Boot Camps on the Beach
Has your gym route become monotonous all through last year? If yes, and are looking for a fun yet intense alternative, head out to Juhu Beach, Mumbai over the weekends and get those endorphins racing.
He is a tennis player, marathoner, capoeiraista and celebrity trainer. You might think that should make him one of the many uptight, appointments only, inaccessible persons in the city. But connect with Nupur Shikhare aka Popoye on any platform and his candid, friendly nature will put you at ease.
As a part of his goal to spread the concept of Fitnessism amongst us city folk, Nupur’s boot camps on the beach are the perfect base for space starved, activity starved working professionals. A typical session at Juhu beach will see you through the calisthenics of his boot camp sans the drudgery of a gym workout.
Excerpts from an interview with Nupur.
Diipti Jhangiani (DJ): What is Fitnessism all about?
Nupur Shikhare (NS): The four pillars of Fitnessism include push ups, squats, elevation and movement taking a cue from the practice of calisthenics. This is not like a military boot camp so you need not worry about your capacity to be able to sustain it.
Rather it is more about skill, strength, endurance and body balance most of which we have forgotten to incorporate in our day-to-day life. So it is not about doing a hundred or two hundred squats in one go; it is about holding a squat position for 2 minutes.
“The kind of sedentary lifestyles we live in, our issues begin with ‘I cannot touch my toes’ and lead to spondylitis. People still do not realise that working out does not mean only going to a gym.”
People tell me they do chest, shoulder triceps on day one, back, bicep on day two and lower body on day three with twenty minutes on the treadmill followed by abs; yet they don’t see any results. Obviously you are not going to see any results because this is something you are doing for months or years, without any real progressing or making it intense for yourself.” Shikhare opines.
DJ: How is a boot camp on the beach different from a gym workout?
NS: Most workouts in the gym focus on either cardio intesive workouts or lifting weights to build muscle mass. During my bootcamps I focus on stability, strength and core building; these are the basics to help improve endurance and stamina for anything you do. Also as I focus on partner workouts it becomes a fun and interactive session.
DJ: beyond beaches, Bombay really doesn’t have great infrastructure to inspire people to be outdoorsy; isn’t that a deterrent?
NS: If this culture of being outdoors and being fit in the city grows enough there will be a point where the government will have to do something about it. Then it won’t just be a Sunday morning thing for city folk, it will become a part of their everyday life.
I couldn’t agree more. If a majority of the city folk get out there and take up a sport it will become a culture. And that will be the beginning of a revolution. So go on, let’s be outdoorsy!
Nupur will conduct the next Boot Camp on the 31st of January and 1st February, Saturday and Sunday at Juhu Beach at 6 am. To get in touch with him for further details you can email him at shikhare.nupur@gmail.com or tweet to him at @nupur_popoye