For Kenyans, Fitness Becomes Creative Exercise

Leonard Odongo begins each morning bench-pressing 265 pounds of concrete blocks attached to the ends of an iron rod. His hand weights, chest expander and other workout equipment are crafted from metal sticks and stones. Four friends, equally trim and toned, join the muscular 22-year-old in his backyard gym.

It doesn’t matter what you’re using to pump iron, Odongo contends, as long as you’re doing it. The key is “to get in shape. People have developed the desire to be fit. They are trying to adopt the Western lifestyle.”

Odongo and his friends are among a growing number of Kenyans caught up in a new physical fitness craze.

Makeshift backyard gyms--which typically require donation of a concrete block or iron rod for membership--pepper properties in lower-income neighborhoods across Nairobi, the capital. In more-affluent areas, dozens of health and fitness centers are springing up in office buildings and shopping plazas. They are challenging more established facilities that are located in Nairobi hotels and primarily cater to guests and the city’s business elite.

There are no exact figures available on the number of clubs. However, some sports gurus and local observers believe that health clubs are among Kenya’s fastest-growing industries. The clubs are sprouting in response to the general population’s desire to change its physical image.

“It’s part of a global trend,” said Frank Njenga, a Nairobi-based psychiatrist and a regular commentator on social trends in Kenya. “Previously, a new pub would come up every month. Now, what we have opening are health and fitness clubs. I think the message is finally getting through to Kenyans that prevention [of weight gain and illness] is better than cure.”

At Sequinpark Gymnasium, one of Nairobi’s newest clubs, clients may pay rates ranging from $5 a day to $500 a year for a cocktail of step aerobics, conventional high-impact exercise classes, taekwondo and use of imported machines. Additional pounds can be sweated off in a compact steam room.

Phyllis Mburu, Sequinpark’s owner, said most of her clients were simply following a trend. “It’s more of a fashion,” she said. “People are told: ‘If you exercise, you will lose weight.’ ”

At the less-modern Golde’s Gym, just 50 yards from Sequinpark, charges range from $1 a day to $17 a month. Tony Okumu, an instructor, agreed that, in today’s Nairobi, “if you’re not training, then people think something’s wrong with you. It’s the in thing.”

High unemployment, economic troubles and the general frustrations of urban life have driven many to seek healthier living.

“Nairobi life has become extremely stressful,” said Isaac Tsurwa, manager of the health and fitness center at the prestigious Norfolk Hotel, which offers aerobics, swimming, personal training on high-tech machines and a sauna. “People who are well-to-do are leading a sedentary lifestyle--to work, to the car and then to the bar. Life has put a lot of pressure on Nairobians. It has given people no choice but to turn up to a club if they want to survive.”

However, Tsurwa cautioned that some fitness centers lack adequate exercise space, modern equipment and trained instructors. No special license is needed to establish and run a health club, and there is no school for instructors.

Training in their own backyard, like Odongo and his friends do, is one of the most frequent ways that instructors start in the business.

“The biggest drawback to this is the health and safety aspects,” said Sam Dennis, a British-certified aerobics instructor. “There are controversial stretches and workouts. It also helps to understand the music and what you’re doing. Like anything else, you’re a better teacher if you’re qualified.”

For many fitness fans, working out has simply become habit-forming.

“You socialize and meet people,” said Wairimu Waiyaki, a 32-year-old secretary for an international accounting firm who has been a regular at the Norfolk gym for more than a year.

“I really couldn’t care if I lost weight,” Waiyaki said. “I just want to be fit. It has alleviated my stress, and it’s become a lifestyle.”