It is not just because of Katrina Kaif or Sara Ali Khan or Anil Kapoor, but celebrity home workout videos are the new lockdown-cool amid coronavirus pandemic. Across Instagram and TikTok, ‘jugaad’ workout is the ‘in’ thing. From lifting potted plants to sofa, people don’t want to lose their perfect washboard abs in the coronavirus sloth.
Internet is full of videos of people doing home workouts with things available around them, whether it is toilet paper rolls, water bottles, or even a pet dog.
That’s one way to do it, Malinois squats in the rain! #malinois #fightlife #lockdown2020 #quarantinefitness #galswithmals @BellatorMMA @JessicaPenne pic.twitter.com/F0m6mOAEH9
— Alpha Cat Zingano (@CatZingano) March 19, 2020
#Quarantinefitness is trending
There are tons of easy workout routines to keep up with the fitness quotient. All it takes is the will to get out of the couch and ‘just do it’. One doesn’t even need a workout partner anymore. Katrina Kaif made a split-screen video with her trainer Yasmin Karachiwala, both of whom exercised from their own homes, to show fans how social distancing is done without compromising on workout routine.
Hashtags like #QuarantineWorkout, #WorkoutFromHome, #AtHomeWorkout and #QuarantineFitness have thousands of posts, offering a wide variety of choices for you to pick up your favourite routine.
Instagram challenges such as #NoHandsChallenge is making the process even more fun. In Indian style, jhaadu-pocha (sweeping and mopping the floor) can be a good calorie burner too, since there are no domestic workers around anymore.
Pandemic over workout
However, not everyone is happy with the way people are now trying to be ‘fitness influencers’ by posting their workout videos. Director-choreographer Farah Khan Thursday posted a rant on Instagram urging people to “stop bombarding their Instagram feed with workout videos.” She also raised the issue of the privileges that celebrities enjoy, adding that they don’t have any other worries in this global pandemic except for looking after their figures. Farah ended her video saying that celebrities should realise that most people have bigger concerns and she will unfollow them if they keep posting such videos.
Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh, too, followed the lead and posted a horrendously photoshopped image of himself with a poster saying ‘stop posting your workouts’. The caption, as usual, had his own desi Punjabi touch, “Khao, piyo, aish karo mitron, workout kise nu dikhaayi na” (eat, drink and enjoy, but don’t show your workout to anyone).
Transforming fitness landscape
The current scenarios can also change the consumer behaviour of the fitness industry. In all likelihood, many people will experiment with this new format of working out from home and might get comfortable doing it. This can revolutionise the way people look at gym and strength training. Possibly, the fitness business won’t remain the same once the coronavirus crisis gets over.
Personally, I don’t mind seeing people posting their workouts. These are indeed desperate times, and with fewer real-life social connections, social media seems to be the only resort to vent out your anxieties and frustration. If these videos and challenges motivate people to workout and are making them feel better in the times of coronavirus isolation, I don’t see any harm in it. The only problem for me, however, is that the distance between my bed and the yoga mat seems far greater than the distance between my bed and the refrigerator.
Views are personal.