Mukesh
Mukesh Bhatt on how working out at the gym even at his age, keeps him agile as ever and allows him to have a 16-hour work schedule
Upala KBR (DNA; September 20, 2015)

I walk into the gym and see producer Mukesh Bhatt doing abdominal crunches with trainer, Navendu Sawant. At 62, Mukesh is the oldest member of the IThinkFitness gym in Bandra in a crowd comprising largely of 24-40 year-olds, who come there to work out. Mukesh says age is all in the mind and talks about how a proper diet and fitness regime have kept him super fit and healthy for over two years now...

Beginnings
In 2012, I suffered a strong viral attack and lost 14 kgs within 40 days (I was 69 kg at the time). The doctors feared the worst. I was hospitalised immediately. Luckily it was nothing major. But apart from my weight, I lost all muscle mass. That was when I realised that my body couldn’t cope up with my mind. I needed to put on some muscle and started weight training on my dietician Rujuta Diwekar’s recommendation.

‘My trainer changed my life’
That’s when my rendezvous with this gym and Navendu started. I didn’t know that at the age of 60, he would mentor my life so beautifully. Now I give two hours to myself every day. You owe it to yourself. I have become more agile and positive, my energy and drive has picked up. I move as briskly as a 24-year old man. I am the only senior citizen in the gym and am very proud of it.

Addicted to workouts
What is amazing about my gymming, it’s my addiction now, I am so hooked on to it, is that every morning I start my day at 6 am, I work out daily for one-and-a-half hour from Monday to Saturday and walk every evening for 45 minutes. Walking for me is a must apart from weight-training. Sundays is a break from the gym but I walk for 45 minutes. The emotion of feeling low has disappeared from my life. I feel so motivated every morning after doing my workout.

When I travel, I make sure I only stay in those hotels which have good gyms, so I don’t miss out on my morning gym in any part of the world. My morning gym is a must as it sets my day. I don’t ever feel drained, rundown or tired. It is something I have now got used to and don’t want to deprive myself of.

Normal work-day schedule
I wake up at 6 am, work out 6.30-8.30 am at the gym, I come home and have a shower, do my puja, have my breakfast and by 9.30 am I am at the office. My staff comes at 10.30 am, but that one hour, I have to myself alone without anybody disturbing me. By the time it’s lunchtime (12.30 pm) I am done with the day. After lunch, it’s only meetings. At 4 pm, I have a small snack. Every evening at 6.30 pm, I walk about 8-10 km a day in Joggers Park. By 7.45 pm, I have dinner and go to sleep by 10.30 pm. I don’t believe in late nights.

Eating healthy
I am very particular about not having fried food. Though I am not diabetic, I don’t take sugar. I have a high-protein diet, even if I have carbs which are required for the system, I have good carbs like muesli, oats or brown rice, I have jowar rotis. I am a vegetarian, but I have eggs. I eat lots of greens, salads, broccoli and bean sprouts.

All in the mind
You are as old or young as you are in your head. It has nothing to do with age. If there’s anything in life I regret, it is starting gymming so late.

Just push!
There are times when my energy is slightly low or I am feeling tired, so I want to skip but then you push yourself a bit and then you come out of it. Within 15 minutes, that lethargy disappears.