Almost 35% of fitness enthusiasts employed in corporate India prefer to take part in yoga classes rather than going to a gym or other fitness regimes like strength/body weight training, aquatic therapy, kickboxing, pilates, Zumba and other dance workouts, a survey by Assocham Social Development Foundation has revealed.

Majority of the respondents favouring yoga said that following the ancient practice has helped them with positive outcomes like improved social-emotional skills, highlighted the survey.

Gym and body weight training is the second most preferred fitness trend said about 30% of the total respondents, followed by Zumba and other dance workouts (20%), aquatic therapy (10%), kickboxing and others (5%). Most men prefer going to gym while women prefer dance workouts to stay in shape and keep oneself fit.

The Assocham random survey is based upon an interaction with about 1,000 employees (age group 25-35 years) in about 100 small, mid-size and large organizations across various industry sectors – aviation, automobile, BPO (business process outsourcing), FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), retail, IT, ITeS & telecom, oil & gas, pharma, banking, finance, services, insurance, travel, hospitality, infrastructure and others during the last fortnight.

“Yoga teaches universal values that are often referred to as life skills, it helps enhance social and self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and leads to responsible decision-making,” said D S Rawat, secretary general of Assocham.