Hitting the right notes with your workouts: Conversation around fitness after Sidharth Shukla’s death

Today marks a year since Sidharth Shukla died. A fitness enthusiast, the actor’s sudden death due to a cardiac arrest sent shockwaves among his fans, as he was perceived to be someone who believed in staying in shape. Since his death, conversations have increased manifold around health, fitness and gym workouts. A year later, the same on how much is too much, continues.

Counselling psychologist Sachita Sethi Sodha says the reason such conversations happen on such a big scale is because people get emotionally attached to public figures. “Every action, every move they make is being noticed by the common people. So when something so uncertain like death happens to them, which can happen to anyone… people generally consider that celebs have all the luxuries in life, they don’t really have any concerns or challenges in life. An incident like this creates a lot of fear among people,” she reasons.

Trainer Prashant Sawant has worked with celebs such as Shah Rukh Khan, Varun Dhawan and Ajay Devgn and says, “People often miss out on getting fitness tests, like ECG and cholesterol. You need to keep a check on those, especially after the pandemic. One should go slow and steady with workouts. Don’t over work out. Today, I see more people talking about fitness and they understand the importance of supplements as well. In fact, I am happy people are taking more initiative to work out and get fitter.”

Actor Tanuj Virwani had to bulk up and lose weight for his projects such as Inside Edge feels when something tragic and unfortunate like that (Sidharth’s death) happens, “speculations are bound to arise”. The 35-year-old says, “You need to work on your body keeping the bigger picture in mind. My advice to people who take shortcuts is that your body will look great for a short term, but you can’t sustain it for a long period of time. It’s not about having six or eight pack of abs, but feeling good about yourself and being healthy.”

People have realised that looking fit doesn’t mean being healthy. Trainer Rahul Nair, who has worked with actors Mrunal Thakur and Ali Fazal, shares, “Body building is a sport (for many). Muscles ho, aur voh insaan fit ho, yeh zaroori nahi hai. Someone might be going to the gym and working out but might be dealing with stress or have medical conditions.”