Technology and innovation have been a driving force for India’s fitness and slimming industry in the past few years. The segment has become one of newer and interesting ways of getting fit. One such way of getting fit that entered the Indian market three years ago was Hypoxi.
HYPOXI is a targeted fat-loss program worldwide. It combines alternating high and low pressure with exercise to burn fat in specific areas of the body through a Hypoxi device. HYPOXI has helped hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers in over 40 countries worldwide and is also looking at expansion in India through the franchising route. Wellness India spoke to Manjari Patel, Master Trainer, Hypoxi India, about the brand, the industry and expansion plans in India. Here are excerpts from the interview:
Tell us about Hypoxi.
Hypoxi is a targeted inch-loss and fat-loss company. It is the only gym brand that gives you one dress-size reduction in one month. It is done in the most natural way without any artificial use of anything. The Hypoxi concept has been around for the past 18 years. We are in 50 countries internationally over 5 continents. We have more than 3,000 studios now. It is one of the fastest growing health businesses around. Hypoxi is everything it says it is. When we talk about a dress size, we don’t talk like companies who talk about inches , some centimeters here and there, we talk about a dress size, so your body loses fat evenly by 2-2 inches at every part. When we say we give one dress size reduction in a month, we actually mean one dress size from top to bottom. We do not promote heavy dieting with our product. We promote nutrition, which is totally different from dieting. Nutrition is eating healthy while diet is not eating. We believe in nutrition, an ongoing process.
How long has the brand been in India for?
We’ve been in India for just a little over four years now. So it’s fairly new.
How has the experience in the Indian market been?
For the first two years, we didn’t want to go for franchising, for a simple reason that we were working out as to how it works with the Indian food. We were obviously working it out. Over two years, we started getting fantastic results. We had to modify certain things viz-a-viz food, but eventually we came back to the original Indian food bit by bit where I developed recipes and all. It’s going fantastic now.
How many studios do you have in India as of now?
We have 3 studios in India and are about to open the next one in Gurgaon very soon.
How many studios are you looking at in the next five years?
It all depends on whether we get the right people because Hypoxi is a brand which we very much protect. So, we are very selective with the type of franchisees we want. We would love to have another 5 new studios or even 50 as long as we have got the right people, which is very important.
What is that one thing that impresses you about a franchisee?
Firstly, you can have a lot of money, you can have a lot of space, but if you have no interest in what you’re doing, then you are not the right franchisee. The franchisee has to respect it, has to love it. When I’m in Hypoxi business, there are days I go in at 7:30 am and I don’t come home till 8 pm. It’s not because I have to stay there, but because I love it. I don’t take it as my work, but as my hobby.
What do you think about the Indian fitness industry?
It is growing. It has been growing for the past 7-8 years. It is still very young because the Indian market is very confused as to exactly what fitness is. Not undermining anybody, but I would say there is not even 1 per cent is actually aware about what fitness really is. It’s a very young market. It’s a market that once you step into, you don’t know where it’s going to take you. It’s going to explode, but right now, it is just still waking up. It’s got a long way to go before it wakes up completely. There were a lot of fly-by-night people around promising all sorts of things. I’m accountable for the promise I make to my clients, that’s how my reputation can climb.
What do you think can the Indian fitness industry learn from the European fitness industry?
Basically, in the Indian market, first and foremost a person has to realise why they want to be fit. Getting fit for weddings etc temporarily are the wrong reasons. As I said, gradually there are people both professionals and clients, who are learning.
Hypoxi in one word.
Inch-loss
