Take a look at what fitness and transformational coach Yash Vardhan Swami had to share about his life as an online Health and Fitness educator and a coach.
Fitness is something that everyone craves but tend to ignore. We are always on the lookout to find inspirations to help us take the first step and adapt to a healthy lifestyle. There are various individuals with such inspiring stories who made an example out of their own life. Fitness influencer Yash Vardhan Swami is undoubtedly one such individual.
A law graduate turned into a fitness coach, Yash Vardhan aims at promoting healthy lifestyle with his work. Yash who himself had a life with bad eating habits, a lazy lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits tried his best to learn from his own life and make the necessary changes to lead a much better life. He always makes sure to use innovative and fun techniques to encourage people into the life of fitness. Yash says the reason for this was he constantly looked for shortcuts, took advice from the wrong people, tried to look for magic pills and supplements which would give him bulging biceps and flat abs. He was inconsistent and also ate wrong. The important part over here is that this is not only his story, it is a familiar fate shared by a lot of individuals.
We recently had a chat with the fitness and transformational coach about his journey so far and what keeps him going. Here's what he had to share:
How did your fitness journey begin?
My fitness journey began with my own transformation where I lost over 44kgs over a span of 8 months (after numerous ‘failed’ attempts). During the journey, made a lot of mistakes due to lack of the right information, impatience, looking for shortcuts etc. However, that ignited my zeal to learn more and improve more. (and I am grateful for that as it had a huge role to play in my coaching practice)Then I moved on to helping a few friends of mine and realised how transforming lives can be so empowering and the rush they gave to me as I had gone through the same process in the past.
What does your regular day look like?
"So, my day starts with water and gratitude. Then I meditate for 20 minutes followed by reading a book for personal growth while getting some sunlight exposure. Then I perform some cardio/activity. Post that I have my first meal and then I am off to work. At times, work gets a little hectic as I am handling 4 growing companies right now, so I end the first bout of work with some breathing practice, eating and then I have my pre-workout meal. Workout for 60-90 minutes (4x/week). Then come back, relax for a bit and spend some time with the family. Post that, I read and study for a while, reply to client messages, emails and checking. Have my last meal of the day. Walk for a bit. And before going to bed read, express gratitude."
You are also known as the ‘Transformational coach’. What is the basic area that you focus on to help a person transform themselves?
"First and foremost, we work on the most important muscle which is our brain. Improving Mindset is #1. If we understand our ‘why’, the whole transformation process becomes easier. Along with that, we work on a complete lifestyle improvement which is not just limited to nutrition and training. We extend it to the whole lifestyle and cover stuff like sleep and stress management. We like setting up a mindfulness routine too. Through nutrition, we try to ensure that we flourish the clients’ body with all nutrients to support health along with aesthetic/fat loss goals. Training is catered based on health markers, fitness levels preferences and goals. We do have regular check-in's to ensure, accountability and regular motivation!"
What diet would you recommend to people in order to help them boost their immune system during these times?
"Honestly, regardless of the pandemic, every nutrition and lifestyle plan should be supporting immune system. Ensuring we do not have any nutrient deficiencies (esp. zinc, vitamin c and vitamin d which play a crucial role in our immunity) along with exercising regularly and ensuring that stress and sleep are managed as they are game changers when it comes to optimal immune function. But again, specific guidelines given by doctors should be followed as every individual is different and there’s a lot of subjectivity."
You have always tried to introduce various fitness challenges online. Do you think challenges and trends encourage people to take up fitness seriously?
‘Gamification’ is actually a game-changer esp. when you want someone to get started. Healthy competitiveness and some incentivation can ensure clients put in more efforts and make the whole process ‘fun’. Having a supportive community can literally change the game! We run a 40k challenge in which participants have to walk 40,000 steps in one day and all winers win a t-shirt from our side and 5 lucky winners win fitbits. Over 1500 participants completed the challenge in our last edition (and over 10000 participated!) Shred60 is a 8 week transformation challenge where top 5 transformations win a fully sponsored trip to BALI with me and 10 transformations win goodies. We were able to pull off over 250 successful transformations in a short period of 8 weeks in our last edition of Shred60.
What is that one mantra that always inspires you to keep going?
"Back in the day, I had never imagined how transforming bodies can transform lives. We as coaches can CHANGE LIVES and that’s the force that keeps me pushing. Along with that, the love we get from our community is immense. Also, I can relive my own transformation through the transformations of my clients. Also, coaching helps me understand psychology (which is an area of interest for me!)"
As a fitness coach, what would be your ideal cheat day menu?
"I do not believe in cheat days. Don’t get me wrong. I do have my favourite foods now and then. But the concept of ‘Cheating’ has a negative connotation. We need to understand that we are humans and it’s normal for humans to have our favourite food now and then and it’s not cheating. Also, the word can actually bring in ‘guilt’ after the meals leading to binges and mess up the relationship with food. Enjoying favourite foods once in a while ensuring that our goals dont take a hit should be a part of our lifestyle! I like calling it a treat meal and my favourites include Sushi and Thai food, ice cream, Lotus biscuit and desserts baked by my mom"
Check out Yash Vardhan on Instagram @trainedbyyvs for your daily updates and inspirations for fitness.
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