Making fitness fun

Making fitness fun

A conventional gym may not appeal to all. An indoor workout can get boring at times. To add variety, fitness enthusiasts and professional gym trainers, Shafeeq Kutty (21) and Khush Patil (18), came up with an open gym in Balewadi, a locality filled with big gym brands. The brainchild of Kutty, Patil and their two friends, Generation Hench Fitness is unique indeed. 

Their fitness journey began with running. Later, they chose different fitness branches. While Patil chose calisthenics, Kutty pursued functional fitness. Gym is the first thing that comes to people’s mind when they think of fitness. However, people need to change their perspective of training. “Despite the challenges in an open gym, people love to enroll with us. The open gym not only gives you space to breathe fresh but also motivates you to come and practise more,” Patil says. 

They also have introduced hybrid training and calisthenics. Hybrid training involves a mix of bodyweight exercises along with functional equipment. It is also a strength-based workout. “Calisthenics is basically strength training but with your own bodyweight. These exercises help maintain your body weight and aid in toning,” says Patil.

The duo share their fitness routine that one can follow: 

Monday: “Bodyweight training in which we use the entire body and not weights. The entire focus is to train the legs and the core. Do push-ups, squats, pull-ups etc,” says Patil.

Tuesday: Calisthenics targets the complete upper body including the core. “Calisthenics is basically strength training but with your own bodyweight. There are various exercises and variations which are used to target different muscle groups in the body. Do burpees, prisoner squat jumps, bicycle crunches etc, says Kutty.

Wednesday: Functional training involves workout with equipment like battle ropes, sandbags, dynamax balls etc. “This type of training includes the use of the above equipment to target various muscles and also burns a lot of calories, as it is high-intensity workout. Practise dumbell reverse lunges with rotation, Kettlebell Snatch etc,” says Kutty.

Thursday: Repeat calisthenics.

Friday: Hybrid Training. “In this type of training, bodyweight exercises are combined with functional equipment. It is also a strength-based workout but with high intensity, like tyre flips and pulls,” says Patil. 

Saturday: The team also goes for hill training in the nearby locality like Pashan tekdi and Arai tekdi. “We make the participants run and jog to improve their endurance,” says Kutty.  

Outdoor training 
“Every month, we also take our team for higher-level treks. We aim to cover every fort in Maharashtra. You need not be an expert to go for treks. It is for beginners and intermediate level trekkers. All this is included in the gym fee,” says Kutty.

Speaking about the difference between indoor and outdoor training, Kutty says, “People are used to indoor training but they expect something exciting to make their workout interesting. Hence, we do that in our outdoor training. Second, outdoor training helps you breathe fresh air which is the major fall back of indoor training. Third, the more you practise in nature, the more motivated you feel.”

Outdoor training sessions are made keeping people’s strength in mind. “We increase or decrease the intensity keeping the individual’s ability. Generation Hench Fitness has members, including men and women, from 17 to 50 years of age,” says Kutty.

Speaking about the ideal temperature for workout, Patil informs that the temperature should be cool, around 20 to 21 degrees Centigrade. “However, avoid extreme cold as it increases the chances of injury. If you are doing a high-intensity exercise, you can get injured,” he says. 

Patil also suggests avoiding highly warm surroundings as it can dehydrate the body. Morning time is the best to exercise as temperatures are ideal and pollution is less too.

Along with exercise, diet plays an important role — 30 per cent is exercise and 70 per cent is diet. “We’ve seen gym trainers writing a diet for members, but they fail to follow. Hence, we suggest people to avoid junk food. Munch on your regular meal, try to make it interesting. You can have a cheat day once a month, though,” says Kutty. 

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