Hitting a gym is always an option. But not everyone is comfortable with the intimidating aura of a gymnasium hall crammed with weight training and cardio machines. If you are that type, the good news is that there are machine-free gyms now operating across Delhi and NCR. The idea is to find alternatives to the old indoor excercise template and pay extra attention to free-hand workout.
Virendra Raj Singh never thought that he would come up with something like this until he set about bringing a change in this machine dominated industry. A model by profession and a certified trainer from the American Council on Exercise, Singh always focused on the natural way of attaining one’s dream physique. “When I was training myself, I realised that most of the gyms focused on marketing, commercialisation and membership selling, and hardly paid attention to the fitness regime. Their entire mission was to make quick money even if they have to compromise on their client’s health. Also, when I was working as a trainer, I did not have the freedom to work and was to abide by certain rules and regulations of the place. I wanted to introduce manual training as I am against unnecessary use of machines. So, I was considered rebellious as I was against the management. People have forgotten that the famous Dara Singh trained himself naturally when there were no machines. Natural training is the best training,” says Singh.
He opened his gym, called Strength Box, in Model Town in North Delhi in November 2016, aiming to introduce new concepts and ideas when it comes to physical fitness. Initially for the trainer, it was a challenge to attract new clients without flashy equipment and heavy machines in place. “It worked in our favour as we are doing something very exclusive and more effective than machine workout. And therefore, people wanted to give it a try at least. Here, you are using your body as your own machine, exercising in a right way. It is the most natural way to lose weight and gain muscles. We use only those machines which are very, very essential to use in any workout. We don’t do major workouts on machines. I train people through bodyweight and free weight workouts,” says Singh.
Explaining the basics of bodyweight training and free weight workouts, Singh says, “Free weight means when you use weights in your hands, shoulders to do an exercise. These weights are not assisted by machines. Bodyweight means when you are not working with any external weight but using your own body weight to work out. Machines are not compulsory.”
Another fitness studio, called MADFIT Personal Training & Group Workout Studio, in Delhi’s Chattarpur Extension, is working on the same principle as Singh’s Strength Box. Manish Ruhail, the owner of this studio says, “Even though I understand the importance of equipment and why they are necessary for a lot of exercises, I opted for a machine-free fitness centre because machines bind us. Not only do they take a lot of space, they also restrict the number of exercises one can do on specific equipment. On the other hand, freestyle equipment take less space and allow us to move freely.”
But for Ruhail, the challenges were of another order. The difficulty was to educate people as not many understand the meaning of functional training and know how it can help in achieving your fitness goals. “The basic difference between bodyweight training and weight training is how one provides resistance to his muscles. In weight training, one increases the resistance simply by increasing the weights we put into use. However, in calisthenics (bodyweight training), we manipulate our own movements using the principles of angular training by using our own bodyweight. Use of minimal equipment or maybe even none is recommended most of the time,” says Ruhail.
Similar ideas are espoused byAnand Nagaich, of Go Fitness Academy, Janakpuri. Nagaich, who is the master trainer and educator here, says, “We wanted to give something which was absolutely different for people who are actively involved in the fitness circuit. We completely respect conventional gyms and weight training, but bodyweight training is something we believe can train people to become more functional and better prepared for day-to-day challenges in life. We need to agree upon one thing, that maximum movements we do during our active period of the day are done using our bodyweight itself and the rest of them are easily managed because you are still lifting/pushing or pulling significant amount of weight in bodyweight training.”
Today, there are only a handful of such gyms in the national capital, but the demand for them is on the rise. “We do think that that lots of people are still unaware of the benefits and effectiveness of calisthenics (or bodyweight training), and so yes, the circuit is still a bit bent towards weight training. Nevertheless the shift is happening now and people are opening up to the new regimes as well,” says Nagaich.
In contrast to traditional gyms that don’t provide a variety of exercise options and offer monotonous workouts, these machine-free gyms regularly endorse “Tabata training” which is a high-intensity interval training workout, featuring exercises that last for four minutes — pikes, planks, high lunges, high knees, push-ups and many which could be an entertaining and effective means to losing weight.