There is a particular kind of man who makes wellness and fitness look effortless, who seems to be absolutely plagued with “good looks, good looks and good looks” through some combination of good genes, good luck, and perhaps, one might suspect, a quiet arrangement with good old Time itself. For many, Rahul Khanna may be that man. But as it turns out, he is absolutely not that man.
“It’s about being the best version of myself,” the 54-year-old says. “Finding what works and then sustaining it to create a lifestyle rather than a short-term fix. I now look forward to fitness and consider it an integral part of my day.” There is nothing mysterious about this but maybe that is the point.
Functional Fitness
What looks like effortless elegance from the outside is, from the inside, the product of decades of learning, trial and error and a genuine commitment to what Khanna calls functional living.
He has been active since his teens, always “working out in some form”, be it swimming, squash, dance classes and eventually the gym. But the turning point came with trainer Vilayat Husain, with whom he began working on a project that ultimately never happened. “He introduced me to functional fitness, HIIT workouts and a more functional way of eating,” Khanna says. “I suddenly started seeing results I’d never achieved with the traditional training routine I’d been doing. It changed my whole approach to fitness and I haven’t looked back since then.”
That shift, which happened around 2011, eventually led him to CrossFit and functional nutrition, which he now calls the pillars of his fitness.
He discovered CrossFit in New York while running an errand, when a group of runners came charging past. “They were all in incredible shape,” he says, “and more than that, they all had a sort of air of extreme focus. I immediately thought, ‘I want to look like these people’. They looked like they were really enjoying themselves, but in a very focused, disciplined way.”
He found a CrossFit gym and signed up for a class. He took to it immediately and has been going back ever since.
Moving Mindfully
Khanna is not rigid about his workouts, preferring to keep them adaptable. “I go to the gym, work out with a coach or take a fitness class. On days I don’t, I try and do a long walk, a bike ride or swim laps. When I’m travelling, I carry a resistance band and do short body weight workouts in my hotel room. I like focussed, intense workouts,” he says.
When there’s no time or access, he improvises, a heavy backpack on a walk, bodyweight circuits and yin yoga on recovery days. “I use yoga for recovery,” he says. “When I need a stretch, I do yin yoga where you hold the poses for much longer, it’s very regenerative.”
What he’s passionate about is the micro-workout. “When I’m really busy, I do ‘micro-workouts’ whenever I have a free couple of minutes, throughout the day,” he says. “Ten push-ups here, a few squats there, some jumping jacks, a run up and down a flight of stairs. It’s amazing how many reps you can accumulate this way.” There is, in other words, no excuse he will accept from himself or, apparently, from anyone else.
But the discipline is not punishing. It is, he clarifies, the very thing that allows flexibility. When he doesn’t feel like training, he rests — but he’s earned it. When a dinner party host puts something on the table that falls outside his usual parameters, he eats it and enjoys it.
The next day, he says simply, “You go back to your routine.”
Plate Priorities
If CrossFit is his sport, nutrition is his obsession — and this is where Khanna has focused much of his attention. Last year, he even completed a certification in functional diets. “Ultimately, my fitness journey has centred around nutrition,” he says. “It’s remarkable what I’ve found I can achieve with nutrition.”
He starts his day with a big, healthy breakfast that should, if need be, fuel the whole day. “I try and carry a small home-cooked meal to set in case the catering doesn’t have healthy options. I also drink a lot of water. It’s easy to lose track and get dehydrated when you’re working, so my team knows to always have a chilled bottle on standby and hand it to me in between shots.”
A Palate Shift
It’s clear that he’s very disciplined about what he eats and what he says no to but says that stems from having experienced the benefits. “I don’t see it as sacrifice at all. In fact, I’d much rather feel better than enjoy the fleeting deliciousness of eating something that makes me feel bad later.”
He’s paid attention to how his palate has shifted over the years — foods and sweets he once craved only repel him. Now, he subscribes to one principle: “Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.”
Khanna’s friends and family regularly come to him for advice, but he is realistic about the limits of advocacy. “There’s always so much resistance and so many bad habits to break,” he says. “Ultimately, it all comes down to how much someone actually wants to make a change, because you are the only person who can truly help you.” In an age of wellness influencers and sponsored supplement stacks, the idea that the only person who can change your relationship with your body is you, feels like quite the bold statement.
On Skincare and Sleep
He is just as unsentimental about his skincare routine. “I do have a routine, but it’s nothing complicated. I think I was introduced to skincare quite early on, because I started working with MTV when I was in my very early 20s.” It’s definitely functional and unglamourous: clean face, always. Moisturiser sometimes (he lives in Mumbai, after all). Sunscreen occasionally. “After I work out, I make sure I wash my face. I don’t let sweat sit on my face. I never go to bed without washing my face. What you eat really reflects on your skin,” he adds.
Sleep, on the other hand, is taken very seriously. “I love sleep and am quite active about it. Shoot and travel schedules are often crazy. When I travel, I carry a white noise machine, earplugs, eye mask and mouth tape to make sure I maximise my time in bed,” he says.
Mental wellness operates on similar principles. He discovered meditation about a decade ago and now meditates at least once a day, “in the car, during breaks in my trailer, anywhere really. I am also an introvert so I need a lot of alone time. People find it strange that I’d rather spend my free time alone than ‘doing’ something more social. But it’s how I recharge.”
Bollywood's Wellness Culture
When asked about the state of wellness culture in Bollywood more broadly, Khanna says, “I think the people who have actually mastered personal wellness don’t tout it. They just quietly embody it. That's my goal.” As far as he’s concerned, advocating for overly specific lifestyles or supplements is a red flag. “I feel wellness should be holistic, wholesome, accessible and, above all, sustainable.”
As for whether the industry is doing better by its actors on the health front? “Unfortunately, not,” he says. “The demands and stakes are huge, and wellness ends up quite low on the list of priorities for a production. It’s mostly up to the actor to advocate for their own wellness requirements or manage them on their own.”
Short Takes
What’s your guilty pleasure?
I have a thing for potato chips. Every once in a while, I eat a whole gigantic bag of potato chips. I kind of design my workout and nutrition in a way that allows me to do that, because I’m mostly super disciplined, but then when I feel the need to be indisciplined, I don’t feel bad.
One piece of advice you wish someone had given you earlier?
You can’t out-exercise a bad diet.
How has your fitness routine evolved?
I feel I’m fitter now than I’ve ever been. That’s due to the knowledge, experience, trial and error I’ve gained along the way. I feel like I know my body, its capabilities and shortcomings and how to optimise them.