Are you fit?
Rudeness notwithstanding, this question should be among the fundamental existential riddles that requires serious attention from us. Everyone should find the answer. Their unique and personal answer.
There are measurable parameters that are used to define a person’s fitness. The BMI, an intimidating or frustrating yardstick for some, provides an answer for sure. A tad empirical one, though.
Is that all there is to fitness? You end up doing things – diet, run, lift, swim, repeat – and reach there. Where? The destination is some number in a bodyweight chart, achieved chasing some other number on a wearable device, ticking the weights lifted in a gym chart, while trying to meet certain societal norms.
Fitness, rather, is a state of being, a way of living. It is the feeling that you are left with at the end of a busy day. It is how you wake up in the mornings. Fitness is, in fact, a journey in its entirety. It is intrinsically connected to your life philosophy, which, in turn, determines how you live each day – from mindset, attitude and social interactions to even diet. It governs how you move, or how rooted you are to the couch or office chair (both, equally bad), and the choices that you make, including exercise.
Some love lifting weights, while others are unabashedly not gym persons. There are many who find their “high” in running, while others prefer swimming. The important thing is to remain active, and whatever works for you is probably the best for you.
Be a sport, and try playing a game, suggest those whose fitness mantra revolves around scoring goals or baskets, hitting sixes, or gliding the frisbee. The gains are not just physical. Playing, instinctive and natural in childhood, takes everyone to a better space – physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.
Getting physical
As we talk about using sport to get fit, we should realise that it works the opposite way too. A common script often plays out across grounds big and small. Someone walks in to play and falls in love with the game. As they play more games, they want to get in better shape to keep up. Sports help them become fitter and find ways to condition their bodies. This makes sports a great way to stay fit.
Arnav Nagpal, 31, psychologist from New Delhi, began playing football while at school. His weekly exercise routine revolves around the game. Nagpal, in fact, used football to bounce back from a motorcycle accident that side-lined him for months.
“At the hospital, the first thing I asked was that whatever happens I wanted to be able to play football,” says Nagpal. “This was in 2020. It was a long and arduous journey. Football played a major role in my recovery. Motivation to play ensured that I kept my focus, and once I began playing, I regained my fitness.”
The playground offers a setting that is conducive to stretch physical limits without feeling the pinch. The willingness to go that extra mile for the team drives people. The game – basketball, football, or cricket (the gully game even) – acts much like a personal coach, urges one to go beyond physical limits, makes one fitter, without one even realising it.
“That is the magic of playing team sport,” says Vinayak Puthran, 41, software programmer from Bengaluru who is part of the Pixie Airbenders Ultimate frisbee team. “It is fun, but the physicality is real too. Our club’s training sessions involve a lot of running and skill drills which are great to improve one’s fitness. Ultimate is much like any other team sport. The collective energy, plus the joy of playing, eggs you to give more.”
Child’s play for adults
Those who take up sport as adults feel like they are turning the clock back. They are reminded of childhood. However, it is not just a nostalgic indulgence. The feeling has deeper implications.
“You learn a lot while playing sports as kids,” says Nagpal. “Life skills are picked up on the field – from coping mechanisms to group dynamics, from communication to leadership. There is no age limit or end to learning. Playing sport offers that same platform which we enjoyed as children, to learn and develop,” he adds.
Playing a game, whether we win or lose it, involves making mistakes, analysing them, and making adjustments. All of these elements are integral parts of the game. These values, invariably, seep into life. The playground brings out the child in us and the child, in turn, brings out responsible adults, completing the cycle of self-improvement.
The Women’s game
Sport opens a new way of life, a rewarding path. Poornima Katyal, a food entrepreneur from New Delhi, had never played sport her whole life till she chanced upon a football match while accompanying a friend.
“This was in 2020, just after the first COVID-19 lockdown,” says the 35-year-old. “I was intimidated, but I did play. Regardless of how I fared, that game got me hooked. I just felt happy; I had never felt that kind of rush while doing any workout.”
Before she got smitten by the game, Katyal used to do yoga, Pilates and other fitness routines to keep fit.
“Being a shy kid, I never got involved in sport,” says Katyal. “I started football when I was 33 and it helped me overcome my shy disposition. Initially, because of the pandemic restrictions, getting a chance to play was difficult. Three other women and I managed to catch hold of a coach who would train us at a park. Slowly, our game picked up even as the group expanded. Now it is a 40-strong club – Soccer Patolas!”
