Dr Rajat Chauhan

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Dr Rajat Chauhan

🦆🩺 🏃‍♂️ • Student - Run & Pain • GOYA - GetOffYourArse • Columnist • Author • La Ultra - The High I like to call myself a student of pain and running.

I am also a militant advocate of GOYA (Get Off Your Arse) Move-Mint. I have been running for last 36 years and making others to run too. In my spare time I am a doctor specializing in Sports-Exercise Medicine and Osteopathy / Musculo-Skeletal Medicine with special interest in Back and Knee Pain. Yes, have written a book on non-surgical approach to back, knee and neck pains.

02/02/2026

Day 22. Inner Game of Running

Most programs teach you how to run faster or farther. Some remember strength, but reduce it to numbers.

The Inner Game of Running isn’t that. This is not about fixing yourself. It’s about remembering how to move, how to breathe, how to strengthen, and how to listen.

Indian philosophy reminds us: Aham Brahmāsmi, I am not broken. I am not incomplete.
I am already whole.

Before we reconnect with others, we reconnect with ourselves.

In mid-March, we begin La Ultra — Inner Game of Running retreats. Not races. Not challenges.

These are shared spaces where movement slows down, awareness deepens, and running returns to what it was always meant to be, a practice, a relationship, a way back.

If this speaks to you, stay close.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

01/02/2026

Day 21. We Don’t Treat X-rays & MRIs

Yesterday, a 50+ year old woman walked in with advice for bilateral knee replacement. She needed a second opinion, to be operated, or not.

Her X-rays and MRIs looked a lot less than desirable. To be honest, not very good. But her function was beautiful. She squatted fully. She bent forward and touched her toes. Pain-free. Unforced. Quiet movement. Clean effort.

It reminded me of something I see often. Younger people try to force movement. Even those who have no pain. Wiser bodies often allow it.

We don’t treat scans and reports. We treat people.

Always remember, effort builds, whereas force breaks, in training, in decisions, and in life.

Each patient teaches me something new. And hence I love calling myself a student of Pain and Running. Ever learning.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

31/01/2026

Day 20. The Witness Runner

Most runners think they need more MOTIVATION. Some realise DISCIPLINE matters more. So, they push harder, and try to be tougher. Often treating running or exercise as punishment.

But ancient Indian philosophy points to something far deeper. The WITNESS. The part of you that watches without reacting. Think of yourself in the third person.

Running becomes easier when you stop fighting sensations and start observing them, whether it be breathlessness, fatigue or discomfort.

Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” ask, “What’s happening here?”

That small shift softens the body and allows movement to feel lighter. This is where the Inner Game of Running truly begins. Learning to watch before you act. To observe before you react.

Stop with judgement, and start with awareness.

And yes, details of the Inner Game of Running retreat coming soon.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

29/01/2026

Day 18. Adaptation Takes Time

The workout isn’t where strength is built. It’s where the message is sent. Adaptation is the reply.

Muscles, tendons, bones, and the nervous system all adapt at different speeds. When we rush back into training, we interrupt the very process we’re chasing.

Persistent soreness, lingering fatigue, recurring niggles aren’t signs of weakness. They’re signs of unfinished adaptation.

Training intelligence isn’t about how hard you push today. It’s about what your body can absorb and come back stronger from tomorrow.

Patience isn’t laziness. It’s biological respect.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

28/01/2026

Day 17. Recovery is not optional. It’s where the work actually happens.

High-intensity workouts, running, strength training, or sport, are not meant to be done every day. They need 48 to 72 hours for the body to adapt, repair, and grow stronger.

As a sports & exercise medicine doctor, the majority of injuries I see are not because people don’t train enough, but because they don’t recover enough.
You can and should run, exercise or play sports 5-6 days a week, even everyday is fine. That’s healthy.
But high intensity? All put together, no more than 2-3 days a week.

Sleep. Rest. Low-intensity movement. These aren’t breaks from training. They are training.

This is the part most people skip, and then wonder why progress stalls or pain appears.

Train hard. But recover harder.

That’s the Inner Game of Fitness.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

27/01/2026

Day 16. I don’t feel amazing all the time. And I don’t expect to.

Low, anxious, flat and even pathetic days happen. What matters is not avoiding them, definitely not forcing, but by just being. Being you.

For me, movement helps, strength training grounds me, and breathing slows the noise. Not as cures, but as anchors. This is the Inner Game of Running most people never see. It’s not about performance, or positivity. It’s about regulation and resilience.

Sometimes, just being is the strongest thing you can do.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

26/01/2026

Day 15. Someone asked me yesterday about the right way to do a biceps curl. So today, we start there.

But before the exercise, think of this:

- Think of your body like a tree.
- Roots are your legs.
- The trunk is your torso.
- The branches are your arms.

Train in that order. Branches come last.

The biceps curl is about curling the biceps, not curling your lower back. That’s where most people go wrong. They lift the weight, but the movement comes from the spine, not the arm.

