Fitness wasn’t an aspect Meenakshi Mohanty considered until she moved to Delhi post marriage. Born in a small town in Odisha, the marketing professional gave birth to her first child in 2005.
“While I enjoyed being a mother, I would feel exhausted at the end of the day.” Mohanty recalls, “The baby weight started to become a concern. That is when I decided to get back into shape and stepped into the world of fitness.” Fitness has become her mantra ever since.
While there are a dime a dozen fitness trainers available today to mould you into the Greek god of your dreams, Mohanty delves deeper into the science. She encourages her clients to exercise the mind just as much as the body.
“It is not just about strategising one’s diet or exercise. As trainers, our job is to build and encourage healthy behaviours amongst our clients. The key is to understand the long-term goal and build on it slowly over time,” she says.
Restructuring habits isn’t easy, Mohanty explains, adding, “Changing a habit can be challenging. However, with the right awareness and support, we can craft healthy behaviours so our clients can achieve their goals.”
Despite having been in and on the field for close to 15 years, the pandemic has provided an impetus to her work, with Mohanty being able to reach out to houses and homes across the country through her online content.
“During the pandemic, I started working with dozens of new clients, and my main aim was to focus on women dealing with obesity. Due to the pandemic, people were already dealing with weight gain issues as they were locked up in their homes but for obese people this led to a greater challenge.”
Discussing her virtual sessions, she adds, “Motivating clients during virtual classes is not very different from when you’re working with them in person. The trick is to understand your clients’ ultimate goals and their current body type. Once you have worked that out, think about what sort of exercises and techniques they can do at home and use that during your virtual sessions.”
Outside her home and work routines (pun intended), Mohanty has become increasingly drawn to social work.
She works closely with a couple of NGOs (a number she plans to expand) and recently started working with cancer survivors in Gurugram. Besides providing aid and succor, she also imparts fitness training to them.
Mindful of the impending third wave, Mohanty concludes, “In the last quarter, I have started a programme, which focuses on building better immunity in children. I also introduced exercises for people who have survived COVID-19. In the future, I aim to reach a wider section of people across platforms and genres and bring about a change in the way fitness is perceived in the future.”