The verdict is in. Calcuttans still have plenty of miles to clock in on the treadmill before the city can declare itself fit and fine. Sure, the number of people trickling into the neighbourhood gyms has now become a steady flow but there’ll be some time to go before the city can hold its own against its more fitness-savvy counterparts like Delhi or Mumbai.

All is not lost though, as Calcutta has its own bunch of fitness experts who’re pulling their weight in the never-ending battle of the bulge. There are those who are the veterans in the fitness field, some have been hot property for a while now, and yet others are just about starting to make their mark. These are no fly-by-night operators. They come equipped with diplomas and degrees, experience and loads of determination, and they’re using them to flush that fat away. We bring you our round-up of the best of them all...so what are you waiting for? It’s time to pull on your exercise duds and get with the programme!

ANWAR WAHAB

• Age: 36 years

• In the fitness game for: The last three-four years

• The story before: Anwar was always gung-ho about fitness but decided to give it a go professionally when tennis ace Leander’s dad Dr Vece Paes asked him to team up and train with him. He joined Dr Paes to help run his fitness academy, the now-defunct Paes and Sport, then looked after fitness at his tennis academy. Soon enough, Anwar decided to fly solo. Then, it was on to the Cricket Association of Bengal, and the National Cricket Academy, at the same time, assisting former cricketer Saba Karim during cricket camps. He was spotted by golfer Inderjit Bhalotia and took over as the fitness director of the Indian Golf Union and then got into general fitness soon afterwards.

• Paperwork: Did a certification in personal training from the American Council of Exercise (ACE), San Diego, plus constantly reads and updates himself about fitness.

• Celeb clientele: As a sports trainer, Anwar has had cricketers like Devang Gandhi, Rohan Gavaskar, Deep Dasgupta and occasionally, even Sourav Ganguly under his wing. In the golfing fraternity, there’s been Rahil Gangjee, whom he’s still training as well as other noted names like Surya Prakash, Manavi (Mini) Halwasia, Akshay Butta and others.

• Currently with: Ocio on Belvedere Road. And he’s also the consultant for all the Bodyline gyms, among them the ones at Punjab and Ordnance Club. He conducts sessions at the Tollygunge Club, for golfers as well as general fitness freaks while the personal training sessions with athletes are still going strong. Among the promising youngsters he’s training are Ramit Tandon, (five-time junior National Squash Championship winner) and his younger brother Rishi, who recently won the Hong Kong Open.

• Personal fitness funda: Helps clients develop a vision. “Nearly 50 per cent of people who come in to train, drop out mid-way. I try and explain the theory behind each exercise so that they know just why they’re doing what I’m asking them to do. That way, there’s a better chance they hang on.” Also believes in varying the routine every now and then, just so the body gets constantly challenged and the client stays interested.

• Calcutta’s most common fitness follies: “People here aren’t willing to pay for quality. They’re OK with going out and blowing up Rs 3,000 and more on a Saturday night, but they aren’t willing to pay that much for a month’s work-out at a top-class gym. Seven-star service comes for a price and like I always say, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.”

• Calcutta: fat or fit? Rates it a four out of 10, but claims awareness is growing.

• Idea of body beautiful: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They’re both perfect from every angle.

• Personal fitness goal: In March, Anwar will be one of only 32 people across the world, going to do a course in biomechanics on golf fitness by fitness guru Paul Chek.

PREETOM MUKHERJEE-ROY

• Age: 32 years

• Working up a sweat professionally for: The past 12 years including three years at Bally’s Total Fitness, a USA-based fitness chain.

• Was inspired to take up fitness as a career by: Mother Bebe Mukherjee, a well-known fitness expert in the city.

• Paper trail: Preetom’s list of fitness credits include an ACE (American Council of Exercise) certificate, and a diploma course certificate in general nutrition and health from the University of Houston, US. While in the States, Preetom also trained for three months in basic muscle physiology and human anatomy from Bally’s (besides managing their 80,000 sq foot gym) and did courses in Kinesiology (study of muscle movement) and Psychology, again from Houston University.

• Looking back: Preetom ran his very own set-up called Preetom’s Gymkhana for about three years but shut shop when he got the offers to set up the Addlife and Solace gyms in 2002. He was the fitness manager at Addlife for one-and-a-half years. Last year, he was busy setting up the Bodyline gym at the Stadel hotel in Salt Lake.

• Present tense: Currently Preetom is the fitness manager at Solace while he also remains a consultant with The Stadel’s Bodyline. He has also just overhauled Planet Gym, the fitness centre at the CC&FC.

• Favourite workout way: Preetom believes in following a maintenance programme ? three days of cardio- vascular workouts and three days of weight and strength training. Mukherjee also feels that minusing the munch can increase the punch when it comes to overall fitness.

