Working hard or hardly working? Iqrar ul Hassan’s gym effort becomes meme material

Actor Farah Nadeem has set social media buzzing after reacting to a viral gym clip featuring journalist and former host Iqrar ul Hassan — but the internet quickly shifted focus from the workout to her commentary.

The video shows Iqrar performing a standing cable chest fly, pulling two resistance cables inward across his chest at a gym.

What caught Farah Nadeem’s attention, however, was not the exercise itself but the weight stack — reportedly just a single plate, estimated around 4.5 to 7 kilograms.

The contrast between the light load and Iqrar’s intensely strained facial expressions became the main talking point.

Reacting to the clip, she quipped that either the weights should be hidden or the expression should match the actual load, adding a sarcastic remark comparing gym effort to “politics-level intensity.”

The internet, unsurprisingly, picked up on the same detail almost instantly. The video was flooded with jokes pointing out the minimal weight and exaggerated effort, turning the clip into full-blown meme territory.

Comments ranged from disbelief at the visible plate count to jokes about “overacting at the gym,” with many users focusing more on the expression than the exercise itself.

The viral moment comes shortly after Iqrar stepped away from his long-running role at ARY News in 2026, ending a 21-year association to focus on his political career with Awam Raah Tehreek.

For now, though, his gym session has taken on a life of its own — less fitness inspiration, more internet comedy reel.