Why Busy Professionals Are Switching To Smart Home Gyms

India’s Dwindling Work-Life Balance

Narayana Murthy’s viral ‘9-9-6’ remark earlier this year sparked big debates about the work-life balance of Indian professionals like you and me. Amidst all the noise, here are some realities: we’re really not that far off from what Mr. Murthy is suggesting, and we’re burning out because of it.

• We work more than others around the world.
  The International Labour Organization estimates that Indian employees work an average of 46.7 hours a week, significantly higher than the 40-hour prescribed work week. Half of us work beyond 49 hours. Does this apply to you?
• Our work bleeds into our personal time.
  According to Indeed’s 2024 Work-Life Balance Survey, 88% of Indian employees receive work-related messages outside office hours, and 85% are contacted during sick leaves and holidays.
  
• As a result, burnout is inevitable.
  In the same Indeed report, over half of the employees (52%) surveyed cited this poor balance as the primary cause of burnout.

We try pushing hard and coming up with ways of delaying the burnout.

But ultimately, unless we decide to course correct, the sedentary yet non-stop nature of work life leads to a gradual decline in both our mental and physical well-being

A Compounding Problem

India is already lagging behind when it comes to maintaining an active lifestyle – according to the WHO, we rank 12th in insufficient physical activity among 195 countries. When we combine that with long work hours and all the stress that comes with that, it starts becoming a highly damaging force multiplier.

According to the ‘Workplace Health Reimagined’ report by MediBuddy, over 70% of Indian employees are carrying at least one lifestyle-related health risk.

It’s a staggering number, but not surprising – when we don’t have anything to counterbalance our escalating work pressures, a toxic loop forms:

To reverse this loop, a simple, once-in-a-while walk in the park won’t cut it. You need something that’s regular, versatile and extremely high impact.

How Strength Training Helps You Combat Burnout

Strength training isn’t all about flexing at the gym or getting that perfect beach bod. It is a multifaceted way of exercising that brings holistic benefits to many aspects of your life – including your performance at work. By incorporating various modes of strength training on a day-to-day basis, you can turn this toxic loop into a force multiplier for good:

• Isokinetic Training Makes You More Functional.
  Isokinetic strengthening of the knee and ankle muscles produced significant improvements* in balance and functional performance – defined as the body’s ability to move efficiently, safely and with minimal effort during everyday activities.
  
• Resistance Training Gets You Primed For Work.
  A recent study on strength training intervention for hybrid workers concluded that four weeks of simple, time-efficient resistance training saw higher levels of work engagement and lower levels of stress.*
  
• Hybrid Training Boosts Your Productivity.
  When you combine aerobic and resistance exercises, like in the UltraGym’s Rowing Mode, it leads to higher executive control – a set of high-level cognitive processes that allow you to direct attention, regulate behaviour and manage complex tasks.*

Now, the question arises: in such a heightened and elongated work environment, where does one find the time to undertake regular strength training?

Your Home Is Where Strength Can Be Built

One of the biggest myths out there is that working out regularly takes up a significant part of your day. In fact, in all of the aforementioned studies, the workout durations did not extend beyond 30-45 minutes.

The myth is perpetuated from all the other time commitments that come with going to the gym. All that time is saved when you regularly use the Portl UltraGym, a premium home gym for busy Indian professionals:

Time Wasted While Going To The Gym

• Mental friction of ‘Should I go?’
• Getting ready, packing & leaving home (10-15 minutes)
• Commuting to the gym, which can become nightmarish during certain traffic hours
• Waiting for equipment, which can get long during peak times
• Figuring out your workout order based on what’s free and available at the gym

Time Saved While Using Portl’s Smart Home UltraGym

• Friction is cut since you’re already there
• Just getting ready and getting to it
• It’s quite a quick commute from your bed to your living room
• Immediate access to 150+ different exercises at the touch of a button
• A selection of guided, pre-loaded workouts on the Portl app based on your goals

All this accumulated time saved turns a potentially 2-hour+ time commitment into a quite manageable 30-45 minutes. If that’s something you feel you can stick to on a regular basis, the Portl UltraGym is becoming an increasingly preferred smart home gym for busy professionals in India.

Portl UltraGym – The Best Smart Home Gym In India

Among all the time-saving workout solutions for professionals out there, the Portl UltraGym stands out because of 3 primary reasons:

• It’s compact.
  Unlike bulky home gyms available in the market, the UltraGym takes up barely any space in your residence. With a footprint of just 2.4 square feet, it can fit next to your study, beside the TV, in the balcony – basically, anywhere.
• It’s cutting-edge.
  Portl’s workouts provide results backed by real-time performance metrics. Our app can curate personalized workouts for you based on the goals you’ve set, with scientifically proven regimes that can help boost work-related factors like focus and productivity.
• It’s cost-effective.
  An average gym membership will cost you around ₹60k+ annually. That’s what it costs in totality to workout with the Portl UltraGym at the convenience of your home – without any of the additional expenditures involved in going & coming from the gym.

All these factors contribute to the UltraGym revolutionising how busy professionals stay fit at home. With it, they can truly reverse the adverse effects of today’s work life scenario:

More time saved through specialized home workouts

🔽

Improved productivity & concentration

🔽

More efficiency in your work tasks

🔽

More potential time to spend on your loved ones & personal goals

If this is the trajectory you want your work life to start heading towards, click here to get in touch about how you can bring the Portl UltraGym to your home.