• That all-important piece of equipment: Preetom swears by the Smith Machine, which is basically a bench press where the bar is connected to the main frame. It’s a multi-purpose machine and one can use it for backpress, weighted squats etc.

• Supplements ? healthy or harmful? Multi-vitamins and natural supplements like Omega 3 (i.e fatty acids from the oil of deep-sea fish) are fine. But other supplements like Creatine can be really harmful in the long run.

• Calcutta’s most common fitness follies: Not monitoring one’s heart rate while doing cardio-vascular exercises.

• Calcutta: fat or fit? Still fat, although Preetom acknowledges the fact that we’ve come a long way. “Calcuttans love to eat and this is the only city where gym attendance takes a dive during festivals,” he says.

• Calcutta celebrity with the best body: Among the men, it’s Tota Roy Chowdhury while June Maliah and Debasree Roy get brownie points for the maintenance factor.

• And the Bodylicious Award goes to... Halle Berry and Brad Pitt. “Pitt is the best example of the lean look as his Body Fat Percentage (BVP) is less than nine per cent,” says Preetom.

• Busting that fitness myth... Many people believe that drinking chilled water promotes fat. However according to the American College of Sports Medicine, water has no calories and it has been proven that having chilled water while working out in fact, helps burns more calories. In gyms abroad, they always give you chilled water to drink.

DR PREMSUNDAR DAS AND DR DIBYASUNDAR DAS

• Ages: 58 and 54 years respectively

• In the business of yoga: Ever since 1970

• Were inspired to take up fitness as a career by: Their father, the late Dr Ashutosh Das, professor at Calcutta University who stressed the importance of health, then education.

• Paper trail: Both the elder brother Premsundar (left in pic) and the younger Dibyasundar learned yoga from the late Yogindra Bishnucharan Ghosh, brother of world-renowned yogi Parahamansa Swami Yogananda. That apart, Dibyasundar has a degree in homoeopathic medicine while Premsundar has a PhD. in complementary medicine under his belt. In fact, the latter’s book Yoga Panacea ? A Book Of Holistic Health And Healing has been appreciated by none other than George Bush!

• Present tense: Right now, both the brothers are each associated with six institutes in Calcutta under the World Yoga Society banner, with 110 affiliated and supervised branches in India and abroad. There’s also Castlecorner and the P.S Das Yoga Research And Rehabililation Centre managed by Premsundar, apart from the Yoga Medical college, run by the brothers, which has till date trained a good 4,000-5,000 students in the finer points of yoga to carry on their work.

• Celebrity clients: Everyone from the late Mother Teresa, Uttam Kumar and music composer Salil Choudhury to Jyoti Basu, Om Puri, Kapil Dev, Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sourav Ganguly.

• Why yoga? Both the brothers believe that as compared to general fitness, which takes cares only of the physiological health, yoga is a combination of physiological, psychological and nutritive health. “We train people in the science of harmonisation. That the rhythm of body, melody of mind and harmony of soul leads to the symphony of life is our basic concept,” says Dr Premsundar Das.

• Calcutta: fat or fit? It’s about a 40-60 ratio, say the yoga experts, thought awareness has increased of late.

• Calcutta celebrity with the best body: Sourav Ganguly, Bula Choudhury, Tanushree Shankar.

MRINALINI MUKHERJEE

• Age: 33 years

• Working up a sweat professionally for: The last seven years

• Was inspired to take up fitness as a career by: Her husband Joydeep and mother-in-law Debika Sareen

• Paper trail: Among Mrinalini’s credits are a physical fitness course from Biokinetic endorsed by Nike as well as a Reebok certification in aerobics and step education. She’s also attended several Reebok resolutions (workshops).

• Looking back: Mrinalini started out with her mother-in-law’s gym Aerofit, after which she joined Addlife for two-and-a-half years. Also taught at The Tollygunge Club for over a year.

• Currently: She’s working her magic at Solace, teaching aerobics, step, cardio-kickboxing, pilates and even aqua- aerobics.

• Personal fitness routine: Taking 15-18 classes a week basically takes care of Mrinalini’s fitness needs, though she does work her body with an additional dose of power yoga and pilates.

• Busting that fitness myth... “People here are always talking about spot reduction. That’s not possible, what one needs is a mixture of body conditioning and cardio to work the entire body. Also, of course, there are women who labour under the belief that weight training will lead to them bulking up. That’s not true at all.”

• Calcutta: fat or fit? Mrinalini feels that while people in Calcutta would like to be like their more shapely counterparts elsewhere in India or abroad, they are low on the commitment it requires. Otherwise, the younger generation is more fit.

• Calcutta celebrity with the best body: Tota Roychowdhury, while in the the rest of India, Sushmita Sen.

