Kettleball, not playing cool

Aanya Zaveri 13 started working out during the Coronavirusinduced lockdown last year She was experiencing mood swings and not feeling active She realised that she needed to take affirmative action ldquoI started with going to a public garden and getting trained using the hanging bars Now I do strength and weight training with kettlebells and dumbbells It has helped my posture and my moods have stabilisedrdquo says Zaveri a student at a Worli school Ask her if other kids her age are also working out and she replies in the affirmative adding that most do it the way Instagram says it should be done ldquoThey want to run on the treadmill since they believe they are fat But working out is more than thatrdquoZaveri is among the growing tribe of preteens and adolescents who are frequenting gyms or training with personal trainers to get into the best shape That they have metabolism youth and high levels of mobility and flexibility on their side is the cherry on the cake Unlike members of their parentsrsquo generation who started working out at 30 because lifestyle habits were showing on the waist or at 40 because diabetes and heart disease had reared their head teens are up to date and early Some are taking to exercising to get ldquoskinnyrdquo or ldquorippedrdquo because thatrsquos how social media defines perfect bodies and some this writer found out are doing it to regulate their temperament and achieve fitness Experts also say that the last two years which saw a slump in their natural activity schedule due to isolation and lockdown have made it imperative that they adopt an exercise workout Avinash Mansukhani a body recomposition and transformation specialist says that itrsquos beneficial for children to go to the gym not only because it helps their muscular and cardio health but also because it imbues them with discipline and confidence ldquoAll athletes start working out when they are very young Exercise even helps target hormonal problems Whatrsquos additionally needed is for nutrition needs to match uprdquoMadhuri and Sunil KudvaCritics however say that early gymming could have its downside ldquoYoung children should not be doing weight training or resistance workrdquo Len Almond of the British Heart Foundationrsquos National Centre for Physical Education has been quoted as saying When you are young and impressionable the danger of overdoing things is higher ldquoLots of budding footballers who train hard from an early age suffer later with their legs Too much exercise can make children ill and their immune systems sufferrdquo The secondary concern is that unlike free play and sports gymming is an isolating experience Teens they suggest should be encouraged to take up team sportsAvinash MansukaniPsychotherapist Lamia B who works in child and adolescent psychiatry says that as long as children and their parents are aware of the objective behind exercise and are looking at gymming as a way to prioritise health and emotional well being itrsquos good ldquoItrsquos a good idea as more and more children who were raised in urban areas donrsquot have access to gardens or playing areas So working out in a structured environment is important But the idea of what an ideal body should look like is still dictated by social media and unfortunately young girls are working out with an eye on that goal They need to be guidedrdquo Itrsquos here that trainers like Madhuri and Sunil Kudva who run Elite Fitness in Gamdevi come in Madhuri who trains Zaveri too says that they have children aged eight to 17 train with them at their gym Their own kids aged 11 and 13 started training at five years of age ldquoLast year due to the introduction of virtual schooling some children have put on weight and are experiencing mood swings Structured exercise training helps deal with these challenges The ones who are following a fad donrsquot stick it out Thatrsquos why they donrsquot benefitrdquo says Madhuri ldquoChildren need to work on their posture and build their stamina and endurancerdquo For overweight young adults she says that itrsquos most likely that an obese child will grow into an obese adult so itrsquos better to start young ldquoIndia is one of the few countries where growth has stunted in childrenmdashthey are not healthy and not growing taller This means we are not moving enough We need to make sure they are in the environment where such movement patterns existrdquoAt Elite Fitness Gamdevi kids come for training in batchesIshika Bhatia 17 has created this environment at home She has a trainer who guides her at her residence three times a week Bhatia says that last year as she sat and spent her days watching Netflix and she realised that her denims were getting too snug for her ldquoThis is the first time that I have gone a size up I wanted to get fit againrdquo The student of Aditya Birla Integrated School in Fort now looks forward to her workout sessions which she also sees as an opportunity to build stamina for horse riding classes Her mother Uurmi says she is happy to see her daughter exercise after a long spell of doing nothing ldquoA lot of teens my age want to work out just to lose weight but I am also good at sports and want to keep that up Of course I want to fit into my jeans again toordquoLamia B8Right age at which experts say kids can start training at a gym