Slackline your way to fitness

Health line

While yoga has been making news as a traditional form of exercise in modern times, many other fitness options are striving to make a mark. One of them is slacklining that has enthusiasts walking the tightrope made of nylon or polyester to strengthen their core muscles, improve balance, concentration or do it just for fun.

We all are familiar with the traditional tightrope walking to which Bollywood actress Hema Malini introduced us to, in the classic Seeta Aur Geeta. The feisty Geeta in this 1972 drama was a street performer walking effortlessly on the thin rope. However, “webbing” is what makes slacklining different as it replaces the traditional rope with a strong fabric woven as a flat strip or tube of varying width. 

For Delhi-based German photographer Enrico Fabian, who founded the social sports initiative ‘Slacktivism’, slacklining began as a hobby but soon turned into his passion. He became a fixture at south Delhi’s Hauz Khas District Park and started attracting
curious onlookers. He invited them to try their hand at it. Over time, it evolved into an ever-growing group of enthusiasts who gather every weekend to enjoy this activity.

“I was introduced to it last summer when my friends and I were on routine jogging regime in Deer Park. It's yet to gain mainstream acceptance. But there's encouraging participation coming in,” says Pul Kamphuiso, an enthusiast and member of Facebook
group Slacktivism.

While many people have not heard about the initiative or the term, Germany-based slacker enthusiast Albert writes on his Facebook Page ‘balanSense’, “What is happening, is that there are plenty of people who are trying to do their first steps on the line, after few days they are already able to walk their first line.

Week by week, people of all ages and all backgrounds are getting better and better. It's amazing to see the joy in their eyes and the smile on their lips.” He goes on to explain an incident, “There was a group of Muslim girls, conservatively dressed wearing long clothes and veils. As soon as they were on the line, all constraints and all cultural barriers disappeared.” He tells Metrolife, “Slackline as an element of art and expression together with political and societal issues.”

Over the past two years, it has started to have a steady presence in Delhi but the awareness has been slow.  “It has not caught on yet,” says Adarsh Bhat, a Delhi-based professional rock climber who adds “slacklining is a preferred training exercise for rock climbers who invented the activity to practise when it rained.”

If Fabian is Delhi’s most well-known slacker, Samar Farooqui, slackline professional and founder of Slackline Inc. is Mumbai based. Farooqui had met two women from New Zealand who introduced him to this form of exercise about four years ago. “I just loved it when I first saw it and decided to pursue it,” he says. He sees it like a sport as well as a fitness activity. “I slackline because it brings out the child in me. When I’m on the line, I’m free. I’m free of all the worries, the world has to give to me. When I walk the line, that’s all I’m thinking about. That’s all I want to thinkab-out. No thoughts, just a state of being. Some meditate,some work out. I slackline,” he says.

Though slacklining equipments include a webbing, a pulley and tree protectors that may cost a fair bit, but a one-time investment seals the ‘deal for a healthy life’, feels Sanjita Singh, who recently saw a video on the same. It is termed much more than a fitness regime and includes the art of ‘conquering fear’. “Your first thought is that this is very difficult but you recognise very fast that it is not impossible,” adds Singh. There are also significant physical benefits: It improves body’s proprioception which means the ability to sense stimuli arising within the body regarding position, motion, and equilibrium. It’s a necessary sense to have in order to improve balance, as the body develops muscle to support itself, which in turn avoids injuries like twisted ankles. Physiotherapists too have started to advocate slacklining as an effective exercise for muscle rehabilitation.
Slacklining is immensely popular in European countries as well as in the United States. World championships are also held for different forms of slacklining. Fabian’s idea is to make ‘Slacktivism’ a movement and through this he also wants to help those children who are underprivileged or are losing childhood in juvenile homes. “He has had meetings with organisations and juvenile homes that work with underprivileged children and wants slacklining to benefit them as well,” says Bhat. If the trend popularises, slacklining would carve a healthy niche.

What is slackline?

A form of exercise where you balance on a nylon or polyester line tied across two anchor points. Can be done in other forms as well. If you tie the webbings really high, it becomes a highline. If one tries to do tricks on the line, then it’s called trickline. Tie it over a stream of water and it becomes a waterline.

Tips

Balance is the key. Don’t look at the ground or lock your knees and use your hands to maintain rhythm.
How expensive is it?
 Around Rs 10,000 for beginners.
How to create awareness?
Learn how to setup a slackline safely and how to protect the trees in order to avoid problems with the park administration.
Organise slackline festivals once you have enough people.
Ask for slacklining to become a part of school sports curriculum.
Ask residential sports clubs, do take a note.