‘Adrenaline is my choice of poison’

Hasan Ali, a Mumbai-based freelance cinematographer, has an interesting motto that he lives up to. “Adrenaline is my choice of poison,” says the 22-year-old. His profession requires him to be fit due to excessive hours of outdoor projects and hence, he has made fitness an integral part of his lifestyle. He has a home gym, so he can schedule his workout according to his convenience. 

His daily schedule begins with 20 minutes of high intensity interval training (HIIT), which requires no equipment and is the best for weight loss. However, Ali does not support quick weight loss. “Excessive HIIT leads to weight loss quite quickly, but this leads to weakening of one’s strength and endurance,” he says. Post HIIT, he gears up for strength training which focuses on different parts of the body, each day of the week. 

Diet, as Ali says, is one of the most important aspects of staying fit and healthy. He believes in starting the day with a litre of water to hydrate and cleanse the body, after eight hours of undisturbed sleep. His daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories per day, approximately. Living alone, he has a hard time cooking but suggests a solution to the same. “I personally do not know much about cooking, so I look for an outlet serving genuinely healthy food without unnecessary fats and carbs.

Along with this, I have half fried eggs and chapatis made of special soy flour, rich in protein, which I personally make at home,” he adds. Additionally, he consumes protein shakes and energy bars at definite intervals across the day. He also allows himself a cheat meal once or twice a month. 

In his earlier days, Ali used to be a chain smoker. He worked hard to get rid of this habit by making health his priority. “Alcohol is the most useless form of calorie consumption. A single can of beer contains about 200 calories on an average, which tends to get worse if consumed on an empty stomach. It can lead to a beer belly, ruin the digestive system and even disrupt your workout schedule on a large scale,” he says.  

Ali, who believes that fitness increases the quality of life, says, “Hustle all day and you’ll lead a better life. Initially, I used to weigh about 130kg and hence faced multiple body image issues. It brought down my level of confidence and I used to feel conscious in public. But, working out has helped me overcome all of this and I now feel really good about myself.” 

He also feels that one should never be satisfied with the way they look or feel and should always keep the flame burning. “The fuel of the flame is your passion for staying fit and you should always hold onto it,” he adds.   

Injuries are a part of working out. Ali has injured his lower back twice and his upper back once. “If you’re into bodybuilding, learn to make friends with injuries. But make sure to not let it affect you and bring you down. You must learn to treat them as hurdles and keep moving past them,” he shares. 

The fitness enthusiast is also fond of motor racing and mountaineering. He has made climbing Mount Everest as one of his life goals and he is working hard to achieve it. 

To all those starting out to make fitness as one of their major goals, he suggests, “Start out by finding an online workout plan and make sure to stick to it, regularly. Steroids are a straight no as they are absolutely unnatural. And finally, have faith in yourself and do not give up.”