The newest fitness craze sweeping the nation comes straight from the akhadas

Recently, Shriya Didwania made a rather unusual change to her home office. Along with her dependable water jug and well-stocked tray of vegan snacks, the Mumbai-based talent acquisition professional now keeps a cylindrical piece of wood that looks like it would be more appropriate in a rage room. The mudgar, as it’s called, is likely to bring to mind the pre-cable TV era when families gathered on Sundays to watch shows based on mythological epics. But the ancient Indian club, which has so far been an akhada staple, is now becoming a fixture in modern Indian homes and gyms. Stationed near Didwania’s workstation, it’s something she picks up and swings around whenever she needs to take a break from sitting hunched at her desk.

Didwania is far from alone in her newfound commitment to making the mudgar her fitness contraption of choice. A cursory Google search—which probably would have autocorrected to “Did you mean mudguard?” just a couple of years ago—now throws up 15 legit pages of results for video tutorials, gym classes, and online stores dedicated to the wooden club and its burlier cousins, the gada and the samtola. On Instagram, there are Reels of some seriously ripped dude swinging two mudgars around at a time, or people claiming that mudgar workouts cured their seemingly incurable injuries. Milind Soman is a fan. It’s unclear when this ancient movement became a modern-day gym routine and what prompted its popularity, but what is evident today is that mudgar workouts are all set to become the fitness industry’s Next Big Thing. But why?

“Both the mudgar and the gada have a unique feature, wherein the entire weight is stacked on one side, giving it a very lever-like function,” explains Rishabh Malhotra, fitness professional and founder of the MS Dhoni-backed Tagda Raho, a gym chain with branches across Bengaluru and Pune that is dedicated to promoting ancient Indian fitness practices. “So, unlike a barbell or dumbbell, a mudgar essentially becomes an extension of your arm, which opens up your body to dynamic movements.”

What this means is that the mudgar can be moved in as many ways as you can move your unencumbered body—you can do squats and lunges or swing it back and forth or around your head in ways you would never dare to with a dumbbell. Not only does this ensure fewer injuries, but it also allows you to work out your muscle groups in a more natural, functional way. “There is an inherent recovery and rehabilitation aspect to this format of training,” adds Malhotra, who, within just four months of training with the mudgar, was able to regain complete command over an arm that had been almost paralysed by brachial neuritis. 

About 12 years ago, when Malhotra started his mudgar journey, he had to first find someone who could sell him the equipment, and then look for someone to train him to use it. “I am glad that at least the akhadas were able to keep this alive, otherwise perhaps even the thought of trying it out to rehabilitate my arm wouldn’t have occurred to me,” he says. “We have a problem in India, in that we always wait for some white guy to come and tell us the benefits of something, and then we realise that we have been saying it all along. It happened with yoga, but I am not going to let it happen with the mudgar. This is where it originated, and this is where the authority of how it should be done should also remain.”

While there is clearly an appeal to reclaiming your roots, and to wielding the weapons of your mythological heroes in the name of fitness, it’s safe to say that there’s more to the craze. Aakash Shah, a functional training coach in Mumbai who specialises in sports fitness, completed Tagda Raho’s trainer certification programme specifically so that he could include the mudgar as a part of his regimen. “This is the most dynamic [exercise], because you are using a lot of rotational movements,” he explains. “It has a lot of benefits for mobility, strength, core activation; it engages smaller muscles in your shoulder and back—all in all, it’s a very holistic approach towards fitness.” Malhotra anticipates that Tagda Raho is only the first ripple in a giant wave that will grip the nation; prepare to find mudgars, samtolas, and gadas sitting beside the medicine balls and dumbbells at your neighbourhood gym very soon.  

Didwania, for her part, is proof that mudgars are here to stay. After learning the basics through online classes with the Mudgar Club, a community she discovered on Instagram, she now continues to work out with her trusted equipment in her own time, using it to complement her daily walks, dance classes, and yoga sessions. “It’s very convenient, I can do it at any time of the day, I can do it from home. And when I do it, I can feel my strength improving. There’s even a travel mudgar you can order so you can continue your workouts while you’re out of town. Once you get the mudgar, there’s nothing really stopping you.”