Nikul’s RNT journey began back in Feb 2019.

Before signing up had been working out at the gym for about 10 years following generic training plans he picked up from fitness magazines like Men’s Health.

“I thought I was doing everything right. I was following the plans in the fitness magazines but I still couldn’t see any results. There was no six pack and no dense muscle.”

Nikul had resigned himself to the fact that he was never going to look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club until he saw his friend Kunaal’s transformation on the RNT website.

“I was so impressed and inspired by Kunaal’s transformation! I immediately jumped onto the RNT website and read the case studies and articles. I had finally found a programme that I believed could work for me!”

The Importance Of Nutrition

Prior to signing up to RNT, Nikul had tried a lot of fad diets including carb cycling and Intermittent Fasting.

As he was living at home and eating home cooked Indian meals, Nikul found it hard to track the calories on My Fitness Pal accurately.

“I read so many case studies of Indians with a similar body type and I saw them transform from skinny fat to strong and muscled. I was really impressed!

I had honestly thought I was doing everything that I needed to do to build a physique I was proud of. It was only after reading the case studies and articles that I realised that 80% of the results come from nailing nutrition. I realised that I wasn’t counting calories and I definitely wasn’t tracking my macros or my micros.”

Seeing that there was a large gap in his knowledge he knew he had to sign up. He wanted to have a better understanding around nutrition and how to build a truly sustainable lifestyle fitness solution.

Biggest ‘Aha!’ Moments

When Nikul signed up to RNT he wanted to look ripped for a beach holiday that was around the corner. He wanted to build an incredible physique with well defined abs in 3 months.

But then he soon learned that there is no shortcut to building muscle. In fact, it takes discipline, perseverance and ruthless consistency to have a lean muscular frame.

“After speaking to the coaches I realised that in three months I could lose some body fat but I would need at least a year to build the kind of muscle I wanted.”

Up till that point Nikul was unsure about dropping below 60kgs in body weight.

Most people underestimate the amount of body fat they have and overestimate the amount of muscle they carry.

“I had this misconception that if I lost more body weight and went below 60kgs, I would lose all the muscle I had built. I thought I would be going backwards and not progress! Now I know that I had to go through a cut and lose all the extra body fat and only then build muscle. I also learned the truth about how much muscle I actually carried.”

When Nikul started in Jan 2019 he weighed 66kgs.

At his Checkpoint (around 3 months later) he weighed 56.5kgs. The lowest he had been in his adult life. He was lean but wasn’t carrying a lot of muscle.

Nikul’s journey towards transformation began after this point. He had lost all his body fat and was now finally on the right track to pack on some serious muscle!

Embracing The Fluff

Nikul had his goal in sight now. He had a plan and the guidance from expert coaches he had sorely lacked before.

“I knew then that I had to follow the plan. I approached it like I was investing in the stock market. You have to give your investments time to mature, you can’t cash in at every sign of a wobble. I decided to go in for the long haul and really pack on muscle.”

As you can see in the graph above, Nikul had two bulking phases.

One mini bulk from Dec 2019 to March 2020 and then after that a long bulking phase.

As you can see the results are incredible!

At the exact weight of 61kgs Nikul looks completely different! In the last 18 months he has built around 7-8kgs of muscle!

The secret to Nikul building such an incredible physique was in being consistent without getting complacent.

“I was 85kgs at the top of my bulking phase and it was easy to get complacent at that time and not be so diligent with the peanut butter and other things like that.”

Just because you are in a bulking phase doesn’t mean you can eat anything and everything. You have to be even more careful about where you are getting your calories from.

“Many people thought I had totally let myself go and wasn’t training any more. They didn’t realise that I was working twice as hard!

The most incredible thing was the increase in my strength gains.

When I weighed 85kgs I could barbell hip thrust 110kgs and I can do the same weight now that I’m 61kgs.

The same with my deadlifts, I’m lifting 110kgs at 61kgs and I could only do that at 85kgs!”

When Nikul decided to cut in Oct 2021, he thought it was going to be a rapid loss in weight. Instead he decided to take a slower, more controlled approach. This would ensure that it was more sustainable and he would minimise fatigue and keep his training volume.

Maintaining The Sweet Spot

After this incredible journey, Nikul has found his sweet spot or the body weight at which

he looks and feels his best. He now has the tools and the knowledge to continue to maintain and slowly build on his strength levels.

“I continue to meal prep meals and have slowly built my intuition on how much food I should consume.

After a week on holiday I weighed myself when I got back and was pleased to see that I weighed the same. I know now how much to eat and make sure I am eating the same amount each day. I have now swapped out the scales and use a scoop instead, I’m not so particular on the total number of grams but know instinctively how much to eat.

I know that life can get in the way. It’s easy to reach for those biscuits. But I want to sustain a high energy, high tempo lifestyle and I know what I need to do to maintain that.

I have got into the habit of journaling and that self accountability can really help to keep you in check.”

The Physical Is The Vehicle

You develop your self esteem when you follow through on the promises you make to yourself. By pushing his physical limits, Nikul also was testing his mental and emotional mettle.

“This journey has definitely tested me mentally as well as physically. I realise what you can achieve if you are disciplined, persevering and consistent. The confidence that I have grown through this journey, I take into other aspects of my life.”

Nikul’s journey continues. He is working hard on building his strength levels. He is also keen on calisthenics and is steadily working his way towards a handstand.

He hopes to execute a handstand on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in a month from now! We can’t wait to see the pics!

##