Pursuing fitness and health through challenges

Man is a social animal, and this philosophy is soon extending to fitness and health as well, while it already forms the backbone of our society. A sure shot way of sticking to a fitness program has been to have a fitness workout buddy, increasingly people are pursuing fitness and health in groups and participating in friendly challenges to meet their goals.

Running groups and group classes have been around for several years now, and very popular at that, the advent of social media has given rise to a whole new trend of participating in challenges together. There have been several challenges that went viral at a global level to promote positivity and for a cause like #100DaysOfHappiness, that had people all over the world sharing one thing that made them happy every day or the #IceBucketChallenge, that created awareness about condition ALS.

However, closer home, one of the coolest and most beneficial thing that you could be doing is participating in a fitness challenge. Something as simple as Running 5 kilometres a day for 10 days to something as life-altering and drastic as changing the way you eat.

What is amazing about these challenges is that they encourage peers, there are no judgements and most important there is a sense of community and togetherness. Chitra is more famous as Bombay Bellyrina on social media, and even more famous as the founder of #TwitterGetsFitter, which now has over 1000 people trying to be fit.

Chitra recounts - Honestly, it happened rather by chance. I remember waking up on November 15, 2016 and thinking, "Wow, only 45 days until New Year's. And I've skipped out on all those fitness resolutions for yet another year!" I realised I needed someone to hold me accountable and make sure I worked out and ate better. Twitter has been my go-to for most things, and it so it was this day as well. I tweeted asking if anyone wanted to be workout buddies and do the best we can in 45 days. I expected maybe 2 or 3 people to be interested, but ended up getting about a dozen responses within the first hour.

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Another popular Challenge that several people take is to get off sugar. Breaking Up With Sugar by Burgers to Beasts, had people signing up to gain back control, they may have lost to sugar. Kripa Jalan founder of Burgers to Beasts believes that "If we could point to the one food that's responsible for our expanding waistlines and deteriorating health, it's sugar. Surprisingly, most people are unaware of how much sugar they're consuming and remain oblivious to its addictive nature."

Delving deeper into what lures people to a group challenge Kripa Jalan, feels that a lot of people who participate in a group challenge like having a safe space that is non-judgmental and welcomes them with open arms. She says "It can help you get back on track. Witnessing other participant's small wins, struggles, fights and progress can help motivate you to keep going. Also, the idea of winning includes a sense of healthy competition. The group methodology also helps bring together like-minded people, working towards the same goal of developing a better relationship with food."

The ACSM (American College of Sports and Science) does an annual survery of fitness trends and making it to Top 2 is Group Personal Training, where unlike the days of the good old Aerobics class, which was filled with at least 20 people, these group personal training sessions are typically not more than 4-5 people who could be at different fitness levels. The trainer is skilled and trained to give them all personal attention. This, of course, offers motivation and is also easier on the pockets of fitness enthusiasts.

Joining hands and supporting each other to make positive changes, is perhaps one of the most productive effects that groups of people with common goals can have on each other. The motivation to be part of a challenge is rarely a fad, since the people who sign up are already at a certain level of awareness and the sign up is usually personal and voluntary. Chitra says that the #TwitterGetsFitter movement had a retention of almost 94%. So what are you waiting for. Find that challenge and either kick a bad habit, or work up some fitness motivation!

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