Ranadeep Moitra of Endorphins corroborates what we’ve all been thinking about those virtual workout sessions. “In my opinion, online classes are mere box-ticking and are definitely not as effective as offline ones. For instance, if I’m doing a core exercise with someone whose back is on the floor and I’m asking them to generate force. I can’t feel their force, it doesn’t quite work out like that,” he shares. Endorphins happens to be one of the leading corrective exercise studios in the city and resumed its services from August this year as restrictions relaxed
“By September 40-50% of people were back. Though we’re not limiting the number of people coming in, we are taking distancing seriously. We’re asking for a signed declaration that one hasn’t had Covid, and if they did at some point, they’ve taken the necessary precautions. If someone’s travelled, we’re asking for 14-day isolation, that includes our trainers,” adds the fitness expert. We spoke to Moitra about managing our fitness anxieties for 2021 and about his go-to wellness mantra.
You closed doors to Endorphins in March. What was your plan from then on?
We were caught unawares obviously, for a month I wasn’t even sure what was happening, so we didn’t go online immediately. It took us a while to come up with a plan. Though we were putting up some workouts online people weren’t too savvy with it.
How do you feel about online sessions?
Even today after having done so many online classes we are aware of the functional limitations because they are okay for a while but tricky as a permanent fix. It doesn’t take you beyond a point. Plus, people get injured. It's difficult to learn new things; in that sense, online classes are just about joining a bandwagon, it’s a quantity game.
How paranoid were people about coming back to the gym?
Some of the people were dying to come back! While some people were realistic and somewhat paranoid. It’s a bit ridiculous because I see people having anxieties about coming to the gym and yet they are partying. Most people are really misled and distracted by the collective panic.
You also train athletes. How challenging has that been since the sports spectrum has taken a hit?
When you’re training athletes you know they need to get their bodies ready. They tell me that they need to get themselves prepared because knowing how things usually go, they may be asked to resume everything next week.
Tell us about your fitness priorities. Have they changed?
I need mobility and exercise since I suffer from an auto-immune disease. We opened up physiotherapy sessions in the gym this June and this was a fantastic opportunity for me to concentrate on myself. Normally I’m so busy training others I don’t have the luxury of working on myself the way I should. I used this time to get stronger, I managed to put on 5 kilos, I ate more. I had the time to re-define my sense of fitness.
Your wellness mantra for your clients...
You never know what life will throw at you, so train for life, I’ve been telling them this for 15 years. No matter what happens tomorrow you should be ready. And when a crisis like this happened, so many people I know were ready to battle it. I wish I could see a crystal ball and I could predict you falling at the age of 65 or getting a heart attack at 70, but I can’t. So, you can’t know what you're training for.