Health and fitness, the African way

Type in health and fitness into your web browser and you will be inundated with thousands of results, all pertaining to health and fitness in the Western world. Try keying in health and fitness in Africa; you get nothing, completely zilch. Does this mean health and fitness is exclusive to the West? Regina Jere-Malanda tries to find the answer.

It was a good discovery. After frustratlngly yielding nothing on how and why Africans stay fit, exercise or go to the gym - or lack thereof- there ii was. NTl'owerHouse - local gyms, fitness and bodybuilding African style. The key word was "bodybuilding" and pop:

"Hey folks, you have reached a special page on this wcbsite dedicated to all ot us in Africa who are working nut bard at our local hardcore gyms, in our backyards, with limited and improvised equipment, training without the advantages Americans or Europeans have." is how the website greets you. 1 lurrah, yes Africa does have gyms.

Special? Indeed it is. Garlanded with pictures ot super-fit African men, only a visit to this Accra-based wcbsite will help explain my amazement, or is it glee. "Bodybuilding [and fitness] in Africa is quite different from the Western type of bodybuilding," says NTPowerHouse. "Here no drugs, no steroids, no supplements or protein powders. Wc simply dont have the means to afford that! Anyway we are not complaining. The Western media often refers to Africa as a place of catastrophes, civil wars, famine and other forms of atrocities. It is our aim to uncover the treasures of Africa that have long been hidden by this negative perception."

I have recently joined a gym here in the UK at quite an extortionist monthly rate, and looking at these African men so fit and healthy without the use of all the sophisticated gym equipment and supplements, has made me ponder what most ot the flabby, binge-exercising men at my gym bmher paying for. 1 now feel the gym should actually start paying them to stay home. My men in Ghana shame them hands down.

However, this should not be seen as the overall picture of African health and fitness l was researching about or a yardstick that Africans should he striving tor. But it drove home the point that, we Africans always have our own way of doing things.

In a world were working out m a gym to stay fit and healthy is a phenomenon tlut is rapidly revolutionising, Africa may not be on the same pedestal or sophisticated equipment as it is in with the West, but. as the N 1 IVnverHouse's men in Ghana prove, we have our own ingenious ways ot staying fit .nul healthy par excellence.

It is always perpetuated by health professionals how the building block ot continued health and longevity is exercise. I would dare say that in Africa, despite its enforced problems, most of us are very physically active without the need of the gym. through tending farms, housework and family chores, or even traditional dancing practised in many villages as .away ot entertainment.

And of course there is walking. Africans love to walk - and according to Western fitness gurus, this is the near-perfea exercise. With the economic problems rhat l.iden many of us. walking is free, readily available and effective. Physicians preach hmv walking contributes to a healthy heart and helps guard against obesity, high cholesterol, stroke and other disorders.

Therefore despite the derogatory insinuations that abound in the West that associate walking with poverty, walking in tact has its pluses. Be it long distances to school, to work, to letch water or firewood - its good to walk, it keeps us Africans fit. Think how many calories our ancestors must have burnt. So, what then is fitness from an African point of view? Does everyone need to go to the gym to be fit? Do Africans need to know everything from ABS to Pilates in order to be fit and health? Yes perhaps, but there is no need for any fanaticism to engulf Africa at Western proportions where ABS (really tuned tummies), for example, are big business, and just about every'IOm, Dick and Harriet, will pay through the roof to get a rock solid "six-pack".

For my sins, I have opted for the Pilates at my gym. lured by the fact that this fitness programme, according to my fitness trainer, refreshes ones physical and mental wellbeing. The fact that Pilates is a series of controlled movements that unite the body and mind and creates a direct connection to the muscles and also helps condition ones body without punishing it, did it for me. And I went for it, But is it for every African? I am yet to tell. Give me three months and it the hole in my pocket does not get bigger, 1 will reveal the result.

It should be borne in mind though that in Western culture, the importance of exercise and fitness as a means to weight loss is taken almost with religious fervour. Three years ago, 1 was travelling from Austin to San Antonio in Texas, USA. What I saw still makes me laugh to this day-a huge billboard on the highway proclaimed: "Loose weight in your sleep: that's our promise." Today, many Westerners fall prey to such adverts in the quest to lose the bulge and stay fit. Hopefully such ploys and scams are not going to Africa as the fitness revolution catches on.