Shwetambari Shetty - Get Moving!

This book is meant to move you. Literally. Whether you picked it up to know how to shed some extra kilos, develop some killer biceps, or just carry forward the benefits of those Cult.fit classes you love so much, remember, it all comes down to movement. The human body is designed to move, not to be hunched over a desk or sprawled on the sofa, binge-watching a TV show, or sit in one place scrolling through social media.

When you move your body, regardless of the kind of movement, it produces feel-good hormones that give you a boost to conquer the day, an extra bounce to tick everything off your to-do list and contentment that keeps you calm and happy. But sometimes we forget to move. I know its easy and comfortable to get in the rut of not working out, of promising yourself youll begin from tomorrow. I know its sometimes tiring to come back from a long day of work and go for a run, but the truth is: theres no alternative to movement, and theres no replacement for the amazing ways in which your body can benefit from working out correctly.

Let me tell you my story. Youve probably seen me on the Cult.fit app, website or at some of the centres in Bangalore. You must be thinking its easy for me to say all this, because I do it day in, day out. But do you want to know a secret? I didnt become a fitness trainer till I was 30. A lot of people who come to the Cult.fit centres for classes are younger or in the same age group. But what got me started was the reminder that I needed to get moving.

I was born in a village named Kundapur, which is a 2-hour drive from Mangalore. Kundapur is my ancestral village, and I lived there with my parents for the first 78 years of my life. My father worked in a bank, and, after a point, the nature of the job was such that he was transferred to a different city every couple of years. As a result, after the age of 7, my family and I moved around the country quite a bit, shifting to a new city every 2 years. It was a completely new experience from the simple life we had led in Kundapur, but as a child it was all exciting. I do, however, know that those formative years spent in Kundapur shaped my lifestyle and have had a deep impact on the way I live. Even today, whether its in the kind of comfort food I crave or the technique of lifting heavy objects, I go back to what I learnt from watching people in the village.

After I graduated from high school, I got admission in a college in Bangalore, where I studied for a BCom degree. After completing the course, I was keen to do an MBA, but my family wanted me to get a job. They felt there was more security in working rather than studying further. Also, as it is with half the country, my parents wanted me to get married soon, preferably by the age of 21. But I had different plans for myself.

I joined a multinational bank as a customer service executive. Over the next 7 years, I worked my way up to a managerial position. That was my first job, right out of college, and it taught me a lot about people management, relationships and business, basically everything about the corporate life. Im glad to have had that experience early on, because it taught me just how important it is to connect with people. Little did I know that I would be applying these skills in a very different way years later.

While I was working, my parents maintained their dream of getting me married and were keen that I met the prospective grooms their friends and family would tell them about. I didnt mind the idea of commitment and a relationship, but I didnt have that kind of connection with most of the men I was introduced to. A majority of them were either doctors or engineers, and our parents would just consider the family background rather than how well we got along. There were, however, 2 instances when I was open to taking things forward. But, with both the men (one was a doctor and the other an engineer), things fell through as either our astrological charts didnt match or the families werent compatible with each other.

I agreed to keep meeting men, as I knew my parents would not drop the idea. At the same time, I was sure I knew what I was looking for in a husband, and kept pushing back when I knew things werent right. So my days were filled with long hours at work and meeting prospective grooms. Over those 4 years, I must have met about 4050 men.

In 2008, I met a Malayali boy whom I really liked, outside of the people my parents were introducing me to. We began dating and seeing each other often, but my parents didnt know that we were serious. By this time, I was well settled at the bank, and the hard work I had put in had shown results and even helped me buy my own house at the age of 24. But after 7 years, it felt like I was on autopilot.

Around 2010, my sister introduced me to the founder of a new luxury health club in Bangalore. It was a well-equipped gym catering to the elite of the city. They were looking for someone to manage its end-to-end operations. Since I had experience in people management, they were keen to hire me.

When I went to the health club and heard what they wanted me to do, I realized I was excited to work there. Not only was I ready for a new challenge, but the thought of working in the fitness industry was also appealing. I had been active and into sports from an early age. I had learnt yoga when I was 6 because my father would practise it daily, and it had become a habit to join him each morning. At school, I would regularly participate in shot-put, long jump and running competitions. Though I had a natural knack for such activities and often won prizes, I never thought any of it could lead me to a viable career. Even my father didnt identify the potential. But, in hindsight, I believe I should have focused on sports. Nobody in my family imagined or understood that it could have been something beyond just an extracurricular activity or even my career.

I do, however, hope that this idea is changing across India. I wish to see more parents encouraging their children to take up sports professionally whenever they see the potential and passion in them. Im lucky to have eventually found my way back to sports and fitness, and made my career in the field, but its sad that there are young people out there giving up their dreams because they havent received enough encouragement or dont see a future in the field. The only thing I know is: Its never too late. You are never too old to rekindle a dream.