Sohrab Khushrushahi is a name and face that has gained popularity in the fitness circles over the last few years. Having trained countless Indians, including several celebs, through his SohFit program, Sohrab is now bringing RFT to India. Raw Functional Training (RFT) is a fitness module that focuses on functional fitness over aesthetics, which was created by Da Rulk, real name Joseph Sakoda. In a chat with Hindustan Times, the two fitness experts talk about RFT, India’s wellness scene and their favorite celebrity clients – Alia Bhatt and Chris Hemsworth. Also read: Alia Bhatt asks why having a child should change her professional life
RFT focuses on minimal equipment and emphasis on movement and flow rather than lifting heavy weights all the time. Talking about why he felt it was necessary to get it to India, Sohrab says, “It is about making fitness accessible to as many people as possible. India is developing, when it comes to fitness. Everyone doesn’t have access to gyms or money to buy equipment. To me, a form of training that you can do in your room with no equipment does the job. I think it fits perfectly into our eco-system.”
Da Rulk adds that he has been getting acquainted with the Indian fitness scene these days and is excited to start his journey here. “It’s at its infancy in a sense that everyone is getting into the flow of working out. That’s why I’m so excited about India because it gives us the opportunity to start from the genesis and getting people to focus on feeling stronger rather than just aesthetics of it. In general, it’s exciting,” he says.
Though both Sohrab and Da Rulk have a strong dislike of the term ‘celebrity fitness trainer’, they have been described as that time and again. Through his SohFit programme, Sohrab has worked with names like Alia Bhatt and Kiara Advani, while Da Rulk has trained people like Chris Hemsworth and Josh Brolin. Talking about training celebs, Da Rulk says, “Celebrities are people too. People sometimes put them on a pedestal. It just gives more visibility to what we do. I train with people like Chris Hemsworth and Josh Brolin, and also with first responders (firefighters, Navy SEALS etc.) First responders tend to give my training curriculum credibility and edification. But training with Chris and Josh and those guys gives it visibility. When you couple those two things together, it’s a special mix.”
Sohrab adds that he has special respect for celebs for the amount of hard work they put in and also reveals which celeb client of his is willing to work the hardest. “They’re amazing people. They work really hard. They are very good at what they do because they work really hard at it. I treat them just like I would anyone else. But I have a special soft corner for Alia and I feel she works really hard. I have seen her work through 16-hour shoots and then come in and do a workout session in the night. I think that takes a lot out of an individual. It’s tough to come in and train after a long day like that. I give her a lot of respect for that,” he shares.
Sohrab also spoke about Alia’s pregnancy and how a woman’s fitness regimen changes when they are expecting. Sohrab explains how he goes about adapting fitness routines for his clients when they are pregnant. He says, “It (the workout) does change. We do tweak stuff. The beauty about any form of training is we can always adapt. I believe that just because a girl is expecting a child, she doesn’t need to stop moving or change drastically. India is one place where people don’t let women move once they are pregnant. That shouldn’t happen.”
Da Rulk adds that he focuses on training to be fun, something Chris Hemsworth is an expert at. “Chris is hilarious. It’s like being around 13-year-old kids. It’s always jokes. You’re laughing so much that it’s a lot of ab work without having to add it. Focus tends to be a little bit of a struggle because you tend to laugh through the routine. But it’s always a good time. Training is for yourself, so it should be fun,” he says with a laugh.
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