At 25, Aman Poddar is a movement coach at Endorphins Corrective Exercise Studio. “But sometimes I feel I'm a therapist more than I am a movement coach. Most people can't move their joints as they should, so we work with the joints and strengthen the muscles around those joints,” explains Aman, as he lowers himself off the Roman Rings.
Aman suggests that the younger we start moving "in all the planes the body can move in”, the better we’ll all be. “Even Rakesh Jhunjhunwala once said he regrets not having invested enough in his health. And we’d all take investment advice from him, right?” says Aman illustrating his point with a grin.
“As a kid, I didn't do much, I just cycled,” he says, with a shrug. “And when I joined a gym for the first time, I couldn't do even one pull-up.”
But as a young boy, Aman played cricket on the terrace with his neighbours. The ball would plummet six storeys down and the older boys always sent their youngest, smallest, sprightliest member after it, before someone on the road kicked it into a drain. Aman would make it down six floors in seconds, leaping down one flight at a time. Later when they shifted house, the ball started to land inside empty apartments in the same complex. Aman would wriggle in through grills, lowering himself from balcony to balcony. It’s not something he recommends anyone try, but looking back, he is able to trace his agility back to those days. “My mother would get really angry but it was exhilarating for me because no other kid I knew could do it. I never realised that the ability would help me later in life,” he admits.
Aman performs the L-sit Hold on dumbbells. Movements recommended by Aman to be done every day: Squat, Lunge, Push, Pull, Bend, Twist, Gait Arijit Sen
After college, he was expected to get involved with his dad's business, which was not motivating to him at all. “I was thinking, if I continue to live this way, I'll be nowhere ten years down the line… I'll end my life or something.”
That’s when he met Ranadeep Moitra, proprietor of Endorphins. “I asked him to teach me everything he knows… to guide me, help me. He took me on as an intern and asked me to come in for four to five hours a day but I worked every day for nine hours.”
Aman was no stranger to the gym, even though he had no idea of the science behind training. “I was going to an ordinary gym to become muscular and I was uploading videos on Instagram, which was making me popular. I wanted to do something with movement, but I didn’t know what it could be, until I met Ranadeep. Later Vineet Goel took me under his wing as well. They taught me how I can excel if I plan movement in a certain way. And then I gradually learnt how to programme movement for someone else.”
At first, Aman’s parents were unhappy about his choice of career. “My mother would pray for God to guide me. Then they started seeing the changes. I was waking up early, being responsible, taking care of myself. My dad used to expect me to be at his office at 10am and I would wake up at 11am. I was expected at Endorphins at 6.30am and I always made it. My mother saw that even though I wasn’t making money, I was being responsible, so they gradually stopped objecting. Once I started to earn, they never looked back again. Now they're actually proud of me,” says Aman, summing up his journey.
Aman performs the Indian Club on Swiss Ball. ‘This is the perfect example of inner and outer core working in harmony. Not too many exercises work on the inner and outer core together. You use your inner core muscles when you get on a Swiss ball. When these function well, you will be able to stabilise your body and pelvis. Meanwhile, the Indian clubs are one of the best exercises for shoulder mobility, stability, endurance and to an extent, strengthening,’ explains Aman Arijit Sen
Aman, who is greatly influenced by Israeli trainer Ido Portal, famous for his concept of the ‘Movement Culture’, also tends to break larger movements down into smaller movements. For the Indian Club, he suggests, practising with the Indian club on the floor, then in a lunge stance. Alongside this, we practise kneeling on a Swiss ball and then later add the Indian club to it.
“To achieve the bigger frame, we have to practice with smaller frames of movement. For the Calisthenics Pull-Ups, you have to practise scapula pull-ups which will strengthen the scapula, and for that your scapula has to move properly. Before trying the Roman Rings, you have to build strength and stability in your shoulder joints, scapula and wrists. The shoulder is one of the most mobile joints, which also makes it very prone to injury,” clarifies Aman.
“Some movement specialists (these include dancers, skaters etc) may execute steps that are technically correct but lack grace and finesse. Aman has an inborn quality of grace and nimble limbs that make him stand out. He oozes a beauty that goes beyond technique and protocol,” said Ranadeep Moitra, strength and conditioning coach at Endorphins Corrective Exercise Studio.
