Prakash Chakravarthy, a Professional Trainer at Apple fitness Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bangalore aged 26 shares his Body transformation story from a thin and aimless little boy to standing 1st runners up in a District level Body Building competition in the very first attempt!

Q. What inspired you to go for that change?

I used to work for this company called Bio-pro who manufacture lab equipments and the owner Durai Swamy noticed that i could easily lift heavy items and was comfortable with it although being just a 19 year old thin looking boy. He suggested me to join gym and even paid my gym fee for the same gym he went to. After few months i started noticing that i am pretty strong and also started seeing good changes in my physique. Apart from this the people around me in the gym also started giving me good compliments about my changed physique and strength. This was the point from which i started taking gyming seriously. I later asked myself why am i doing this, just behind 4 walls. I should create an image of myself and do something good for me in my life because i am a school dropout (10th grade) which i dropped because of some family problems (financial crisis) and had no visions earlier in my life.

Q. What was the biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge i faced in my fitness journey was financial crisis considering my diet food which are pretty expensive and paying my gym fee. Also i also had the responsibility of taking care of my family of 4 – mother (single mother),sister,elder brother and me that is to go to gym and earn for my family. Balancing this was probably the biggest challenge to be more precise. Inside the gym, i faced challenges while working out since they were new to me and whenever i used to see any gym motivation video for some exercise i used to feel that why cant i do it so easily if they can. The last challenge i faced was unending discouragement from my friends, colleagues and even family members who believed that such things are pointless in life and one should follow the road more travelled that is a typical job.

Q. When did you start seeing the changes?

I started working out when i was 19 years old (2009) and after an year of dedication i started seeing good changes in my body. During this time till now i had to miss gym for an entire year because of a loss i faced in business i started in partnership which was my worst part of life.

Q. What is the biggest gain?

One word for the most important thing i learnt during my fitness journey – “Career”. Elaborating on this, i learnt during my journey that making a career in something is really important in life and since i was a fitness maniac i chose gyming.

Q. What workout routine has worked best for you?

For me the best routine was working out in the evening between people and not in isolation since it motivated me to work even harder, especially when people used to keep looking at me which made me happy. I used to work out my abs for one hour in morning and about 1 and a half hours in evening for my specific body part.

Q. What is your diet like?

When i started gyming, i dint know anything about diet foods and i dint know anything about eggs and chicken being a priceless part of body building. It was only after an year i started learning about these things from here and there and even books.
My diet was – Morning 6 am – oatmeal , 8 am – 4 eggs , 9 am – an apple, 11 am – whole wheat bread with cheese or peanut butter, 1 pm – chicken,6 rotis , 3 pm – 4 egg whites with steamed vegetables like cabbage,beet-root,cucumber and beans, Dinner – chicken and cabbage. Apart from this i used to have a protein shake early morning and after workout.

Q. What is your supplementation like? (if any)

I started with ON (Optimum Nutrition) Serious mass for some mass gain and later on i switched to ON (Optimum Nutrition) Gold Standard 100 % Whey protein.

Q. If you had to pick only 3 exercises, what would they be and why?

Chin-ups, Push-ups, squats and lastly Barbell chest press.

Q. What are your future plans?

In the future i want to open my own fitness studio my main aim being every single person in the gym must be fit no matter what with or without my assistance.

Q. Who inspires you?

Myself. The encouragement , the discouragement, my personal goals and my family issues – all these things inspired me to start this journey.

Q. What is it to be “you” on a normal day?

On a normal day when am resting i just sleep,eat and party with my friends.

Any messages?

Never bother yourself with what others say. Listen to everyone and in the end do what you wanted to do anyways.