Fitness is the need of the hour. Coimbatore is full of aspirants who wish to be fit for life. Once upon a time fitness training meant 'body building'. A couple of sportspeople used to attend fitness and sports camps in cities like Chennai during the summer months. The bullworker, karlakattai were part of the stuff which helped people to train. Karate, aerobics, yoga etc., joined the fray in a big way. Slowly gymnasiums came up in the city. Hotels housed a few of them while a couple of them existed on their own.
Fitness is the need of the hour. Coimbatore is full of aspirants who wish to be fit for life. Once upon a time fitness training meant 'body building'. A couple of sportspeople used to attend fitness and sports camps in cities like Chennai during the summer months. The bullworker, karlakattai were part of the stuff which helped people to train. Karate, aerobics, yoga etc., joined the fray in a big way. Slowly gymnasiums came up in the city. Hotels housed a few of them while a couple of them existed on their own.
Long ago, the Jetty community used to train in their own gym at Big Bazaar street. They had weights made of stone and a small wrestling area within the Garadi temple. Avani Avittam was the time when they celebrated their work. They trained the locals in the art of self defense while also serving as soldiers and body guards to the local rulers. They considered the training area to be a sacred place and a shrine of Durga Mahishasuramardini was part of the establishment. The old building which houses this facility continues to exist in its original form. A huge peepul tree is found within the premises.
Nowadays technology has added to longevity. However longevity and smaller families with higher resources have their own issues. Unhealthy food, stress and global families are adding to the issues. Its heartening to notice proponents of natural farming, marathon runners, ecologists, captains of industry who endeavor to spend their CSR funds purposefully by willing to spend more time to keep themselves fit. Everyone wants to be fit for life.
Coimbatore is now home to numerous gyms and work out centres. Decades ago, former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran began ' training ' from Coimbatore. Film producer Sandow M.M.A.Chinnappa Devar kept him company. Today every locale has its own gym and these kind of things have literally mushroomed. There are a number of trainers who visit homes and a few of the gyms or fitness centres belonging to people from out of town. Coimbatore based businessmen have done well by acting as franchisees for established brands. Some of them are trying to establish their own brands. The huge number of physiotherapy institutions will sure help in the creation of several ventures.
Murugaprabhu of Thanjavur was quick to spot the development of Coimbatore into a fitness centre. He is the founder of ' Fame Club ' and it is located on West club road ( periphery of race course ). 31 year old Murugaprabhu is from a traditional Thanjavur family. His father Manoharan is a retired Headmaster and mother Kala is a housewife. The wife Nickila is the manager at a bank and the couple are blessed with Mrithyunjayan.
Murugaprabhu had done his schooling at Don Bosco and his Bachelors in Physiotherapy from Annamalai University ( Chidambaram ). The four and a half year course was followed by a stint at the Sheffield Hallam University ( United Kingdom ).
Murugaprabhu did his PG in Sports Injury Management and Therapy for 18 months and worked as a rehabilitation specialist with the NHS ( National Health Service ) at Barnsley near Sheffield for 3 years. He continues to cherish the good guidance of his teacher Edward Winter.
The association with keeping people fit for life began in the year 2013 at Thanjavur. He founded a centre for physiotherapy, rehabilitation, sports training and fitness at Thanjavur. Coimbatore became the home to the second branch in the February of 2018. " FAME expands itself as Fitness And Mobility Exercise. We introduce a new and improved you in terms of mobility, flexibility, pain management and performance. Our work is for all age groups. Anyone should improve on entering the centre. It is not only a centre oriented activity for we teach, give a follow up and the concerned people can continue from their homes. Of course people are welcome to practice in the centre regularly on an everyday basis, " smiled Murugaprabhu. The centre has mats, weights and not too many equipiments ! Murugaprabhu is eager to state that the focus should be on fitness everywhere and therefore equipment is minimal.
" The minimum time for assessing, diagnosing and treating is 30 to 45 minutes per individual per session. This is with regard to pain. With regard to ligament injury, sports injury, post operative conditions a target is set and a plan is laid out according to the need. It could be anywhere between 3 and 8 weeks. In terms of sports training it depends on the level of the player. It can be a beginner or a person at any level. Can be a professional or amateur. According to the need, they are given injury prevention programmes, balance training, easy pain hacking schemes and techniques which will give them both - speed and agility. Fitness is for any group, we consider their past history, diet, lifestyle etc., and we suggest weight loss management programmes plus fitness training. It takes 40 days for a good student. The programme is made suitable for the BMI of the person. Healthy weight loss with no side effects is our goal. Training for marathon runners is also in our list of programmes. We give them bladder and bowel management techniques, diet counselling, injury free run training and methods to have a nice post run day, " added the UK returned fitness person. Murugaprabhu is very careful with his diet. His day begins early and he works between 5 and 8 AM on all days except Sunday. The evenings are between 5 and 8 PM. However the team is busy all through the day.
Coimbatore is an 'old age' paradise and people want to enjoy their old age. Col.Sridharan and P.C.Raju have added lustre to aging. Murugaprabhu is keen to play a role here. His focus for the aged is on fall prevention, possible posture correction and incontinence training. With regard to rehabilitation and pain management there is a specific programme which is need based. Home attention and visits are done too. " When I sum up, I will call it functional training. You can train anyone functionally for pain management, sports or weight loss. The basic idea is smart work rather than working hard. We hardly use equipment and our approach is 'holistic'. However I wish to state that functional training works only for those who believe in smart work, whoever is keen to do a regular follow up and the one who does not prefer trendy stuff with regard to health and fitness. "
Murugaprabhu has given presentations and talks in more than 50 places. The cities include Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Madurai and Chennai. He has spoken in more than 25 Rotary Clubs and similar organizations and has also done shows on Kalaignar TV, News 7 etc., . Murugaprabhu was frank to talk about the moment which led him into this kind of frenetic activity, " I had a teetotaler friend known as Surendran. He is no more. It was when I understood that just being free of bad habits was insufficient. That's when I began to research on a 'holistic' approach which will lead to a long and healthy life, " stated a thoughtful Murugaprabhu.
The young fitness and wellness man is calm and composed in his approach. He is keen to inculcate this in the people who come to him. He has faced a number of challenging situations. The trainer is aware of PCOS ( Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ) fully . He helps couples to lose weight in order to have a child. People had hit the gym, worked hard but had only developed additional issues. Some of them had suffered due to medication too. Murugaprabhu has been providing such couples with fitness and diet counselling. According to him, this gives a real idea about real fitness. " The couple need confidence. We explain the real science behind these issues. Just by diet, counselling and proper exercise prescription they will have regular cycles in about 4 months. The couple will also get fitter plus lose weight. In the last 11 years, at least 8 couples have had kids and the process was free of treatment or drugs, " added Murugaprabhu with a lot of conviction.
Murugaprabhu is positive about the way forward, " I am keen to make people pain free. Having diabetes, cholesterol, thyroid or hyper tension is not the issue if you get trained and address it properly. Mobility stands first above all. "
Coimbatore, the ecological capital of Tamilnadu is set to become the fitness capital too.