5 Fingers of Fitness: A Fitness Love Story by Bhavna Harchandrai is a unique book that combines story-telling along with the 5 aspects of a holistic fitness program — cardiovascular exercise, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, diet and nutrition, and mental well-being. It features workout plans from a beginner to an advanced level. For the first time ever, each exercise from the workout plans has a QR code linked to a demonstrative video for easy learning. This book offers a pocket-friendly and practical way to stay fit for life!
Women Fitness India gets in a candid chat with Bhavna Harchandrai on her new launch and the idea behind it!
Ms Namita Nayyar:
Talk about your book. What are the 5 fingers of fitness?
Ms. Bhavna Harchandrai:
5 Fingers of Fitness – A Fitness Love Story is a unique book that combines story-telling along with the 5 aspects of a holistic health program. The 5 fingers denote the 5 essential parameters that constitute a fit and healthy lifestyle.
They are:
- Cardiovascular exercise
- Muscular strength and endurance
- Flexibility
- A balanced, nutritious diet.
- Mental well-being
The book is a practical, sustainable and pocket-friendly way to stay healthy and fit right through your golden years. After all, good health is your true net worth.
Ms.Namita Nayyar:
Talk about your fitness journey
Ms. Bhavna Harchandrai:
For someone who has led an active life for as long as I remember, I made the natural progression from being Sports Captain at school to making fitness a career in 1998. My story is not one of a major transformation that made me suddenly adopt a healthy lifestyle to knock down 100 odd kgs. I have been a fitness freak since childhood and my mom jokes that once I took my first baby steps, I never stopped walking. As a college student, I saved up my allowance to enroll in aerobics classes when they first came to Mumbai and kept them going alongside while attending lectures, training for Travel and Tourism (IATA), and studying for MBA. As a teenager, I’d set my own night-out deadlines so that I could catch a good night’s sleep and be at the neighborhood park at 7 am every single day, including Sundays! My NO drinking, smoking, coffee, unhealthy food habits, indulgent desserts policy ..apart from my daily intake of dark chocolate, earned me the nickname of ‘Loser’ amongst the cool college crowd. I took it in my stride and stayed true to myself. Bus, Chalte Raho!
To cut short, I have spent 24 years in the fitness industry and have headed Group-Exercise at Gold’s Gym, Moksh, and Pure Energy and have clocked various fitness certifications whilst on the job. My Badimama taught me that there is no limit to gaining knowledge and whenever I get a chance to learn an exercise concept; be it aerobics, step, Zumba, pilates, Penalty Box, Trampoline Fitness; I do a course in it.
Every exercise form has its own principles and benefits and there is so much to learn. I am also Internationally Certified by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) as a Personal Trainer and run my studio #fitnessfundas in South Mumbai.
I have had the privilege of being a weekly columnist at Hindustan Times and a Fitness Contributor at Mumbai Mirror, apart from having written fitness features for every English news publication in Mumbai and for many in India.
5 Fingers of Fitness is a culmination of my learnings and experiences in the world of fitness. Everything that I have seen, read, heard; every bit and bite of diet and fitness Gyan that I have gathered, I have penned down in this book…of course, with a healthy dose of tadka. I have seen many diet and fitness books churned out with textbook knowledge, a few flowery quotes, voluminous descriptions of exercises, and Voila! The book is ready.I did not want to go down that path, yet offer essential fitness information to everybody irrespective of their age, gender, fitness levels, and knowledge. It was my dream to empower everyone to form their own diet and exercise schedules independently in a safe, effective manner. This is what motivated me to write my own book.