What makes Coach Dharmick so driven? What makes him reach for higher and higher achievements? Read on to get to know the details of this coach’s amazing story.
Please, tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Dharmik and I am a fitness enthusiast! I’ve been working out since I was 17, I turned 21 less than a month ago. I aspire to inspire and teach young Indians about exercise, nutrition and its benefits for a healthy prolonged life. I am a Certified nutrition and fitness consultant, and have done my certification through INFS.
I have coached over 50 clients from the age 17 to 30 out of which many have had wonderful body and mindset transformations. I have a following of over 5000 people on Instagram who’s support always keeps me going!
Could you describe your experience in the industry?
I started working out when I was 17 years old because I was extremely skinny (like a twig1). People told me I should gain weight but I never really bothered to. It wasn’t until my classmates at school started making fun of me because of the way I looked, that things started to change. They assumed I was weak and afraid of them, and at the time I was quite intimidated honestly. Taking inspiration from a kid called David Laid, I decided to change my life. His body when he started off was quite similar to mine at the time. I gathered as much knowledge as I could about training and nutrition from YouTube and other sources.
As I grew I made friends at the gym and got exposed to newer healthier stimuli which made me more interested in this field. I pursued it passionately, had some ups and downs where I have taken long breaks off training due to many things, but it’s been 2 years since I’ve taken my last break, and I’m going as strong as I can because I feel proud of myself for what I have achieved. The more people I motivate the more I get motivated to put in the work because the feeling of when a client or followers messages you thanking you wholeheartedly for helping them achieve their dream physiques, is priceless!
Tell us about your training philosophy?
I believe different programs and exercise routines can work differently on different people, and most will work on anyone starting out. As I advanced in this field I tried different routines with mixed ways of resistance training and cardio, following different splits.
Push-Pull-Legs/Abs schedule has been the most beneficial to the growth of my body because of how my intensity worked perfectly in sync to my frequency of working out a particular muscle group. The recovery is faster, soreness is reduced, and this type of program allows you to grow muscle at a faster pace than a regular single muscle split would allow you to.
I incorporate a few free weight compound movements in the beginning of my workouts, followed by a lot of isolation exercises on machines for full contraction and mind muscle connection so I can grow muscle and get stronger effectively. I try to take minimal rest between sets, and I always make sure to incorporate some exercises where I take drop sets to failure. This is a highly contributing factor to my muscle growth. I end my sessions with some light cardio to keep my heart healthy!
How do you keep clients motivated and engaged?
Firstly, I make them understand that the easier the process is, the slower the results will come, and that there is a difference between motivation and discipline. I ask them to put their long-term goals over their short term feelings. I make a lot of videos and post messages online for everyone to see, read and stay motivated! But in the usual case, I design the program in a sustainable way, because not everyone would be willing to go all in, especially while having other life goals!
I check on my clients often as well so we stay connected and I can track their progress and correct anything that’s going wrong, or solve any of their doubts!
What do you see as your greatest strength? Weakness?
I would say my greatest strength would be my mindset. The way I can deal with hate comments, the way I can stay disciplined for a prolonged time, the way I approach day-to-day life as well. I like to live like an athlete all day round. This goal-oriented, strong mindset which focuses only on beating who I was yesterday has helped me achieve a lot in fitness.
My greatest weakness? I find it hard to create balance in my life. I am always either too involved in my work life, or in my casual personal life. I struggle to find a healthy balance between the two. This type of one-track mind can sometimes very easily wear you out, so it’s important to find that balance as a reward to your hard work.
What are your professional goals you wish to achieve in 5 – 10 years?
In 5-10 years, I want to have my own nutrition company, my own coaching team, and I see myself as a fitness model for bigger brands in the upcoming future. This dream of mine slowly comes to life bit by bit as I put in the work passionately, sometimes even with almost no result for the work I put in!
But as long as I stay true to my dream and continue to visualise it, I won’t stop approaching it by following a small set of tasks every day, which will add up exponentially in the future.
What would you say is the best way to maintain the mind & body balance through fitness?
Fitness involves having a healthy balance between the mind and body. I believe you must feed not just your body well, but your mind as well with positivity and keep negativity out of its reach. By this I mean you must invest your time in learning the right knowledge, make companionship with the right people, learn from other’s painful and life-changing experiences, you must try and live in the moment and worry less about the future. Not only will your life change for the better, but so will your training and the way you treat your body.
True growth is made when you ensure your mind and body are both being treated right, simultaneously. Losing my ego, not caring about what others think of me, and changing my mindset to a “me vs me” way, has all caused massive impact towards where I stand today and definitely will cause a greater impact on where I will be standing 5-10 years down the line!
