Running 45k every week, fasting, swimming: Arjun Rampal details 'gruesome' regimen that helped him lose 12 kg in 6 weeks

Arjun Rampal talks about the gruesome fashion in which he shed 12 kg in 6 weeks after finishing the shoot of his Netflix show Rana Naidu.

Arjun Rampal is playing the bad guy in the second season of Netflix's Rana Naidu. The actor, known for his fitness, gained a lot of mass for the role, in order to appear a worthy adversary to the much taller and bigger Rana Daggubati, who plays the titular hero. In a chat with HT, Arjun reveals how the weight gain was fun, but posed some issues once he had to shed all that weight after the shoot got over.

Arjun Rampal on gaining 14 kg and then losing 12 kg

Talking about his bulked-up physique, Arjun says, "I gained 14 kg for the role. It was fun while gaining it, but not really funny when I was trying to lose it (after the shoot ended)."

At 52, Arjun is fitter than most people half his age. But the actor does agree that gaining and losing weight in his 50s is harder than how it was in his 20s and 30s. "It is much harder. It definitely doesn't become easier. But touchwood, the metabolism is still kicking and working. It took me about two months to gain that weight. Then, I lost 12 kg in a month and a half. That was gruesome," he explains.

How Arjun lost 12 kg in 6 weeks

Talking about all the things he did to lose that much weight in that short a span, Arjun says he relied on "Full diet, intermittent fasting, and a tremendous amount of cardio." The actor says he "would do four 10k runs in a week and 5K runs on the other three days", meaning he ran 45 km every week. On top of all this was swimming, cycling, paddle, tennis and, as Arjun puts it: "Whatever cardio I could throw in there". This was all accompanied by regular weight training, he adds

But more than just losing the weight, Arjun says he was focused on getting his mobility back. He explains, "What happens is when you gain weight, your mobility really suffers. Your joints and hips become very tight. So opening that out and bringing back flexibility and mobility was key."