From sleep scores to ice baths to IV drips, India’s biggest stars are leaning on biohacking to support their fitness routines, says Akriti Pai.
Alia Bhatt
Alia is part of a growing group leaning into discreet, highend wearables — tracking sleep cycles, recovery, and readiness rather than just steps. She has spoken about prioritising rest and balance, especially post-motherhood, and her approach reflects a wider shift: Using data to support well-being. Alia Bhatt Alia is part of a growing group leaning into discreet, highend wearables — tracking sleep cycles, recovery, and readiness rather than just steps. She has spoken about prioritising rest and balance, especially post-motherhood, and her approach reflects a wider shift: Using data to support well-being.
Akshay Kumar
Long before “sleep optimisation” became a trend, Akshay Kumar was already living it. Early dinners (often before sunset), a strict nolate-nights rule, and waking up before dawn – his routine aligns almost perfectly with circadian rhythm science. No gadgets, no gimmicks, just consistency.
Kareena Kapoor Khan
Kareena’s journey from “size zero” to a more balanced, holistic routine reflects a wider shift in the industry. She focuses on Pilates, strength training, and mindful eating, often supported by basic fitness tracking. She may not be a hardcore biohacker, but she shows how monitoring calories, movement, and sleep has become part of everyday celebrity wellness.
Hrithik Roshan
Hrithik’s transformation journeys have long been guided by structured nutrition and training, and more recently, intermittent fasting. Typically used to manage body fat and improve metabolic flexibility, fasting in his case is layered onto an already intense fitness routine, under expert supervision.
Janhvi Kapoor
Frequently spotted at wellness clinics, Janhvi Kapoor reflects India’s growing interest in intravenous “wellness” treatments, often positioned for hydration, energy, and skin health. These therapies are designed for quick delivery of nutrients, which contributes to their popularity. However, their benefits for otherwise healthy individuals remain an area of ongoing discussion.
KL Rahul
At the elite level of cricket, recovery is essential. Rahul’s routines reportedly include ice baths, physiotherapy, mobility work, and load management — tools designed to reduce injury risk and sustain performance across formats. This is biohacking in its most practical form: Less about trends, more about longevity.
What is biohacking?
Biohacking refers to strategies used to understand and influence the body’s biological processes to improve health, performance, and recovery. It spans low-tech methods like sleep optimisation, nutrition timing, and exercise, as well as data-driven tools such as wearables and glucose monitors that track metrics like heart rate variability and metabolic response. Rooted in fields like chronobiology and exercise physiology, it also includes more clinical interventions, such as cryotherapy or IV nutrient therapy, whose effectiveness varies by context.
