With the New Year amble in new resolutions. And for what it’s worth, they are made with the most genuine of aspirations — to get healthy, even though the heat of the moment resolve makes them repent at leisure! Most revolve around fitness goals and enrolling into health clubs. Many fitness enthusiasts fall prey to the “resolution round,” often getting locked into gym memberships, with an optimistic belief that paying a hefty sum might get them discounts or incite their guilt pangs to head to the gym since they have already paid up. But gruelling travel schedules, work, family issues, chaotic travel time or sheer boredom all result in most folk fizzling out of these “grand plans” in no time after paying up for a year or six months. We speak to fitness enthusiasts on their determination at the start of the year, and health club owners on the rise of these “gym promises” in the city.
Club general manager, Niran Ponnappa, Fitness First agrees that gym memberships spike every year in January, and footfalls soar. “This trend is on the rise in the beginning of the year and continues through the year for some. About 20 percent fall out completely, while the others are not regular. It doesn’t really help the gyms as we want everyone to achieve their fitness goals.”
Once bitten twice shy feels Pavithra Natarajan who works at Odigma in the city. “I woke up one morning last year and enrolled into a health club for a year, but soon I got busy with other things and the enthusiasm fizzled out and my membership fee went for a toss. I’ve learnt my lesson now and decided to hit the gym one month at a time. I cannot picture ending a day without hitting the gym now.”
After a spate of indulgence, people realise they are a little chubbier than they ought to be and resolve to slim down. Is it money-making time for the gym industry if the members don’t last through the year after paying up, we ask and fitness enthusiast and entrepreneur Sanket Naayak of Hyper Monkey who has seen many people continue to battle with the bulge explains, “We have seen this happen every year. Only some people are successful in maintaining the will to continue working on their mind and body. Being a fitness trainer and club owner, we want more people reach their personal goals and make the workouts fun so it doesn’t make them feel like it’s an ordeal.”
Interior designer Beena Patre, Nouveau Furniture confesses to almost being a victim in the past, but this year she is raring to go. “I’ve been diligently working out as I want to get fit and focus on pushing my limits. So far, I’m determined and I feel once I’ve paid up, I will stick to my plan to gym on and make the most of it,” she adds.
