The business of wellness

"I was overweight at 105 kg…My being overweight was in a way a blessing in disguise as it always helps me relate to my clients. Because I’ve been in their shoes I know what’s going on in their head,” says Shahzad Daver who has recently partnered with V-Fit, an integrated fitness solution company, started three years ago by Viraf Tavadia. Their corporate office is located at Charni Road in Bombay and they are geared to provide qualified manpower to monitor a person’s training at home and offer consultancy services to set up corporate and commercial gyms. Accompanying obesity was "a certain level of inferiority complex but that went out the window and my confidence went through the roof when I decided to get fit. It made me believe that what you feel about yourself from the inside reflects on the outside. It further motivated me to pursue a career in fitness,” declares Daver.

When vying for the title of Mr Zoroastrian in 2004 and 2005 he set in motion a plan for being fit. Although he did not win the title, he bagged many ancillary prizes and considers this phase the most satisfying time of his life. As Daver candidly admits, he lost weight doing half the things right and half wrong as there was really no one around for proper guidance. His source of information was fitness magazines and articles but as he soon realized, "Most of it is half baked and unfiltered information. Even I went through the silliest routines of having lime and honey in hot water on waking up thinking it was going to help me burn fat and doing 100 crunches hoping to flatten my pot belly.”

Shahzad Daver: upgrading his skills

The fat and the tummy both went down "but that was because I did a few things right as well. Today, my workouts are my first priority. I keep myself fit by doing weights and endurance training i.e. running, cycling, swimming and of course watching what goes into my mouth.” Although he may be pressed for time, he never skips his workouts even if he has to do the routine at 10 p.m. Currently he is busy organizing facilities for a Lodha property in Lonavla. Their other corporate clients include Wadwa group and Deloitte, he says.

Daver formalized his training and certified himself as a health and fitness trainer from the K-11 Fitness Academy and completed a certification from the Qi Academy associated with ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine). In 2004-05 Daver started work at Inch by Inch as a trainer for a year and was then promoted to floor manager. The experience made him realize that the gym is not only a part of the fitness industry but of the service industry as well. He was surrounded by a skillful set of trainers with healthy competition among them.

He then moved to K-11’s Cuffe Parade gym as their facility manager where he learnt the ropes of the business be it sales, administration, maintenance, customer care, human relations, marketing and everything involved in making the gym a profitable business. In fact he started working as a fitness instructor at the age of 19, when he was yet studying. After studying at St Xavier’s High School, he graduated in commerce from the Bombay University.

For Daver, fitness was a hobby, a passion he translated into a profession. "I constantly strive to upgrade my skills by exploring and exploiting current research in the fitness industry. Apart from that, I enjoy traveling to exotic locations in India and across the globe, exploring new food and drink, and basically experiencing life in all its forms,” adds the 30-year-old whose family includes wife Kainaz, mother Silloo and brother Yazad.

V-Fit operations cover two divisions — wellness at home and fitness management. The first segment of the business deals with providing wellness industry experts to people at home. From personal trainers to kick boxing experts, aerobic and yoga instructors, V-Fit takes care of their client’s fitness needs. The client also has an option to avail the services of a nutritionist and a masseur to gain maximum benefit from the exercise regime. A relationship manager is appointed to each client to monitor progress and motivate him/her to attain fitness goals, he explains. The services provided by V-Fit are tailored to suit the client’s convenience, of time and affordability.

The company also specializes in the setting up of club houses, spas, commercial and corporate gyms. Based on the requirements, it provides facilities to furnish the properties including equipment for the gym, sauna, steam, tennis/badminton/squash courts, swimming pool and other areas. While setting up the gyms, V-Fit considers the area (in square feet), location, target group and requirements. Apart from the initial set-up, V-Fit also provides hands-on management of the facilities. These services include provision of trainers, nutritionists, front desk sales and receptionists, managers, counselors as well as software required to run the facility.

V-Fit ensures that their staff is of the highest quality. Each trainer has undergone three levels of theoretical and practical exams before being recruited. Once on board, the fitness team’s skills are constantly upgraded through workshops and seminars conducted by senior fitness professionals in the industry, explains Daver who is a fitness lecturer at the K-11 Academy.

"Fitness has caught on like a bug in the past few years making it a part of a lifestyle for many Parsis,” observes Daver, adding, "but the fitness craze has always been present in the community. Most baugs in the city have a gym facility as part of their club house.” In fact, one of the first gyms he worked out in was at Cusrow Baug. He has also trained several clients at Rustom Baug. "Our community is among the few which encourages body building as a sport,” states Daver who won several such contests in the early days of his career.

Viewing himself as "an extremely optimistic person drawing inspiration from the teachings of the Zoroastrian religion,” Daver says "I definitely see a huge involvement of the youth in community affairs so the future does seem bright. Although we are a small community, our presence can be felt across industries.”

Daver’s three easy health tips:

The trick to stay healthy and in shape is to create a lifestyle change and not a temporary quick fix which may be appealing e.g. losing five-10 kg before a wedding or before a holiday.

Women especially must make sure weight training is part of their regime. Women do not have the testosterone levels of a man so no matter how much weight they lift, they will not start looking like a man. To shed body fat the sluggish metabolism has to be triggered through weight training.

What you eat is what you are. So even if one works out for two hours a day, eating right is indispensable. Get a diet plan from a certified sports nutritionist instead of attempting one on your own.

The fitness consultant can be contacted at +91 9819707021.