The fit millennium
Nowadays, on the way to the airport for my morning flight, it’s a common sight to see runners and cyclists out for their morning workout. This is among the many facets of the race to fitness that have been observed in recent times. In major cities, ‘runner-friendly’ routes are identified; cycling tracks are included in the smart cities master plan; gyms and fitness studios are mushrooming at a rapid pace; people actually fly to other cities and stay overnight in hotels to participate in running, cycling and triathlon events; the prime minister has conducted mass yoga sessions to encourage people to embrace fitness. From a hype for a few in the past, fitness has now become the ritual for many.
This is a far cry from my growing-up days in the 1980s when fitness activity in schools was discouraged by parents. For the lone weekly Physical Training (PT) period, students would come to school in their Bata white canvas shoes. Students were meant to go to school to ‘study’ and not to play. Though appreciation of the PT period has not changed much since then, the importance of fitness has grown drastically. Parents now prefer schools with better sports facilities and coaches. They accept that physical fitness leads to improvement in studies too. As various sports get more coverage on TV channels, Indian athletes perform better in events globally and more biopics are being made of great sportspersons, students are now motivated to even consider sports as a career.
The major reason for increased interest in fitness among adults is growing health issues. There is an increase in instances of people reporting cardiac issues in their forties, some have even proven fatal. Scientists have proven a direct correlation between physical fitness and happiness. The Covid-19 pandemic has further reiterated the need for fitness to be part of our daily routine. Busy working executives pack their running shoes on business trips, companies organise fitness challenges among the employees and housewives wake up early for running before they begin their morning chores. For people who can’t find time to go out for a workout, fitness coaches come home for a 1:1 session.
With improved connectivity and enhanced devices, live sessions with fitness coaches have become very popular. There are many cool gadgets and accessories available for various workouts. People even pay more for running shoes than luxury fashion accessories; some of the high-end racing cycles are more expensive than entry-level bikes and cars; smartwatches that monitor the minutest of health parameters are outselling traditional watches.
Research has shown that a whopping 95 percent of new year resolutions are fitness-related. The surge of interest in activities like yoga, zumba, aerobics, running and cycling is not just a large city phenomenon, but has propagated to tier 2 and tier 3 cities as well. The importance of fitness will only increase with every subsequent generation. It’s not a choice, but a must. The sooner we accept it, the better.
Hetal Sonpal
Startup evangelist, author and blogger
hetal.sonpal@gmail.com