Fitness Bar began a year ago with the aim of giving Goans an entirely new feel of working out
in a gym; it was a product that Goa had never seen before. Spread over 5500 sq.
ft. of space, with precision equipment, trainers, a nutritionist and a
physiotherapist, this place promised an experience like no other, and over this
one year, it has delivered just that. The gym, now a full-fledged brand,
hasaccomplished much more than it had set out to do and only aims to achieve
greater heights in the future.
Café catches up with Fitness Bar’s
business partner Felipe Alvares to talk about the journey so far and the plans
ahead:
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HERALD CAFÉ: As Fitness Bar completes one year today,
what are your thoughts on this occasion as you look back at all that has been
achieved in this past year and looking forward to the year ahead…
FELIPE ALVARES: We have grown as a company and it is
evident for everybody to see! We were very sure of ourselves in delivering a
unique experience to the fitness enthusiasts here in Goa, when we opened a year
back. We always believed that it was extremely important to make the journey to
fitness interesting. Exercising to repetitive music, a dull ambience, and the
same workout routines can get quite boring. And so we’ve spiced it up, and
taken care of everything, right from the music – which is often played by
different DJs, to the workouts which are never monotonous to the diet plans and
the in-house café too. We also have various other physical activities taking
place simultaneously around the premises, which cater to the fitness needs of
diverse populations.
HC: Are there any innovations you’ll have come up with?
FA: Though we are not really looking at reinventing the wheel all
over again, we have come up with something known as the Assault Air Runner. We
have adopted the idea that is widely used around the world, even by popular
athletes and sportspersons such as Cristiano Ronaldo. The Assault Air Runner is
a one-of-its-kind piece of cardio equipment. It is a premiere elite fitness
running machine that packs an intense workout in a small package. If you want
to up your game, the Assault Air Runner is the deal. In short, you’re basically
driving the machine at your own speed. We had also started with something known
as Les mills class. Les mills classes is brought from a New Zealand-based company
and it involves three things: Body pump, spinning and body balance.
HC: What has been the USP of Fitness Bar?
FA: As mentioned earlier, we have a couple of facilities that
attract people, such as the entertainment. Then there are the activities like
yoga classes, Zumba classes, kick boxing and taekwondo as well as something
known as High Intensity Internal Training. Apart from this, we not only focus
on the fitness theme, but our gym involves people who have been through
physical difficulties like knee transplant or muscle pain. For that we have a
physiotherapist who aids in the workout programme. We also have a salad bar,
food counter, breakfast, smoothies and desserts, and meals all through the day.
HC: How important is music for working out?
FA: At our gym, certain things are practiced differently. I
basically feel that when you’re working out, a person needs to feel the energy
and be happy. It shouldn’t be a place where a person just goes through the
drill as per the instructions; you should feel like working out and not force
yourself to. Hence, the energy is derived from the music we play. Music
actually elevates both the mind and the body, and you can reach a new high with
your workouts too. We have different music played every day, different genres
and playlists created so that it keeps the spirit alive. For instance,we
recently had an hour of Bollywood hits, so everyone was happy as it was
something new.
HC: How do you select your staff?
FA: We have a bunch of extremely qualified trainers. Currently there
are about 10, and each of them has mastered the techniques of exercise form,
compilation, and progression. Our trainers are handpicked fromacross Goa. We
enforce that all our trainers learn and enrich their knowledgeperiodically, and
we have fortnightly discussions on what each has learnt.
HC: How do you’ll work on diet plans for your clients?
FA: We plan diets according to our clients’likes and dislikes. We
cannot stop them from eating what they have been used to over the years. So
what we do is tweak their present eating habits by offering healthier options
from what is traditionally present on their plates. That way it becomes easier
for them to follow what we suggest. We definitely do not advocate any of the
fad and fancy diets like Atkins, ketogenic, etc., because we do need to look at
the repercussions that those have on the body. And so we look at minute details
of health before we actually suggest dietary modifications.
HC: Fitness Bar’s advice to those seeking fitness.
FA: At Fitness Bar, we don’t onlystress on the concept of “weight
loss”. We focus on structuring your body. We do take the weight of individuals,
and also pay close attention to the body fat percentage of each member – our
high-precision body analyzer does that for us. Using it, we can also point out
the exact areas in which fat is accumulated, and through our programmes target
those problem “fat” areas. In that way we are able to bring about better body
balance. One must know that their fight for fitness is not against a model in a
magazine; the battle is against the person you see in the mirror: Yourself.
Basically, it is about getting a better version of you on a daily basis. People
don’t understand this and it is our duty to educate them. People feel that once
they passed a certain age, they should not and cannot lift weights. Actually,
there are big benefits fromlifting weights; we have got people at the age of 70
to 78 coming and lifting weights too! And that’s where Fitness Bar focuses –
getting you to be a better version of yourself, irrespective of your age and
gender barriers.
HC: What has your experience in the health and fitness industry been
so far?
FA:
We have our own basic
set of goals and principles and have been working along those lines
accordingly. It’s not about the competition here. We try to get our
fundamentals and basics right.The entire vibe and feel of the place is
definitely appreciated by all our clients working out. It changes the entire
atmosphere of the gym. We do have our ups and down as a company, but leaving
those aside, we have achieved the vision we set out on a year ago was and look
forward to more establishments helping Goa get fitter.
