Several female participants of Health Promotion Centre's Healthy
Lifestyle Clinic Programme seen during a routine exercise at Fitness Zone in
Serusop.
Gyms or fitness centres big or
small are popular haunts for fitness junkies of all ages, however, centres that
are especially catered for women are still hardly known of or easily accessible
according to some.
This is becoming more apparent as
the nation moves towards a more healthier lifestyle, and more Bruneians are
becoming health-conscious and are adopting the habit of consistently exercising
in order to keep fit.
While there are those who go
outdoors for a run or go to recreational parks for a hike, others attend
various classes for cardio exercises and prefer to hit the gym.
In previous reports, fitness gyms
for women have been said to be a growing target market with the opening of
establishments like Ladies First in Serusop in 2008.
Even mixed fitness centres such
as Fitness Zone and Zunic Wellness have attributed that their clienteles are
mostly of the female population, it mentioned.
Despite this, laments for these
establishments are still abound.
The Brunei Times did a
look-through of the buildings in Serusop for Ladies First yesterday and
uncovered two fitness gyms for women instead: De Chantique Fitness and Women's
Fitness Zone.
With De Chantique Fitness closed
until August 27, 2012 for Raya, a visit to the Women's Fitness Zone yielded
results - its aerobics trainer revealed that the gym has been "around for
a while" and that they are currently renovating its space so that the gym
equipments section will be separated from its aerobics area.
The aerobics trainer who
preferred to be anonymous also said that the Women's Fitness Zone establishment
only employs female workers.
In a separate interview, Adrianna
Hj Alias from Kampung Mulaut commented that "there might be some of these
gyms (for women) around in Brunei".
However, locating them remains
the problem, she said.
"While I don't really mind
going to gyms which cater to both men and women, I do prefer going to one,
which is especially for women," she said.
"Of course, there are
aerobic classes that are mostly attended by women nowadays," Adrianna
said, "but what if we want to weight train?"
"If I wanted to use the
treadmill, I don't mind using it if there's a guy in the room," she said,
"but for weight training, there are still some of us who'd prefer to do so
in a space just for women."
"It basically depends on the
exercise activity that we want to do," she said.
Meanwhile, Harisah Hamdan from
Kampung Kilanas said that she had actually come across a gym which catered
solely for women during her studies in New Zealand.
"Even the workers there are
all women," Harisah said. "When the repairmen comes, we would be
informed of their presence beforehand."
Compared to her experience in New
Zealand, she said that "it's hard to find one such gym here in
Brunei".
"There's no reason for us
not to have one because it agrees with our MIB (Malay Islamic Monarchy)
culture," she said. "(An all ladies) gym also provides a safer space
to workout indoors away from the sun's heat."
She added that having a gym
catered just for women would not only be more comfortable for Muslims to carry
out some of the "embarrassing exercise movements", but also for
non-Muslim women who'd rather not "sweat it out in front of the men".
Humaira Umar agrees with
Harisah's viewpoint. "It would be great if there is a proper all-women gym
in Brunei with women-only managers, trainers and cleaning staff," Harisah
said.
"At the moment, we do have
gyms that provide areas for women, but they actually still have men who can
access them, be it the male gym workers or male cleaners," she said.
"So it rather beats the purpose for observant Muslim women who want to
cover aurat (certain parts of the body that should not be exposed)."
Diyana Ibrahim
The Brunei Times/Asia News
Network
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