Fitness fans exercise at a centre in the city. — FE Photo
Commercial fitness outlets are sprouting up in the capital, as students and housewives splurge lavishly to keep them physically fit.
The demand for such services has been increasing steadily in the last couple of years, owners of commercial fitness clubs say.
Also, local corporate houses and multinationals have set up own fitness corners in their offices and factories to help time-poor executives fight off the bad effects of sedentary lifestyle.
RANGS Group, Envoy Group, BATBC, Paragon Group, Well Group, Unilever, Grameen Phone, Airtel, Beximco Group, Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Bank Asia and Dhaka Bank are among the corporate biggies that have installed these fitness corners in their head offices or on factory premises.
Besides the growing commercial fitness centres and installation of such corners by big corporate houses, many multi-storied apartment owners are also setting up such centres to ensure physical fitness of their family members.
"People are now taking physical exercise as an alternative to medication, which has emerged as a boon for the commercial fitness centres," Imtiaz Rumi, managing partner of Combat GYM at city's Siddheshwari area, told the FE.
"Physical exercise can give people suffering from diseases some comfort. But there is a shortage of open space in the city to do exercise, so the city dwellers are choosing fitness centres as an alternative," he added.
A person can prevent or get relief from diseases like migraine pain, heart disease, stroke, spinal cord pain, back pain, any joint pain, muscle pain, high blood pressure, kidney disease, different types of cancer and lower obesity through physical exercise, Mr Rumi said.
He said the number of clients in his fitness centre has almost tripled in the last three to four years.
Disposable income of city dwellers has also supported the growth of the costly and luxurious fitness centres, Mr Rumi added.
While there is no statistics on the number of commercial fitness clubs, an owner says the number could be between 350 and 400 in the city alone.
According to commercial fitness centre owners, it requires Tk 0.5 million to 5.0 million to establish a commercial gym or fitness centre.
Managing Director of Envoy Group Abdus Salam Murshedy said it is his responsibility to help keep all officers and staff of his company physically fit, for which he has set up fitness corners in his head office and factories.
"Being a sportsman, I can realise the necessity of physical fitness. Poor people cannot manage to go for gym or other exercise after reaching office. So we have set up a fitness corner at our office," he added.
Owners at the city's Stadium Market said the number of shops selling fitness items has increased more than ten times in the last few years.
"There were around 30 to 35 shops in the city that sold sports and fitness items. Now there are more than 400 such shops in the city," showroom manager of A B Sports at the market Abdul Mutalib told the FE.
"This business is spreading across the country. Almost twenty per cent of our total sales go outside the city," he said.
According to businessmen, there are more than a thousand types of instruments in the market whose prices range from Tk 30 to 1.2 million depending on technology, origin and model.
Bangladesh mostly imports instruments from Taiwan, China and the USA.
Mahbuba Rakhi, who runs Sliming Zone at Mohammadpur, said majority of her clients are students and housewives.
"Service holders also want this service, but they can't manage to get time to reach the centre," she told the FE.
"Demand for fitness clubs has increased significantly, but we've a few trainers," Amina Iqbal, owner of a fitness corner at Mohammadpur area said.
Only Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP) provides training to a limited number of students, which is inadequate, she added.
Professor and head of the department of Physical Medicine at BSMMU Dr Abu Salek said physical exercise helps people to prevent and be cured from many diseases.
"If a person exercises regularly, then expenditure for medication would come down by at least 70 per cent and the person will be physically fit," he added.
He, however, urged everybody to do exercise according to scientific ways to avoid unwanted disease.
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