Gagan Rayat and his wife Jobanpreet have been making short fitness videos on TikTok to spread their vision of a 'holistic lifestyle.'
Many of their videos have gone viral on TikTok, with some touching the million views mark on the popular social media platform.
"Even I am surprised by the reach and success. But this also makes me think how people are desperate for fitness information ever since pandemic took over our lives and locked us into the confines of our homes," Mr Rayat said.
"I think with most people working from home, it has given them more time to focus on their physical fitness."
Talking about the onset of his journey as a fitness habits coach, Mr Rayat shared how a traumatic incident in 2008 steered him towards this career path.
"I sustained severe injuries in a serious car crash in Melbourne in 2008. As a result, I was admitted to the intensive care unit for three days and suffered from post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) for many weeks after the incident," he said.
"It was tough. I had all sorts of issues, including loss of memory, mobility and flexibility in general."
Mr Rayat said he ended up piling kilos after the accident until he decided to reclaim his health and fitness levels four years ago.
The wake-up call in 2017 prompted Mr Rayat to study fitness habits. He eventually completed certification and has since been helping others to attain their fitness goals through his TikTok videos.
Mr Rayat said the working from home culture has changed the way people think about fitness and has redirected their focus on strength training instead of only looking for advice to shed extra kilos.
"I think working from home had had a significant impact on our lifestyle. If we talk about our community, the pre-covid fitness mantra was only to look good," he said.
"If you were thin and sharp, it meant you were fit. But things are changing now with people becoming more focused on the posture, muscle strength, and tackling body pain as a result of their sitting jobs," he added.
Mr Rayat said he has learnt it the hard way that overlooking issues like mild muscle pain can come in the way of doing simple physical activities.
"We tend to ignore or look for shortcuts which end up in failures. Hence, it’s very important to adopt some quick and easy fitness habits for long-lasting results," he said.
"There is no point in hitting heavy gym sessions if your muscles are tight. Instead, we must work towards restoring them to their original state before hitting a gym.
"And this is the kind of awareness that I have been trying to create through my fitness videos where I aim to provide information about common movements that can be useful for strengthening the muscles," he said.
Click on the audio button to listen to the full conversation with Mr Rayat.
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