WINDHOEK – Last week Saturday, a new fitness entity christened Genesis Fitness opened to the communities of Katutura and Windhoek in general.

The gym, the first indoor fitness facility in Katutura, is located in Soweto and, according to its owner Dr Taka Chinyoka, the majority of the clients and employees are from the surrounding areas. 

Having practised medicine in Katutura for the past nine years, Chinyoka evidently noticed the high prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and lipid disorders. 
“Once these set in, they create other diseases such as stroke, kidney failure and other organ damage,” explained Chinyoka. 

He explained that a sedentary lifestyle, which is a type of lifestyle with little or no physical activity, is one of the biggest causes of non-communicable diseases.

Chinyoka noticed that there was no indoor gym facility in the area, hence the idea to open Genesis Fitness. While the gym was under construction in 2016, there was a free bootcamp, a Genesis Fitness initiative, which gave people in the surrounding areas an opportunity to work out at no cost. 

“At some point we had to move to the Sam Nujoma Stadium,” said Chinyoka, who spoke to New Era from his practice in Katutura on Saturday. Chinyoka is actively involved in sports as a means of promoting fitness. Other than the gym, he sponsors a basketball team, to encourage young people to keep fit.

“With Genesis Fitness, anybody from 16 years and above has an opportunity to be fit, as the packages are affordable,” Chinyoka explained. 

The elderly pay N$250 per month, while students and the unemployed pay N$300 per month and they can access the gym at any time. 

The working class pay either N$400 or N$450, the latter offers access to the gym at any time, he explained. 
In addition to the gym, there is a medical centre that is due to open its doors to the public next month. Among others, the medical centre will house a theatre, pharmacy, laboratory, physiotherapist, bio-kinetic, radiology, and dietician services.
“The whole idea was to consolidate all the services that patients need but at the same time it’s always best to prevent and the lifestyle changes one takes can help,” he added. 

Chinyoka emphasised that exercise is so important that it can reverse pre-diabetes and other conditions in the early stages. 

“With type 2 diabetes weight loss is very important once the weight comes to expected levels the patient can actually recover but this occurs when it’s in early stages,” he explained. 

Other than drastically reducing the chances of non-communicable diseases, people who work out tend to be more productive, less fatigued and more confident “because they are healthy”, said Chinyoka.  
Likewise, exercise keeps people away from unhealthy behaviour such as abuse of alcohol and engaging in unhealthy sexual habits. This is because their daily habits would be work, gym and home to rest. 

“Also, it’s a business in the sense that it keeps people employed. Most of our employees have never worked before. Most are youths from this area,” Chinyoka said. 

The gym
Genesis Fitness has capacity to accommodate 7,000 people in terms of membership. The excitement of having a new gym in Katutura was evident in that it has been busy since opening its doors to the public last week Saturday (15 September 2018). 

“Possibly more than half of our clients have never been in a gym before,” smiled Chinyoka. Likewise, most of his employees have never worked in a gym setting before, Chinyoka pointed out. 
“We have trained our people to make our clients’ journeys easier in the gym,” added the medical practitioner. The gym also has access for people who are on treatment for biokinetics. “It helps because they are being treated,” added Chinyoka. 

Diet
Diet is just as crucial to health, he stressed. In fact, at least 60 to 70 percent of weight loss is a result of embracing a healthier diet, noted Chinyoka. Dietary requirements are different for each individual depending on their lifestyle.  However, people are advised to take sugar and salt in moderation. High fibre intake and adequate fluids are just as important in diet.
Chinyoka said he has observed a trend that negatively impacts on some people’s diets. High alcohol consumption, high intake of carbohydrates and sugar intake, which he termed “a toxic combination”. 
Asked how much water a person should take, Chinyoka said “the body itself has a meter that tells you when to drink water”. 

Whenever a person feels thirsty that is the body’s way of saying they need water, he explained. However, in people with some conditions this may not be the case, he noted. Chinyoka advised that people should embrace a good diet, exercise and “lots of water” because health is 
wealth.