The Hindu Business Line : Fit is big hit

The wellness industry is conscious of health as never before; promoting it with a holistic approach that stresses health-promoting food, exercise and the right lifestyle. Check if your priority is `getting fit,' and not `fitting into a pair of jeans.'

Growing awareness of fitness has led to a spurt in fitness centres

A growing emphasis on preventive and holistic healthcare has led to a boom in the fitness and wellness industry. Aerobics, yoga and fitness training, medical systems such as ayurveda and naturopathy, beauty therapy and nutrition are in the limelight like never before.

With rising disposable incomes matched by a spurt in lifestyle-induced illnesses, people appear more than willing to spend on wellness products and services.

A booming market

The Indian beauty and wellness market is pegged at about $9 billion, about the size of Italy's cosmetic industry alone, says Ranjit Pisharoty, member - CII Tamil Nadu State Council. But this is set to grow.

The worldwide market for herbal products and services is about $150 billion and traditional Indian and Chinese systems are expected to grab a major portion of this.

Dr Avilochan Singh, Ayurveda consultant at the Apollo Wellness Plus Clinic in Chennai, feels that the future lies in an integrated medical approach. And wellness centres would play a major role by offering preventive and curative care for specific ailments. Such a holistic approach to health is prominent in North India, says Dr S. Sangeeth, naturopathy and yoga consultant, Sanjeevanam, a wellness centre in Chennai.

Oryza, a day spa in Chennai.

Agreeing that the concept of holistic body and mind experience has caught on, Vikram Mohan, Director, Oryza, a day spa in Chennai that combines both European and Oriental techniques for rejuvenation, says, "Today's working professionals live in a high-stress environment. A day spa in the city addresses their need for rejuvenation."

This in turn is expected to spur job opportunities in the wellness sector. As Pisharoty says, there is scope for well over a million new jobs opening up in the next 4-6 years in this area. Apart from wellness services, opportunities exist in the manufacturing and export sector too.

Holistic health

The convergence of healthcare, beauty, wellness and holidays or leisure built around traditional medicinal systems is the trend to watch out for. "It will be interesting to watch whether, similar to the IT and software training centres that mushroomed in the late 1990s, we will see a training industry spring up to rebuild skill-sets in our traditional systems. If the trends are proved right and entrepreneurs smell success, what this can do for rural transformation is mind-boggling," says Pisharoty.

Windfall opportunities

Says Radha Krishnaswamy, Chennai-based Reebok master-trainer, "You can earn anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 as a part-timer in a fitness centre. And then may be take up something else as your main career. There are many lecturers, interior designers and others who are pursuing this as their hobby." Experienced trainers also double as personal trainers to celebrities and often earn Rs 1,000 for each one-hour session, she adds.

Health resorts that offer ayurveda as part of their rejuvenation package have had a major impact on the remuneration offered to ayurvedic therapists, says Dr Singh. Now a qualified ayurvedic therapist can earn up to Rs 30,000 a month at `five-star' health resorts. A trainee starts off with about Rs 2,000 and can expect about Rs 7,000 at the end of training, he says.

Continuous learning

So what does it take to survive in the wellness industry?

Here are some guidelines for the wannabes. Apart from commitment, dedication and knowledge, Bharat Savur, a Mumbai-based fitness trainer, says one must be abreast of emerging research and developments in the field. "There is no animal like a fat fitness trainer. So she/he has to constantly work on her/his own body."

"Never stop learning," says Jyotsna Radja, Diet Consultant at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. She adds that in the field of nutrition, it pays to be "innovative and imaginative. It is better to go beyond the prescribed food and know what it does to the body. More importantly, go back to your grandmother's recipes."

She says diet consultants should arrive at their own "concoction" scientifically. Prescribe diets that are user-friendly and interesting, thus "making eating a joyful experience." Another important skill is people management. "Apart from basic knowledge of treatment and therapy, constant interaction with clients is key. After all, customer satisfaction and happiness drives this business," says Sanjana Dominick, training manager and consultant, Oryza.

Quacks and quick fixes

While the career options in the industry are enormous, one must be wary of quacks, says Savur.

Radha agrees. "Yes, the spurt of fitness centres does bring with it a lot of not-so-qualified trainers. Fitness centres should take care to employ only those who can guide people in the right and, more importantly, safe ways of doing exercise."

Quick-fix solutions are what many experts in the industry are worried about. "Beware of false claims, however real they might sound! There are no quick fixes, no short cuts to better health and fitness. For example, a crash diet most often leads to a crash," says Savur. He quotes Joe Weider, body-builder turned publisher of Muscle and Fitness magazine: "A personal trainer (or institute) should be interested in your well-being. Your problems and goals are paramount — not that of the trainer or the institute."

Kamlesh Futnani, an aerobics instructor in Chennai, says the priority today is "not getting fit... but fitting into a pair of jeans," and this is a sheer recipe for disaster.

Prospects bright

But he is optimistic about the industry and its growth. "A few years ago, people would hesitate to even pay Rs 700 as monthly fees. But today, they don't think much about paying Rs 3,000 a month," he says.

As the sunrise industry grows, it will employ more and more people, says Savur. Futnani finds a demand for fitness trainers at in-house gyms provided by corporates, especially call centres and IT companies. Radha adds that with proper certification, trainers and therapists could flourish.

There are a host of fitness-training academies in India that teach and train trainers. Institutes like the VLCC Institute offer short-term training programmes and diploma courses in beauty, health and fitness. The career prospects for students who pass out of the institute are many and varied, says Sandeep Ahuja, Director, VLCC Healthcare Ltd. They can start their own business ventures — beauty and fitness salons, or join other established names in this industry; or have a career in sales and marketing fields with cosmetic manufacturers or in a training profile in such organisations or other beauty schools, he adds.

But certain services like aromatherapy are yet to be properly recognised in India. Dr Raani Rao, Clinical Aromatherapist at the Apollo Wellness Plus Clinic, Chennai, says that clinical aromatherapy is a field that needs sound knowledge of physiology, human anatomy, chemistry, and also medicine. Knowledge of alternative medicine is also preferred. And the therapist has to be certified by a recognised council.

Ahuja feels that the foreseeable future holds good for the industry, and "one can expect beauty and massage parlours to graduate to holistic wellness centres providing beauty, fitness, spa, aroma therapy, transcendental meditation, relaxation therapies and the works... all under one roof in a five-star ambience where anybody willing to pay up can expect the ultimate pampering and an out-of-the-world experience," he says.

Well, the boom will continue to last, but only the fittest and the best will survive, sums up Savur.

Picture by V. Subrahmanyam

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