Mad scramble for perfect Carnival body

KINNESHA GEORGE-HARRY

IT'S that time again when hun­dreds flock to gyms to get their bod­ies in shape to hit the road for two days of revelry. Car­ni­val Mon­day and Tues­day, the two most high­ly an­tic­i­pat­ed days of the year for many, is right around the corner. For masqueraders, those two days re­quire en­durance, sta­mi­na and strength to master the stage while winging and jumping in the burning sun.

With just three days to go, sev­er­al pop­u­lar fitness instructors have not­ed an in­crease in the num­ber of peo­ple who have been flood­ing gyms or tak­ing part in fit­ness class­es.

Newsday Tobago caught up with fit­ness spe­cial­ist and cer­ti­fied per­son­al train­er Javon Carrington, owner of Dosfit Studios. He said the num­ber of peo­ple reg­is­ter­ing dur­ing the Car­ni­val pe­ri­od has dou­bled from January.

“There’s been an increase since the beginning of the year, but I strongly believe that even if their initial intent was to be fit for Carnival, that they’d make their health and wellness a year-round obligation,” he said.

With three sessions per day, three days per week, Carrington said the early morning and 6pm workout times have always been the bigger classes.

“But ironically the 7pm has grown considerably with a lot of males joining the Dosfit Studio family,” he said.

He is of the view that with the right diet and proper exercise, the goal of being ready for the road can be achieved.

“Ideally, three months prior is adequate time to get fit and see considerable change in your body, whether you’re getting ready for mas or generally,” Carrington said.

Another trainer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said whether it’s for aer­o­bics, spin class, car­dio or full body work­out, peo­ple are go­ing all out to en­sure they get max­i­mum phys­i­cal fit­ness for the road. He said what people should be do­ing all year they are trying to cram into a month.

“Peo­ple go on these crash di­ets to lose ten and 15 pounds – head to the gyms," he said, adding,"I don’t think it is a waste of time, since peo­ple don’t like feel­ing crap­py in their cos­tumes.”

He dis­cour­aged masqueraders from "crazy di­ets" to lose weight for Carnival.

“Peo­ple tend to think they can get a per­fect body in six weeks for Car­ni­val but I do not en­cour­age un­re­al­is­tic and crazy goals. Los­ing weight is not a fast and easy process. It is much bet­ter to have long term goals be­cause you can eas­i­ly put back on the pounds if you don't fol­low through with a healthy plan,” he said.

His advice, “Be con­sis­tent. There’s no harm in com­ing to get the body, but try to eat healthy and main­tain a good di­et, which is im­por­tant.”