Standing curls are fine. But sitting curls reduce cheating. They limit back movement and help you actually feel the muscle working. Start with a weight you can move through the full range, slowly, and pain-free.

Lighter is usually better at the start. Get the form right. Understand which muscle is working.

Strength training isn’t about moving weight. It’s about training tissue.

Roots. Trunk. Branches. In that order.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

24/01/2026

Day 13. I’ve been talking a lot about running the last few days. Today, I needed to pause and correct that.

Strength training is not just important for runners. It’s more important.

And coming from someone who has been running for 42 years, that should mean something. 🙂

I was introduced to strength training at the highest level back in 2004, when I had the good fortune of heading the London centre of Kieser Training.

That’s where I was exposed to both the best hardware and software of strength training. Biomechanics that actually respected the human body. And a philosophy that prioritised longevity over ego.

Werner Kieser shaped much of modern rehabilitative strength training. But the person who truly revolutionised this space was Arthur Jones.

He created Nautilus and later MedX machines, which were light years ahead in biomechanics. But more than the machines, it was his thinking that changed everything.

Slow. Controlled. Intentional. Strength that serves movement, not vanity.

If you want to understand what I mean, watch the reel again. 🙂

Strength doesn’t replace running. It protects it.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

23/01/2026

Day 12. Everyone’s been asking if I’m mentoring runners again.

To borrow from pop culture: Arnold said, “I’m back.”

John Wick said, “Yes… I think I am back.”

Both were right. So yes. I’m back. But not in the way you might expect. But this comeback isn’t about intensity or domination.

Inner Game of Running isn’t a training plan. It’s a remembering.

Movement before metrics. Awareness before effort. Longevity before one race.

Not fixing you for one day. Helping you run for life.

Details coming soon.

Keep miling and smiling.

22/01/2026

Day 11. Every year, around big races, I hear the same thing.

“Please fix me.”
“Make me ready.”
“I can’t miss this one.”

Yes, you might be able to start that race. But in the process, you may turn a small injury into a big one. Sometimes into something that stops you from running again.

That’s the real cost.

Most runners only run. No base fitness. No strength. No mobility. No breathing.

Even while running, the body tightens. Jaw clenched. Fists tight. Shoulders up. Feet gripping the ground. Everything forced.

At some point, we need to revisit why we started running. It wasn’t for medals or numbers. It was for joy. For freedom. For the love of movement.

When people back off, rebuild their foundation, and start moving with awareness, moving meditatively, running becomes lighter again. And almost always, performance follows.

This is exactly why we’ll soon be organising La Ultra – Inner Game of Running retreats.

Not to fix you for one race. But to help you understand your body, reconnect with yourself, and build a foundation that lets you run for life.

Sometimes the wiser choice isn’t, “Never again.”

It’s simply, “Skip this one… so you can run forever.”

Keep Miling & Smiling.

21/01/2026

Day 10. Heel Raises: Straight Knee vs Bent Knee (Practical)
Heel raises are not one exercise.
How you do them decides what you train.

Knee straight → more gastrocnemius.
Knee bent → more soleus.

Runners need both.

Slow rise. Brief hold. Even slower lowering.

Relax the shoulders.
Unclench the jaw.
Keep the breathing easy.
A gentle smile helps more than you think.

This isn’t about burning the calves.
It’s about patiently training the Achilles and calf complex
to behave like a spring again.
1 rep over 10 seconds (4 to go up, hold for 2, come down over 4 seconds)
3 sets a day.
6 to 12 slow reps. Over 1 - 2 minutes.

Many of you have been asking if I’m mentoring runners again. Yes, I am.

Not just to help you run faster or longer,
but to help you understand your body better
and reconnect with yourself through movement.

That work will now also take shape as workshops and runner retreats called La Ultra – Inner Game of Running.

Same philosophy as before. A little deeper focus on the inner work.

Fun fact: IGOR, the acronym, comes from an old Norse name meaning warrior of peace or peace guardian. A nice reminder of what strong, calm movement really is.

Think Calves and Feet, before Shoes.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

20/01/2026

DAY 9. Heel raises are simple. But they’re rarely done well.

When you rise onto your toes, you’re not just training calves. You’re training the Achilles tendon, the spring that stores and releases energy every time you run.

That spring doesn’t like rushing. It learns through patience.

Slow up. Brief pause. Even slower down.

Relax the shoulders. Unclench the jaw. Keep the breath easy. A gentle smile helps more than we realise. Safe tissues adapt better. This isn’t about doing more reps. It’s about doing better ones.

Think of Calves even before Feet. Shoes come later.

By popular demand, I’ve also started mentoring people again. Yes, you’ll get fitter and run better. But more importantly, this is about rebuilding trust in your body.

That’s also the spirit behind La Ultra Bonding Runs, movement before performance,
function before tools.

Keep Miling & Smiling.

Address

Back 2 Fitness, G-6, Triveni Commercial Complex, Sheikh Sarai, Phase 1
Delhi
110017

Telephone

+911146560339

Website

http://drrajatchauhan.com/

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