New Delhi: Actor Imran Khan has been active on Instagram for quite some time and regularly posts anecdotes from the films he did and how things used to work when he was working as an actor. In his latest post, the actor spoke about the insecurities he had about his lean body and about consuming steroids to bulk up his muscles.
Sharing a couple of shirtless pictures of himself on Instagram, Khan wrote, “I’ve always been skinny. I’m one of those hyper-metabolic people, my body just burns through whatever I consume. Oh no, what a terrible affliction! In my late teens, guys around me started joining gyms and working out. They started to expand, their biceps stretching the sleeves of their t-shirts. I wore a size S, and my sleeves were still loose.”
He added, “I didn’t need to be muscular to play Jai Singh Rathore… but I was convinced that I was too skinny, which is why Jai mostly wears two layers of clothing throughout Jaane Tu. For my next film, Kidnap, I hit the gym in earnest, and began my journey with body building,” he said.
“Over the next few years, the sculpting and maintenance of my body became part of my lifestyle. I worked out regularly, but still I would hear “So… you’ll bulk up a bit before we start shooting, right?”; “You’re looking weak”, “You look like a little boy, not a man”, and “The heroine looks bigger than you” (ouch for both of us!),” wrote Khan.
He shared how in his quest to bulk up and get a ‘heroic body’ he started taking steroids, “In hindsight, I think I looked fine... but at the time, I felt insecure. I wanted a powerful, heroic physique. So I tried harder.”
“Exercise means nothing without nutrition; 6 meals a day, totalling 4000 calories. Chicken breast, egg whites, sweet potato, oats, flax seeds... all good stuff, but still not enough to make my biceps look like the heroes I saw onscreen. No, for that I needed to supplement with whey protein, creatine, leucine, glutamine, L-carnitine... and ultimately, even anabolic steroids.”
“Shock and horror! We're not supposed to admit that part out loud, it could totally ruin the illusion!”
The actor then wrote how in recent years when he suffered from depression he once again became skinnier as he stopped working out.
“In recent years, as I battled depression and stopped working out, I became skinnier than I'd ever been. When I was photographed, it sparked a media discussion about my wellbeing, and speculations of drug abuse! I felt deeply ashamed, embarrassed to be seen by anyone in this state. So I retreated further.”
“It's been an uphill journey, but these days I'm doing better than ever; I exercise with my old friend @tokastraining who puts my health first and only feeds me supplements like walnuts and turmeric... seriously. And while I'm still a tad jealous of those dudes with superhero muscles... I don't feel bad about myself,” he concluded.
Imran Khan took a hiatus from acting after ‘Katti Batti’. The 40-year old is again gearing up for his return to acting, though when specifically he has not said.