New Delhi, Apr 29 (IANSlife): Bengaluru-based fitness coach and football player Chelston Pinto, who is part of Decathlon's ambassador programme, believes that it may be hard to start with home workouts, but these are the best way to stay fit at your own convenience.
As part of the Decathlon community, which supports and brings together driven sports personalities and inspirational people who share their knowledge and experiences, the trainer helps people stay fit, online.
Excerpts from his IANSlife interview:
Q. What do you think are the most common mistakes people make while training?
Pinto: People tend to rely a lot on what they see online and want instant results, but in reality fitness is all about sustaining a healthy and well-lifestyle depending on individual and realistic goals. Fitness is an ongoing lifelong process not just a fad workout!
Q. Many global fitness trackers have reported a decline in daily activity during the lockdown. Why do you think this is?
Pinto: It is normal to see a decline since people are at home which is also psychologically a place to relax. This is a major change for people who do most of their walking, running and exercising outdoors. But it's important to move around while at home and my advice is to make sure you do so every 15-20 minutes and do make the effort to workout from home.
This is why along with Decathlon, we have created a series of virtual workouts to keep everyone moving and active from home as a part of the #PlayItSafe initiative to help people stay fit and active while staying safe at home. We have created a series of virtual workouts ranging from strength and conditioning, circuit training, sports conditioning and yoga. These workouts are accessible on Decathlon's blog and across its social media channels. We have received a phenomenal response, so do check them out.
Topping the #PlayItSafe campaign was the ‘‘Hallympics 2020' initiative to keep everyone's competitive spirits up following the postponement of the Summer Olympics this year. Hallympics was a series of fitness challenges across social media platforms, designed for home and easily doable from one's hall, living room or even from the confines of a kitchen. Our ‘home' athletes were given two challenges each day with a three-hour window to complete the challenge and upload their video. We had over four thousand participants in excess of a 100,000 views across our social media channels with participation from nine cities.
Q. You advocate a lot for home workouts. Why are they so effective?
Pinto: I would say it's the need of the hour. For the general population who are busy with their commitments at work or family, there is a need to stay fit and workout at their convenience and home workouts are best whether its pre-recorded videos, live sessions or an online training plan.
Q. Taking up a sport is not readily thought of as an option for fitness. What are its benefits ?
Pinto: My philosophy is all about putting your fitness levels to test while playing a sport. This helps a client to understand what they really need to work on in terms of conditioning, stamina, strength, balance or any other aspects. Sports also add an element of fun and competition which is the key to fitness as an ongoing process.
Q. There is a new 'normal' in everything. What do you think are going to be the new fitness trends now?
Pinto: The new trend would be adapting as a coach to train clients in different ways. For clients, to understand their bodies and what works for them so that they can workout on the go without relying on one trainer or a single online portal alone.