Recently cricketer-actor couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma took to Instagram and shared snippets of a septuagenarian working out on his terrace. Calling him “inspirational and motivational”, the couple said they admired the man for lifting weights while being on a Vregan diet. “Hats off sir. This is so motivational and inspirational. And on a vegan diet. God bless you with more strength,” wrote Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli
called Tripat Singh inspirational and motivational
The 75-year-old “Insta-famous” fitness enthusiast took to a vegan diet around two years ago. He works out every day for close to two hours.
But Tripat Singh had not worked out for over 40 years as he was busy with work, family, and children. It was only in 1999 after his wife passed away and he moved to Chandigarh from New Delhi that he realised he had started to “put on weight around his stomach”.So he finally resumed running and walking.
Things changed after Tripat Singh decided to test his fitnesss level and ran a 1500 meter-marathon in 2008 in the senior citizen category. “I came fifth, and that was the first motivation to try harder because I participated without any preparation. It was after that that I consciously started running 15, 20 kilometres each day, in order to prepare for next year’s marathon, which unfortunately got cancelled.
That’s when I decided to run 10 kilometres in a Gurgaon marathon in the general category in which I came first. That was the turning point,” said Singh, who now participates only in the general category.
Over the years, he has aced half marathons, full marathons within the city and outside, including one of the toughest Shimla marathons that requires altitude running and acclimatising to the cold winds — in which he won gold.
Despite all
this, Singh noticed how his abdomen fat wasn’t “decreasing much”. “It was in
2013 that someone suggested I join a gym. And within a year, I was able to
control the fat around my waist with the help of the instructor,” he said.
Tripat Singh wakes up at 5 am every day and does deadlifts, push-ups for 1½ -2 hours. His diet includes quinoa and oats among other foods.
What keeps him going at an age when most would choose to retire, he said, “One grows old when he has no future plans. I am young at heart and I have only recently started with Instagram,” chuckled Singh, who has earned himself a fan and a follower in Kohli.
“I was glad.
That was encouraging and inspiring for me too. Both of them are the epitome of
fitness, and Virat is also a vegan. It was kind of them to share the message,”
said Singh, adding, “With the desire to die fit and fine, my next goal is to
further the cause of fitness and inspire more people and generations”.
