In a society so hell-bent on looking good and being lean and healthy, not many of the preachers of these very things are themselves healthy. Obesity experts and personal trainers, who are themselves overweight, and doctors who aren’t really healthy, are a common sight! ‘Do as I tell you, and not as I do’ seems to be their motto.
However, it’s such a blessing that there are always exceptions. Dr. Zed Plus (as he is popularly known, this comes from the name of his hospital: Zed Plus Accident Hospital) is one such brilliant example. Dr. Rahul Zanjurne is a well-qualified (orthopaedic) surgeon, very well-known and popular locally, not only with patients but with other doctors. Part of the reason is he is very passionate about leading an active lifestyle and staying lean. Wherever he goes, he makes sure he talks about the importance of being active, lean and healthy and inspires people to take up an active lifestyle. He is also an amateur endurance athlete (more of this later), who travelled far and wide, to achieve personal milestones during his fitness journey.
Dr. Rahul Zanjurne, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Founder-director, Z Plus Accident Hospital, Pune
The Beginning
However, things weren’t always as rosy as they are now, for Dr. Zed Plus. He was, as busy doctors usually are, himself overweight, fat even! But there came a point, where he thought, ‘enough was enough’!
Being an ultra-endurance athlete, previously, till about a year and a half back, Dr. Rahul, had already covered 70,000km. Yet he had been struggling with weight issues. As luck would have it, that was when he met Dr. Deepak S. Hiwale. And the transformation journey got well and truly underway. Within a matter of week, we could take 10kg of weight off Dr. Rahul, much of it was fat! This not only helped him look and feel better but also improved drastically, his marathon (Satara Hill Half Marathon and the Mumbai Marathon) and Deccan HYPERLINK "https://sites.google.com/site/inspireindiasports/the-deccan-cliffhanger"Cliffhanger timings!
Dr. Rahul’s Sporting Achievements
:
Deccan Cliffhanger: completed for 4 consecutive years now
BRMs: 200km: 1, 300km: 1, 600km: 1
Half Marathons: 10
Full Marathons: 1
Half Ironman: Dubai: completed.
London-Edinburgh-London ride: (a 1500km self-supported cycle ride across the UK, between two iconic capital cities of England and Scotland) attempted
Dr. Rahul in training, on his ‘trainer’
Dr. Rahul at the Dubai Half Ironman this year in February
Most Difficult Challenge Dr. Rahul has ever Faced!
Although he was quite well prepared and looking forward to finishing the race, Dr. Rahul had to quit midway (around the 800km mark), at the London-Edinburgh-London race due to bilateral ulnar nerve palsy. This was in all probability due to the constant pressure on the wrists and the cold temperatures. This was more of a disappointment than a difficult challenge, says Dr. Rahul.
How does Dr. Rahul Manage his Time?
Being a busy health professional, time management was a real issue to begin with! However, Dr. Rahul came up with a work-around, for this problem. He started training at odd hours: so while the world slept, he was out there running or cycling or even training. So turning up at his in-laws’ place for coffee, on a Sunday morning, after riding through the night on a cycle was a regular occurrence! Strangers giving weird look to a fellow in shorts running at midnight was also something that doc had to deal with.
Dr. Rahul’s Training Schedule
While he wouldn’t want to share the complete details of training plans and schedule, here’s a general outlay of the way he trains to prepare for an event: Sunday: long ride | Monday: rest | Tuesday: recovery ride | Wednesday: interval run Thursday: tempo run | Friday: strength training and Saturday: swimming
Nutrition Strategy
Initially, when fat loss was more of a goal, I decided to put Dr. Rahul on a high protein, high-complex carb diet (please note that good fats were also a part of the plan). Calorie consumption and calorie expenditure were something we tracked very religiously. Carb loading was something that was planned and followed to letter! And this resulted in a massive improvement in Doc’s Deccan Cliffhanger race timings! He shaved off upwards of 3 hours, from this last outing!
Once we had lost upwards of 8-10kg of bodyweight, we gradually increased carb consumption (because it is a bit easier to run on carbs, than on fat!).
However, after a few events, Dr. Rahul himself expressed the desire that he wanted to try to run on keto-diet. And that’s when we attempted to get him keto-adapted. This too, worked like a charm (during the Satara Hill Half Marathon last year).
Currently, he is following a keto diet and loves and highly-recommends keto-adaptation.
Social Responsibility
Dr. Rahul takes it upon himself to spread the fitness and health message. His wife, a dentist, is also a runner and a cyclist and has taken podium finish at the Deccan Cliffhanger! Together they form one of the most active and fitness-fanatic couple in the entire country.
The Dr. Zanjurne couple, on the way to Goa, Deccan Cliffhanger, 2019
And, finally, here’s the good doctor’s miraculous transformation pictures: Get inspired and try and beat him in this.
Footnote: For the last couple of years, Dr. Deepak S. Hiwale has been looking after Dr. Rahul’s sports nutrition, supplementation and fluid strategies - both off-season, as well during competition.
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