Site icon Women Fitness Org

Fitness Coach Yashmeen Chauhan:  Unfolding Secret to Chiseled Body

wfteam

Yashmeen Chauhan is a professional bodybuilder & international athlete. Fitness Consultant & personal trainer.

Among her various notable achievements to name, Yashmeen Chauhan is:

With a great body and heavy weight lifting skills, she has also managed to be India’s 1st Neullife Cellucor sponsored athlete.

According to her “It’s all about having faith in yourself and an individual’s willpower to achieve, backed by consistent hard work which will help you achieve your goals.”

Namita Nayyar from WF India interviews Fitness Coach Yashmeen Chauhan, on her journey, philosophy, and expertise regarding fitness

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

You are a former Ms. Olympia 2018 Gold & one of India’s finest fitness trainers and winner of numerous Gold awards. Please share your journey as to what attracted you to fitness. Did you pursue sports as a young girl or was it by accident? Throw some light.

Ms. Yashmeen Chauhan:

After recovering from a relapsed typhoid in 1991, I started putting on excess weight rapidly. Not just that, I lost all my once-upon-a-time long lustrous hair to the disease. A severe bout of acne added to my distress. I was already suffering physically and mentally when body shaming and teasing from schoolmates and family made my mental state even worse. All I knew was I looked ugly.
I was already a shy and reserved girl and now I was ugly too.

I was aware of my looks even before people started to ridicule me and deep in my heart, I knew I would sculpt a great physique someday. When and how- I did not know then. I wanted to look great NOT FOR THE WORLD, not because I was being teased for gaining weight or how I looked BUT ENTIRELY BECAUSE I WANTED TO LOOK A CERTAIN WAY. For me, it’s always what I want, how I would want. The world likes it or not, I don’t care!
Post my 12 standard exams, I joined a newly opened ladies’ gym close to my house. Started training which was a mix of some non-stop jumping exercises followed by using all cardio equipment available- Manual Treadmill, Stationary Bike, Cross Trainer, followed by some mat exercises.


After a few months when I could not afford to pay the gym fee (300/- that time in 1997-98) anymore (which my grandmother had been paying) with a heavy heart I wanted to quit that gym BUT the owner proposed to me a barter deal. She appreciated how good I was at training, and she would love to see me around so I can continue my gym membership till the time I want to and in lieu of it I will have to instruct and coach all the women coming over there. I was the happiest person on earth that day!

I started taking a group class at that gym using a Jane Fonda exercise audio tape. I bought a few more tapes and some video cassettes. Learnt more and taught more. That’s how I started and was enjoying it too when I got a job offer from a newly opened world-class gym in Gurgaon (Haryana). They were looking for an Aerobics Instructor and heard about me, so I was supposed to give them a trial session to get that job. I did and I impressed the owner with my skills which I was never confident about then So, I got a job for 4000/- which in another year was promoted to 8000/- because I honed my skills via my first certification in fitness.

All my clients/ people who attended my classes told me I am a great teacher and the best instructor they ever came across, but I never believed them. Today, as I look back to those days, I know why! I was low on confidence and self-esteem due to the circumstances I grew up in. Can you believe, I trembled while instructing the class in my initial days of working as a group class/ Aerobics Instructor? Also, I am too harsh on myself and demand a lot so even if people will tell me I am perfect, I will not lend an ear to that unless I Am satisfied with the result.


As a young girl, I was healthy and hyperactive. I was into playing intense street games with my cousin sisters and neighbor kids. In school, I did play with my classmates but that was all those ground games like running on one leg and catching each other stuff, stapu, etc.

Due to my shy nature, I never took part in any sports except for the annual school sports drill. That too, I was forced to by the teachers. I always wanted to take part in dance items so I could get to dress up in beautiful and colourful attire with makeup BUT I was always selected for PT drills because I could not dance.
Being A fat teenager, I always feared taking part in any activity because I was so conscious of people watching me- watching how fat I looked Lemme take you through my childhood scars in brief. My parents got divorced when I was just 2 and my paternal grandparents took care of me. It was a joint family, and I was the eldest grandchild. My parents married their new soul mates and started their new life, but I stayed with my grandparents and the rest of the family. My mother never contacted me and nor did I. I was attached to my father, but he was not able to maintain a balance between me and his new wife and hence I lost the emotional connection gradually. Of course, I was hurt deep within, but I won’t show.


