HOT JOBS
A field fit for brawny youth

Taking up a job as a coach in a gymnasium or fitness centre is a lucrative option for several well-muscled youngsters, writes Peeyush Agnihotri

THIS is one of those fields where raw brawn matters more than a sizeable brain. Also, this is one of those jobs where being young certainly helps. No wonder then that taking up a job as a coach in one of the gymnasiums or fitness centres is being seen as a lucrative job option by many well-muscled teenagers.

Fitness centres can be broadly divided into two categories — the top-of-the-line expensive ones and those that cater to the bourgeois. While the former have full-time, trained seasoned coaches, the latter usually employ a college-going muscled hunk to assist and coach the clients on workouts and bodybuilding.

Such within-the-reach-of-middle-class gymnasiums are emerging as hotspots for well- toned youngsters who want to ‘sweat it out’ to earn.

In fact, a kind of symbiotic relationship exists between the gym owner and the coach. While the owner gets a ‘trainer’ at less rates, the ‘trainer or coach, gets to earn enough to fund his studies. More often than not, the ‘coach’ is a product of that very gym itself.

A typical profile of such ‘coaches’ is that they are college-going guys, who have just stepped into their 20s. They usually earn around Rs 2,000 per month — enough to supplement their studies — thanks to a physique that may even put Adonis to shame.

"I started visiting gyms for exercises when I was a Class X student. Daily workouts bore fruit and slowly, I learnt the techniques of weight-lifting. By the time, I was in Class XII, I knew the basics of bodybuilding. I was immediately employed in the gym as a coach," says Deepak Sehgal from Pacific Fitness, who is simultaneously pursuing a course in fitness and nutrition from the US.

For Suresh Saini, an instructor at Figure and Physique, a Panchkula-based gym, there couldn’t have been a better way to pursue graduation. Hailing from Karnal, Haryana, he has already won 12 medals, including a gold, in the 65 kg category. "This is the best way to fund my studies," he says.

All the ‘coaches’ who were contacted wanted to pursue a full-time career in the field of body-building. Some wanted to open a full-fledged gym of their own while others wanted to start coaching at various gyms.

"I want to start a gym of my own. It is an upcoming field and with people getting health conscious, there will be no dearth of money," says Rocky, a plus two passout, from Gym-8. Rocky says that it is the chosen few whom God bestows with a well-endowed body. "So why not make full use of it?" he asks.

However, the present trend doesn’t make Maninder Singh Oberoi of Vertical Fitness, a Chandigarh-based gym, a happy man. "How can a youngster who is not fully aware about his own physique take the responsibility of training others?" he asks. While agreeing to the fact that this is a good source of ‘pocket-money’ for a chosen brawny few, it could be hazardous for those being coached.

Clients think otherwise. "A student-ish coach is more helpful and always available. Usually such ‘coaches’ themselves do workouts while guiding the batch so they mingle easily and a rapport develops between them," says Abhimanyu Khurana, a manager in an MNC.