Secrets of Virat Kohli Body: Workout, Diet Plan and Fitness Tips

Girls love it, boys aspire for it – Virat Kohli fitness and body. But like everyone’s success in fitness, the reason is always hard work in the right direction. Check out Virat Kohli diet plan, fitness tips, workout routine and fitness secrets in this article.

When did Kohli start focusing on fitness?

“It was after the IPL in 2012. Till then I did not focus much on the physical aspect. I never got into the minute details of fitness, things like what I need to eat from morning to night, how much I need to work out, how much I need to train. After that IPL, I started listening to my body,” – Virat Kohli

The India Test captain, Virat Kohli is arguably the fittest player on the team, has revealed his secret for opting a healthy lifestyle. And he had a good reason for it.

Why Virat started focusing on fitness?

Virat Kohli wanted to explore a new side of himself, which will take him to the level where he wanted to be.

In Virat Kohli’s word “I never wanted to be average. I wanted to be among the best in the world. I wanted to compete. I wanted to be among the players that other teams want to get rid of. So, I always had that mindset, but I never had the motivation initially to understand how much importance physical strength and fitness hold in my sport.”

Fitness is a lifestyle, not a need!

“It started off as something that is required for my sport, but now it is a lifestyle choice for me. Even when I don’t play or even during my off time I don’t eat unhealthy food” added Virat Kohli.

He always wanted to become the best cricket player in the world. This vision took him to an endless road where he never said ‘no’ to innovations and improvements. His outlook towards fitness changed after IPL 2012. He felt the need to change and was inspired by the arousing scope that unlocks once you are completely fit. He decided to lead a healthy life and this helped him become one of the finest batsmen of the current generation. He said that a healthier body has not only made him a better batsman but also an improved fielder.

Underlining the significance of staying fit, the star batsman said that giving up unhealthy food habits turned him into a positive person and made him believe that he could achieve anything.

How important is team’s fitness for Virat?

“Fitness is the primary focus of any game. If we strengthen that over a period of six to eight months from now, then it will help us in the coming three-four years. We feel that fitness is an area that we need to improve on, and I feel it is the need of the hour. Bringing minor changes in attitude, in fitness level, in improving our skills, is something we plan to do as a whole unit,” – Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is arguably the fittest Indian cricketer and as captain, he expects his teammates to cut no corners on their physical well-being.

How has Virat Kohli fitness helped him?

Kohli cited an example of how improved fitness helped allay fielding apprehensions. “When you become fit, you feel you can do anything,” he said.

“I will give you one example. I was never a quick fielder. I was never willing to field in every position. But after becoming fitter, lighter and stronger, I overcame all those doubts I had [about fielding]. Now it [staying fit, eating right] has become second nature to me.”

Virat Kohli Diet Plan

• Meal: Freshly cooked meals. He prefers diet of lamb chops and pink salmon
• Snacks: Dried fruits and nuts – along with a cup of steaming black coffee
• Hydration: Evian water which is imported from France

Some key points of Virat Kohli diet plan:

• All the food that he eats has to be either grilled or boiled.
• Cheat days don’t find a mention in his schedule.
• He abstains from coffee that has sugar and insists on having fresh juices – packaged ones won’t do at all for him.
• Dry fruits and nuts are packed with essential nutrients. They are an abundant source of proteins, vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. We will discuss this in details in fitness tips.
• Hydration is extremely for an athlete. Virat is extremely careful of it.
• Pink Salamon is the healthiest source of protein. It has lower fat content than most other types of salmon. When touring in Dhaka, a source at a hotel the cricket team was staying at revealed that Kohli enjoyed feasting on imported salmon. Additionally, in August last year, Kohli posted a photograph of himself in the ‘Ministry of Crabs’, a restaurant in Colombo owned by Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.

• In several interviews, Kohli has commented that his favourite cuisine isJapanese. 

• According to his child coach – Carbohydrates are a strict no-no
• Grass-fed lamb is an excellent source of vitamin B12 and a very good source of protein, selenium, and niacin. He enjoys lamb chops which are imported from America and New Zealand.

Sample Diet Plan Inspired By Virat Kohli Diet

• Early Morning: 1 Glass of Evian Water + dried fruits and nuts
• Breakfast: Lamb Chop Hash with Toast
• Mid-morning: 1 Whole Fruit
• Lunch: Freshly cooked pink salmon with a plate of salad
• Evening: Dried fruits and nuts along with a cup of steaming black coffee
• Dinner: Freshly cooked pink salmon or lamb chops or Sushi

This man had a good reason, good motivation, good willpower and finally, now has the best fitness tags attached to him. His tips and tricks would surely be a treat for you:

Virat Kohli Fitness Tips:

Eating well is most important

Diet plan will play an important role if you aspire for Virat Kohli body and fitness. He emphasizes on eating freshly cooked meals to over heart’s content. During tours, he thrives on a diet of lamb chops and pink salmon.

Mineral water choice and right amount is critical

Keeping yourself hydrated in always important. But Virat Kohli goes a step further he drinks only the purest form of water i.e. mineral water. He prefers Evian water which is imported from France. He drinks water based sweat rate, the heat and humidity in your environment, and fitness activity level.