Not getting back to my school days, when I was in middle school, my aunt (bua) pushed me into learning kathak, and I did up to a certain grade. I do have certificates for the same. My cousin’s sisters were already into Kathak, and they were just great at it. I left Kathak after some time as I was just average, and I guess I was not that interested. Post that my aunt pushed me into baseball. Yes, our school was forming a baseball team then and my aunt ensured I played Nationals post which I discontinued. I have my district and national level certificates wherein Haryana got the 4th position in the latter. That was my only stint with sports when I was in school.

After high school and while I was doing my graduation via correspondence (B.A. Pass from Delhi University), I was so worried as to what am I going to do in life. I could not have been a burden on my grandparents or any of my relatives.

As a kid I always dreamt of doing well in life, I wanted to be rich and independent and now suddenly there was no clear path I could see. I was so shattered. At the age of 17-18, while I had already started going to the gym (as described above), I joined a kindergarten as a teacher to earn 1200/- Worked for a few months till I got a job as an aerobics/ group class instructor from the best gym in Gurgaon (mentioned above). I feel because I did not give up and continued to make efforts with whatever I had, God showed me a path and hence I am here. What I went through was not easy for a young girl. I could have gone astray or ended my life but am so thankful to God, he blessed me with a will of steel and never give up attitude. I endured it all to emerge stronger and more successful.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

With over 23 years of experience in Fitness & Sports nutrition, you are known as The Body Architect. Please elaborate.

Ms. Yashmeen Chauhan:

It’s been 24 years in the fitness industry now. I started as a free-lance aerobics/ group class instructor & personal trainer. Gradually became self-employed when I opened a gym of my own by the name of Sculpt.
I was one of the handful of females to own a full-fledged gym with a group class studio in India then. I was the first female to own a gym in Gurgaon, Haryana.

I have trained numerous people from all walks of life, men and women with all sorts of medical ailments. Don’t even remember how many bodies I have sculpted till now. I invested in several certifications, international workshops, and courses to hone my skills in various art forms in this industry. Apart from all the certifications, my hands-on experience training numerous people is my actual wealth of knowledge. Training my clients have taught me more than the courses. When I started training Raj and Shilpa Shetty Kundra online, as I was in Gurgaon then and they are in Mumbai, they got impressed with how their body was changing despite we (me and my husband) were not there to train them physically. Raj immediately decided to get us to Mumbai and named me The Body Architect He says, I am exceptionally good at my skills and hence the name.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Your daily fitness routine? How do you like to kick-start your day?


Ms. Yashmeen Chauhan:

My day starts with my personal training clients and ends with personal training followed by my own training. I prefer to train in the evenings. As I train Bollywood celebrities and businessmen only, at times I must adjust my own training time depending upon their schedule.

I train 5 days a week and apart from that I am active at my house managing daily chores too. Not to forget, a lot of extra steps when I take my Gucci out for a walk and exercise. Yes, he exercises daily I take him on the stairs for that every day apart from his 4 times pee and poop walk. My exercise schedule is focused on weight training for shape and strength. I love to Kickstart my day with a calm and positive mindset. I check my to-do diary for all that I need to accomplish that day while I sip my first cup of coffee.
I do not check my phone until I am in the car off to work.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Diet & Nutrition play a significant role to achieve a healthy physique. Share how you go about planning your meal. Your 5 favourite foods.

Ms. Yashmeen Chauhan:

Diet and Nutrition is the key to achieving a healthy, strong, and fit body. You can spend n number of hours and days training hard in the gym BUT if Nutrition and Diet are not on point you are wasting your efforts. What you eat decides how you perform in the gym and otherwise- mentally and physically. Especially if you are looking forward to sculpting a good physique, Diet and Nutrition is critical.
I follow a well-designed nutritious diet plan as per my personal fitness and aesthetic goals. My meals have been designed keeping in mind my busy schedule. They are simple and easy to prepare. My diet consists of rice, pulses & legumes, chicken, eggs, oats, multigrain bread, white potatoes, green vegetables, fruits, and nuts.


