Fitness freaks

Actors Milind Soman and Rahul Dev open a new wellness centre

When fitness freaks like Rahul Dev and Milind Soman set up a gym or rather a “wellness centre”, you know it won’t be one of those run-of-the-mill places that have mushroomed in metropolitan cities. Both men in their 40s look as fit as any youngster in his 20s and work really hard to maintain their physiques. Breathe, as the fitness centre is called, is their second set-up in the capital. The first one came up two years ago in 2009. Breathe is not just a fitness centre but a wellness centre. “The idea is to rejuvenate a person through the use of the five elements of nature — air, water, earth, fire and ethos,” says Dev, who acted in the recent Bollywood movie Yamla Pagla Deewana. So there’s a spa, a salon, a fitness studio and a wellness café called Cuppa.

Spread over four floors, Breathe is about providing holistic fitness experience to its patrons. Working out and keeping fit are something both men swear by. “We all lead such stressful lives these days that keeping fit should be a top priority for everyone,” says Dev. That’s why they decided to broaden the scope of a fitness studio and launch a wellness centre.

So at Breathe Spa, one can de-stress and detoxify through ancient and modern techniques of massage and therapies. And at Breathe Fitness, one can work on one’s body with the help of various experts. Dev and Soman believe that working only on getting a macho physique is not the ideal way to go about keeping fit. “A lot of youngsters want to have six-pack abs and often ignore the side effects of rigorous training,” says Soman. That’s why a team of fitness experts will advice, not only on exercises but also on nutrition.

Ask them about their fitness regime or mantra, and Dev says that he is more into functional training. He never spends more than an hour at the gym and does 120 pull ups in a day and a lot of running. He doesn’t follow any strict diet and eats whatever comes his way. “Be it paranthas, chocolate, I eat everything,” he says. But he makes it a point to shed those calories by working out on a daily basis. “You have to work harder as you grow old,” Dev says. He says that he never gets bored of working out and every time he hears someone say that working out is not fun, he finds it hard to believe. “Without exercising, my day is always incomplete,” he adds.

Soman, on the other hand, rarely spends any time in the gym but does a lot of outdoor running. “It’s the best stress buster and helps me keep in shape,” he explains. He believes that everybody reacts to different forms of exercise differently. “Identify what you like doing and stick to that,” is his advice.

But is their wellness centre targetted at the upper echelons of the society? “Not exactly,” says Dev, “we have kept the price points according to the quality of services we are offering,” he adds. The annual membership of Breathe is about Rs 60,000 for a couple. The first centre they set up is in Neeti Bagh, and Dev says that the citizens of Delhi gave it a good response.

In addition to the wellness centre, the duo are setting up their own fitness-related interactive website. The website will have special pages for new developments, myths and facts about fitness and guest columns from fitness experts from time to time. They also plan to organise outdoor fitness boot camps as well adventure travel for members from time to time.

Dev and Soman have plans to expand the wellness centres in other cities as well. And the primary reason for setting it up in Delhi was space as well as the fact they have seen the change in mindset of Delhi’s citizens over the years. “People here now are more fitness conscious,” says Dev.

Breathe — Spa and Gym, E-22, South Extension, Part-II