The Hindu Business Line : Feel good about fitness

It is good to vary your exercise regimen so that the body doesn't get used to a pattern and resist the push it's being given, say fitness experts. A combination of balanced diet, cardiovascular activity, such as running, aerobics and treadmill, strength or resistance training — with weights and tubes — and stretching, to reduce stiff and sore parts, could do the trick.

At Edge, one of Chennai's newest fitness centres, a wall of glass blocks in the lounge is decorated with palm prints in different colours, next to which there are names and details of kilos shed and inches lost. Over a drink of Sunrise, a brilliant red concoction of carrot and orange juice with the fibre left in, Chairman and Managing Director Mrinalini Sekar smiles as she recalls how people branded her "suicidal" when she decided to make fitness her full-time career a few years ago. The last two years, however, have seen the fitness sector booming, both in terms of awareness and facilities, and Mrinalini is confident that her investment in this Rs 1-crore venture is not a mistake.

So are many others like her in the major cities across the country, who have thrown themselves into this sector with vigour and hope for healthy pay-offs. As always, diet too is a big concern and while there are star nutritionists and dieticians with long waiting lists, entrepreneurs have gone one step further and set up restaurants that have healthy eating as their theme. And cashing in on this growing concern for healthy food are a host of boutiques which offer organic and alternative foods. Also, it is the norm for any self-respecting hotel or resort to offer a variant of some ayurvedic massage or the other at the least, if not tie up with prominent ayurvedic institutions for an entire section offering various services.

Says Sudha, who is trying to overcome her distaste for the `fat-mobilising' green tea she brews every morning before her aerobics workout, "I keep trying various things. Both in fitness and food. So if it's aerobics for two months, I might try working out on machines the next, walk for a few days, switch to being a vegetarian for a month, eat only cabbage soup for lunch another month, give up some foods the next month... ." It is a mix and match formula — whether it works or not, she says she's having fun doing it and is no worse for it.

Says K. Radha, Chennai-based Reebok Master Trainer who has also taught in various other cities across the country, "It's only now that fitness is being seen as a way of life." The improvement in socio-economic situation and changes in lifestyle causing ailments such as heart attacks, arthritis and respiratory disorders prematurely are pushing people to alter their outlook towards health. However, as if to temper the general impression that fitness is a major concern, she says that earlier if 5 per cent were keen on fitness, this figure has only inched up to 15 per cent now. Most of them are in the 30-40 age group, are keen to lose weight and lookgood.

The era of the hulk is petering out. Men still want muscles, but more importantly, they want to be lean and fit. Women want to lose weight and if they are committed to that goal, will religiously make time for exercise. Says Dr Ashish Contractor, the medical director of Mumbai's Asian Heart Institute, who is alsoassociated with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and Qi, a fitness centre, "The focus should be on health. Attitudes have changed; earlier it was mostly young people coming to look good but now older and middle-aged people whose goals are more health-oriented frequent these places."

But the lack or loss of motivation is a problem all fitness centres have to come to grips with. Most people have a starting problem. Says Samir Jasuja, who runs Reebok Fitness Club in Delhi, Reebok's only such franchise in India, "Everyone's really talking about this trend but I think Delhiites are still lazy."

Adds Edge's Mrinalini, "Motivation is a huge issue. It wanes gradually. Here, we talk to people to find out why they're dropping out and try to vary the schedule so that they find the fitness programme interesting and useful."

It is imperative to vary the exercise so that the body doesn't get used to a pattern and resist the push it's being given, say those in the know. It has to be a combination of a balanced diet, cardiovascular activity (running, aerobics, treadmill and so on), strength or resistance training (with weights and tubes, to use a large number of little-used/ignored muscle groups) and stretching, to reduce stiff and sore parts, a much needed but often neglected component which is beginning to find its due place.

Other forms of exercise gaining popularity are Pilates, martial arts (that are being worked into many fitness programmes), urban yoga, such as Power Yoga, kick-boxing and ballet. And fitness centres are becoming all-in-one enterprises combining the essential and the luxurious, housing cardiovascular machines, strength training equipment, yoga and aerobics studios, steam and sauna chambers, health food bars, lounges and showers.

Personal training is a growing trend and good business. It is widely acknowledged as something that shows results, and is considered a lucrative option. According to an instructor, rates could be as high as Rs 1,000 per hour. "The most faaltu of instructors charge Rs 500 per hour," she says. Personal training is where a client has a trainer who designs a customised exercise (and in most cases, diet) programme for the individual. The onus of making the client lose weight is also shared by the instructor, unlike in group exercise.