My 5 favourite foods-

  1. -Warm bowl of oats with a scoop of whey protein and crushed almonds.
  2. -Air-fried potatoes.
  3. -Red kidney bean (rajma)/ Chickpea (kabuli chana)/ Red lentil with Rice.
  4. -Chicken tikka.
  5. -Pancakes.

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

Your expert input on the use of supplements for a healthy physique

Ms. Yashmeen Chauhan:

Thanks for asking this question. I want to write a lot about this. When we train, appropriate Nutrition and Supplementation matter even more for optimal performance and results. Now…there is still a lot of misinformation when it comes to supplementation. Many people, even today confuse supplements for medicines and I want to say that medicines cure diseases whereas supplements improve performance, body composition, and general well-being. Next comes…why we need supplements when we have food in abundance AND supplements are not natural but man-made. To this, I would like to state a few examples to which everyone can easily relate. When a woman is pregnant, the doctor prescribes certain supplements to be taken throughout the 9 months because of the increased demands of pregnancy. These supplements NOT medicines because pregnancy is not a disease, help in the mother and the child’s wellbeing throughout.

During our growing years, we have had a lot of Bournvita and Complan which are also food supplements.
If you talk about natural and man-made, then all the packaged food items you get at a superstore (biscuits, corn/ wheat flakes/ maggie… whatnot) are man-made. In fact, all the agricultural grains are man-made Isn’t it? The Early Man… what we read in history, lead a healthy life eating only meat, fruits, and vegetables from plants, Not Grains!

You see, it is impossible to predict the nutrient value of various whole foods. And even if you did know exactly what everything contained, it’s impractical for most people to get all the nutrients their bodies require to function optimally from regular food without consuming far more calories than they need. Especially… in a country like ours where the food platter is carbohydrate dominated and most of the people are vegetarians.

When the body goes through the stress of intense training, the nutritional requirements go up and hence the role of supplements comes into play. The bottom line is…If you don’t have the nutrients in your system to recover, much less improve, following intense exercise, it’s like you are flicking a lighter with no butane-you might get a spark but no flame. You must have both, the material for that fire to burn and that spark to create the flame. It’s essential to get blood tests done every 3 to 6 months to check for nutritional deficiencies and supplement accordingly.

I highly recommend a set of basic micronutrient supplements to everyone irrespective of whether you train or not-

  1. Multivitamin & Mineral
  2. Calcium Citrate Malate
  3. Vit D3 (if you are deficient)
  4. Zinc, Magnesium & Potassium

Ms. Namita Nayyar:

You have trained numerous high-profile clients and celebrities across India. Can you share the names of a few? Share insight on how one can achieve a healthy physique irrespective of age, location, gym accessibility, health-related issues, etc.

Ms. Yashmeen Chauhan:

My first celebrity client was Mallika Sherawat (then Reema Gill) in 1999-2000. She was a regular in my aerobics classes. Since December 2020 I am training Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Raj Kundra, and Shamita Shetty. I have a few more clients who are Mumbai’s high-profile businessmen. I have also trained Urvashi Rautella and Raquesh Bapat for some time.

Training consistently under the guidance of a well-educated and experienced professional is the key to a healthy and aesthetic physique. Every person is different and so is everybody. Just like one suit doesn’t fit all, training and diet protocols should be custom made taking into consideration an individual’s goal, age, medical history, known ailments if any, current fitness level, etc.

Training at home or at a gym is a personal choice. If you plan to train at home, I advise investing in the basics like some pairs of dumbbells, barbells, weight plates, and related accessories. Most people sacrifice health to make money and later sacrifice that money to recuperate the lost health. Health is priceless. You cannot buy good health irrespective of how wealthy you are. You must earn it by making it a lifestyle. You can start at any age, the earlier the better though. Whenever you do, hire a good coach so you train safely in the right direction.

Follow Yashmeen Chauhan on:

Exit mobile version