Citizens chant health, fitness mantra - by aby benedict

With Mangalore emerging as one of the fast progressing cities in the country resulting in a drastic change in life style, the need to remain healthy has become the need of the hour. With fitness centers mushrooming in the city, Mangaloreans are now tightening the laces of their gym shoes keeping fitness in mind.

At present, Mangalore has over 30 gyms and and over 10,000 people who visit them on daily basis. Many of the traditional gyms are replaced with the modern equipped ones. The notion of going to gym only to build a bulky body has changed. With music playing on high decibels, Mangaloreans are seen sweating it out to lose the few extra kilos.

Speaking about the changing trend, Lavie Fitness Centre Manager and body builder Afran says that earlier people used to go to gyms to build bulky bodies for competitions but today people of all age groups and even ladies visit gyms.

We have people who want to lose weight, gain weight, people with health problems, people who want to remain fit and so on.

“We opened in November 2011 and over 400 people have enrolled over the last five months.

Majority of the people who visit us are the middle age group who want to remain fit. Among ladies, many come with an aim to lose the extra fat near the abdominal and thigh area,” says Afran.

He also points out that many visit gyms to be slim and toned. “The men look forward to achieve a six pack and ladies want to maintain a slim figure,” he says.

Personal Trainer of Lavie Fitness Sandra Menezes says that the present youth are very conscious about their looks. “We have kids who are aged 13 who visit the gyms. Television and cinema has clearly left an impact on the youth as many want to look like their reel heroes,” she says.

Dietician of Gold Gym Navya Kiran blames the sedentary life style lead by the people to be a major cause of health problems.  Odd work timings, junk food, inactive lifestyle and climate change are causes for the majority of the health problems faced today. Obesity is increasing and also the diseases caused due to it, she says.

Many who join the gym to keep fit want to get immediate results so they take up crash dieting and over exercise. Though they may achieve results, it is temporary, she says and adds that their weight will double up once they stop the crash diet and exercise. It is ideal to maintain a balanced diet and eat six meals with a limited quantity in every three hours, she says.

“Today with the city being concretized, the space has been limited. Pollution is also on rise hence many prefer coming to gyms than going out for walks. Secondly, we have diet as well as exercise patterns. We also have equipment which is meant to tone up various parts of the body,” says Talwalkar branch Manager Girdihar Shetty who adds that at least 300 people visit the gym on daily basis.

Mr World 1990, Raymond D’Souza and also the proprietor of Raymond Gym says that the awareness of exercise and health has increased in Mangalore. Though there are many who visit gyms today, the number of people participating in body building competitions and sports has reduced, he points out. The actual sports people do not like to work in air conditioned gyms. “You really need to sweat out while you work out. These gyms are more of business centers and people come here for networking. Secondly, they are very costly and a common man cannot afford their packages,” says Raymond and adds that many go to gyms for fashion.

In reality, it is the traditional gyms that help one more, he says. Rajesh Alva who owns the Alva’s chain of gyms says that over 2000 people visit his gymnasiums. “There are more and more people enrolling day by day. Mangalore has become truly health conscious,” he says.

Along with heavy workouts at gyms, aerobics has also caught up in the fitness trend in Mangalore. “Aerobics is a very good cardio exercise. You can burn up to 600 calories. Aerobics is quite popular among ladies and one feels motivated to do it as it is a group exercise,” says Fitness Health Club Aerobic Trainer Fouzia. “I am conducting three batches of aerobics which has over 40 ladies,” she says.

Gym users speak
“After I was married, I completely stopped taking care of myself. I was so busy with responsibilities of family and home, I never realised how a few extra pounds turned into kgs. I was 78 kgs when I joined the fitness center. Today after four months I have lost 13 kgs. I feel confident, beautiful and I am happy that I can fit into my old dresses. Hitting the gym is a good break, especially for a home maker who does not get time-out,” says a home maker Ranjeeth Kar.

Rhea, who is 15, hits the gym after school hours. “I am a bit on the bulkier side, when most of my peers are in a good shape. I thought that instead of brooding over my weight, the best thing I could do is to work out. Hitting the gym gives me good break from studies. I feel healthy and exercise makes me feel fresh, giving me a better mood to study,” she adds.

Illyas on the other hand is hitting the gym to gain weight. “I am tall and skinny. I decided to join the gym to tone my body. I don’t want to be bulky, however, I want to give my body a good shape. I take anabolic free protein shakes as a supplement. I am working hard to achieve six pack abs,” he adds.

“I work in a BPO. Odd sleep timings, craving for junk food, countless cups of coffee has taken a toll on my health. Most of us who follow this life style have a family pack than six pack abs,” laughs Mohit. “I joined the fitness center with a main aim of being fit. I hardly get time to exercise. With the flexible gym timings, I make it a point to work-out for an hour six days a week. I hope my cholesterol levels have decreased. I mostly do cardio exercises like running, cycling, spinning, walking and others,” he adds.