Stay outdoors and you'll stay fit

Capoeira, also known as The Dance of War, is an Afro-Brazilian cultural practice was traditionally a martial art disguised as a dance. So, it is like taking a class in martial arts, dance, gym and music all at once. Capoeira combines cardiovascular and strength training; it burns fat and builds muscle, flexibility and endurance. Even though it is one of the seven deadly martial art forms, it is the only one that gives you points for escaping; thus it is a non-combative, non-violent form of self-defence.

Anu Gupta, Andheri resident and a designer and mother shares, "Capoeira, for me, was love at first sight. The music, workout and energy were fabulous. It's not just the culture that Capoeira comes with but the amalgamation of all these elements that led me to take it up." Capoeira has been inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

You want to get back in shape this year but running or biking is not your thing. Well, head over to Juhu beach on a Sunday morning and try your hand at ultimate Frisbee. "Most people were associated with a sport during their school or college days and then, as they say—work happened. Many want to get back to being fit and are looking for a sport with a combination of athletics, fun and agility. That's exactly what ultimate Frisbee is all about," says entrepreneur and Andheri resident Samarth Shetty.

Subashini Vishveshwaran, travel consultant and volunteer with Mumbai Ultimate, says, "It is a mix of three different sports; you play on a football field, like basketball you don't move if you have the disc in your hand; and like rugby it is a score only if you throw and your team mate catches it."

When asked about the kind of people taking to the sport, Vishveshwaran shares, "We have a mix of people from business and service backgrounds but the common thread is that each one of them has pursued some kind of sport in the past. We are trying to get school and college students to be a part of this. We had a showcase game at Mithibhai College as well as the Oberoi International School. We also hosted a tournament last year called 'Gheun Taak', which was a huge success."

Nupur Shikhare's boot camps on the beach are the perfect base for space-starved, activity-starved working professionals in the city. A typical Fitnessism session at Juhu beach will see you through the calisthenics of his boot camp sans the drudgery of a gym workout.

Juhee Bhandarkar, marketing professional and Bandra resident, shares, "I have been working out with Nupur since five years; that's when we used to work out at the gym together. Beyond a point you realise that there is so much you can do in the gym. That's when Nupur started conducting these boot camps; I went for them and realised that I enjoyed this more."

The four pillars of Fitnessism include push-ups, squats, elevation and movement taking a cue from the practice of calisthenics. This is not like a military boot camp so you need not worry about your capacity to be able to sustain it. Rather, it is about skill, strength, endurance and body balance most of which we have forgotten to incorporate in our day-to-day life. So, it is not about doing a hundred squats in one go; it is about holding your body in a squat position for two minutes.