Boxercise, Pilates, hot yoga, spinning… You name it and you can have it. With fitness freaks exploring a variety of exercises, many are falling prey to over-exercising. Even celebrities like Sonam Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Kareena Kapoor have been subject to extreme diets and workouts, as a result of which they have had to take a break from rigorous fitness regimen.
Whether it’s a lengthy warm-up session or yoga asanas to balance intense workouts, experts stress on the importance of following a well-balanced fitness regime. Satyajit Chaurasia, celebrity fitness trainer, explains, “Any form of exercise requires variation because your body stops responding to monotonous workouts after a point of time. Keeping this in mind, high intensity workouts ought to be complemented with sufficient warm-ups, relaxation and stretches.”
Mickey Mehta, India’s holistic health guru, explains, “The fundamental basis of a high intensity workout is that the exercises need to be intense, done at high effort levels that can promote fat loss, boost metabolism and improve strength, stamina, and tone. Some popular high intensity workouts are aerobics, kickboxing, cross-training and boot camp.” With the focus entirely on getting rid of flab, experts highlight the importance of supplementing the regime with a balanced diet. Says Daya Natarajan, celebrity nutritionist, “Celebrities subject themselves to spells of intense workouts that may reap sufficient results in the immediate future but side effects like physical stress and other complications will gradually occur. To avoid this, a combination of a well-balanced diet with sufficient proteins is essential.”
Mickey points out, “It is important to give fuel and nutrients to the body to optimise performance, boost endurance during exercise and aid recovery after exercise. A macronutrient ratio of 50 per cent carbohydrates, 30 per cent proteins and 20 per cent fat is recommended. For this, include brown rice, oats, whole grain cereals, oats, beans, legumes, sprouts, soya, soy milk, tofu, fruits, flax seeds, nuts/dry fruits and low fat milk; cut back on the high glycemic foods like desserts, soft drinks, alcohol, maida or refined flour products, fried snacks etc. Foods like fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and millets are rich in antioxidants, nutrients and have healing and rejuvenating properties.”
Satyajit sums it all up, “Any amount of exercise is directly proportional to nutrition and the phrase ‘too much of anything is bad’ holds good even in the case of high intensity workouts. In moderation it is bound to prove beneficial.”