#100DaysofStrong - Day 4,5,6 and 7 - Week 1

Made a few booboos in typing the day numbers. but you'll get the drift. Detailed notes will be available in the book #100daysofstrong . :)
From next week, the instagram feed will be a daily log . The blog will be updated weekly with a summary of the daily logs of the week - with extra notes and details.

#100DaysofStrong Day 4 - chest shoulder Tricep workout. Cardio and abs allotted to a separate day in schedule now due to time constraints. The good news is that the acidity is now under control and the diet is back on track. #strength #strong #gym #fitness #workout #battleready #project PS: for more details and articles, follow my blog - just Google my name to find it. Cheers!

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Aug 26, 2015 at 7:31am PDT

#100DaysofStrong Day 5: encountering a problem in scheduling early on is pretty common. That's why you should keep your schedule up for rescheduling in the first week. I noticed that I don't have the time to squeeze in cardio every day - so I decided to have a separate day for cardio and abs post my weight training days. So no my schedule is 3 days of push pull weight training routine + 1 day of cardio and abs + 1 day of rest. Then repeat. I finally added creatine to my stack today. Details about creatine and its proper usage will be blogged tomorrow. #strength #strong #gym #fitness #project #book If you have any questions, do shoot.

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Aug 27, 2015 at 10:04am PDT

#100DaysofStrong Day 5: rest day with regular carb meals. + #creatine stack info. As promised, here's my note on the creatine that I added to my stack yesterday. Creatine is scientifically proven to be the most efficient non-steroidal ergogenic. Most of the fears surrounding creatine usage come from public ignorance and the people's lack of understanding between creatine and creatinine. Creatine helps you recover faster and train harder especially for all explosive and strength movements by helping your body replenish the phosphate molecules in the adinosine tri phosphate molecules that produce energy on the cellular level. Creatine is best consumed in the creatine monohydrate form - but that requires you to supplement it with Alpha lipolic acid or dextrose to enable its absorption. Also it also causes high amounts of water retention in some people. Which is why I'm using Creatine Nitrate or Creatine Hcl. These compounds don't require carb loading or ALA for absorption and they don't cause water retention. Since I'm not a huge fan of multi stacking, I like my creatine in my preworkout itself. Though ideally, creating must be consumed post workout since your body requires upto 12 hrs to load the creatine into usable form to load up your atp cycles. Ideally you load creatine for a week by taking double the dose. And then you maintain it by taking just a single dose daily. Brands I recommend for creatine are: Creatine MonoHydrate from @optimumnutrition Creatine HCL from CONCRET Creatine Nitrate is a constituent of the @cellucor C4 preworkout. All of these are readily available on www.Neulife.com @teamneulife Cheers!

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Aug 28, 2015 at 11:42am PDT

#100DaysofStrong #k11strongchallenge squat day again and I was in for a surprise! Never missing squat day and a good progression table in my workout has helped. I ended up attempting a single but getting a smooth double out of my 125 kg loaded barbell. This is despite a 45 day break from workouts and diet. So this made my day today. I probably wouldn't have attempted this if it were not for the motivation from my fellow gym buddy and athlete - Wahid Bamboowala. Thanks to K11 Faculty professor Abhijit Kakad and my buddy Tejas Parekh for spotting me and keeping up my will to go for it even after I was done with my original set of 5. That's an amazing way to finish a great comeback workout. Killing it. #strong #workout #strength #training #gym #k11

A video posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Aug 29, 2015 at 8:50am PDT

#100DaysofStrong day 6: even strength training is a team sport. The stronger and more dedicated your gym buddies are, the more likely you are to keep on going even when you are down. Today's surprise PR was totally a result of buddy motivation in the gym. #gym #training #strong #friends #teamwork #k11 #k11strongchallenge For more on the #100DaysofStrong project, follow my blog. And Get strong together.

