It can be worked out!

Manpriya Singh

itness has been prone to fads, but not quite the overhaul that Covid-19 has put it in. With the new noise over all things online, could your personal fitness trainer now be from Prague? In the meanwhile, what’s going to become of the friendly neighbourhood gyms? But before anyone even gets back there, are they going to be safe enough? While Chandigarh-based fitness trainers don’t have all the answers, they have a few assurances.

“Existing gym members will return to the gym as they are no longer in their previous shape,” Avnish Goswami, Atlantic Premium Fitness Club, Panchkula, laughs off the doomed predictions but he is serious about fitness freaks returning eventually. “And why shouldn’t they? We will be following all the instructions of WHO and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Apart from installing sanitisers, we’ll make sure that all of our equipment gets sanitised.”

Praneet Gill, a member of the only Calisthenics club in the city, and a fitness freak, has a few more suggestions, “A gym is like a workplace for fitness freaks. So, to say that we will stay away from it is wrong. But it’s high time gyms gave up on their commercially viable peak hours. Different time slots to avoid overcrowding should be mandatory.” He adds, “I will wear a mask all the time, carry my own towels, water bottles and sanitiser, which will be sprayed just before using any machine.”

It’s a matter of image and several gym chains aren’t risking it. “Additionally we’ll make it mandatory for all the members to fill in a form informing us about their travel history and run a thermal scan before anyone enters, apart from the sanitising that’ll happen every time an equipment is used,” shares a fitness trainer.

Fitness goes online

When Diksha Chhabra started her online fitness venture Diksha Chhabra Fitness Consultation, she didn’t quite expect virtual trainers to become

an alternative as they have after the Covid-19 situation. “For me, online fitness has been fascinating since the beginning as programmes are more adaptable and flexible, giving the client the freedom of time, space and convenience,” she says.

Avnish, however, isn’t really convinced of the online programmes, “Online sessions only work for the people, who already have a decent amount of workout knowledge and have equipment at home. People generally lose their interest after a few online sessions, as they cannot focus due to the home environment.”

Making gyms safe instead is what they would advise. “As for sanitising the equipment, we already started doing that in February. Now, we’ll have to be even more careful. In fact, there is a separate housekeeping section and staff dedicated for that,” Gurpreet Singh, relationship manager, Gold’s Gym, assures us.