In A Country Where 1 Out Of 5 Women Suffer From Obesity This Gym Chain Came Up With A Unique Idea

In the year 2014, the number of Indian women suffering from obesity stood at 20 million while the number of obese Indian men was 10 million. Literally, twice as many women were suffering from obesity compared to men. The bad news didn’t stop there. In 2017, about a dozen of top newspaper carried reports which showed that 1 in every 5 Indian women are obese while more than 60% women in the urban population are at the risk of some form of heart disease. Not just heart disease, obesity also raises the risk of several types of cancer, diabetes, kidney diseases, pregnancy issues, and depression among others. So why are so many Indian women suffering from obesity?

At The Heart of Indian Women’s Obesity Epidemic

Multiple studies have suggested that sedentary lifestyle, haywire diet, lack of awareness and a complete lack of activity are the main culprits of causing obesity in the general population but when it comes to women, they are fighting a war on two fronts. Apart from the external factors such as their lifestyle, factors such as postpartum weight gain, hormonal changes, and, PCOS are some of the key factors which play a role in weight gain for women. Indian women also tend to put their families above all else including their own health. Add to this the fact that most Indians still consider gym to be a luxury and you have the perfect set up for an obesity epidemic.

The Man With A Plan

Most of us would probably have looked at these reports, nodded our heads and carried on with our daily lives with the usual “Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta” look. Not Mr Talavou F. Alailima, the Chairman of Power World Gyms chain, one of the largest international gym chains in the country with 40 operational gyms across Delhi NCR and Bangalore.

With over two decades of experience in the fitness industry, Mr Talavou has studied the situation in India very closely and he has made a few observations. Says Mr Talavou Alailima, “I have found that there are two key reasons preventing women from pursuing fitness in India – affordability and a general stigma attached with women going to the gym – I want to address both!” With this in mind, Mr Talavou Alailima launched the first of its kind initiative called #FitWomanFitIndia in Bangalore this July and it’s already off to a flying start.

#FitWomanFitIndia – Unique & Revolutionary

The #FitWomanFitIndia initiative is a unique movement through which Power World Gyms wants to make its resources available to any woman who may be interested. This includes access to a wide array of state-of-the-art equipment as well as the master trainers of the Power World Gyms. The membership fee? PAY WHATEVER YOU WANT! Yes, you read that right and this is exactly the proposition which makes the whole program so unique and revolutionary!

Between 10 am to 1 pm, Monday to Saturday, Power World Gyms is inviting all the women folk to walk into any of their 20 Power World Gyms centers in Bangalore. They can literally pay whatever they want to pay and workout at the gym. All of them would be treated at par with full-time Power World Gyms members and will receive attentive training from the fitness trainers.

The entire Power World Gyms Bangalore team is pumped up to contribute to this wonderful initiative. The Deputy General Manager – Operations of Power World Fitness (Private) Limited, Mr John Paul Rajesh added, “The idea for Fit Woman Fit India initiative gained momentum after we saw a positive response to the #HumFitTohIndiaFit campaign.”

Encouraged by the success of the now viral campaign which was started by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Col.(Retd) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and which received a massive response across the country, Mr Talavou Alailima is confident that #FitWomanFitIndia too would be able to bring a positive change in the world of fitness. Adds Mr John, “In fact, we have already started seeing a good response across our centres in the first month of the movement itself! We are confident that more people will join this movement in coming days.”

Not Just About Women’s Health

While the primary target for #FitWomanFitIndia initiative remains equipping the nation’s womenfolk to lead a healthy life, the overall goal is bigger than only that. According to Mr Talavou, the #FitWomanFitIndia initiative is a step towards fulfilling Power World Gyms’ mission statement which is “To extend lives, restore good health and enhance physical fitness levels of members so as to nurture them to have a devoted heart, a purposeful soul and a courageous mind.” In line with this mission statement, every single penny raised through this initiative will be collected in a special box called the “Impact Fund” which will then be used to give back to the community in the form of a CSR initiative at the center level. The CSR initiative itself will be decided by the participating members and the respective center’s own team.

About Power World Gyms

Before emerging as one of the market leaders in the Indian fitness industry, Power World Gyms Limited was already a well-established name in Sri Lanka. In the year 1994, Power World Gyms pioneered the gym training industry in Sri Lanka and in the last 23 years of its existence, Power World Gyms Limited has played a key role in shaping Sri Lanka’s fitness industry. Today, Power World Gyms Limited operates and manages the largest chain of gyms in Sri Lanka under the brand name “Power World”. While #FitWomanFitIndia is the gym chain’s first CSR initiative in India, Power World Gyms is quite known for its philanthropic nature back in Sri Lanka. In fact, just recently the gym chain set a fully furnished gym in Sri Lanka’s New Welikada prison. Here are the Power World Gyms branches in Bangalore which are hosting the #FitWomanFitIndia initiative:

Rajarajeshwarinagar – 7625039601
Kattigenahalli (Yelahanka) – 7625039610
TC Palya? – 7625039607
Kudlu – 7625039617
Girinagar – 7625039602
Uttarahalli – 7625039613
Nagondanahalli – 7625039608
Akshay Nagar? – 7625039622
JP Nagar 1st Phase? – 7625039603
Rajajinagar – 7625039615
Lingarajapuram – 7625039609
Sanjaynagar – 7625039621
JP Nagar 7th phase? – 7625039604
Nagarbhavi main road? – 7625039611
Nagawara? – 7625039614
Whitefield – 7625039619
Konanakunte cross? – 7625039605
Moodalapalya – 7625039612
Murgeshpalya – 7625039616
Vidyaranyapura – 7625039618

About Power World Founder & MD – Mr Talavou F. Alailima

Mr Talavou Alailima pioneered the Sri Lankan fitness industry with his chain of “Power World” Fitness Centres (1994), “Edge” Sports Nutrition Supplements (2005), and “Lion Warrior” Sports High-performance program (2008). He is a US qualified Strength Training and Sports Nutrition Consultant, educated at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania USA, and holds a Master of Sports Management degree from the IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. In 2009, he contributed substantially to the “Manual of Sports Medicine” published by the Colombo Medical Faculty. He is an NCAA All American Athlete, South Asian Games Medallist, and the former Sri Lanka record holder for Shot Put and Discus events.

He was the Sports Nutrition and Strength training consultant for many national level clubs, school teams and champion athletes for the past 22 years. As a member of the Sri Lanka National Sports Council, and the founder and President of the Association of National Track and Field Athletes (ANTFA), he has influenced sports and impacted fitness in Sri Lanka in a unique and profound manner

Conclusion

For a very long time, health and fitness has been one of the most neglected aspects in India. Even more so when it comes to women. However, thanks to social media and the various initiatives launched by the government, there’s a renewed conversation about health and fitness in general across the country. We hope that this unique and praise-worthy initiative launched by Power World Gyms will bring out a widespread participation across the city. We wish the Power World Gyms team all the very best! Want to join? Contact Ms Usha via WhatsApp at 7625039627 or drop her an email at Usha.John@powerworldgyms.in