Reopening Gyms in India: How Crosstrain Fight Club in Delhi is reopening

The Gyms across India have reopened following the COVID-19 lockdown. The lockdown had been a huge blow for the Indian fitness industry in general but now that the restrictions are eased, it is time to adapt and get back to business.

We are starting our new series ‘Reopening of Gyms in India’ where we hope to feature multiple gyms across the nation and their plans in the post-COVID time period. In this second chapter, we will be talking to Siddharth Singh who is the founder of Crosstrain Fight Club which has its headquarters in Delhi.

Siddharth, who is also an accomplished grappler having won multiple national and international level competitions, opens up about the precautions that have been taken, how we should get fit rather than waiting, the future ahead, and much more. You can read the responses from Siddharth below.

Using the lockdown to build a dream academy

We stopped Crosstrain Fight Club operations a good week before the national Lockdown was announced around mid-March. Considering the fact that ours is a close contact sport and I wasn’t prepared to risk the safety of the men, women, and kids who train with us when it came to this unknown virus.

Now that we know what the virus can and cannot do, we are clearer and have taken the necessary steps to re-launch in September 2020. The general morale was not that great, to be honest. We had to close our HQ in Saket first as we couldn’t make rent anymore and then we also discontinued our franchise in Gurgaon.

Both big blows to the morale however 'failing upwards' is a philosophy that I have always had in life. Therefore as a word exclusive to you guys, let me tell you that we would be opening our brand new HQ in Saket and it will be a state of the art school. I used this lockdown time to build my dream academy. It will be unveiled soon.

The Safety Measures that have been taken

We used to have around 30-40 members in each session at Crosstrain, Pre-COVID. Going forward we have capped sessions to a maximum of 10 people. We have also designed a program so members can train at any time of the day. Training will no longer be limited to group sessions. The temperature will be checked prior to every session and hand sanitizing stations will be placed all over the academy. No communal gloves or shin guards will be provided.

Reaction to the reopening of the gym

The competition team is really excited about the potential of reopening; however, the casuals are understandably very wary about training right now. Once they see the safety protocols that we have implemented and also that training will actually help them build immunity and a stronger cardiovascular base, they will return to training. It’s no secret that someone with a strong cardiovascular capability in combat sports would be better suited to handle the virus than someone with limited cardiovascular capabilities.

‘Get physically fit now’

I think we all as a society need to rubbish this chain of thought that wishes for us to accept the concept of this 'new normal'. There are way more dangerous diseases and viruses out there. For us to accept the 'new normal' only means that we are conforming to an idea which has been cooked up by the same people who want to control everything we do, who want to know where we are at all times and everything about us. Say no to ' new normal', get physically fit now, or wait for the vaccine and let’s get back to the 'old normal'.

The road ahead

Slow and steady wins the race- I never started Crosstrain on a short term whim to make quick bucks, we are going to be here for life. We plan to train; we plan to train really f**king hard cause that’s what warriors do. We will get plenty of warriors that will join us in time when they see conformity is nothing but the opposite of courage.

Tune in for the next chapter in the series where we will be featuring another gym that has reopened post-lockdown.

Image Courtesy: Facebook/Crosstrain Fight Club

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