When Arpreet Bajaj, founder and owner of the Nariman Point-based Studio23, got down to formulating a fitness challenge during the lockdown, he did not keep a 30-day timeline in mind. “We decided to have the challenge every month, because it’s all about consistency. Our golden rule is: don’t miss the workout two days in a row. That’s because once you start missing days, you also start losing momentum and then you find excuses to not do it.” Bajaj’s virtual challenge, now in its fifth edition, includes daily programmed workouts by an expert panel of trainers. Each session concentrates on one aspect of fitness, from body weight training, strengthening, flexibility and mobility, high intensity cardio to core building. It is also peppered with mental wellbeing and weekly guided meditative Yoga Nidra sessions. Bajaj says in order to make it holistic, they also got on board a panel of experts, such as professional acrobat Cyrus Khan, movement expert Giles D’Souza, aerialist Ria Bajaj, Kripa Jalan, nutritionist and MPH in Nutrition Candidate, Harvard University.

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Planks, push-ups, squats, lunges and flat abs, the challenges cover a wide spectrum. But, a YouTube video can’t correct your form or account for past injuries. 
It’s the medium that Megha Iyer, founder of 4Aces Hospitality, found problematic when she signed up for a bunch of challenges, including yoga last year. The remoteness of it is also what compelled her to give it up. “I tried a couple of fitness challenges by different YouTubers. For me, workout is quite meditative; it’s about being in the moment. But here, I was constantly worried about whether my form was correct or if I had missed the step. Moreover, the tutor can’t fully monitor if you’re doing it right on the basis of a phone or laptop screen.” Iyer has reverted to physical classes with a personal yoga trainer.

For every failure, there’s also a corresponding success story. Before he signed up for a virtual fitness challenge, lawyer Gaurav Shrawat would struggle to touch his toes. He admittedly came from a bad place. “I had poor eating habits, my sleep cycle was erratic and I knew zilch about nutrition. I used to go swim sometimes, but the lockdown put an end to that too. At that stage, I felt I needed professional help to take it forward rather than pull things off the Internet,” he says. Six months and five editions of fitness challenges later, Shrawat says he can not only do burpees and crawls, but also feels more alert and productive. “After one challenge, I decided to sign up for another, because I wasn’t sure if I’d continue following it if left to my own devices. Here, I had to fill up a daily worksheet about water intake, nutrition, sleep, last exposure to blue light and even ‘silence’ time, meant to cultivate mindfulness and appreciation of the present moment. Basically, I was being held accountable.” Shrawat plans to go independent after a month or two.

Fitness coach Sohrab Khushrushahi, who gave up a 15-year-long career to pursue fitness, has been conducting challenges since 2018. His brand Sohfit holds 40- and 21-day intensive workouts that also focus on eating clean, simple food and training together as a community. “Challenges tend to reboot your fitness levels. That’s why it’s called a ‘challenge’—it’s hard and it’s for a short duration. You can’t be on a challenge all your life; it’s important to find a balance.” Maintaining fitness levels post a challenge is up to the individual, he adds. “Your job as a coach is to teach and hope that the student continues to develop even once they are done with the challenge. Of course, we want to help people post the challenge as well, and offer them a number of options to continue training and eating well once the challenge is done.”

Megha Iyer, founder of 4Aces Hospitality, gave up a virtual fitness challenge as she didn’t find the medium conducive to a holistic experience

Given that it’s for a short duration, the burden of expectations is invariably high. Ting’s workouts are inserted with disclaimers: “Video titles are subjective and shouldn’t be seen as absolute truth.”

Bajaj says there’s always a lag in the gains that you see from a challenge. “You may not see the results immediately, but they are building up in the background. So, we tell people not to get discouraged. Also, a lot of people have wrong expectations that they’ll do a challenge and come out shredded. It takes longer than that.” He says the 21-day theory has long been busted.  “The new school of thought says, on average, it takes more than 30 days before a new behaviour becomes automatic—in fact, 66 days to be exact.”

Gaurav Shrawat, Arpreet Bajaj, Avinash Mansukhani and Sohrab Khushrushahi

Cuffe Parade-based Avinash Mansukhani, fitness consultant and transformation specialist, says a fitness challenge, where results are promised in 21 or 28 or 60 days, are great for those who want to kickstart their fitness journey and are looking for some sort of motivation. “But, the advantages stop right there. Firstly, fitness should never have a deadline; it’s an ongoing process and different bodies take time to adapt and show results. While this may present a low-hanging fruit of result in a short duration, and may motivate you to start, it’s more likely you’re not going to reach there in a short amount of time and this may demotivate you from being active after the challenge.”

That said, Mansukhani feels that what fitness challenges can certainly do is instill discipline and cultivate accountability. “It will get you into the groove of things, get your muscles working, stay motivated and teach you to discipline yourself to dedicate a certain amount of time to your body every day. Make these a part of your life.”

66
No. of days it takes for a new habit to become automatic, as per a new school of thought

Survived 30 days? What next?  

Fitness is long term: Mansukhani suggests you get onto a structured fitness programme, which is designed individually for your body and challenges it progressively, along with the nutrition required to fuel and replenish your body. “And don’t forget to recover well.”

Repeat the 30-day challenge: “If you feel you still need a support system and professional guidance before you make it on your own, sign up for another session,” says Bajaj.