'Health is not built in the gym': Delhi cardiologist drops truth bomb on health, metabolism and motivation

Turns out, fitness isn’t about that one hour in the gym—it’s about the other twenty-three. Delhi-based cardiologist Dr Shailesh Singh is breaking the internet with his refreshingly honest take on health, motivation, and the myths that keep people stuck. His viral X thread flips conventional fitness wisdom on its head, reminding everyone that true health isn’t about six-packs or supplements, but the quiet, consistent choices we make every single day.

“Health isn't built in the gym. It’s built in the 23 hours you're not in it,” Dr Singh began. What follows is a list that reads like a life check rather than a workout plan—what you eat, how you sleep, how you handle stress, and what you tell yourself when you’re tired. “Exercise is the easy part,” he adds, striking a chord with thousands who mistake gym time for good health.

He also tackled one of the biggest traps people fall into—waiting for motivation. “Everyone asks, ‘How do I get motivated?’ Wrong question,” he said. Instead, he suggests focusing on small, doable habits that survive even on bad days. His own example? He said his secret started small — just five wall pushups while the morning coffee brewed. A year later, that turned into twenty full pushups. The takeaway? Tiny habits last through bad days, while big goals usually don’t.

Health isn't built in the gym
Its built in the 23 hrs you're not in it:

What you eat

How you sleep

How you handle stress

What you say to when you're tired
Exercise is the easy part.

— Dr Shailesh Singh (@drShaileshSingh) November 3, 2025

Metabolism down?

And if you’ve been blaming your slowing metabolism, Dr Singh isn’t sugar-coating it. “Your metabolism didn’t slow down. Your movement did,” he wrote. He explained that most people don’t lose their metabolism; they lose their movement. We go from walking across campus to walking only to our cars, from playing sports to just watching them. The body didn’t give up on us — we gave up on it.


His final truth bomb hits hardest: identity beats intention. “Stop saying ‘I need to exercise,’ start saying ‘I’m someone who walks daily,’” he said. To drive his point home, he compared two people: one who kept saying he should quit smoking and died at 58, and another who decided he was a non-smoker and was still out hiking at 73.