FITNESS

FITNESS WITH MINASH GABRIEL

Minash Gabriel is a Doctor of Physiotherapy, Osteopathic Manual Therapist, a rehabilitation and performance coach. He was a former athlete who played professional cricket at various levels. Plagued with injuries on his right knee forced him to hang up his boots and give up the sport, but he decided to study physiotherapy to help people keep injuries at bay and live a pain-free life.

Tell us about your training philosophy?

I keep it simple: Movement is medicine. The body must move in ways in which it is challenged every day. If you’re not challenging your body to move in multiple planes of motion, metabolic diseases like obesity and type-2 diabetes cannot be checked.

What's your favourite workout?

I love full-body compound movements. Deadlifts and kettlebell workouts are my favourites.

Describe your experience in the fitness industry?

The fitness and rehab setting in India is growing rapidly. This growth requires specialists to step in and handle multiple areas of well-being. Be it precision movement at the gym along with rehabilitation, or women’s health and geriatric wellness, everybody's needs are different. This is why, I believe, specialisation is key. This lack of specialised care — the gap I am here to bridge — only leaves a large part of the population in pain, or worse, disabled. This leads to increased cardio-respiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuro-vascular ill health.

How did Myo Movement come to life?

Myo Movement came to life because of the misfortunes in my sporting life. If I had the right attention and infrastructure, who knows where I could have been today. With my trajectory at the time, I was sure I was on my way to represent my country. Myo Movement is my attempt to fill the void that exists in the physical health care system. As a therapist, it is my responsibility to make sure that I look into pain empathetically, with a sound mind backed by evidence, rationale, and critical thinking. It is my responsibility to help individuals in pain move better and make better choices.

How do you keep clients motivated and engaged?

I give them simple instructions and try not to complicate things. I make sure there is variety in every workout and I get them to do the things that they like with the exercises, which are also good for their overall health. It’s a two-way street, so for the process to be sustainable, it must take into consideration the individual's likes and needs.

What are the professional goals you wish to achieve next?

My goal is to bring about movement literacy with every individual that I teach or train. If we can build a community that is moving better, we enable people to live their fullest lives. And as they say, people don’t stop playing because they get old, people get old because they stop playing.