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Aug 29, 2015 at 10:34am PDT

- Pushkaraj S Shirke

#100daysofstrong - Understanding Your Body and Setting Realistic and Healthy Goals

#100DaysofStrong The kind of physique i aspire for is this. Not the glitsy oiled up male barbie doll version of modern day bodybuilding. Or the parade of media's 'fitness' models. Having been on the inside of the industry, I have learnt way more closely than most people of the weaknesses of 'model' physiques. In the quest for being 'ripped' all the time, most of these people use pharmaceutical drugs that increase the bmr or drop water like fat transporters/burners and diuretics that keep them at extremely low body fat levels all the time - which is one of the most unhealthy things you can do to your body. For a shoot or two, or for a competition, getting into that condition is not a problem. But to aim to stay that way all year round is asking for serious trouble.People who naturally have the genetics for low levels of subcutaneous fat can do it without pharmaceutical support. And ideally, only they should do it. Understanding your genetic makeup and constitution before you set your goals goes a long way in ensuring that you don't end up chasing a pipe dream or worse, chase a goal that's actually so unattainable that you end up poisoning your body to achieve it. Be honest to yourself. Set your goals after completely understanding how the body works and what is actually attainable most efficiently for you. And you will save yourself a lot of trouble and maybe from a life cut short too early. Heavens forbid.#strong #physique #fitness #aesthetic #bodyimage #bodybuilding #figure #ideal #trainer #strength

- Pushkaraj S Shirke

#100DAYSOFSTRONG - WHY STRONG?

With my coach and mentor - Kaizzad Capadia, Director of the K11 Fitness Academy.

The natural psychological reaction to danger or stress, is the FIGHT or FLIGHT response. Well, I personally have never been the flight kind. I like to stand my ground. It comes naturally to me. And with a tendency to stand up for what you believe is right, comes a lot of situations that require you to be prepared. Many of these situations are entirely unpredictable since they are in real life and not in a ring. You are never on level ground – you never know who would bring a gun to a knife fight. So all you can do is be prepared. And no matter how many martial arts you know or survival skills you are good at – there are two things that amplify them all. SHEER BRUTE STRENGTH and SITUATIONAL INTELLECT.

Childhood in a hostel taught me very early in life that strength may not always be the best measure – sometimes, just managing to sway the people around you in your favour can win you your fight without even throwing a punch. And there are times when you will have to roll with a few punches and survive. AND there are those times, where it is you who has to put your foot down. HARD.  These two situations are where brute strength is an absolute asset.

I never stepped in the gym to get ‘good looking’ or to get ‘a six pack’. I got that out of my training as a by product. An admirable side-effect. As I say, if someone is mugging you or your girl, you won’t pull up your t-shirt and say “hey look! I have abs alright!” or pull down your pants and say “hey dude! I got a super glute-buster booty okay!” – NO. You knock the hell out of that mugger and teach him a lesson  or rather, SURVIVE the situation by any means necessary. [Sometimes giving in is a smarter option – memorize all details of the mugger while you do that though – while pretending to be scared. It’s a smarter thing to do. And then report to the cops. Been there. Done that. It works. ]
The way I see it, almost every adverse situation in life gives you an option – BE A VICTIM or RISE OUT A SURVIVOR. I prefer the second. And that requires immense STREGTH – mental and physical.

When I first stepped into the gym as a 48kg underweight kid at 18, I stepped into the gym to get strong. And that QUEST FOR STRENGTH over the years became a form of worship. Especially after a formal education in strength training and weaning off the fitness magazine bullshit.  It became a kind of prayer to this atheist that actually is measurable in results. In this prayer, there are no fictional gods and demons  – only iron and gravity. Worship the Iron. Resist Gravity. Simple.

STRONG is a state of mind above everything else. A state of mind I love being it. Being STRONG is a meditative state. A state of confidence, a state of knowing that actions become results, and a state of mind that lets you understand that yes, a lot of life is in your control, but a lot of it isn’t – and you need to deal with it.

And that’s my reason to go STRONG.

What’s yours?

