Balraj Kaushik: A Calculated Fitness Journey

Do you think your current approach to fitness is delivering the best results? Think again! Because after reading about Balraj's strategic method of fitness, crafted using lots of maths, you might want to reconsider.

Balraj Kaushik is a marathon runner whose calorie count has been going through the roof every day. He also happens to be a maths teacher in a school, and hence, numbers are his best friends.

In a conversation with SocialBoat, he talks about his transformation journey, his goals, and his experiments with running that give him the best results. Read on interesting insights he has to offer.

What pushed Balraj?

Five years ago, Balraj was nothing close to what he is now. While now he runs about 50 km in a day, then he wasn't able to run even 100 meters at one go.

Balraj experienced a few incidents that pushed him towards this transformation. He recalls two of them.

1. Once when he had gone to buy himself a pair of trousers, the salesman insisted that size 46 would fit him, while Balraj was sure that size 44 would be perfect. After some argument, when he tried the trousers, he realized that the salesman was right. It was like a harsh reality check. Leaving the shop, Blaraj said to the salesman,

“I will buy a pair from you only when I fit in size 30.”

2. Similarly, in another incident, Balraj’s acquaintance who was visibly lazier and less active than Blaraj told him,

“You’re just like me.”

Looking at himself from someone else’s point of view, he thought that it was time to work on himself.

Adding further to the list of reasons that motivated him toward fitness, Balraj tells us that he loves eating and that he eats a lot.

“Another one of the major reasons for my weight-loss was the belief that if I am fitter, I will be able to eat all that I want, without any guilt.”  

1000 km in A Month!

Being a mathematics teacher, Balraj seems to have a penchant for making sense of everyday reality through numbers. His target distance for every month is 1000 km, and so far he has achieved it every month, often even going beyond it. To achieve this target in the most fruitful way possible, he experiments with several running, diet, and sleep patterns. He analyzes his recorded observations and deduces the most favorable results from them. This is complemented by the fitness-related information that he reads regularly.  

Currently, his schedule consists of running long distances every Sunday, while alternating between running and walking. On weekdays, he alters the routine and sets it according to the target achieved so far and body recovery.  

So far, going to sleep at 7 p.m. and waking up at 3 p.m. has been a constant practice.  

Why Recovery is Essential

For a person who runs long distances regularly, it is imperative to let the body recover and prepare for the next run. Balraj realizes the importance of recovery and he says,

“For recovering the body, sleep is the most important. I never compromise my sleep.”

From all the research and experiments that he has done in the past few years, he tells us that nothing less than 8 hours of sleep per day will recover the body. Plus, as added advice, he adds that you should keep your phone away from you for at least an hour before you go to sleep.

“If you’re not sleeping for 8 hours a day, you're not doing justice to your body, you’re not fit.”

Balraj adds that another essential thing that helps him recover, and that he prioritizes is his family time. He takes no calls after 6 p.m. because from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., he spends an hour with his family.  

“One has to strike a perfect balance with workout, work, and family, and set clear priorities.”

Inspiring People Online and Offline

After undertaking this remarkable transformation journey, the first person who was inspired by Balraj’s journey was his daughter.

“It makes my journey so much more special.”

Balraj’s daughter, who had also been overweight, would accompany him on his runs for hydration. She would cycle her way through.

On one such run, Balraj fell down and severely hurt himself. However, he ran 13 km and completed his race with bleeding knees. With a perfect kind of happiness, Balraj says,

“She saw me and was very inspired. The next day she came to me and said she wanted to lose weight.”

When Balraj lost weight, many people did not bother. When his daughter did, his neighbors realized that it was not just a chain of accidents. They had been working towards this.

“When I took rounds of my mohalla during the lockdown, a lot of my neighbors started calling me mad. But after seeing my daughter's transformation, they started coming to me for help with health-related issues.”

Thus began Balraj’s journey as a trainer. Currently, he is training about 200 people all across the country along with many students from his school. He has also inspired many people through his Instagram handle, where he posts his progress regularly.  

What is the way ahead?

As mentioned above, Balraj loves playing with numbers, and this is also how he has set his goals for himself.

For example, three years later, when he will turn 50-years-old, he aims to run a distance of 10km.

“This will give me a target to stay fit for the next few years.”

Similarly, when he retires, he aims at a distance of 100 km.

Additionally, he also wishes to take part in the international marathons that will be held in America and South Africa.

For more such stories, visit SocialBoat.