City startup reimagines traditional exercising tools

They want to break the notion that these equipment are only fit for wrestling training

A Bengaluru startup is bringing strength training equipment, traditionally associated with ‘akhadas’ or ‘gardi manes’ (wrestling houses), to mainstream fitness.

‘Iron Man’ Milind Soman and former cricketer Suresh Raina are among their clients.

In August 2020, Tagda Raho started as a website to sell gada (dome mounted on a long shaft, used as a weapon by Lord Hanuman) and mudgar (with shorter handles) and five variations to them. Cut to now. It opened a training dug-out in Halasuru in May and new centres are coming up in HSR Layout in the city, and in New Delhi.

Built from wood, these weigh from one to 14 kilos and can be used by anybody above eight years. The parts are modular and detachable, and, thus, portable.

Founder Rishabh Malhotra says they get the most orders from Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune. “Senior citizens are also buying them to improve their joint mobility,” he says. Women and men train at the dug-out in equal numbers and are in the 25-45 age group.

Back story

The idea to reimagine desi gym equipment for daily workouts was born from Rishabh’s journey of injury and recovery.

He suffered partial paralysis on his left arm for six months, a result of his cycling expeditions between 2012 and 2016. “I was always fascinated with the ‘akhada’ equipment and exercises, so when many things failed to improve my arm’s mobility, I decided to try them. I saw my motor functions get better and muscles become stronger,” recalls Rishabh, who runs an ad films production house.

He had done a course in ‘strength and conditioning’ and could discern the impact. “With these traditional Indian clubs, you can achieve multilateral movements rather than just going up and down or left and right. You are never isolating or exercising one muscle group,” he elaborates. And unlike a dumbbell, the weight here is one-sided, which makes it more challenging for strength training.

Big break

Their breakthrough, he claims, came when Rahul Dravid called the team for a demo at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru, as its head in 2020. “Now our clubs are part of the NCA gym equipment. Some Ranji teams are using it as is the UAE cricket team. Suresh Raina posted a workout video with our ‘gada’. Milind Soman bought a heavier ‘mudgar’,” shares the 33-year-old.

“We are lucky that these athletes have adopted the ‘desi’ equipment. It proves there is more to them than wrestling,” he signs off, before explaining the origins of the brand name. “Tagda Raho is a salutation of the Assam Regiment. It means ‘stay strong’. Isn’t it great, to wish somebody to stay strong, physically and mentally?” asks Rishabh, who comes from an army background.

For details, go to tagdaraho.in