Water regulates your body temperature and lubricates your joints. It also helps transport nutrients to give you energy and keep you healthy. If you’re not properly hydrated, your body can’t perform at its highest level. Virat Kohli avoids soft drinks and suggests everyone for same if you want to adopt a healthy lifestyle. With this philosophy, he recently ended his multi-crore, six-year association with Pepsico.

Kohli comments in an interview to mint

“If I myself won’t consume such things, I won’t urge others to consume it just because I’m getting money out of it.”

Self-control in eating right

Kohli keeps a close watch on what he eats, every time he opens his mouth. You should do it too. Indulging in a little candy or ice-cream may seem like a little slip but it can totally ruin your fitness goals.

He usually loves his favorite snacking option – dried fruits and nuts – along with a cup of steaming black coffee.

Dry fruits and nuts are packed with essential nutrients. They are an abundant source of proteins, vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. Right from skin benefits to medicinal benefits, dry fruits and nuts give you every reason to include them in your diet.

Intense Virat Kohli workout with focus on upper body

You probably have got a membership of a gym or started a gym in a spare room then don’t let it go to waste. Virat hits the gym at least 5 times a week and you should try it too. If you aspire for Virat Kohli body and fitness, then you can’t be lenient in workout intensity.

As an accomplished batsman, he focuses on upper body strength and loves his “lifting session”.Weight-lifting improves bone density, promotes fat-free body mass and increases the strength of connective tissue, muscle & tendons.

Strength Training

Cricket was not really considered a physical game, thus proper strength development was often ignored by Cricketers. Now if you look at modern day players like Steve Smith, MS Dhoni, Ab De Villiers you will notice how these guys use their muscular strength to their advantage and perform better.

Shankar Basu, the trainer of the Indian team was the one who introduced Strength training to Kohli. The player often complained of needing huge efforts in playing sixes. After 6 months’ training this was the report:

“In September we got an assessment of his muscle mass. At the end of the season, we wanted to see if there was a change and what we noticed was his muscle mass had increased dramatically. In the last six months, he has put a lot of time in developing his strength, mass and power.”

Strength training has helped Virat Kohli in following way – preventing injury, increasing running speed, increasing throwing distance, reducing fatigue and improving bat speed.

“However the concept of periodization is very important for a Cricketer to follow. He should base his workouts depending on the time of the season. The off-season should be used to build strength and power, and during the season you should try to maintain what strength you have gained during the off-season. ” said cricket coach Amar Sarkar

Combination of cardio and weights:

Kohli is also focused on core exercises like cardio and heavy weights. These exercises would surely help you develop your muscles in a precise manner and you’ll have an impressive body within a few months.

Virat Kohli starts his daily routine with a cardio session. He exercises 15 minutes on the bike at level 3 maintaining an rpm of 120, and then straight onto the treadmill for 10 strides of 20 seconds each, steps on the sides for 10 seconds to rest in between, 10 of these back to back at a speed of 19 km/hr and level 1 on incline. All of this using the altitude training mask.

The high altitude mask makes the workout efficient and conditions the lungs to make them work harder. When the body is exposed to lower partial pressure at altitude, it responds by increasing hemoglobin and consequently increasing oxygen transport to muscles.

Cross Train – Play Other Sports

Kohli enjoys Tennis and Football. It helps in preventing injury and active recovery.

Change in Training Plan in 2015

He started lifting, snatching, cleaning and deadlifting. The result was great.

“It was unbelievable. I saw the result. I remember running after a ball in a Test series in Sri Lanka and I felt more power in my legs. It was, like, ‘wow’. This training is addictive. The last year-and-a-half it has taken my game to another level.” – Virat Kohli

“I have never been as fit as I am today. It has worked beautifully for me. It has become a lifestyle choice for me. Even in my off time, I watch what I eat. In fact, I get more excited about fitness, feeling good, being healthy than anything else. That is probably because my body realises that fitness is what I would need after my professional career is done.”

Virat Kohli Fitness Plan

Virat Kohli trains 5 Days a week. He does cardio every day and alternates between cross training and weight training.

• Always starts with warm-up
• Generally, the first session is Cardio – 15 minutes on the bike at level 3 and 10 strides of 20 seconds on the treadmill.
• Weight Training – Kohli disclosed that it was former fitness coach of Indian cricket team Shankar Basu, who introduced him to weightlifting. He said:

  “He (Basu) introduced me to weight-lifting, and that has made me realise what actually one needs to do. It’s a thing that one needs to get a knowledge of. I don’t do upper body. I only work on my legs for explosive power. He makes me do a crazy number of squats, close to a 100 in a session.”

• He uses high-end equipment like the high altitude mask– which makes the workout efficient and conditions the lungs to make them work harder and another equipment that Kohli use is Tecnoshaper– which works around the abdominal area, helps in fat loss and provides a defined waist.
• He cross-trains once in while with Football, Badminton etc.
• He mixes it up with Yoga for relaxation and cross-training.

Virat Kohli Body Statistics

Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	69 kg (152 lbs)
Chest	42 in (107 cm)
Arms / Biceps	15 in (38 cm)
Waist	31 in (79 cm)

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