Kapil Sharma’s fitness trainer Yogesh Bhateja on working with the actor-comedian: ‘We have trained at odd hours… even at 2 am’

When fitness trainer Yogesh Bhateja met comedian-actor Kapil Sharma in 2014, he noticed how Sharma (owing to his busy schedule) was not in the best of shape, physically. So, he decided to join hands and thus began Sharma’s physical fitness journey to build a chiseled physique — which, he said, was “challenging” as they had to start from the basics.

“As a creative person, his mind was always occupied with upcoming episodes. We have trained at odd hours like midnight, and even 2 am. His sleeping pattern, too, was messed up because of his work schedule. So, we started with basic stretches and breathing practices,” recalled Bhateja on his decade-long association with Sharma, who is back with The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix.

Talking about his client, Bhateja shared that Kapil Sharma likes listening to Punjabi music and often starts singing on set. “When resting in between shoots, he used to start singing. There were times when Sunil Grover and Kapil used to train together. I remember how once they started competing with each other while in a plank hold and crossed five minutes. Yet no one gave up. But I won’t disclose who left it first,” quipped Bhateja, who was introduced to Sharma by actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood.

Admiring Sharma’s commitment, Bhateja said that he is a “very hardworking and determined person”. “He has the ‘Bring It On’ attitude and trains like athletes. Functional training is his major interest. So I created a fusion of functional training, weight training, and yoga for him to make him more light on his feet, get lean and muscular, and at the same time look fresh,” expressed Bhateja, who has also trained Sharma for two of his films Kis Kis Ko Pyaar Karu and Firangi.

Yogesh Bhateja with Kapil Sharma (Source: Yogesh Bhateja)

Bhateja further shared that Sharma has also experimented with weight training. “Owing to his good genetics — as his father was a wrestler — and his hard work, he gained muscle very fast. He has got good strength. We also do a lot of aqua workouts as it is very demanding and helps burn calories faster and more safely,” said Bhateja.

“He trains for at least two hours, including 40 minutes of cardio, and spends much time dedicated to weight training combined with functional and aqua workouts. Sometimes he used to go for an hour-long walk at night without letting me know and would surprise me,” said Bhateja.

Slowly and gradually, Bhateja started modifying Sharma’s diet by adding more protein-rich foods to his meal plan, and even “pushed” him to increase his water intake. “I got his blood work done to understand what vitamins and minerals were lacking in his body,” said Bhateja.

 

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Despite being a Punjabi who “likes eating good food”, Sharma “always controlled his diet whenever needed”. “So when he had an important project coming up, he would switch his diet to salads and soups. He would follow intermittent fasting and be disciplined when it came to business,” said Bhateja.

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