Mumbai, want to get fitter? Try these easy, simple, fun workouts
Mumbai city news: Staying fit is no longer a chore as there are exciting new workouts that make exercise feel like a party; all you’ve got to do is find the right routine
Bored of the gym? Try a dance party. Don’t want to pay for an instructor? Log on to YouTube. Exercise and fitness mean so much more today than it did even five years ago — giving you more reasons to get out and get fit.
“The Internet has a lot to do with it,” says Binny Sreedharan (below), founder and head of the Dadar-based fitness centre Binny’s Fitness Lab.
Binny feels more information being freely available about fitness, exercise and nutrition makes more people enthusiastic about it. “I remember a time when we would wait five years for the results of a new study to come our way. That information gap has reduced and more people are aware about different ways to stay fit,” Binny says.
And, as the idea of fitness evolves, people are making careers out of it.
Aakansha Dave is one of only three zumba jammers in the country. “I am an engineer with an MBA. But I chose to turn my passion for dance into my profession, because there is demand,” she says.
From her clients, Dave has learnt people don’t like fixed routines, like the ones that gyms provide. “They are looking to make the task of exercising fun. Zumba is one such fitness phenomenon, as it is nothing less than a dance party. You burn tonnes of calories without even realising it.”
Binny agrees people are looking for exciting new workouts. What they are also looking for is ease, convenience, and affordability. To find all three, sometimes you just need to turn back the clock and keep it simple – walk, run, cycle.
READ: How to make fitness a way of life
“One reason why you see so many people running at Marine Drive or Worli Seaface is because it doesn’t cost money and you get renewed inspiration when you find so many people running alongside you,” he says. “In a way, the fitness market has come full circle — people are no longer attracted by flashy equipment in a gym because everyone has it. They now want simplicity, or specific training programmes that are tailor-made to keep them fit.”
For 24-year-old Ranveer Allahbadia who wanted to turn his passion for fitness into a business, YouTube acted as an affordable publicity platform. Allahbadia used to train with Binny. After finishing his engineering degree, Allahbadia started a fitness channel on YouTube called BeerBiceps. Two-and-a-half-years later, the channel has more than 360,000 subscribers, and he has another 50,000 followers on Instagram.
“When we started the channel, we didn’t even know that YouTube paid. It isn’t a large part of the income, which mostly comes from brand deals, but we liked the business side of things, the advertising, and we knew we loved fitness,” he says. “We are now planning to expand too.”
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