Arjun Kapoor attends a boot camp in London

Arjun Kapoor recently took a week off to attend The Prestige Boot Camp and it was all very hush-hush. The camp is run by an ex-British armyman in the London countryside.

Arjun says it’s not just a boot camp but a body-and-mind retreat to inspire health and self-belief. “I happened to hear about it from common friends. I had just completed the New York shoot for Half-Girlfriend, where I play a young city slicker. I had to get into a more mature role in the second half, which we shot in South Africa. I wanted to get away from Mumbai for that, and the boot camp happened at quite an opportune time. One can go hiking, trekking and backpacking. It’s a place to  disconnect with city life and reconnect with nature, while burning calories! Even if you are just walking carrying a 5 kg backpack, you are burning calories. We would wake up at 6 am and would be in bed by 9.30 pm. We would do 40-minute workout sessions during the day and in the evenings, I would go for long walks.”

Food served there was simple and made of natural ingredients. “They’d give us ready meals and we had to heat and eat it. Food was basic, simple and clean and not about the quantity, but the quality. We would carry fruits and protein-based food like nuts to munch on, when we would go trekking.”