It has always been a challenge for women to play sport – their journey hampered by barriers ranging from social pressures to dearth of safe and convenient spaces. Things have changed of late, says Sonam Taneja, co-founder of Hudle Sports, a platform for people to get together and play sports in Delhi NCR and Mumbai.
“While the pandemic slowed down team sports, things have bounced back,” elaborates Taneja. “More and more women have started playing. We are talking not just about those who have played sports previously. Access to safe turfs is a factor along with increase in awareness of the many benefits of playing. It is cemented now: sport is not just for men or boys.”
Besides infrastructure accessibility, it is women themselves who are driving this change from the front, forming groups to help each other come out, play, have fun and reap the benefits.
Something similar is playing out in the basketball courts of Bengaluru.
Karnataka state basketball team coach, Mohan Kumar, has witnessed a resurgence in the number of women coming back into the game after their 30s.
“Primarily, it is to maintain fitness and most of them would have played the game in school, or college,” says Kumar. “Some learn the game by joining friends. They train and play seriously with many believing they can still take part in tournaments. And with more courts coming up, this has created a buzz.”
Basketball provides a great workout which is a mix of anaerobic and aerobic exertion with an emphasis on explosive strength. “The game keeps you fit since the match play gets intense,” says Kumar. “To add to that, most of them train conditioning and skill drills, which involves a lot of jumping and sprinting.”
Instant Validation
Team sport is a collective endeavour. But there are many who find personal space amidst the crowd.
Being part of a group and working towards a common goal, adds a sense of purpose,” says Vaibhav Raghunandan, media professional based in New Delhi. “We thrive on that sense of purpose and belonging. The purpose is larger than me, but I am doing things for myself too. There is a lot of thinking that happens while playing football. You constantly try to think for yourself and how you need to place yourself with respect to those around you. It is a very personal process happening within a team setting.”
Raghunandan, 35, is a recreational footballer, marathoner, and cyclist. Till a couple of years ago, and through the COVID-19 lockdowns, his primary means of fitness was running and cycling.
“Running and cycling provides a lot of scope to listen and understand yourself,” says Raghunandan, who works at the All India Football Federation. “You set goals and achieve them. However, after a point you want to look beyond doing distances and crave to test yourself with others in the picture.”
Sport does more. It provides Raghunandan, Katyal and scores of other players instant validation, learning and scope for correction.
“You learn from your mistakes,” says Raghunandan. “Win or lose, score or miss, at the end, you are happy because of what the game teaches you — to respect others, their skills and abilities. It urges you to get better without beating yourself up and creates camaraderie — an environment where everyone is there for each other.” The Kochi phenomenon is seen often, especially in smaller towns, where the groups assume a larger significance, adding a social purpose to the game. Katyal agrees, adding that the predominant thought is — losing does not matter, anyone can make mistakes and things could be better the next time.
A social basket
There is an eclectic group of men, with ages ranging from 16 to 70, who play basketball at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in the heart of Kochi, Kerala. They form smaller groups to play in the three-to-four-hour window available for non-athletes in the mornings.
Rana Thaliath, 47, private banker, is a regular. “With such a wide age group, we ensure that the pace of the match is moderated. We keep in mind that everyone enjoys the match and they do not get strained or injured,” he says.
Beyond the chance to make new friends, these games are also an opportunity for some to find mentors. “The elders in the group act as mentors, not just in the game, but also outside. If someone needs guidance or help in life, we are there. The group has become an extended family with regular social engagements,” says Thaliath.
The Kochi phenomenon is seen often, especially in smaller towns, where the groups assume a larger significance, adding a social purpose to the game.
The relationship you forge with the game dictates what you gain out of it. And from this relationship, you can draw out a lot. However, playing sport is not about erasing the followed notions of measured fitness. What sport offers is an opportunity to unravel the other layers of a fitness journey.
In team sport, that discovery is done within unique social frameworks of the game. Humans are social beings, and a collective setting always brings out the best. Playing team sport opens these avenues and more.
It is time, perhaps, to rephrase that question we began with. ‘Are you fit’ is passé.
Rather, are you game?
This article was first published in the May 2023 issue of the Happiest Health magazine. To read more such stories subscribe to the magazine, please click here.
