TIRUCHY: For Raj, mornings began with a 15-km run. His wife Rohini used to head to the gym at the same time. For this fit couple, the lockdown posed a huge question:
How could they keep fit staying at home?
The answer was provided by Rohini’s gym trainer when he started posting workouts from home daily and encouraging his clients with new challenges. While people initially thought it would be difficult to work out from home, it has turned out quite the opposite. People have turned to yoga, simple floor exercises and the stair workout. Some have even discovered, to their mothers’ delight, that doing household chores was a great workout!
Gym trainers advise walking up and down stairs, doing basic sit-ups, jumping jacks and as much physical work as possible. Vignesh Ramanathan, who runs the Define Fitness Centre gym, records workout routines daily and sends them to his clients with the help of his trainer Hari. “The most important thing is maintaining a diet. Eat only when you are hungry, do not snack, control your carbohydrate intake. Have proteins,” said Vignesh.
National College Physical Education Director Prasanna Balaji has challenged himself to walk 20,000 steps daily. He does yoga (suryanamaskar), walks up and down the stairs for half an hour and walks for an hour on his terrace.
Online workout videos are also a huge hit with Tiruchiites.
Working out also can be a great stress buster. Rohini says working out releases endorphins and increases immunity. “It is not just about weight loss, it is about following a routine,” she said.