VIJAYAWADA: With the advent of modern gyms, traditional vyayamsalas, are fading away slowly. At present, there are only three such vyayamasalas run by some veterans more because of their personnel commitment than patronage. Though the fee charged by these vyayamasalas is much lower compared to modern gyms, people are not showing interest.“Now, hardly 30 people visit our vyayamsala in a day. Five years ago, about 100 people used to come here,” says K Lakshmana Rao, body- builder and chief fitness trainer at Maruthi Vyayamasala in Satyanarayanapuram.The vyayamasala was established in 1960 by Dandamudi Rajagopal, the famous weightlifter who won medals in Olympics, Shista Narsimhamurthy and Mydavolu Leelasivashankar. It is now maintained by Shista Hanmanthprasad in a small shed. “There is no protection for the equipment. Some equipment was even stolen,” says Lakshmana Rao. There is no support either from the municipal corporation or the state sports department, he said.“Here, we train people using conventional methods. We neither have the modern machinery nor do we encourage its use. Getting six-pack body in two or three months is not possible here,” Lakshmana Rao says. Another vyayamasala in the city is run by state-level champion S Krishna in Kothapet of One Town.
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