Fit in the city – Best workouts for everyone
The New year’s here, and with it some new resolutions. Is one of them anything to do with getting healthy, losing weight or increasing fitness? I thought so.
And because I’m so thoughtful, here’s your guide to getting fit in the city the primal way. Consider it a gift from Allee G’s health blog.
The best thing about Primal fitness is that it takes much less time and effort, than the old fashioned way. The endless trudge on the treadmill or long boring sessions of isolated exercises at the gym, move aside. Instead doing some basic movements that workout the whole body, increase strength, speed, and agility and fights inflammation aka slow movement, is the way to go. Minimum effort for maximum effect is what PB fitness is all about.
In a nutshell, this is what Primal fitness looks like:
Luckily for us cave girls and boys, workouts in the city are definitely moving in a progressive direction. From what I hear, there is definitely newer, more fun stuff happening in Mumbai in the realm of fitness. While the primal movement in India will probably take a few more lifetimes to catch on – especially when it comes to food – when it comes to fitness it’s not all grey and dreary.
Even I am normally nodding along in agreement when I am in a gathering of people discussing fitness (save the marathon discussions), unlike the food discussions when I do my best to slink away when conversations veer towards ‘I didn’t eat the lamb because it was cooked in ghee, but I ate an extra oil free roti.
As a primal enthusiast, and the odd one out, it is best on such occasions to keep your mouth shut, and your mind firmly fixated on ideas for a new blog post on the topic.
So while on the topic of fitness, I’ve put together some classes/ workouts that are decently primal in nature. If you want real workouts that include HIIT, sprints, body weights, heavy lifting; and which involve the whole body and add real strength, instead of ones that are repetitive and promotes surface fitness, here are my recommendations:
The absolute darling of the Primal Community worldwide, CrossFit is finally here in India. Crossfit is a type of physical training that blends power lifting, gymnastics and sprinting.
According to Crossfit, proficiency is required in each of these ten fitness domains – cardiovascular/ respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy. True fitness according to Crossfit is increased work capacity across all these domains and this is achieved by provoking hormonal and neurological adaptations by increasing metabolism.
Read – Real exercise that shocks your body and gives you maximum bang for a buck! WODs or workout of the day are the distinguishing factor of Crossfit along with its online interactive community of die hards.
CrossFit Om is and initiative of Deepesh Bhat who is the owner and founder of India’s first CrossFit gym and he tells me CrossFit maybe coming soon to South Mumbai! (can’t wait!) Address: 11, Kishore Kumar Ganguly lane, Opposite Sea Princess, Juhu. Call: +91 9820028098.And finally! it’s here in South Mumbai – CrossFitOM, Delmonte Fashions, plot no 10, 2nd Pasta Lane, opposite Colaba market. Now you have no excuse!
According to Crossfit, proficiency is required in each of these ten fitness domains – cardiovascular/ respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy. True fitness according to Crossfit is increased work capacity across all these domains and this is achieved by provoking hormonal and neurological adaptations by increasing metabolism.
Read – Real exercise that shocks your body and gives you maximum bang for a buck! WODs or workout of the day are the distinguishing factor of Crossfit along with its online interactive community of die hards.
CrossFit Om is and initiative of Deepesh Bhat who is the owner and founder of India’s first CrossFit gym and he tells me CrossFit maybe coming soon to South Mumbai! (can’t wait!) Address: 11, Kishore Kumar Ganguly lane, Opposite Sea Princess, Juhu. Call: +91 9820028098.And finally! it’s here in South Mumbai – CrossFitOM, Delmonte Fashions, plot no 10, 2nd Pasta Lane, opposite Colaba market. Now you have no excuse!
Boot Camp
Those of you who know me at all know that I swear by this. No I’m not at my productive best late at night but neither am by any definition a morning person. Still when that alarm goes off at 6 am on Tuesday and Thursday I am out of bed in a flash and out of the house before you can finish your huge early morning yawn. I’m probably one of the only members of the group who can proudly claim that I haven’t missed a single session in almost a year and a half when I’m in Mumbai.
Bootcamp has me energetic and happy – not to mention dirty – after an hour in the mud at Oval maidan or the sand at Chowpatty beach – after each session.
In a city such as ours it really is a luxury to be able to work out in fresh air and sunshine without people milling around.
Bootcamp is a mix of high intensity cardio, body weight exercises, functional core workout, and sprints, which provide the interval training. All this packed into an adrenaline pumped hour. Super primal HIIT workout!
Check out the Facegroup group here or call Vidhita Kirpalani on 9820181204.
Bootcamp has me energetic and happy – not to mention dirty – after an hour in the mud at Oval maidan or the sand at Chowpatty beach – after each session.
In a city such as ours it really is a luxury to be able to work out in fresh air and sunshine without people milling around.
Bootcamp is a mix of high intensity cardio, body weight exercises, functional core workout, and sprints, which provide the interval training. All this packed into an adrenaline pumped hour. Super primal HIIT workout!
Check out the Facegroup group here or call Vidhita Kirpalani on 9820181204.
