Vivek Dahiya on finishing 35 at Spartan Race in Dubai: Wanted to test myself

Vivek Dahiya recently took part in the Spartan Race in Dubai, an obstacle course where athletes from across the globe come to participate. The actor finished at an impressive 35th place out of 602 athletes, ending up in the top 10 percentile, and Vivek Dahiya is overjoyed by that.

He says, “It was exciting to be competing, but when I say competing, I don't mean that I crazily went out there to win this race. That wasn’t my idea. I just wanted to test for myself where do I stand at a global level. There were athletes from world over and I wanted to see my positioning amongst them,” adding that he attempted obstacles like wall climb, rope climbing and crawling during the race.

Vivek shares that he came to know about the race a year ago and did think of participating then but stopped himself. “Maybe, I was not ready for it then. So, I just waited it out and this year, around Christmas and New Year's, there was a lot of binge eating that happened. I went a little off track, and I was getting too comfortable in my fitness regime. I needed a challenge in life that would push me beyond my comfort zone that I had established. I was like I will attempt this race because otherwise I'll never feel ready,” he says.

Ask him about his training for the race and he shares, “My regular training was very much in sync with the competition. I don't do the conventional body building exercises like lifting heavy weights. My training usually involves a lot of parkour, calisthenics, kickboxing and body weight exercises. Since I was already in that rhythm and that discipline, the obstacle part was something I was not worried about. But I was not looking after my diet. I was eating whatever I liked. While my workout was intense, my diet was a bit problematic.”

To focus on his intake, the actor followed a strict diet regimen for a month before the race. “I did not put anything unnecessary in, I monitored my diet, my micros and macros. Everything that I ate had to go through a plan in my head. For the past one month, I woke up at 5am. trained for two hours, went for a jog in the evening and meditated during daytime,” he informs.

Vivek adds that he hopes to influence more people to take up this challenge for their own physical fitness. “I would urge everyone to at least give it a shot, come out of the conventional gym set up, where it is very limited in terms of functionality and movement, and try out new things. This is true fitness, as this tests you in every way possible. It's also very liberating that you are no longer dependent on gym equipment,” he says, adding that he hopes to participate next year again, but this time with wife (actor) Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya. “I would really want her to do it. In fact, one day, I asked her to train me, and be the Adrian to my Rocky. So, she did, and it was good fun. I would like to see us participate together,” he ends.