Says Najoo Sohonie who owns Matrix, a Mumbai fitness centre dedicated to personal training, "Though group training has its own votaries and can give members a high, a single programme can't work for everybody. Personal training is more result-oriented and works well for people who don't like crowds." Unlike Najoo, Dinaz's of Hyderabad, owned by Dinaz Vervatwala, who claims to be one of the city's leading fitness pioneers, specialises in both personal training and group programmes. Dinaz, whose clients include Bhuvaneswari, wife of Chandrababu Naidu and Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi's wife and daughter, says her enterprise goes the whole hog from fitness assessment to programme design to diet.

Most other fitness studios make the same claim and quote what they describe as "reasonable rates with no hidden costs". Najoo's Matrix, for instance, charges Rs 25,000, Rs 35,000 and Rs 50,000 for three months, six months and one year which are one-time payments and cover the cost of physical assessment, exercise, diet, beverages, snacks and even linen and laundry. Group exercises are cheaper, of course, and package prices vary. There is something for everybody, from the no-ambience, serviceable neighbourhood gyms which charge Rs 300 a month to swank, air-conditioned studios offering a range of services which charge high fees so that they can remain exclusive and serve fewer people better.

The majority of the fitness freaks are in the 30-45 age group. Most centres have dance-based programmes to attract younger clients. Women used to be the dominant group but even men are moving into aerobics nowadays. And having male instructors in aerobics classes helps draw men. And for many studios, corporate clients are an important component. Apart from standalone fitness centres, there are also the health clubs attached to hotels, which deserve mention.

Says D.C. Sunderraj, Manager (Health Club), of Chennai's Park Sheraton, "We have top executives coming in with their spouses. It's all personalised and we have Reebok-trained instructors guiding them through the programme." Expatriates account for the majority of the 75 members and services like ayurvedic massages and feet reflexology are offered. A membership can cost up to Rs 60,000 a year.

Says Reebok's Radha, "Women trainers are increasingly being preferred to their male counterparts in gyms. In aerobics, it's the other way round." Most fitness centres have male trainers and female aerobics instructors, something that's being overturned of late. "Women work better, look more presentable and have more people skills and social graces. Fitness is fast becoming a service industry where these qualities are necessary and these jobs will become desirable as well," she says.

As a career, fitness may not pay too well for employees right now. Gym trainers are generally paid between Rs 4,000 and Rs 8,000 a month depending on experience and skill. Qualification is a relatively new phenomenon — so far, trainers are mostly those associated with athletes or physical education instructors; they could even be school/college dropouts. Now there are various training institutes including Reebok and the ACSM. Of late, graduates in physiotherapy are much in demand. Reebok, through its Instructor Alliance, has trained over 600 people, over 90 per cent of whom are women. The company has also begun to sell home fitness equipment, apart from specialised shoes and clothes for various exercises and sports at its outlets, says Subhinder Singh Prem, Managing Director, Reebok India. It also brings in the latest equipment into India, such as the Core Board, which is designed for a total body workout combining strength and cardiovascular exercise.

As a business opportunity, too, fitness seems to have caught the imagination of many. Says A.S. Gopal, partner of Maverick, a Chennai fitness centre, "It is a very good business proposition. We make money by keeping people healthy." Chisel, a Bangalore-based fitness studio which has over 1,300 members working out at various hours of the day in 12,500 sq ft spread out over three floors, also caters to special needs, such as knee problems, back injuries and so on. Dr Sardul Sinha, who is a medical doctor certified by the National Association of Fitness Certification, says most of his clients are from the city's stressed and sedentary IT world.

Says Matrix's Najoo, "I am fortunate to have been able to turn my passion for fitness into a good business opportunity. The initial investment is high, and superior service makes for high running costs." Nita, a personal trainer in Chennai, says it is "a very satisfying line as you actually see results."

Most of the reasonably well-equipped fitness centres with an ambience to boast of charge a minimum three-month fee. Prospective customers balk at this but the owners' rationale is that results won't show in less time; if monthly schemes are encouraged, the lack of results reflects badly on the centre.

Some centres also cater to special needs. They could range from chronic conditions such as back pain to menopause management. Dinaz specialises in the latter, which entails a slower-paced cardiovascular programme and stretching sessions. Najoo says that dealing with "special populations" has "been the best thing that happened to me."

Initially Najoo had to literally move the limbs of her oldest client, a 75-year-old woman, to provide her the necessary exercise. But now the lady lifts weights and her slipped disc problem has been cured, she says.

A morning walk will no longer do, but if that's the only concession you make to fitness, at least realise that you have to walk right. Believe it or not, there are classes that teach you how. Exercise is no longer just the great outdoors and fresh air. It's air-conditioned comfort and suspended wooden flooring. You don't have to be a guilty, self-despising salad dodger; the diet police are there but they are friendly and understanding. With a little prudence, you can live the epicurean ideal and be all the better for it.

Picture by Shaju John

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