Fans are raving that at 58, Shah Rukh Khan is in the best shape of his life, looking fitter than ever. The superstar has been flaunting his chiseled body in his recent action movies Pathaan and Jawan. “King Khan” has stuck to a not-so-common daily regimen for his fitness.
In an interview with Guardian, Khan said he was an “athlete” when he started working in films in the early 90s, and that he always dreamt of having a “six-pack”. “When I came into the industry, I was an athlete. My life’s dream was to have a six-pack, wear a white vest, have a lady with my arm around her, blood on my face, and a gun in my hand. My dream was to enter a room, someone says: ‘Who are you?’ and I shoot them,” he said.
Khan, who eats only a meal a day, works out in the gym for just half an hour daily. “I go to sleep at five in the morning. When Mark Wahlberg gets up, I go off to sleep. And then I wake up around nine or 10 if I’m shooting. But then I will come home at 2 am, take a bath, and then work out before I go to sleep,” he said in the same interview.
Drawing from Khan’s routine, let’s examine how the body responds to working out at 2 am, sleeping at 5 am, and waking up by 9-10 am.
SRK’s sleep schedule and duration are far from ideal, according to Dr Sudhir Kumar, consultant neurologist at Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad. “Adults need seven to nine hours of sleep at night. Sleeping less than five hours increases the risk of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome, heart attack, stroke, and certain types of cancers,” he said.
He also pointed out that shorter sleep duration is linked to a “shorter lifespan.” The best time to initiate sleep is before 11 pm, and definitely before midnight, in line with our natural circadian rhythm. “Going to bed after midnight increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases,” he said.
Regarding SRK’s practice of eating one meal a day (OMAD) as part of intermittent fasting, Dr Kumar said that while there are no randomised controlled trials on this, multiple studies on humans and animals suggest that intermittent fasting can offer various health benefits.
What happens when you exercise at 3 am? (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
While working out for 30 minutes is ideal, 3 am is not the best time to do it, he noted. “It would be preferable to shift the work-out timings to evenings. Strenuous workouts closer to sleep time can cause sleep disturbances,” said Dr Kumar.
📣 For more lifestyle news, click here to join our WhatsApp Channel and also follow us on Instagram