Laal Singh Chaddha: Here's how Aamir Khan trained to sprint for his role in the upcoming film

Melwyn Crasto, the track and field coach who trained Aamir Khan for Laal Singh Chaddha, recently spoke about how the actor didn't give up even on the first day of his drill. During an interaction with Mid Day, the trainer shared details about how the superstar got into the groove of an athlete for his role in the forthcoming film, which is the Hindi adaptation of Forrest Gump.

Crasto told the tabloid that Khan wouldn't call it a day until he perfected a drill. He had his coordination off for one drill, and when the trailer told him how he could fix it for the next session, he refused to leave until he learned it right then. He trained Khan for over four months for Laal Singh Chaddha after training Farhan Akhtar for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Taapsee Pannu for Rashmi Rocket.

The superstar appears to have worked his charm on Crasto, who is generally stingy with his praise. The trainer revealed that their first day together was enjoyable. He shared that even athletes take time to learn running drills, yet Khan was quick to pick them up after just a few examples. He made the assignment simple for Crasto because he just had to reprimand the actor a few times. Another positive is that Khan has managed to keep his flexibility. During Farhan's instruction, the trainer struggled with this. They needed to display the multitalented actor with a solid stride as he moved himself ahead, so having a good range was crucial.

Speaking about his first meetings with Khan, Crasto revealed that they focused on assessing the actor's physical abilities. The ace athlete coach knew he wouldn't have to worry about Khan's stamina because the 400-meter race the actor would be running on screen would be filmed in short chunks of 50 to 100 metres. The superstar also didn't need to look like a professional runner because the character isn't one.

However, the character, Laal Singh Chaddha, needs to be quick. Running a 100 metres at his age is a challenging endeavour. Khan risks injuring himself if he does not prepare. They needed to keep him healthy because he had to shoot concurrently or the schedule would be thrown off. The superstar's hamstrings not required to get strained. He wouldn't be able to walk, let alone jog if it happened.

Khan and Crasto next did the 14 running drills, which included high-knees, butt kicks, ostrich dance, Russian dance, and karaoke dance, among other things. The more drills one practices, the better a runner they will become. They then progressed to sprinting exercises. Crasto would have Khan run for 30 seconds, then 60, 90, and 120 seconds. They would then repeat the set in reverse. The coach has to give the actor more recuperation sets. For example, instead of 30 seconds, he gave Taapsee a minute to recover.

Crasto was able to take a second off Khan's 100-meter record in just four months, finishing at 13.6 seconds. He'd make sure that Khan was accompanied by other runners throughout their practice sessions in Delhi. He also encouraged his physical fitness gurus to change their gym schedules while working with Khan on the field. 

The superstar needed to alter the order of his weight-lifting routine. It wasn't about lifting large weights, which would have made him fat and inflexible. He had to lift lower weights and complete more reps quickly. Resistance training also helped him improve his runner's strength on the field.