• And the Bodylicious Award goes to... Madonna, from the aspect of total fitness. She follows a rigorous routine of yoga and pilates and the shape she’s in, says Mrinalini, is amazing. Others who get her Body Beautiful vote include Demi Moore and Cindy Crawford.

REVA PURI

• Age: 61 years

• In the fitness game for: The past 20 years

• Inspiration point: It was purely accidental, recalls Reva. “I’d been exercising all my life and at times, friends would join me for a workout at home. One day, a gentleman rang the bell and asked to join in. When I refused, he accused me of practising a female form of male chauvinism. That got me thinking and it wasn’t long before I converted an empty flat, which we owned, at the end of the road into a gym for both men and women. That was in 1991 and since then, I’ve never looked back,” she says.

• Courses of action: Reva attended the Pineapple Dance Studio in London and completed an intensive course in fitness there in 1983. She also has an ACC (Axiliary Cadet Course) certificate, which is affiliated to the National Cadets Corps. Reva spent time at Champneys, a famous health farm on the outskirts of London, a stint, which she says opened up her eyes as far as the latest fitness methods were concerned.

• And now... Spearheads her own gym at 18 Dover Road in Ballygunge.

• Favourite workout way: Reva still works out regularly and in particular, never neglects her abs. “They’re rock-hard,” she says proudly.

• Calcutta’s most common fitness follies: Very few are regular at the gym. People are just not consistent enough.

• Calcutta: fat or fit? It’s still a fat city and could do with more attention and awareness. But yes, of late, it has been catching on.

• Calcutta celebrity with the best body: Models Pooja and Ronita, cricketer Devang Gandhi and tennis pro Enrico Piperno.

• The one fitness myth that people still believe: People still think that if they exercise without watching what they eat, they’ll shed those kilos ? remember, every six years, your metabolic rate slows down.

DEBIKA SAREEN

• Age: 55 years

• Paperwork: Courses in Power yoga, Stretch Tai Chi and Yoga Flex.

• Currently associated with: American Family Fitness Centre, Richmond, Virginia, USA.

• Favourite workout way: Walking on the treadmill for 50 minutes at a speed of 40 miles an hour, then doing Yogaflex for 60 minutes, and ending with meditation.

• One piece of equipment she can’t do without: The fitness ball with which you can balance and do various toning workouts.

• Keeping abreast of the competition: “I never try to compete. I love fitness, and try to be associated with the latest methods of fitness. I improvise on that so that I can give the benefit to all my clients,” she says.

• Calcutta: fit or fat? Fat.

• Calcutta celebrity with best body: Rituparna Sengupta.

The ones to watch out for!

JASON MARTIN

• Age: 28 years

• In the fitness game for: Five years

• Paper trail: Jason has done a certificate qualification course in fitness from the Central YMCA in London.

• Looking back: He began working as a trainer in London in places like the Camden Gym. During this time, he won an Amateur Bodybuilding Association (ABA) Championship in the 75-class Category. Back in Calcutta, he has stints at Ocio and Punjab Club to his credit.

• Present tense: Besides working at Anwar Wahab and Associates, Jason also freelances as a personal trainer.

• Favourite workout way: Power lifting

• Personal fitness plan: Jason aims at getting into professional bodybuilding within a year or two

• Calcutta’s most common fitness follies: Most people don’t have a great technique. Another obstacle is that they are content to stay stuck in the old school style.

• Calcutta: fat or fit? Still fat

• And the Body Beautiful Award goes to...

Jason says no one can beat eight-time Mr. Olympia champion Ronnie Coleman. He’s also partial to actor Jean Claude Van Damme and Aussie pop star Kylie Minogue.

• Pet peeve: The lack of gym etiquette in Calcutta. “People just can’t stop yapping while working out,” says Jason.

JOHN GOMES

• Age: 29 years

• In the fitness game for: 10 years

• Paperwork: John is ACE certified and is now doing a Personal Trainer course from the American College of Sports Medicine.

• Back-tracking: John worked in Dubai for six months as a trainer before moving to Israel where he worked for two years as a trainer. He returned in 2003 and joined the Geo Fitness Techno Gym. But early this year, he decided to go the Gold way.

• And now... John is the fitness manager at Gold’s Gym.

• Personal fitness formula: A mix of circuit, cardio and flexibility training.

• Calcutta’s biggest goof-ups: Gym owners make a huge mistake by not hiring certified trainers. Also, most people exercising almost always forget about posture.

Calcutta: fat or fit?: Still fat.

• Calcutta celebrity with the best body: Baichung Bhutia and model Neeraj Surana

• Idea of body beautiful: Celebrity trainer Matt Roberts and Kylie Minogue.