Nikkhil Arya says sports and Yoga have helped him stay fit. He says that he will always be grateful to his parents for encouraging him towards fitness.
“As a child, I was always excited to be outdoors. As far as I can remember, I used to play all kinds of sports. I think the sports DNA came into my blood from my father who, in those days, was a great footballer and represented his school and college…Thank God for the fact that mobile phones were not around in those days so as a kid I played games like football (with my father first), basketball, swimming, cricket, tennis, table tennis …basically any sport I could create if space was given to me,” he says.
He adds, “What I am most grateful to my parents for is them introducing me to Yoga at the tender age of 4. They, initially, had to cajole and coax me, but I agreed and they put me under the best and strictest guru in India, Bharatratna BKS Iyengar ji. It makes me proud to be a Puneite when I think about Guruji having blessed our land and made it his abode. Besides asanas and making my body flexible and mind focused, he gave me the Guru mantra of proper breathing 24/7 which is one thing that is why I have been able to sustain life with a smile on my face. He used to stand on me at the age of 7, which I remember so vividly in the way in which only he could cause he knew what he was doing. In fact Moving on, even the gym was unbelievably introduced to me by my mom. She dragged me after my 10th standard to the one and only gym that had opened in the city, Talwalkars. To encourage me, she herself joined too. So having been introduced to various forms of exercise and diets early in my life, I gained a lot of experience and now have the knowledge to custom design my fitness regime as per my current requirements. For example these days I use free weights and use my own body weight as weights… add to that regular badminton, yoga (especially Surya Namaskar and pranayam daily), and walking/running.”
Ask him for two-three diet tips he follows, he says, “A simple, natural diet, nothing fancy. I think everybody should closely listen to their body and customize their diet accordingly. Of course, there are absolute No-nos like excess oil, carbs, sweets, etc. I believe in always keeping my stomach up to a max of 60-70% full. A glass of warm water first thing in the morning. At least 1-2 dates, an apple if possible every day. I also have a minimum of 3-4 liters of water every night. Also, the number of grams of protein intake is equal to or a little more than my body weight unlike some who say it should be double. Also, don’t eat post-9.”
He adds, “The above diet has to be backed up by exercise and above all every activity has to be done with focusing on your breath and with full awareness. One thing I want to reiterate is, do not blindly follow any exercise regime or diet. Do it with complete awareness and respect for your individual body type. Don’t copy anybody theoretically…Respect your DNA. A happy body leads to a happy mind and vice versa. If you remain irritable there must be something wrong somewhere in your routine. Remember the goal is internal peace and calmness and a big NO to any external supplements and no one wants to address the problem of the use and availability of steroids. They are easily available and killing our youth…., there are enough natural substitutes.”
