Folk Fitness is an Indian fitness regime comprising of the ‘Mind, body and soul’ bringing together Indian folk music, folk dance and fitness — all on one platform. A Make in India concept, folk fitness takes inspiration from 122 registered folk dances, celebrating the diverse Indian culture and tradition. It is a cardiovascular, full-body strength, endurance and agility exercise programme ending with meditation, and is suitable for all age groups. Folk fitness enables a faster fat burn, weight loss, increased flexibility and mental strength. Driven by passion for dance, it is an apt alternative to any conventional workout. Holistic fitness of the body, mind and soul, it aims at celebrating the zest of traditional India.
Garba
It is the most famous folk dance of Gujarat. It is played during the festival of Navratri, devoted to goddess Durga. Garba is mostly played by women, Garbi is performed by men, and Misra Garbi by both men and women. It is played in a circle with the center usually having the statue or image of goddess Durga.
How is it done: It has a lot of bending movements which help in strengthening of the lower back and very useful for the core muscles. The swing of arms caters to shoulders. A lot of clap movements involve wrist and forearm movements, also strengthening the hands. Revolving in a circular area needs your brain to be active throughout. This form is a part of a cardio workout.
Koli
A Maharashtra folk dance: In olden days, due to lack of anchoring, the fishermen used to pull the boat which weighed almost 1000 plus tonnes to manually anchor it.
How is it done: During this process, groups of fisherman performed synchronised pulling movements which used to result in strengthening of forearms, biceps, shoulders and chest. Similarly, throwing heavy fish nets in sea and pulling the fish impacts the upper body muscles. Also, walking in the sand enables exercise of the hamstrings, quadriceps and calves.
Bhangra
It is a Punjabi folk style, and not performed by women.
How is it done: It is a loud dance form with a lot of stunts involved in it. There is a continuous shoulder movement, lot of squats, hamstrings, quadriceps. The dancers carry each other on their shoulders, therefore it involves a lot of weight training too when it is further infused with folk fitness. This form mostly impacts the lower body.
Bihu
An Assam folk style done in the mountains. Bihu is like a festival for people staying there. With every new season, the people from Assam celebrate this festival. Therefore, they perform Bihu thrice every year. As staying in mountain restricts them from doing heavy and rigorous dance movements, Bihu is a very graceful dance form.
How is it done: In this exercise, the abdomen is squeezed which is effective for the core. This form impacts the hamstrings as well.
— The writer is the co-founder of a fitness studio.
