Starting it young

Everybody has fitness on their list of goals today. With many gyms mushrooming around the city, aided by various fitness campaigns organised around the year, most people have now understood the need for a healthy body.

But the story with teenagers is a little different because for many of them, gym is still synonymous with having a muscular body. And in an effort to get that perfect body - perhaps seen in a video shared by their favourite celebrity or in one of the many posts doing the rounds on social media- the city sees a lot of teenagers hitting the gym at a young age today, lured by the promise of muscular bodies.

Experts in the city talk about the different factors that should be kept in mind when a youngster hits the gym. “Teenagers are not mature enough to understand that the gym is not only for muscle-building. It includes exercises that help them to lead a healthy lifestyle,” says Chetan from Apple Fitness, Indiranagar.

He points out that 14 is an ideal age to hit the gym considering teenagers understand that there is a difference between wanting to be healthy and wanting to have a muscular physique.

Agreeing to the fact that it is okay for a teen to start early, is Anjana Chhabria, owner of Fight Squad, Koramangala. She says, “Fitness is about how you feel on the inside and also how you look on the outside. And it is completely fine for a teenager to hit the gym early. But it is important to know the right exercise combination, rather than just relying on body building equipment.”

Anjana, who is also into martial arts, says that unlike the gym, where one concentrates only on their muscles, martial arts focus on the overall fitness. “It helps improve stamina and flexibility. It not only concentrates on fitness levels but also teaches self-defence skills, thus improving the overall development.”

Giving an insight into the pros and the cons of starting early, Dr Radha Krishna N G, senior physiotherapist, Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru says that though gymming has its own advantages and disadvantages, there are other activities that teenagers can pick up. Activities like outdoor sports and dance not only increase one’s flexibility but also makes one sound and alert physically and mentally.

“Children of class nine to 11 are getting into gyms. So influenced are they that they start taking protein shakes and steroids to be in shape. This hampers their natural growth process and has other side effects later in life too, low bone density being one of them. When one suddenly stops consuming supplements, they tend to become addicted to drugs, smoking and alcohol too. And most importantly, when they stop gymming they may gain weight, which can lead to depression,” he says.

“Body weight training is better than gymming. It is important to balance one’s mental and physical health with a combination of aerobics, swimming, cycling and gymming. It is a healthy way of being in shape,” he adds.