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| Sunday, 8 September 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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By Jayanthi Liyanage
The languorous poses in micro mini tops and slinky, leg-hugging bottoms appear to be no longer in vogue. Instead, the front covers seem to have been invaded by rugged, healthy hunks in gym shorts, preening straddly shoulders and pencil-slim hips and waists. And equally robust Venuses in leotards and tights, resting wiry-flat tummies and delicately-flexing biceps on treadmills, cross trainers and rowers. The body-obsessed dialect has a liberal spraying of "hi, lo, body conditioning" or "lo sculpt, triple mix and stretch" or similar terms describing "work-outs". The urban population seems to have caught on the fever of gym culture in a frenzy. Gymnasiums are now a regular feature in metro-cities though more frequently patronised by the "upstair" or monied citizens who can afford the sophisticated modern exercising equipment which is still beyond the reach of the mediocre-incomed majority who must satisfy their cravings for physical fitness through less-sensational household and garden activities of sweeping, grinding or spading.
Even the disabled can turn one's wheelchair into a multi-gym by rubber band-enabled work-outs. Exercise is the most important predictor of whether you will succeed at long term weight loss and maintenance and once you enjoy its positive benefits on your psyche as well, you will literally become "hooked." Is gym culture a stylised fad or does it reflect more concerned attitudes towards health in a society drastically eroded by overcrowding, increasing traffic, poor air quality, lack of parks and inadequate facilities for sports and recreational needs of the desk-work cultured, sedentary city professionals and white-collar workers?
Sanhinda gym offers a wide range of exercising equipment such as bar bells, dumbells, bikes, rowing machines, cross-trainers, steppers, benches, multi-hips and leg, lat and squat machines. But which machines each individual man, woman or child who enters the gym should use is decided only after the gym instructor assesses the customer's aches, pains and ailments and prepares a schedule of exercise according to the individual endurance ability and requirements of the customer. "We have customers coming to increase their biceps, hips, legs and buttocks as well as to reduce them," says M.A. Rupasinghe, Assistant Gym Manager, Sanhinda. "But you can't increase height by exercise. Weights are recommended for pumping iron (boosting muscle build-up) in body building, and for the muscle speed and endurance required in a boxer." Strength or "resistance" training over a period of time will tone your muscles to increase their readiness to work and improve posture and physique. Women lose body fat, men gain muscle mass, reducing "bad" cholesterol, chances of injury and raising self-esteem. Jogging on orbi-track exercise the full body and stepper, the lower body. Rowing machine develops biceps and shoulder muscles. Bench works the spine and the abs (abodomen). Aerobic machines are said to give the best form of exercise by rythmic and repetitive activity which uses all the large muscle groups of the body in smooth and continuous motion.
Is gym mania purely an urban phenomenon? "Rather than rural folk who work in the fields, city folk who live in the restricted boundaries of flats and do not get enough physical exercise may find the gym a must," says Rupasinghe. Many daily watch as many as seven hours of telly-sports with hardly in sportly activity. "But all schools, whether urban or provincial, should have a gym so that students with athletic potential can develop their skills." Yet as the city features more private-owned gymnasiums than state-run ones, the growing call from an increasingly concerned modern local population for easily accessible gym facilities for general public health is one which the local sports authorities cannot ignore. ===================== Frequently
asked Health and
Lack of physical activity. Less fit people have a 30-50% greater risk of developing high blood pressure. Can moderate to low intensity activity bring benefits? When done for as little 30 minutes a day, activities like biking, have shown to be beneficial. Doing anything is better than nothing. More vigorous aerobic activity done three to four times a week got 30-60 minutes are best for your heart and lungs. Will exercising prevent me getting heart disease? Physical inactivity, along with cigarette smoking, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, is one of the major modifiable risk factors for heart attack, which you can reduce. I have been inactive for years. Shouldn't I see a doctor before I use a gym? Middle-aged or older people who are at high risk for heart disease or already have a medical condition should seek medical advice. Healthy people of all ages can safely engage in moderate physical activity without prior consultation. Do women get the same benefits from exercise as men? Women who do not exercise have twice the chance of dying from heart disease than women who do exercise. Women may live longer than men, but not necessarily any better. Elderly women not physically active may experience more disability in their daily function. How do senior citizens benefit from patronising a gym? It's regular opportunity to form new friendships; maintain social networks; interact with all ages; improve flexibility, balance and muscle tone; and prevent falls a major cause of disability for older people. ===================== Sanhinda
- relax Sanhinda Leisure Centre (Pvt) Ltd., a BoI and Ceylon Tourist Board-approved sports and recreation centre offers spacious exclusivity and luxury to seekers of physical fitness in Nugegoda and beyond. Its membership of many categories such as men, women, family, student and expatriate has already topped the 350 mark. Its diverse facilities count among them a Rs. two million worth, fully equipped gymnasium with modern exercising machines imported from Dubai and an on-call doctor; a swimming pool with ancillary facilities and a badminton court both of which are besieged by all ages daily; Table tennis and Squash courts; Jacuzzi for hydro-massaging; a brand new Sauna and Steam Room; cyber cafe; saloon; and an exclusive family restaurant offering seating for 200, natural fruit drinks and a giant screen for viewing tele-wised games.
Sanhinda, which recently celebrated its 200-day bash, is one of the few venues in Colombo, gearing to take on a growing urgency for physical fitness among the urban and suburban middle and upper class citizens. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Of late, I have seen a profound change in the style and manner of icons
and idols sprawled across fashion covers of magazines and weeklies.
Yet more and more school and other students seem to have embraced the
practice of slipping into a gym at the end of the day or during weekends,
to develop their athletic skills or to simply pamper their tired muscles
in the energising luxury of exercise. An increasing number of men and
women, even as aged as 80, have begun to be troubled by a growing
nightmare of 'protruding tummies', the 'extra blob of fat' on arm or
thigh, the 'boat' around the waist or the classic 'pear-bear' shape, the
result of fat deposits around the waist and the bottom.
"Many women who use our gym do so because they want to reduce the
fat deposits on their stomachs and have a trimmed and flattened
stomach," says H.N.S. Pathirana, Chairman, Sanhinda Leisure Centre (Pvt)
Ltd., the only exclusive sports entertainment centre in Nugegoda, offering
a modern gymnasium fully-equipped with strength and cardiovascular
training equipment. "The general user comes to lose weight and be
shapely, maintain one's physique or for fitness-exercising."
If you are regular exerciser, do not abandon it abruptly, cautions
Rupasinghe. "Reduce the duration of exercise gradually. Some have
even being reported as having died after stopping a course of exercises
abrutply."
What is one major risk for heart disease and other health problems?
"No liquour is allowed beyond the bar," stresses H.N.S.
Pathirana, Chairman, Sanhinda. "Our disciplined atmosphere attracts
many to use our facilities." Each member has the privilege of
bringing in four guests. A striking piece in the gymnasium is the Rs.15
lakhs worth Total Gym revolving around it the total body work out - in
shoulder press, leg and lat machines, chest press, multi-hip, back muscle
endurance builder and stepper. Also on offer are yoga, aerobics, martial
arts and gymnastic classes.
