FITNESS

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Sriram Rayabaram, a Fitness Instructor, Transformation Expert, Head Coach and Founder of FITCHAMPS. Despite doing Masters in Computer Science, he chose to be a personal trainer, as his utmost passion for cricket, a dream of becoming strength and conditioning coach for Indian cricket team has driven him into fitness and now he is a well-known celebrity trainer in South India. He believes in doing things right from being a cricketer in childhood, he has always observed the moves and done things in a right way, this has led him to expertise the subject of fitness by pursuing various courses from Reebok, Fit College, Australia & N1 education. “I think the thing that separates me from other trainers out there is my ability to understand the subject, provide science-backed training and most importantly, THE RESULTS.” - Sriram Rayabaram.

Q. The fitness industry has changed this pandemic what do you have to say about it?

The fitness industry has got big hit in this pandemic. Now the latest trend is a home gym and online training has taken a front seat. Everyone is moving on focusing on online training, video call Workout sessions, so many fitness apps are coming into light. I’m afraid culture of the gym may vanish, going forward if things don’t change in India we may see great loss, gyms will completely diminish, and no one will ever come forward to invest in good gym and fitness.

Q. Gyms can run their business by taking all precautionary measurements in the Covid scenario, what is your opinion?

As we all know gyms, swimming pools and some other public gathering places/Halls are very much prone to be contagious and chances are high to spread the virus. But in my opinion, keep shutting down the business, workplace completely for long periods is not appreciable and the government must look into this. Enforce strict rules, fine high if they are not followed properly but let the gyms be open. It’s a practical thing which I’m saying, guidelines like wearing a mask, face shield will be on anyways, to achieve social distancing, take the gym floor size and capacity in account to permit the limited members inside at one given time, fix the client’s walk-in time and don’t allow anyone when floor reaches its full capacity, sanitize the machines and weight after every single use. A business might fall to 50% but it’s anytime better than keeping it closed.

Q. What’s the best home workout routine one can follow this quarantine with minimum equipment available?

“Any workout is the best workout”, I say. We have minimum workout equipment and lack of space at home, I would say bodyweight exercises are a foremost option but it’s not for everyone, everyone doesn’t have enough strength. So I suggest having a pull-up bar and few resistant bands at least and yes, Dumbbells and kettle bells will also do best. Keep your workouts short and sweet, focus on metabolic conditioning, getting the best training for hypertrophy and strength goals is the biggest challenge as we have very limited access to weights, we can still get through with hypertrophy if we come up with good exercise programming focus on intensity on muscle by mixing different techniques like pre-exhaustion of working muscle, isometric hold, supersets etc.

Q. How to get that enthusiasm while working out at home which we use to get at the gym?

Fix your workout time, you have to plan your day keeping your exercise time in mind, prioritize it if needed. Get ready as if you are going to a regular gym, your dressing and effort you put in, for doing any work will get you the interest in that work. Play the music; it will have a great role in making good workout. It will keep you moving and will have a feel-good factor. Hire a good online coach or you need to follow a good online workout program at least so that you know what you are going to exercise today. So these all little things will motivate you and get that enthusiasm while working at home.

Q. Wearing a mask and going out for a walk or run is impacting in breathing problems what do you have to say about it?

Wearing a mask while working out or running will harm your performance while training, you need a lot of oxygen, the oxygen demand is high while training, so if you cover-up your nose and mouth with a mask, it will become tough for you to breath and you give up early than your muscle gets to failure. So the training can’t be fine at an optimum level.

The immune system is a very complex subject, but in short, I would say don’t mess up with the basic cycle of your system on whole. Eat right and healthy, Rest well and Move (exercise) frequently. Don’t eat too much of acidic food, no outside food as we have no guarantee of hygiene and quality, chew enough and keep it simple so your digestive system will not take much load. Don’t exercise too much, we don’t want any injuries this moment, the body must recover faster from the stress given from training. Rest enough to recover well. These things will help your system from the cellular level to fight against virus by spending more time on building immune cells, rather being busy in dealing with the mess you created or given to your system.

While working out at home what things should be kept in mind as there will be no professional help to guide?

Professional help or guidance on fitness has got limited in this quarantine, gyms are closed and it is risky to call anyone home due to virus spread. So the best option is to hire an online coach or enroll yourself in any online video fitness classes if you are not in a position to do either of these two then do your homework, take any experts opinion before starting any workout program, don’t push yourself too much, work in your limits and that’s okay.

You have been training Kajal Agarwal how is the experience to train a celebrity like her?

Training Kajal Agarwal is a super cool thing, she is such a great optimist, quick learner, very good student and she brings in the energy, good vibes on the floor with her presence. Training a celebrity is a different experience, we also get that attention, people start recognizing you and your work and I’m sure every trainer wants to be there. I’m very thankful to Kajal for all the appreciation and acknowledgement she gives me.

Any advice for young trainers?

Get a good certification course done, upgrade your skills regularly, carry your passion wherever you go, do what you are supposed to do without expecting returns and be consistent. You will be paid off, don’t run behind money or fame just focus on your job, your good work will speak and eventually, everything will come to you.