Fitness takes over in 2011

Gone are the days when priority lists differed from person to person — the unanimous choice now is to stay fit. In spite of hectic schedules, frequent travelling, family obligations and the likes, fitness freaks have stuck to their promise — of a healthy and fit tomorrow.

There was a time when gyms were mushrooming at every nook and corner of the city, but going by the way it is, the New Year might just see a shortage of gyms too.

Fitness expert Kaizad Capadia, who has been around for more than two decades now, says, “When I started out, fitness was given no importance whereas now, it’s a part of our lifestyle. A survey has revealed that the gyms in the city are not equally proportionate to the density of population; there is scope for more gymnasiums to come up. In fact, a lot of international players are also looking at the Indian market to set shop.” Keeping this in mind, one of the biggest challenges for the fitness industry right now is lack of human resources. “We train the trainers at our training centres, who are in turn, hired by various fitness centres. This is how we try to meet the lack of manpower,” informs Kaizad.

If one thought fitness was just about working on one’s abs and muscles, think again. Get yourself a healthy lifestyle, along with the stamina to cope with daily stress and pressure, courtesy working out daily. A 30 to 60-minute workout session daily leaves you all charged, ready to take on the world.

Based on the fitness column in DNA and interaction with as many as 50 fitness enthusiasts, here are some fitness trends that have made its mark in the city:

Women on top
Not very surprisingly, the city’s fitness brigade seems to be ably led by women. The trend shows that while women have actively taken to fitness, men have definitely been proactive in adopting a healthy lifestyle. Though the pot bellies have given way to abs, the women have been better and faster learners. 31 of the 50 enthusiasts we interacted with are women, who have been instrumental in inspiring their husbands as well as families to follow suit.
 
Fitness is fashionable
Designers in the city are quite fitness conscious — be it Manoviraj Khosla, who likes to party till late or Paresh Lamba, who loves spending time with his kids — they are all clued in to fitness. Of course, the list goes on with various names from the fashion industry — models, fashion choreographers or even image consultants.
 
A welcome change
Undoubtedly, there’s been a change in the way people perceive fitness. Even a few years back, what was considered quite a luxury has now become an integral part of people’s lives, in a way, increasing life expectancy and raising the standard of living too. It’s also about being responsible to oneself. Like entrepreneur Oum Pradutt points out, “My mother passed away at 59 and I think she would have lived longer had she taken care of herself. I would like to live healthy and a little longer for my near and dear ones.” The tilt towards positive thinking has emerged as one of the benefits of a fit lifestyle.  

No fad diets
None of the 50 people interacted with endorsed fad diets. In fact, the words don’t figure in their fitness regime — after all, it’s about eating healthy and the right sort of food. Moderation is the key. While dieting helps reduce weight momentarily, it also deprives the body of nutrition. Considering Bangalore is a city of foodies, it goes without saying that nobody is ready to compromise on their ‘soul food’.
 
Size doesn’t matter
While most people look at fitness as a means to lose weight, there’s much more to it than just that. Size zero seems to be a bygone myth now and fitness enthusiasts in the city have realised that. Choreographer Sheetal Sharma says, “I have never believed in size zero. In fact, I always thought that women look nicer when they are slightly curvaceous.” After all, fitness is all about mental and physical agility.
 
Motivation is within
It’s all about being self-motivated. Of course, experts are a must with all their technical expertise, but the option of self help cannot be overlooked. The reasons have been pretty varied — while previous ailments have been the reason for some, others wanted to age to catch up, but gracefully. A lot of them have been into sports or some kind of physical activity from an early age due to which they understand the importance of leading a fit life. But the common factor is self-motivation — when people reach 30, get the alarms going.