The boundless battle of the bulge

Fitness initiatives 42 Day Challenge and 180 Degrees discuss bootcamp models and struggle to combat outdated mindsets

LAHORE:

With a steady rise in fitness awareness and body aspirations globally, Pakistan has also taken a leap of faith, following the workout furrow. Social media avenues like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have altered the average person’s opinion of what a “good body” looks like, and now with the bar set sky-high, Pakistanis are willing to workout efficiently to get better results.

Currently, the latest health trend that’s all the rage amongst Pakistani fitness circles is of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) bootcamps and weight training. The two most distinguished fitness initiatives include the 42 Day Challenge, which commenced in Karachi and has now made its way to Lahore, and The 40 Day Bootcamp by 180 Degrees which started earlier this year in Lahore. The Express Tribune talks to both fitness enterprises to explore the bootcamp model.



Torsam Tajik of the 42 Day Challenge, the first of its kind in Pakistan, says, “When we started our challenge in Karachi in 2013, concepts towards fitness were more than 10 years detached from current world standards and ignorance towards health, wellbeing and body image was rampant.” He adds, “It took us a couple of years to convince Karachiites at large that what we’re providing is a complete overhaul of all fitness concepts.” Discussing his expansion in Lahore, Tajik says, “When we touched down in Lahore, we were faced with the same outdated mind sets. However, we were as fervent to deliver the same message and service to Lahoris as we were initially to Karachiites.”  The 42 Day Challenge has successfully trained about 3,800 people in Karachi and that too through word of mouth. People are becoming more susceptible to the idea of bootcamps.

There is apparently an enormous information gap between professionals and the average layman going to the gym. CEO of 180 Degrees, Umar Jahanzaib shares his opinion, saying, “Many workout programmes and nutrition plans are out-of-date and do not follow current principles. The awareness as to what makes a good workout and how to eat properly has not spread to the masses.” Jahanzaib believes that people need the right technique and motivation of a group workout to achieve results. The key to getting the most out of your workout is structured workouts. Anis Muhammad, a trainer at 180 Degrees says, “The biggest fitness misconception is that it can be done haphazardly.” He adds, “We’ve all seen people go to the gym and do a couple sets of weight training and get on the treadmill for a 20 minute run. There is absolutely no structure to their workouts. They are wasting their time and efforts, as without structure, you will never get optimal results.”

These boot camps engage the participants with full body workouts featuring classic exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, burpees and planks where one uses their own body weight for strength training. The American College of Sports and Medicines worldwide survey of fitness trends for 2015 listed these exercises as the top fitness trend for the coming year.

The model is not perfect though. A major setback with these group sessions is their one size-fits-all approach. With massive classes of up to 600 people, everybody in the class more or less does the same workout even if they are on different levels of fitness. This may hold back some clients from achieving their goals. Natasha Qizilbash, PR director at 180 Degrees, says, “Differences do come up that often demotivates individuals when they aren’t getting the same results as their friends. What they don’t understand is that this is perfectly ok.”  She adds, “If one method doesn’t work, another one will. It is simply diagnosing the problem and prescribing the appropriate treatment.”

Tajik, being a medical student, has used mechanistic explanations in his text books to give him a real understanding of how the human body responds to change. He has incorporated this knowledge in his workouts.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th,  2015.

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