P90x:This is a superb home workout that Mark Sisson and Robb Wolf approve off. If you don’t want to invest in a gym membership or classes and you have a decent space to work out at home, all you have to do is commit 90 days to get into some serious shape. I have a couple of friends in Mumbai who swear by this and have got into serious shape with P90x workouts and what better time than the end of of festive season to start a new routine?
P90x uses the science of muscle confusion, which states that you need to shock your body in order for it to burn fat.
What happens when you stick to a routine for a long period of time is that your body comes up with efficient ways to perform the same routine thus making the routine redundant over a period of time.
P90x ensures that your body will never get ‘used’ to the exercise and will never plateau. Give it a shot and let me know how it went.
What happens when you stick to a routine for a long period of time is that your body comes up with efficient ways to perform the same routine thus making the routine redundant over a period of time.
P90x ensures that your body will never get ‘used’ to the exercise and will never plateau. Give it a shot and let me know how it went.
Yoga
Personally some of my hardest workouts have been during my Iyengar yoga class. My legs have got more tired from staying in a particular pose for a long period of time, than squats and lunges combined. Yoga, especially the slower forms like Iyengar yoga, makes for a great ‘Move frequently at a slower pace’ part of the pyramid (shown above). While I try walking where I need to go, skip up the stairs over the lift most often than not, and generally stay pretty active (I am a dog groomer after all), yoga forms an essential part of my fitness routine as it not only promotes moving slowly but also is good for body weight resistance, core strength, and flexibility.Here are some awesome classes in aamchi Mumbai:
The Yoga House in Bandra is set in a cozy bungalow in Bandra West. The Yoga House offers students a variety of styles to choose from and a flexible schedule. Address: 53 Chimbai rd, Bandra (W). Tel: 022 6554 5001.
Yoga Sutra in Breach Candy : Yoga Sutra allows you to purchase either a single class or multiple classes which you can attend at your own conveince any time of the day. Which means you could be doing Hatha yoga one day and Ashthanga yoga the next. Excellent for those of us who love mixing up our classes! Address: C-4 Chinai Mansion, B Desai Road, 022 3210 7067.
Artistic Yoga by Bharat Thakur: transforming the age old traditional postures to making yoga relevant in today’s times, offering complete fitness by mixing up workouts by changing sequences and postures in every turn, thi form of yoga picks up the pace and is a far cry from the drab and boring perception of what yoga is today. Choose from studios in Cuffe parade, Napean Sea road, Lokhandwala, Bandra, Versova , Worli or Juhu. Call +91 9886909455.
Iyengar Yoga: This traditional form of yoga uses the helps of ropes, cushions and bricks to help your body discover new postures and new muscles. Slow movements and a thorough bodyweight workout is what Iyengar yoga promises. Classes conducted at Maker Towers in Cuffe Parade or Cushru Baug in Colaba. Call: 022 23625150.
The Yoga House in Bandra is set in a cozy bungalow in Bandra West. The Yoga House offers students a variety of styles to choose from and a flexible schedule. Address: 53 Chimbai rd, Bandra (W). Tel: 022 6554 5001.
Yoga Sutra in Breach Candy : Yoga Sutra allows you to purchase either a single class or multiple classes which you can attend at your own conveince any time of the day. Which means you could be doing Hatha yoga one day and Ashthanga yoga the next. Excellent for those of us who love mixing up our classes! Address: C-4 Chinai Mansion, B Desai Road, 022 3210 7067.
Artistic Yoga by Bharat Thakur: transforming the age old traditional postures to making yoga relevant in today’s times, offering complete fitness by mixing up workouts by changing sequences and postures in every turn, thi form of yoga picks up the pace and is a far cry from the drab and boring perception of what yoga is today. Choose from studios in Cuffe parade, Napean Sea road, Lokhandwala, Bandra, Versova , Worli or Juhu. Call +91 9886909455.
Iyengar Yoga: This traditional form of yoga uses the helps of ropes, cushions and bricks to help your body discover new postures and new muscles. Slow movements and a thorough bodyweight workout is what Iyengar yoga promises. Classes conducted at Maker Towers in Cuffe Parade or Cushru Baug in Colaba. Call: 022 23625150.
While les mills is not entirely primal as it combines moderate to high intensity action for an hour long workout, it is good for those of you who do not want to let go of your cardio but want make it more intense. Bodycombat for example, is a high intensity martial arts inspired cardio session. Not your typical primal workout, but far better than running at an even pace on the treadmill. A fair compromise I’d say.
I prefer good old fashion martial arts (I do Taekwondo) but then I have always preferred learning a sport than anything else when it comes to fitness, and I agree that it’s not for everybody. But Lesmills classes like body combat is a more fun form where there‘s some high intensity kicks which combine strength and agility to music.
F2 – Fitness in Bandra with Lesmills instructor Farah Vora is one of the first in India to do this. Visit their facebook page here or click here for the website.
So there you have it. Some fun – primalish fitness classes in Mumbai.
If there’s anything I’ve missed out drop me a line. If you decide to try anything drop me a line. If you’re doing nothing drop me a line. If you like my red hair drop me a line.
People drop me a line!! 🙂 See you next year!
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