Although sweating it out at the gym has been the norm for a good many years, new age teens prefer shedding those extra kilos by following easy, flexible fitness routines at home instead of expensive workout sessions at the gym. Hitting the gym has somewhat taken a backseat as teens are making their own fitness regimes and opting for workout sessions at home, either alone or with friends.
Says Chandan Jindal, 19, “I had joined a gym some time back, but I couldn’t be regular for more than a few days. I used to get really tired and even missed college sometimes. That’s when I decided to follow my own workout regime and to tell you the truth, I’ve managed to shed a lot of weight. Working out at home doesn’t tire you much, as you don’t push yourself too hard, like the coaches at gyms do.”Money is another factor that has prompted many teens to opt for working out at home. When pocket money is limited, who would like to spend its lion’s share on a gym? “Why spend it on a gym when you have workout DVDs and CDs available in the market? In fact, there’s enough info available on the Net, with good music too. Good gyms today are quite expensive, and the cheap ones have faulty machines. For excellent workouts in gyms, you need to have a good coach, and they too charge a bomb. I recently bought this aerobics DVD that I switch on and it is a great way to exercise for 40 minutes,” says fitness freak Rishi Mahajan. And if exercising in your room alone is getting too monotonous and boring, Sumati Arora, a student, has an interesting tip to offer. “My friends and I do pranayams and surya namaskars taught to us in our Art of Living course. When you’re with your friends, workout sessions are fun,” says Sumati.And when you have made the decision to do the bulk of your working out at home rather than at the gym, what follows is making a serious commitment to yourself. Quite interestingly, most teens admit that the only problem they face at home is that of punctuality. “There’s nothing like working out at home if you know you’ll be regular and disciplined. I joined a gym for two months and then when I lost a little weight, I thought I could start with my own workout at home. Initially it all went well, but later, I got too lazy. As a result, I put on weight again, after which I joined the gym. So, if you are regular enough, home workouts are great, otherwise it’s always better to join a gym,” says 17-year-old Rikta.
Shruti Badyal The Asian Age