They fit into any age

Mona

Age’s got nothing to do with us; it’s one’s mental make-up that matters...Surinder Parmar lives by this dictum, and, each morning, as she runs for an hour on the treadmill, well, she puts youngsters, decades her junior, to shame!

If you thought life was over and out at 60, let us make you meet these spirited ‘young’ at heart people, who along with their regular work, never miss their date with the gym, keeping themselves fit and motivating the young; all at the same time.

Body zone

At 77, Squadron Leader (retired) Amarjit Singh Virdi, likes to claim his seniority even in the gym. “Each single morning I am competing against the young fitness freaks with an aim to lift heavier weights, more than anyone else out there,” says the man for whom fitness has always been first. “What is practice without consistency,” asks the man who continues to push his trainer to add more weights to his machines. “Body listens to your mind and it’s up to you to reach the level of fitness you want it to,” says the man who enjoys quite a fan following at Oceanic Fitness, Mohali.

Consistency pays

For Rameshwar Kumar, 63, the morning begins with a two-kilometre walk with wife; a vegetable juice together and he is all set to get to hit the gym with a bag in hand and his brand new Audi’s key in the other. So has been his routine for the past two-and-a-half decades; he being one of the few who took to the gym as soon as the trend started in India during the early 90s. Why gymming? “How else could a person my age climb six flights of stairs and not go breathless,” shoots back the man, who has maintained his weight and size by taking his work-outs pretty seriously. Equinoxe Gym and Spa is crowded with young and restless where Rameshwar has his own following, youngsters with whom he shares fitness as well as life tips!

Treadmill queen

Surinder Parmar, while running her parlour business, also opened a gym to inspire her clients to remain fit. As many as 27 years on, she has kept her regimen disciplined and harsh. Every single morning, she runs 8-14 kilometres on the treadmill! Is this even right when she is about to be 60? “Well, how young or old you feel is all in the mind.” As she spends her hour on the treadmill, her strategy is to keep talking to her own self. “After first 20 minutes, like everyone else, I too want to give up, but I don’t; I challenge my body, push my limits.” Two-and-a-half hours at the gym and you wouldn’t find her spending even two-and-a-half minutes them talking to anyone. “Whatever I do, I give my 100 per cent; exercise time is sacrosanct.” And, she doesn’t mind sharing her secret, many a times when she is losing steam, temptation is that largish piece of cake that she can enjoy guilt-free post burning 1,000 calories!

Gym fanatic

Unlike Surinder, for Manjit Bansal, running in her 61st year, gym is the place not only for a work-out but some social interaction too. Another gym fanatic who has stuck to her exercise for the last 25 years, it is a complete workout of the body and mind at the Golf Club gym, Panchkula. Though fond of cycling, swimming and walking, she likes gym for it lets her work-out a particular body part at her own discretion. “Exercising with the motivated group always helps,” she says.