develop internal muscles, he believes as opposed to just doing crunches and developing six- and eight-pack muscles. Naturally, his fitness role model is the lean and mean Akshay Kumar. He admires Akki’s strong and fit body, and also Hrithik’s fantastic physique.
With working out right, comes eating right and Kunal is pretty careful on that count. Among the no-no’s for him are rice, non-vegetarian food, protein shakes and unnatural supplements. He tries to obtain natural proteins from his food intake itself. Yes, he does have a sweet tooth but he treats it only very occasionally. Looking at him now, it’s clear that the shaadi ke laddoo haven’t managed to add even an inch to that lean, rippling bod!
