As my brother and I are having dinner, I am chewing over an interesting idea. I suddenly blurt out, “You know what, you are truly in control of your world. I then add, “Heck! This will make an amazing article.”

My brother, with a spoon in his mouth, looks up. “Wait, what? Your world? It’s the world right?”

“No, there is no “the” world, it is your world and my world and they are different from each other.”

Visibly intrigued, he says, “But the physical world is real, right? I mean, the spoon I am holding is real, the food…

When the quarantine started, gyms closed everywhere. Being a fitness enthusiast that loved lifting weights, this was a highly unwelcome situation. For the first few days, I whined, lamented, and didn’t work out. But then I saw that I had two options — continue whining or work out at home.

I chose the latter but wasn’t very enthusiastic about it in the beginning. “What are mere pushups or tugging on resistance bands compared to lifting hundreds of pounds in the gym,” I thought.

I was absolutely wrong. It has been seven months since then and not only have I maintained…

When I started working out, my biceps grew rapidly while my triceps barely progressed. Fast forward a few years and my biceps had become disproportionately bigger than the rest of my physique.

Hearing things like “Those are some enviable biceps man”, “Your arms aren’t just biceps, work on your triceps as well, buddy”, “Stop training your biceps dude” became commonplace.

I shrugged it off as just genetics. I trained my triceps as much as I did my biceps so what else could it be?

Well, genetics did play a part but turns out there was something else at play as…

Ever since we’re born, we are thrown into school for our “education,” which includes: sitting on a bench for hours memorizing “important” things such as the name of the capital city of some state on the other side of the globe or the atomic number of Boron.

But I am not really sure about their “importance.” Except for school exams where I had to regurgitate them on paper and was assigned a grade based on how well I did that, I don’t remember ever using them.

“They teach us what we’re apparently ‘supposed’ to know as opposed to what we…

My love for reading first began when I was a preschooler and my mom read to me before bed. Every night, I would doze off lost in my imagination of mischievous goblins, talking animals, and glistening treasures.

My reading journey began with children's magazines. I still vividly remember how I would jump in glee whenever my monthly copies of Tinkle, Chandamama, and Champak were delivered.

Well, we’ve come a long way since then.

Over the course of the years, I have devoured hundreds of books across different genres — fantasy fiction, mystery, classic fiction, philosophy, psychology, history, etc.

Of the…

He takes a deep puff of his beedi before continuing, “That’s what most don’t understand about happiness, kiddo” — to which 10-year-old me nods solemnly despite understanding nothing.

The other day, I was leaning on the terrace, imbibing the orange of the setting sun and the brown of a cup of coffee. Then, just like YouTube’s algorithm recommending an 8-year-old 144p meme video, my brain decides to summon this memory.

Young me and a cackling old man with tired eyes, a leathery face, betel stained teeth, and beedi puffing mouth come into focus. …

The first time I stepped foot in a gym, it was as a skinny fat teenager that knew nothing about fitness. Over the years, I made a ton of mistakes and learned things the hard way.

With the internet and fitness industry rampant with misinformation or “bro-science”, it’s super easy to go down the wrong way as I did.

I want to share with y’all four things that you need to stop focusing on and four things that you need to start focusing on in your fitness routine.

Stop Focusing on These Four Things

#1. Supplements

Let me say it straight out. Supplements are worthless, well, almost worthless…

When the lockdown started, gyms shut down and to a gym rat that enjoyed lifting weights like me, this was an extremely unwelcome situation.

The first few days, I complained, and didn’t work out. Then I realized I had only two options — either continue whining or make the most out of the situation.

I chose the latter and I am glad I did as this opened up the world of bodyweight workouts to me. Most including the pre-covid me are of the belief that home workouts aren’t as effective as the gym.

“The gym is just a luxury that…