- Pushkaraj S Shirke

#100daysofstrong : Day 3 - The Workout Schedule and Nutrition

#100DaysofStrong day 3: as promised on day 2, here's my workout and diet schedule. I'm aiming to maintain 2X my bodyweight in grams of protein, with moderate fat and low carbs. Since im not looking to get shredded, I'm not bothering with cutting out the carbs as yet. A good dose of healthy fats everyday is a must in my meals so eventually when I switch to complete ketogenesis, my body is already regulated well to follow the same. Even right now, my carbs are not off he roof. Most of the carbs in my meals are incidental carbs. I'm not going out of my way to consume carbs. And even the carbs that I do consume are restricted to one meal a day. #strong #strength #diet #nutrition #meals #gym #fitness #liveproject Ps: If you are following the project too, use the hashtag #100daysofstrong when u post updates to inspire and motivate people in the quest for strength. Post the completion of these 100 days, I will be publishing the daily updates with articles as a Book. People following the project might also be featured in the book. Cheers! -Pushkaraj S Shirke

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Aug 25, 2015 at 12:36am PDT

- Pushkaraj S Shirke

#100DaysofStrong : Day 2 The Squat Pukefest

#100DaysofStrong day 2: it was a puke fest. Thanks to all the stress induced acidity I have been suffering. Threw up twice between the workout and once after. BUT the workout was completed. A full leg workout from squats to calves and hams. Triple sets of 5 on heavy weights that don't go beyond 5 reps. Skipped the post workout cardio today due to the puking. Hopefully the antacids should kick in by tomorrow and make working out easier. PS: will share my workout chart tomorrow for those who want to play along with the challenge. #gym #workout #strength #follow #battleready

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Aug 24, 2015 at 9:50am PDT

#100DaysofStrong - A Live 100 Day Project to Get Superhuman Strong

‪#‎100DaysofStrong‬ begin today. 

No excuses. No fears. No magazine fitness bullshit. Just focussing on Making each day count towards getting to my strongest ever begins today. This is not to be 'aesthetic', 'shredded', 'sculpted'. This is purely to be the strongest human I can be in a span of 100 days.
Bring it on.

Day 1 of training was sacrificed for planning and scheduling of training, nutrition, supplementation and pharma. People underestimate the need of a coach/trainer in their quest. A coach and guide helps keep things in perspective and keeps you objectively focussed on your goals - breaking down big goals to smaller achievable units goes a long way in actually accomplishing it.
So that is exactly what was done today.

Tomorrow, the actual training begins. Everyday at 4 pm.

You can follow the daily updates on this blog or link directly to my instagram for pictorial updates.
www.instagram.com/credosian

- Pushkaraj S Shirke

The Garden of Life

Life is a garden.
The people you allow into your life are like  trees and plants in your garden of life.
Your 'soul' or consciousness is the home in the center of that garden.

So cut out the poisonous weeds and plants that poison your home and land. Shred away the parasitic creepers that ruin your walls. Kill the plants that seek to ruin your foundations with its predatory roots. Don't encourage the hyacinths that eat away the water and nutrients that your family trees need.
And remember to nurture and nourish the plants and trees that add to the beauty and self-sufficiency of your life.

Tend to your garden with love, care and alertness. And it will be a life well lived.

Such is the garden of life.

-Pushkaraj S Shirke

To Live and Love

To Love and Live. #poetry #poem #life #diary #thingstoremember

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Aug 17, 2015 at 12:26am PDT

- Pushkaraj S Shirke

Custom Helmet Art

Did some Punisher Themed Helmet graffitti on my old helmet.

I custom design helmets for 1000 USD for clients from US, Australia, Dubai, UK and yes, occasionally India too. Indian Clients have to get their own helmets for designing. 

Older work:

- Pushkaraj S Shirke

Photography for GATORADE South America

The work i had done for Gatorade South America Finally released :)

link: http://gpromexico.com/unbroken/

Brand: Gatorade México​ - South America 

Agency: Mistech

Photography: Pushkaraj S Shirke 

Art: Hector Rodriguez​

It was awesome to finally work on one of the 5 big sports brands I have always wanted to work on. And that too without any undertable transactions and paybacks unlike Indian agencies. Absolutely awesome feeling it was.

Here's Looking forward to many more awesome campaigns and great works ahead :) 

-Pushkaraj S Shirke