A tale of two jobs: Techies during the day, fitness instructors at night

BENGALURU: Ankita Singh is a software engineer at Accenture. The 26-year-old is also a part-time fitness instructor. When she is not writing code, Singh is talking high intensity interval training to her students. "I have always been a gym rat. Friends and colleagues would ask me to upload my work-out videos on social media. Thereafter, I started training them on weekends and online," says Singh, who belongs to the Indian Body Building Federation.With 34,000 followers on Facebook, Singh charges Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per session. "The extra money I earn sponsors my training for body-building competitions and diet supplements," she says.

Like Singh, many corporate and IT professionals in Bengaluru are earning a quick buck between work-stations and workouts. Software engineer at HP , Varad Patil, says: "I am getting money for my passion. Currently, I can balance the two professions since I have a work-out-of-home option. Given the nine-hour desk job, fitness instruc tion keeps me healthy and active."
This 27-year-old has no doubts about his retirement plans.

Instructor Gaurav Manjrekar, also a lead technical consultant at Fujitsu Consulting, explains: "I had long working hours and was not performing well. I joined a gym and got hooked. I started reading about nutrition and became a freelance instructor." The 32-year-old now gives online training and nutritional counselling for his clients in Bengaluru, Goa, Pune and Mumbai."Fitness boosts your confidence.Besides money , you earn respect at workplace," says Manjrekar, who also saves the extra money for expensive body-building certificate courses and protein supplements.

Passion is the only reason for some. Like instructor Shubha Prasad who is also director, HR for Ricoh. The 41-year-old takes private and group classes for aerobics and high-low cardio work outs.

"I take classes from 6 am to 7 am and then again from 7 pm to 9 pm. I get to stay fit for free," says Prasad. What's more, she earns Rs 750 to 1,000 per session per student.