Gyms, bodybuilding get a lift in Kabul

Inside they are primitive but always packed with men of all shapes and sizes, staring at themselves in mirrors along the walls as they pump iron and strive for the body beautiful. Pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger and other bulging champions of the trade are plastered on the walls to inspire them.

Gyms were allowed to function in the Afghan capital during the hard-line Islamic Taliban regime, which ended late in 2001 after a U.S. bombing campaign backed by Afghan ground forces.

But today, without the interruption of five obligatory prayer breaks each day and as a new body-consciousness takes root, business is booming and gym owners are becoming rich.

Nasir Ahmad is the young manager of Gold Gym Olampia in central Kabul, its name borrowed from the famous Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, Calif.

From behind a high desk, the lightly bearded entrepreneur grins widely as he recounts the history of his business.

"I set up the gym when the Taliban left Kabul, some time in January 2002," said the 20-year-old former refugee from Pakistan. "When the Taliban fell we had a lot of requests from Afghans returning from exile to set one up here. I rented this place and brought the equipment over from Pakistan at a cost of around 30,000 dollars."

The figure, along with Ahmad's claim to be "the richest man in Kabul," may be exaggerated, but there is clearly good money to be made in the bodybuilding business. Each member of Gold pays 400 afghani (about 8 dollars) to join and another 300 afghani per month for the use of the facilities. Ahmad says he has 1,000 members.

For their money they get a single long, narrow room with whitewashed walls, dog-eared posters of famous musclemen of the past, a mirror along one wall and an array of aging fixed and free weights ranging from dumbbells to cycling machines.

On a typical evening, 45 to 50 sweating bodies fight for space and compare muscles. When he is not busy serving in Afghanistan's fledgling national army, Mohammad Shafi Ahmedi stands out as the undisputed strongman of the gym.

Short but barrel chested, Ahmedi is a past holder of the "Mr. Peshawar" title for bodybuilders in the city of the same name in northwestern Pakistan, where hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees lived during civil war and occupation.

"I do this because the body is a beautiful thing and it makes me look that much better," he said, surrounded by a dozen friends and admirers. "I exercise at least one hour every day, six days a week. One day I would love to turn professional."

With that he returned to dipping furiously on the parallel beams. His concentration was only broken when the lights went off, plunging the gym into total darkness; power in Kabul goes down virtually every day.

Bashir Ahmadi manages another gym that was open during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan. He says more relaxed rules, an influx of health-conscious refugees and greater health awareness in general are the main factors behind the booming gym industry.

"Now we are allowed to exercise freely. Under the Taliban we had to close the gym five times each day for prayers, we could not play music and we had to wear long shirts and long trousers."

In his gym men pump iron wearing small, tight sleeveless tops or none at all, and loud Indian music plays in the background. Membership at his gym has increased threefold since the Taliban fell, and Ahmadi too is becoming rich.

The face of Kabul has changed at a bewildering pace, with restaurants and beauty parlors springing up beside gyms and souvenir shops, and traffic clogs the dusty streets.

But many traditions and values in this deeply conservative Muslim country that predate the arrival of the Taliban in 1996 have been slower to change. The role of women in society is one of them.

"Officially women can come here and exercise, but none do," said Ahmad of the Gold Gym. "Personally I am happy about that, as this would not be in accordance with Islamic culture and values."

His competitor Ahmadi agreed.

"Women are allowed to come, but they do not."