High spirited gymmers, calorie count-downers, fitness freaks and all other weight loss enthusiasts, take a break. The nation has already celebrated its independence from the health freaks of the West, but I guess “angrez chale gaye, gym chordh gaye”. It’s high time we realise this and breaks these barriers too.
Did you know there exists as world beyond that enclosed gym arena where you can shed those kilos without lifting heavy weights or hurting your knuckles hitting on the punching bags? This whole trend or rather “craze” of losing weight or staying fit only after you join a gym is utter nonsense. And the worst are those editorials that promote such beliefs which validate these kinds of notions.
Exercising was always about going beyond the usual, pushing your limits and setting your mind and body free to take its own direction. Yes, surely the ‚Äúmind” has been usually neglected as an essential part of exercise but it definitely has an impact on the overall fitness. After all, ‚Äúa healthy mind resides in a healthy body‚Äù.
You may say the gym is centrally air conditioned, has LED HD display screens, personal instructors, dieticians and nutritionists, has aerobic classes and the list is endless. Whoa! That seems to be pretty good number of facilities right? Well, what goes unnoticed are things that you lose out on like socialisation, interaction with nature, being yourself, and so much more…
Here are listed a few things that are leading to the shunning of this so called “Gym culture”
1. Fun turns to Monotony
Who would want to function like a machine all day and then let oneself onto another machine in the evening in the name of “exercise”? Well, that’s what a lot of people are realising how mechanical their lives are becoming. It’s simple logic. Too much of anything would lead to boredom. And boredom to laziness and laziness to end of the monthly gym subscription.  Now what? How will you keep your body in shape if the only “gym” you depended on turned monotonous one fine day? Hit the park for walk with your friends instead of the gym maybe.
2. Unreal dynamism
Yeah I know. The treadmill is on the left, the crossbar on the right, the cycle in the centre. Well, that’s the amount of acquaintance you attain with those machines and even those people around you. You may counter this by saying, “Main toh har roz new exercises karti hoon” but “kab tak”. After a point, it would all start to seem static and then the enjoyable gym workout would become strenuous and literally “a pain in the neck”. Then “wahi bachpan ka playground aapki rescue ke liye aayega”.
3. Spaciously cramped
Try this once. The next time you go to the gym, just look around to see how much space is available for free movement.  The four-walled enclosure would clearly indicate something you wouldn’t have noticed previously. Then your position of privilege and comfort would be completely distorted and that’s when you’ll call up your long-lost friend to “walk and talk” and the rotten old monkey bar is seen in a different light.
4. Paint it green 
You don’t need to sweat out your calories in that whitewashed basement that plays loud music to accompany your cumbersome exercises when you can create your own “Green gym”. Yes, absolutely! “Aankhein kholkar dekho aaspas, woh community center, woh basketball court, woh tennis lawn aapko pukaar raha hai, bas nazariye ki baat hai”.
5. Open the doors 
Let me give you two situations:
A crossbar for 20 minutes under the open sky with a pleasant breeze and trees all around
OR
A treadmill run for 10 minutes in a centrally air conditioned gym with no cross ventilation.
You will realise the moment you open the doors and let that fresh air in, the feeling of pain vanishes. It no more seems like a task, but just a fun game you used to play in childhood. Moreover, it’ll never be the same each day, Nature and people will keep surprising you, challenging you, bringing a new life to your daily gym routine.
So,
Let’s drop the dumbbell
Tighten our shoe lace
Walk the path
Skip the treadmill race…..