Why I started in this field

When I was growing up, all I ever wanted to do was follow my father’s footsteps in becoming a lawyer.

But then, one lunchtime at school, I got dragged into the gym with my best friend (with the hope to get more girls!), and it changed my life in ways I never expected.

As a skinny-fat 17 year old with moobs and a pot belly, my confidence and self-esteem was low.

What physical training gave me was a level of focus, confidence and control I never knew was possible.

I was totally hooked, and bitten by the bug. It became an all-consuming passion where I spent all my time and energy reading books and articles on everything related to improving body composition.

The problem was, everything I’d done so far in my life was geared towards pursuing law. I even did a few internships at law firms in India and Germany. It was a tried and tested path that guaranteed finances, stability and status, yet my heart wasn’t in it at all. In fact, when I spent two weeks at the firm my father worked at, I realised I was completely bored.

Everything soon changed in a careers class not so long after. I was meant to be writing my law degree personal statement, but I was caught up reading a nutrition article on the Internet.

My best friend who dragged me into the gym was sat next to me and said, “Why don’t you do something in fitness instead?”

I never knew such a thing was possible. So I did my research and found I could do a BSc in Sports and Exercise Science. There was no going back.

I told my parents that evening, who’s first response was, “How will you pay the bills?”

Coming from a South Asian background, embarking on a fitness career was not the norm, or the status quo. If it wasn’t law, finance or medicine, it wasn’t worth anything!

Despite this, my reply was simply: “I’ll make it work”.

From personal training to building a global online platform

So I went to university in 2010, where I started helping my friends make positive changes. After graduating, I spent four years perfecting my craft in the City of London as a personal trainer at one of the best private gyms around.

As much as I loved my work, I started to question the sustainability of this career. The brutally long and unsociable hours, coupled with older colleagues around me never seeing their newborn children, meant something needed to change.

It was while on a holiday at a beach in Lanzarote, a few weeks after this realisation, that the idea of starting a body transformation platform - operating entirely online, formed.

At first RNT (founded in May 2017) was designed to bring about jaw-dropping body transformations in men and women with average genetics. This was the basis for the acronym: Results Now Training.

After 18 months of facilitating these world class physique transformations I wanted to understand how RNT members felt about their transformations.

What I heard completely changed my perspective. I expected our members to be ecstatic about their new super-fit bodies; what I didn’t expect was a unanimous call-out on the positive impact their physical change had on their personal lives.

Relationships improved, careers were fast-tracked, insecurities were shredded, mental-health concerns were lessened if not resolved!

It appeared the entire lives of our members were being changed. RNT was no longer merely an online fitness company that delivered amazing results, it was a company that transformed lives!

This revelation propelled me to redesign the RNT Journey. I realised that our members’ improved physical health had created a knock-on effect on their mental and emotional well being, which was inspiring and life-altering.

They had used the physical as the vehicle to build a life filled with renewed energy and purpose.

And so the vision of RNT evolved: it wasn’t just about getting results, it was now about Redefining the Narrative of Transformation - our newly defined acronym at RNT.

The Book

To spread this message, I wrote the Amazon best-selling book Transform Your Body Transform Your Life. Inside, I explain RNT’s unique and proven Five Phases Transformation Journey, which has so far enabled 2700+ high performing busy individuals who are caught up in the everyday chaos of life, get fit and stay fit for life.

It illustrates our philosophy of using the physical as the vehicle to achieve remarkable feats beyond anything you could ever dream of.

The book also draws closely with my own struggles with yo-yoing, rebounding and body insecurities, as well as all the mistakes I’ve made over the years, including my year-long struggle with bingeing after winning a bodybuilding competition.

Spreading the message

In an effort to unlock high performance through body transformation, I’ve been fortunate to deliver seminars, webinars and talks at leading business masterminds and multinational corporations, including: Barclays, Accenture, Property Entrepreneur and Meryl Lynch.

RNT’s core belief is to share our collective knowledge with the world in the hope that we can influence and inspire individuals from all walks of life. I find the best way to achieve this is by writing articles filled with my own experiences, set-backs and triumphs. My articles on fitness, training, nutrition, mental health and more have been featured in leading industry publications, magazines and websites like the BBC, Men’s Health, T-Nation, the PTDC, and more.

To check out a list of my featured work across various media outlets around the world, click here.

The fitness industry has the power to achieve so much for the world. One of the fundamental problems lies in its lack of career potential and opportunity. Short-term quick fixes to make a quick buck, coupled with a self-employed culture, has led to a lack of real longevity, long-term paths, and places for hungry, passionate and mission-driven fitness professionals to thrive. Part of my vision for RNT is to improve this, and create a place where high performing coaches and trainers can focus on what they love, whilst helping build something special together.

Over the years, I’ve also hosted numerous private seminars across the UK, and as far wide as the Netherlands and Kenya, for personal trainers, coaches, gyms and fitness enthusiasts who have a desire to learn more, grow and create a bigger impact with their clients and members.

Giving back to the community

RNT was designed to break away from the clutter of cookie-cutter plans and ineffective quick-fix solutions and has now evolved into helping members create lifestyle solutions. This is one of our USPs (it’s why we don’t offer less than a 12 month commitment now), and it’s particularly rewarding seeing its impact on my own community.

Being of Asian descent, I’ve seen close family and friends suffer from obesity, diabetes, heart failure at young ages because of their less than ideal lifestyle choices. The focus for most Asians is on accumulating wealth and stature in the society while squandering their health and well-being. So in my various work with leading Asian media, I am deliberate in giving back to my community in the hope of bringing about a shift from the skewed perception that living an indulgent and pampered life is equivalent to living well.

My big vision now is to see a world transformed. I believe that a world that prioritises long-term health and fitness is a better world for everyone. With each person we empower, impact and transform, it creates the opportunity of a compounding domino effect in their family, friends, community, country and world.

“Akash is a rare combination of intellectual and fitness professional. His ability to communicate useful and practical fitness information for people wanting to get into shape and fitness professionals alike is second-to-none”. Jonathan Goodman – Founder: Personal Trainer Development Center and the Online Trainer Academy. www.theptdc.com.