Fitness mania overwhelms elderly women, girls alike
Nikhila Pant Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, June 20
Blaring music, smell of sweat mixing with fragrance of perfumes and deodorants and fitness enthusiasts working out vigorously – this is the common scene at any gym in the city. The striking difference, however, that many notice now is the increasing number of young girls and women hitting the gym.
Gone are the days when women would be satisfied with indulging in household chores and depending on them for being fit.
They are now increasingly turning to fixing an exercise routine for themselves to lose weight and also to stay in shape, less to impress others and more to feel good and confident themselves.
Known for brushing off weight issues with excuses of being well-fed, city women now want to be given a second look not for their outfit but for their toned and fit bodies.
The craze for being fit is growing with such gusto that even middle-aged women have started registering at gyms and fitness centres to ward off early signs of ageing and also diseases that come with age.
Navdeep Singh Sandhu, in-charge of Gold Gym at Best Western Stella Hotel, vouched for the fact that over the past three years, the number of women coming to the gym has increased.
“Over the three years, the number of female clientele has increased manifold. The priority of these women, most of whom are housewives, is to lose weight. The desire to maintain fitness is secondary,” Sandhu said.
He added that while earlier, the gym offered separate timings for female customers, thinking that the women might feel shy while working out in the presence of men, now, the timings are common for all as a lot of women come throughout the day.
The number of female clients at Energy Gym is so high that the gym has an entire floor dedicated only to women for seven hours every day.
“In any given registration record, we have at least 100 female clients. In fact, our female clientele is more than our male clientele and this is because of the special facilities that we offer. Between 10 am and 5 pm, an entire floor is dedicated to female clients. Not only do we have dedicated female staff for the floor, entry of men to the floor during these seven hours is also prohibited. The women may, however, also go for unisex floor at any time of the day,” said Sukhdeep Dhillon, owner of Energy Gym.
Explaining the craze for gyming increasing among women, Sukhdeep said, “While elderly women exercise to lose some weight, young girls exercise to gain stamina and in many cases girls of marriageable age also come as they wish to look their best on the D-Day. In fact, many middle-aged women regularly come to the gym as it is not only a place for them to gain good health but also mental relief as they meet women of their age. After they make friends at the gym, women become more regular with their routine.” Yogesh Chanana, owner of Fitness Paradise and Healthcare Centre, said the gym has more than 60 regular female customers.
“More than lifting weights, female clients are more interested in trying out new techniques of exercising. So, we offer them a healthy mix of gym exercising, yoga and aerobics among other things. For women who wish to exercise in the company of only women, we have separate morning and late afternoon timings for them,” said Yogesh. While middle-aged women are regular at the centre, the number of young girls is also increasing now as they wish to remain fit and in shape and cinema is the driving force behind this trend, he added. “Young girls, who are not even obese, also come to the gym to maintain their body. There is a desire among young girls to have a zero figure,” he said.
