Amazing, in a sector which is totally unregulated in India. Where there are not even basic set of rules or a governing body, suddenly you have people getting fitness awards, and being named as fitness icons.

Great, this looks like someone is trying to raise the standards of the Indian fitness industry, isn’t it?

Absolutely not.

These awards mean nothing to the fitness industry, and were created overnight by a group of people, claiming themselves to be the guardian of Indian fitness.

This is a point raised by many in this big industry, but none of them officially said anything. Many of them contacted me to expose this scam too, and so here I am, doing it for the benefit of common people who often get misguided by such falsehood.

Let’s ask certain questions before moving forward:

– When there is no government body regulating fitness in India, then who gave anyone in this country a right to select people with the title ‘best’ or ‘icon’ before or after their names?

– What are the criteria of selecting a trainer, gym, spa, dietician or group for an award?

– Where is the list of nominees which were rejected?

– How many states in India were covered before you decided on awarding someone?

– On top of everything, who is the jury that judges the people to be awarded. Or, what are the credentials of the jury, who think they are qualified enough to select people for the awards?

There are many more questions which can be asked, but these would suffice for now.

Let’s understand the naked truth behind these awards.

Firstly, there is no regulating body in India as of now, which directs any set of rules of regulation to host any form of awards related to fitness. These are exactly like those bodybuilding federations which open up overnight, conduct a Mr. Asia and Mr. World, in a small corner of a town, and award anyone they like.And suddenly, in India, you have a Mr. Asia and Mr. World in every gym. These self- made champions can’t even win in a state competition, if a proper competition is conducted.

This country is filled with legendary coaches and top class educated people in the fitness and nutrition industry. The people conducting these awards have in most cases never even heard of them, because they themselves have little knowledge about the Indian fitness industry.

These people are basically businessmen, who created these awards to earn money and some fame, and are ready to give the awards to anyone paying them for one. In other cases, it is their close group of friends, who share the awards among themselves. And they can create any category of award, depending on how much someone pays them for.

There are thousands of excellent trainers and coaches in India, how many were selected, from which all states in India, and on what basis, before they award a trainer as iconic or best or finest?

There are top class educators in fitness in India, how many were selected, from which all states in India, and on what basis, before they award a trainer as iconic or best or finest?

Now, let’s talk about the jury. Again, most people are this group of friends who conduct the award who become the part of the jury. Then there are others who have absolutely no relation to fitness, but they add to the glamour quotient.

Doesn’t this all sound familiar? Isn’t this how most of the movie awards are judged nowadays? The finest films never get the award. The finest actor never win. Who wins is who is from the family. The most putrid movies get the best movie awards. That’s why the finest actors neither consider such awards of any value, nor do they even attend the award functions.

Sometime back actor Akshay Kumar, when asked in Aap Ki Adalat, by Rajat Sharma, about the reality of the fitness awards, he openly told the truth, and how he has been asked to pay, many times if he wants an award.

There is no issue in awarding people of who deserve, who have really served the country or done great in their fields, but such awards are more for a cover up, like sweeping the dust under the carpet, so that’s not visible. But you can’t do that for long. The dust is out and your dirt is well visible.

Therefore, next time you see someone with such an award, don’t ask them how they go it, instead ask them, how much they paid for it?