Author, Xavier Selvakumar
Designation, BBC Tamil
Published 3 minutes ago
Reading Time: 9 minutes
Note: Before going or joining a gym, please consult a doctor about your health.
Rashida, mother of three children, says, "If a boy says he wants to go to the gym, he gets permission immediately. But if a girl says she wants to go to the gym, it does not happen immediately."
"Generally, there is a misconception in the society that gym is a place for fitness training for men, whereas it is for women also. Similarly, in Islam too, there is no restriction on going to the gym."
She says, "All three of my deliveries were cesarean. That's why the doctors had forbidden me from lifting too much weight. Here I was given good training. When I started coming here, my weight was 78 kg. Now I have lost 13 kg."
Hasina says, "Initially I had told at home that I am going for a walk and came to the gym. My intention was to first achieve something and then tell the family. After winning the first prize in the skipping competition, I told the family that I go to the gym. Everyone at home was very happy."
Like these women, more than 300 women train daily in a gym run especially for Muslim women in Saramedu area of Coimbatore. BBC Tamil visited this gym and talked to the women present there.
Woman started gym to lose weight
Shabana, a resident of Saramedu area of Coimbatore, has been running this gym exclusively for Muslim women for the last 9 months.
After marriage and birth of two children, Shabana went to the gym to lose weight. Later she became a women's trainer in the same gym. She says that she started this gym especially for the Muslim women of her area.
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Shabana told, "I have studied only till the seventh class. I got married at the age of 19. After having a child, I had to undergo some surgeries. Due to this, I started having some physical problems. My weight had also increased a lot. When I searched for a gym in my area to lose weight, there was no gym here. After this, I went to a gym and became a trainer for women there."
She said, "After this, I thought that a separate gym for women could be started in my area. Then, Jaikant, the owner of the gym where I used to work, and my trainer Harshad, both encouraged me a lot. It was with their encouragement that I became a 'weight lifter'. When I asked them for advice, they encouraged me to start a gym."
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Shabana has been taking weightlifting training for the last five years. He has participated in many state level competitions and has also won awards. He told that recently he has also passed the examination conducted for training male weightlifting players.
Shabana told that her husband Kabir, daughter studying in Plus Two and son studying in ninth class, all encourage her a lot. They support him in every work. For this reason she was able to start this gym and run it successfully. He told that in the initial days of starting the gym, there was opposition and women used to hesitate in coming here.
Shabana said, "When I started this gym, there were many types of opposition. When the news about it came in the media, there were so many bad and objectionable comments that they could not even be told outside. At one time, we had decided to close it. But then I thought why should we give up our efforts because of four people who criticized us. I thought that I have to win in front of them. With this thinking, I am running this gym."
"Many people created obstacles by saying that a woman cannot run a gym. Some people said that why do women need a gym? They should do household work and take care of children, only this will keep them healthy. Initially only 20 women used to come. In some families, only the husband brought his wife here. After this, gradually the confidence of women increased and they started coming here."
Currently, training is conducted in six batches of two hours each, from 5 am to 10 pm. There are on average 50 women in each batch. In this way, more than 300 Muslim women exercise here daily. Most of the women came here to lose weight and are now doing body strengthening exercises.
Speaking to BBC, Rashida said, "It is said that a healthy woman means a healthy family. I consider the gym not just a place to exercise, but also a place where coming makes me happy."
"For stay-at-home women like me, coming here is not only beneficial for health but also helps in reducing stress. When I come here after finishing my household work, it feels like my second home. I have met a lot of friends here. If this gym was outside our area, I don't know whether I would have been able to come here or not. But it is in our area, so it is easy for me to come here."
'Awareness towards fitness has increased'
Rashida tells that she lost 7 kg of weight in three months after starting training here. Hasina also talked about losing weight. Apart from these, some other women also told that after coming here, their attitude towards life has become positive.
Housewife Rahija Shahjahan told that before coming here she had no awareness about food and drink.
Rahija says, "Women like us are so busy with household chores that we don't even take care of our health. Whenever we feel hungry, we eat anything. We don't even know whether it has protein or fiber. It was only after coming here that we realized that so many things have to be taken care of while eating. Trainers tell us which natural food items contain which nutrients. We now follow them."
Mariam Farhana, an IT employee, told BBC Tamil, "After coming here, we have got not only physical benefits, but we have also learned many things like a better lifestyle, doing work systematically and punctuality. Focusing on a task with complete dedication and not letting our attention wander has brought new confidence and enthusiasm in our minds."
Maryam Farhana said, "From school and college students to 60 year old women come here. The reason for this is the freedom we get here. More than 300 Muslim women come here. Our wish is that after seeing us, more Muslim women should come here without any hesitation,"
Shabina, who works in an IT company, said, "I used to be very stressed because of working in an IT company. After coming here, I felt that my body and mind have become relaxed. As a mother, I am now able to handle both home and work equally. This exercise has helped me a lot in this."
"There are only women here, which is a good thing. It is also very convenient to come here and exercise at any time despite changing work timings. Most of the women dedicate their entire life to their family. If women like them take out some time for themselves and exercise like this, then it can bring a good change. For this they just have to take a small step,"
What is the attitude of the family?
Many women including Shahida come here for training at 5 in the morning. Many people told that Shabana also does the work of waking up all these women from 4 am every day. Many women who spoke to BBC said that they get support from their families to come to the gym every day.
Regarding this, school teacher Shahida said, "The support that the women coming here receive from their families is different for everyone. In my house, it was my husband who first encouraged me to go to the gym. He also wakes me up for many days. Three months ago, one morning my mother-in-law woke me up and asked, 'Aren't you going to the gym?' At that time I felt very happy from inside!”
Most of the Muslim women taking training in this gym exercise wearing burqa and hijab. Trainers also give training wearing burqa.
Regarding this, Rahija Shahjahan said, "There are only women here, so we can train even wearing exercise clothes. We exercise as per our convenience. There are no restrictions of any kind here."
Shabana told that although she had started this gym especially for Muslim women, but some women of other religions are also taking training here. Despite so many women coming here and seeing positive changes in their physical appearance, gym owner and trainer Shabana expressed her sadness that she still has to listen to taunts about her body.
"Many people who come here look at me and say that the trainer herself weighs this much. I can reduce my weight further. But I am a weightlifter. I have trained with this weight. I have won many competitions. I am sure that I will win many competitions in future as well," said Shabana.
Shabana explains that there is not enough space and equipment for all the women to exercise at the same time. The gym has some basic equipment like treadmill, battle ropes, stationary bike and dumbbells. There are not many modern equipments. Despite this, she mostly teaches women exercises to be done on the floor. He says that such exercises are very beneficial in reducing weight.
