Do not aspire to become a celebrity trainer: Kaizzad Capadia

K11 fitness academy founder and instructor Kaizzad Capadia speaks of his vocation

Q. Why did you decide to become a fitness trainer?
A. Initially, as a teenager, I had dreams of winning the Mr Universe. I won a few state-level competitions and competed well at the nationals (I was also considered to be in the Top 10 best bodybuilders in the country in 2005). My first client was the Bajaj industrial family. From 1991-1999, through word of mouth, I trained family members of almost all the top industrial families, including members from the Birla, Singhania, Garware and Khatau families. Hence, I am called as a pioneer of the personal training. In 2003, I decided to take up education in the fitness industry seriously and co-founded the K11 Fitness Academy. Today, K11 is the premier institute for certi-fication of fitness professionals in the Indian fitness industry.

Kaizzad Capadia with Ameesha Patel

Q. What are the challenges that you face as a celebrity fitness trainer?
A. First of all, I do not consider myself to be a celebrity trainer. I do not think it’s a lofty goal to aspire to. At the K11 Fitness Academy, my quotes are put up in classrooms for my students to inspire them towards the right goals, and one such quote is: “Do not aspire to be a celebrity trainer. Instead, aspire to be a trainer, who is a celebrity in his/her own right.” For me, any person willing to pay my fees is a “celebrity”. I do not face any challenges while dealing with celebs, especially actors, actresses and models. Their careers drive them. Today, a celebrity who is out of shape can kiss goodbye to his/her career and hence, with so much at stake, they are always extremely driven and disciplined. I always get 100% compliance from them with regards to diet and exercise protocols.

Q. What are the must-try, safe fitness trends that our readers can try out?
A. There are many trends and fads. Most are a waste of time. Given that you get a qualified instructor, the following are exercise forms worth adding to your training regime and would be termed as result-oriented: For endurance there is no other ‘trendy’ activity that delivers as much or more than Spinnning (Group Cycling Class). For strength, apart from proper weight training with barbells and dumbbells, a ‘trendy’ addition that will deliver results in terms of anaerobic endurance or muscular endurance is kettlebells. All other trends are nothing more than dance choreographies parading as workouts.

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