The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Fitness club for women opened

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Friday, Feb 06, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Fitness club for women opened

Staff Reporter

Mahesh Bhupathi inaugurates the facility at Liberty Crossroads

Rs.8,000 per annum is charged from customers
Circuit training is the speciality of the fitness centre

— Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

Health watch: ‘Identity’, a fitness club that was opened in the city on Thursday.

HYDERABAD: Recession is hardly a time to embark on new business ventures unless some amount of innovation goes into planning. ‘Identity’, the latest addition to the city’s fitness trade, sure has that ‘out-of-the-box’ ingredient in its exclusion of men. Vishnu Saraf, the promoter, is confident that the fitness club at Liberty Crossroads with a tagline of ‘exclusively for women’ will be a huge success despite the recession and its shunning of the men.

“At a fee of Rs.8,000 per annum, it will be an affordable option among fitness centres in the city. Majority of the good gyms charge double the amount. What is more, ‘Identity’ is not just about fitness, but also offers women an opportunity to socialise,” says Mr. Saraf, who recently jumped onto the bandwagon of IIM postgraduates chucking lucrative corporate careers to kick-start their own ventures.

Yoga and aerobics

Women can make friends, network among themselves, learn new things and formulate an identity of their own at the club, says Mr. Saraf.

Apart from the fitness training of 90 hours per week, divided into three days each of 30-minute workout, the club will also have other exercise options such as yoga and aerobics to break the monotony.

Health benefits

Circuit training, a concept claimed to be popular abroad, will be the speciality of the fitness centre, claims fitness expert Lavanya.

Defined as ‘moving from one exercise to another in set intervals with little or no rest in between to keep the heart rate in the target zone’, circuit training will combine the benefits of both cardiovascular and strength training workouts, she says.

“Even the arrangement of the fitness equipment is such that the women can interact among themselves even while doing the workouts,” says Mr. Saraf.

Mahesh Bhupathi, the ace tennis player who inaugurated the club, said that India lagged behind in terms of health and fitness.

“The more we have such fitness centres the lesser the need for hospitals,” he said. For more details about the club one may call 66130301.

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