With almost 11 years of experience as a trainer behind him, Shivoham aka Dheepesh Bhatt he has had experiences most of us can only dream about. As one of India’s earliest trainers of CrossFit, a high intensity strength and conditioning workout, proponents, he has an illustrious clientele including Bollywood actors Ranbir Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh and Jacqueline Fernandez. Over the decade, Shivoham has kept up with changing time garnering a strong social media following.
Shivoham’s name has become synonymous with mind-blowing body transformation. What separates him from the pack, however, is his wholesome approach to fitness that lays equal emphasis on mind and body. A balance between the two is a must for a fulfilling and sustainable transformation.
In an exclusive interview with Zee Zest, Shivoham shares his knowledge on overtraining, the role of mind in getting fit and the biggest reason people fail to meet their fitness weight loss goals.
1. What is overtraining and what are the causes of overtraining?
Overtraining is when our mind and body are out of sync; it occurs when you are not just physically exhaustion but also mentally. Our mind is preoccupied by other aspects of life—work, relationship, career, finance, etc—and does not allow the body to heal itself, causing chronic fatigue. In such a situation, if you continue to push yourself and stress your body with crazy workout and counting calories, you will fall prey to overtraining.
Overtraining is a topic that is not taken seriously. People think they over-train but 99% people have never even come close to it. When you do a good workout, which is not the same as overtraining, your body needs to recover.
2. What are some of the signs or symptoms associated with overtraining?
If you are not sleeping well, feeling low and grumpy and have sore muscles, it is time to pay attention. When your body is stressed, it produces excess of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone, when produced in excess it inhibits other hormones such as serotonin, dopamine and testosterone, which can lead to depression and anxiety in the long run.
3. How can one avoid overtraining, be it at the gym or home?
Firstly, get your mind in order. Get your breath in order. Wake up in the morning and spend some time with yourself – do some pranayama, sit down and just visualise how you’d like your day to be. How would you want a work meeting/session to be? How would you like to feel at the end of it or the day? These are a few points to think beforehand. Once you’ve gathered all your thoughts then you can go ahead with your day, do your training, eat right, etc., and everything else will fall into place.
4. What role does the mind play when it comes to getting into shape/lose weight?
Your mind and mental health plays an important role when it comes to transforming yourself, especially if it is about changing your physical appearance. Your diet, supplements intake, exercise routine and sleep, won’t have any impact if you don’t have clear goals and are mentally aligned to them.
TIPS TO AVOID INJURIES AT HOME WHILE EXERCISING1) Mind your surroundings2) Don't forget your yoga mat3) Warmup is key4) Focus on your form5) Understand your body and take it slow |
5. Is there a difference between a celebrity trying to get into shape and an average person?
Every person has a different goal when it comes to fitness. When a celebrity is trying to get fit for a movie role, they are doing it for their career, whereas most average people try to get into shape to stay healthy and, as a by-product, look good. When a celebrity is training, his or her entire day revolves around it unlike an average person who is dedicating an hour or two every day. Also, a celebrity has multiple people—from a nutritionist to a meal planner and a fitness coach—dedicated to achieving the end objective. An average person may not have those luxuries.
6. In your opinion, what's the biggest reason people fail to meet their fitness/weight loss goals?
People have lost patience and everything is about quick results. You need to understand that when you’re trying to transform your body, you are trying to build muscle or lose body fat, there is a progression that cannot be hastened. A proper diet and training with discipline must be maintained and only then will you see results. It takes time!
People get bored when they don’t see any results within a week or two and quickly move on to some other form of exercise. Before you know, they’ve tried three-four different forms of fitness regimens in a span of a month or two, finally getting exasperated because nothing worked. No matter what you do, new diet or training, give it at least 12 to 14 weeks to see some noticeable changes. Patience is a virtue.
7. What does a typical week of exercise look like for you? How do you change up your routine and where do you get your #fitinspiration from?
I don’t repeat my workouts, so every day is different. I try to be as creative as possible with the routine—I think about how I can hit the same muscle and achieve similar results using a variety of equipment or may be by changing the movement. Usually, in a week I end up doing six to eight sessions depending on work, my travel, and how I am feeling. Sometimes, I take a couple of days off and do nothing, while some days I end up doing two-three routines in a day. It depends on my mood and how my body is feeling at that time.
8. What's the most challenging fitness challenge you've taken up so far?
It would have to be the half Ironman triathlon, which involves swimming, cycling and running. I’ve been a national level swimmer, so that wasn’t new to me and cycling, most of us know. Running was the real challenge here. The maximum I had ever ran five to ten kms but this triathlon required the participants to run 21kms and I had just started training for it. When you put all these three activities together, it’s a totally different ballgame.