The friendly neighbourhood gym

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Given the number of fitness centres mushrooming in the city, we speak to trainers and gym owners to find out how to pick the right one

Karthikeyan’s muscular arms give away the fact that he works out. A private cab driver, he says he is a regular at a government-supported gym near Lawley Road. He pays ₹ 50 a month. Karthikeyan points out a startling fact: in the 2.5 km radius of Race Course alone, there are a dozen thriving gyms. As a matter of fact, almost every neighbourhood boasts more than one gym. This is over and above the ones in private apartments.

“Remember how, at one time, there were just one or at the most two good bakers in town from where we got our cakes and bread? Now there are so many home bakers who are doing a fabulous job. It is the same with gyms,” says Linga Bhaskar, fitness trainer and owner of Sixty Minutes Workout.

Years ago only those who wanted to do body building went to a gym to build those muscles. Then commercial enterprises got into the act, hired a couple of trainers and set up gyms with some heavy equipment. But these did not take off for the simple reason that the trainers did not get a fair deal. So they decided to do move into fitness training themselves. They did not require either expensive equipment nor big brand investors.

“Functional training is now the buzz word where trainers work with body weight and concentrate on fat burning and endurance training,” says Bhaskar. Awareness about fitness has also increased manifold. “About fifteen years ago, one in a 100 enrolled into a gym for fitness. Now I can easily say 50 out of every 100 people do so. Where once personal trainers were the prerogative of the rich and famous, now even the average Indian can afford to sign up for gyms that offer personal training.”

Nothing motivates people as much as transformation stories of other ordinary people like themselves, says Ajit Shetty, MD-Founder of Chennai-based Score Health Plus Fitness Clubs that helped set up a fitness centre in the city. “It’s a chain reaction where their role model is not a film star or a sports person but their next-door neighbour. And, of course, fitness success stories doing the rounds of Facebook and Instagram also play a significant role.” Shetty points to the number of apps that customise fitness plans. And the Internet has enough and more about fitness and how to get there. “A gym in the neighbourhood gives them a platform to actually put into practice what they have learnt online. It is also motivating to work in a gym with others and it contributes to building a community of healthy people. I have seen people setting themselves 50-day or 100-day fitness challenges and succeeding.” With outdoor activities like cycling, walking and marathons also catching up, a certain level of fitness is required that people hope to find at a gym, says Shetty. “A good gym should understand and take care of your fitness needs.”

Chennai-based Jeffery Vardon, Group Fitness Director, O2 Health Studio, who recently introduced a dance studio here, has a simple explanation for the increase in the number of gyms in the city. “If there is demand, there will be supply. Lifestyle diseases are a peril and doctors themselves prescribe workouts for their patients. People are also more concerned about their health and fitness than ever before.” A good gym should not be just about weight loss, cautions Vardon. “Each customer comes with a different need and a different level of fitness. It is important the trainer understand the requirement of his client. A physio, a trainer and a dietician together can help the client reach his or her goal.” He says he is incorporating a lot of his fitness routines into his dance programmes in the city.

Women are waking up to the importance of keeping themselves fit

Women are waking up to the importance of keeping themselves fit

When Pink Fitness One, the all-woman gym, threw open its doors in Gandhipuram, it created quite a buzz, says its proprietor Muthu Ramesh. “In the past few years, we have seen an increasing number of women coming to our gyms, both young and the old. We realised how much awareness there was on fitness when we recently organised a walkathon for women in the city. Nearly 1, 000 women turned up. Women are waking up to the importance of keeping themselves fit, especially given the spike in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and other stress-related health issues.”

Ramesh says there is always an increase in young women joining the gym, just before the new term in college starts. “Many want to get into shape as they prepare to join colleges and look good in their new wardrobe,” she laughs. But it is all to the good. “Every one knows that a workout is a great stress buster and a mood lifter.”

Quick tips

Choose an exercise programme, which gets you to your goals

Make sure your trainer is professionally qualified to teach you the programme to achieve your goals. If it is a good gym, they should not be threatened by these queries

Ensure the facilities at the gym are well maintained (equipment, wash room, hygiene, air conditioning, car parking facility, not too crowded, etc.)

Ideally choose a gym that is close to your home or work place so that you can reach there without too much commuting

Ensure you get value for money and make an intelligent decision on the worth of the programme in the long run. A cheap gym is not necessarily the best.

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