Excercising in India
 

I am hoping to get some time to excercise when I am in India in a couple of weeks, but am not sure what would be appropriate for clothing. I generally wear lycra shorts and a tight t-shirt/tank for running (both to avoid chafing), but I can imagine that this would be frowned upon. What if I put shorts over the lycra and wore a loose t-shirt? Would it still be inappropriate?

If it's OK culturally, is it otherwise safe? I often find running is a good way to explore a city. Of course the pollution may drive me indoors in any case :).

Would the same concerns be an issue in hotel gyms? The Taj Palace and the Park Bangalore where I'll be staying both have gyms (which I hope are included!), but I don't know if it is mostly foreigners and thus 'OK'.

If it makes a difference, I'm a 6ft white male :).

Thanks,

Dr. PITUK

At hotel gyms, gym clothes used at gyms in the US or UK are perfectly fine.
For outdoor running, anything on the upper body goes for men, but lower body usually has running/jogging pants although I've increasingly seen foreigners and a growing number of Indians wearing shorts while running in parks, but then getting dressed up upon exiting the park.

Indian cities, on average, are not great places for running unless sticking to a proper park.

Bit like anywhere I reckon - you'll probably get a fair share of odd looks running round Exeter in lycra. The same will happen in BOM.

I've jogged in Delhi, but in shorts and round the park. Unless you really are an exhibitionist, I'd stick to that sort of activity.

I don't run in the cities where I use the hotel gyms, but I go running in Goa in T-shirts and shorts and its quite common to do that there.

If you are looking for some place outdoor to run in BLR, consider the Cubbon Park or the Lalbagh. I prefer the latter (Lalbagh) as its survived the onslaught of construction better.

Cubbon Park, otoh seems to be slowly disappearing as the State Govt buildings keep growing with each year.

The other option would be to take a run around Ulsoor Lake. Its about a 750m from your hotel. I am not sure if the path aroudn the lake is intact or has been encroached in parts.

The drive from the Park to Lalbagh would be 20 mins early in the morning (between 6 and 7 am) and should take anywhere from 30 - 60 mins at all other times.

When running outdoors,

• leave the iPod and other valuables in the room.
• apply some form of insect repellent (and sunblock, if your skin needs it).

Attire : shorts and a t-shirt on top of your other usual running gear should be fine.

Thanks for the info. I'll probably just stick with the gym and do my walking outside.

Thanks,

Dr. PITUK