They get people to gradually build stamina
Gyms in Bengaluru are getting their clients to produce medical reports to reduce the possibility of them suffering heart attack during workouts.
According to cardiologist T.R. Raghu, extreme workout routines have the most possibility of causing heart attacks. One should gradually build one’s stamina instead of following an extreme workout plan. An unhealthy lifestyle as well as pre-existing heart problems and hereditary factors might contribute to heart attacks during extreme workout sessions.
“Anybody above 25 years should get a cardiac checkup,” Dr Raghu said. Stress and smoking are the main reason for heart attacks, especially among youngsters.
Gold’s Gym has 700 current members. Once clients enrol, the gym has a small fitness assessment. There are questionnaires through which trainers try to analyse if clients have pre-existing conditions or have undergone surgeries. After the fitness analysis, the trainers decide what kind of training the clients need to do. If they have pre-existing medical issues, the client needs to get a clearance letter from a physician.
“Based on their advice, we design the workout. Workout is for everyone,” said Abhinandan, the manager at Gold’s Gym. A majority of the people come here for weight loss. There are fitness managers and fitness trainers in different categories present in the gym.
Chetan Yadav, the owner of Muscle World gym, said their clients need to get checkups and blood tests done before they start training. If a client has a pre-existing heart problem, he is put though exercises that gradually build stamina.
Hemanth Gowda, a trainer at Golden Arrow Fitness Gym, shared: “If they have any major issues, we find out those things.” He gave the example of asthma or shortness of breath. Before starting a heavy lifting regime, they ask their clients whether they had suffered any injuries.
Abhirao, a gym client at J Fitness, said he was required to produce a blood test report to the gym. They wanted to know his blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Based on these readings, the gym trainer designed his workout regime.
Actor Puneeth Rajkumar died last year following an excessive workout. Media reports quoted his family doctor, Dr Ramana Rao, as saying a rigorous workout ruptured his coronary arteries, causing a blood clot that resulted in a cardiac arrest. Dr Rao informed The Times of India that the actor showed no symptoms except excessive sweating. Only when an ECG was done did it emerge that he had suffered a cardiac arrest.
A proper workout plan designed by the gym trainers according to the client’s stamina and medical condition can go a long way in preventing heart attacks.
ahona.r@iijnm.org
