Farhan Akhtar Workout Routine & Diet Plan for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is a movie about the flying Sikh ‘Milkha Singh’ who won commonwealth gold for India and missed out (by a fraction of a second!) the bronze medal in the Olympics games that were held in Rome in the year 1960. The film tells the tale of Milkha Singh from his struggle for existence during the partition of the country to leading a refugee’s life and winning honor and accolades for India in adverse circumstances.

The lead character of Milkha Singh is played by Farhan Akhtar. He made his Hindi film debut by acting in the movie Rock On. Zindagi na milegi dobara is another movie from the star which was praised by the critics. Farhan Akhtar is the son of famous screen writer Javed Akhtar. Apart from acting Farhan has also participated in film direction, screenwriting, production, television show hosting and lyrics writing. Born on 9 July 1974, the highly versatile actor and director has received praises for his acting in the movie.

Farhan Akhtar Exercising Schedule

The movie is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The director took the services of Samir Jaura for sculpting Farhan Akhtar’s body. The inspiration was the look of Brad Pitt in Fight Club. The training sessions began in November 2011. Initially the training was only for four days a week and Farhan had to give 1 hour a day. Gradually the duration increased to 6 days a week and Farhan had to devote 6 hours a day for the training.

Farhan trained for five to six hours daily. The training sessions included lessons in cycling, repetitions, swimming, football, stair running, etc. Farhan totally avoided all kinds of junk food while shooting for the movie. A six course meal program for the day helped the actor gain adequate strength and muscles to look and act like the Flying Sikh.

Farhan Akhtar enhanced his physique and stamina by around 30% for the movie. There is a period in the movie when Farhan joins the army. To play that part he had to drop 15 kilos of body weight. It took his trainer three and a half months to accomplish that.

Training schedule for Farhan was changed after every 15 days so that his muscles did not get accustomed to a routine. The chiseled look of Farhan comes after 13 months of hard training. He further trained for an additional period of 6 months after that. Farhan followed hypertrophic training and strength training routine for thickening the muscles. He had to follow the Tabata principle and was required to do weight exercises by his trainer.

Farhan Akhtar Diet Pattern

For Farhan, breakfast for the day included egg whites/scrambled eggs and fresh fruit juices. During lunch he had kebabs, dry fruits and digestive biscuits that had low fat content. Other food items included beans, asparagus, grilled chicken etc. At evening’s supper time the diet was of protein shake. There was no or little dinner for him. Before bed he used to have protein shake. Other food items consumed during the training sessions were nariyal paani (also called as coconut water), oatmeal and skimmed milk. Berry was the most favored fruit.

Farhan Akhtar ate around five to six times during his workout schedule. He was off from alcohol, bread, chapati and rice for a period of 18 months. The meals were balanced to ensure that they had adequate fat, carbohydrate and protein content for the muscle building process. Farhan ate after every 3 hours on the advice of the trainer during the 18 month exercise schedule. He consumed 3,500 calories a day. For the soldier’s look Farhan drank 5 liters of water a day. For the runner look, the portions became smaller and calorie count was reduced to 1800.

Trainers for the Milkha look

The exercise routine of Farhan Akhtar was meticulously planned and well executed by Samir Jaura. The routine was designed in such way so that it added muscle to the ectomorph body of the actor. An ectomorph body is a body with long and thin limbs. The exercise schedule became all the more difficult as Farhan had to sport 3 different looks during the whole movie. The lean runner and the bulky soldier were antagonistic views. The trainer and Farhan both worked hard to get the desired looks. Farhan had to sleep at 10 and rise at 5.30 for the training sessions. There were no late night parties for Farhan for a long period of time.

The athletic training sessions of Farhan were conducted under the guidance of Melvyn Castro. The sessions were held at Priyadarshini Park in Mumbai. This training session was for increasing flexibility and for doing sprints.

The combined sessions and well planned diet pattern helped Farhan to get the desired looks of the flying Sikh. Both his acting performances as well as his looks have received praises from the critics.

Watch a video below to get an insight of how Farhan Akhtar transformed into Milkha Singh –