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A change is taking place at Sri Lankan gyms. Let’s face reality today, if you step into any fitness club in Colombo, Kandy, or Galle, you would see something different than 5 years ago. Women on the training floor, training hard, heavy lifting, and confident, this is not seen before.
The hashtags gym kello, muscle mommy and fitness girl Sri Lanka are currently trending on TikTok, accumulating a lot of views. Sri Lankan women are creating transformation videos, workouts, along with genuine snapshots of what it’s like for a lady claiming space that’s not designed for her. The response from the community has been overwhelming.
This is no small trend. It’s a cultural mindset change. That deserves to be understood correctly.
Where This Started
The sport of gym was a largely male affair from the get-go in Sri Lanka. Equipment designed for men! Most of the trainers were male. The majority of the gyms were designed for men: music, atmosphere, rules, etc. The opportunities to train were almost non-existent, and there was very little where they felt at ease.
There were a couple of women who were exercising regularly, but even those got discouraged from doing so by either outright or social pressure, as they thought they were being unfeminine. It will make them look manly if they lift weights. Sri Lankan women had not pledged to dream of that, sweat and get big. Family Communications, Society and occasionally even gym staff.
But there were some things that came up all at once, however.
People were forced to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Home exercise videos have been extremely popular on the web these days. Unaccustomed Sri Lankan women began exercising from their bedrooms, listening to fitness instructors from other nations and discovering gym training was in reality enjoyable. Gone to the gym for the first time and a lot of them remained and walked through the doors.
This new energy was magnified by social media. Sri Lankan female fitness creators began to expose “the real story” – but not the ideal, polished and flawless content that other fitness creators around the world were sharing, but rather the reality and relatable story of a Sri Lankan woman who made it in a gym space designed for men. Audiences were loyal to these creators, as they were reaching an audience who was familiar with a situation they could relate to, and thus their communities grew fast.
The Real Gym Kello Culture
Gym kello isn’t for a particular look or body; it’s just a term that refers to the classics. It’s a group of women, from all walks of life, all different body types, all different fitness goals and most importantly, they all did one thing: They showed up and they worked out.
Several of these women are in training to lose weight. Others are working towards their own personal record on the squat rack. Some are taking up boxing. Others are recovering from injuries or health issues with exercise. They have in common only the resolve to think about fitness in a culture that has long encouraged women to shrink.
It is this diversity that is reflected in the content these women produce. Other women are cheering on a Sri Lankan woman who did her first unassisted pull-up in a video that has amassed thousands of comments. Conversations that validate experiences arise from awkwardness about being stared at in the free weights area. The before and after photographs reveal that it is not just about weight loss; it is about muscle building as well, hence changing the definition of beauty in Sri Lanka. The transformation photo shows a before and after image where it isn’t just about weight loss, but about muscle gain as well and thus changing the definition of beauty in Sri Lanka.
This is new. This is significant. It is happening quickly and that’s just the beginning.
The remaining obstacles
When progress is made, problems are not necessarily solved. In reality, many women face difficulties in the gym in Sri Lanka.
For many gyms, male attention and unsolicited advice are a real problem. Women report being targeted when they train, to receive ‘unrequested’ form corrections from men who are not trainers and to feel that their presence in some parts of the gym is somehow strange, and needs to be explained.
Modest activewear is still not widely available and is still expensive. Most Sri Lankan women can’t afford international brands such as Nike and Gymshark. Local brand Carnage has done some work to fill some of the voids, but the demand for women’s gym wear that is modest, functional and affordable is still a growing market.
There are few female personal trainers in the country apart from Colombo. In the villages of Kandy, Galle and other smaller towns, women interested in having advice given by a female trainer may not be able to find a female trainer locally. Online coaching is making strides to fill this void, but can’t reach everyone just yet.
There is less, but still some, resistance from families. For younger women from more conservative backgrounds, it’s still a negotiation to get permission and support to train regularly.
Beyond its fitness value, why does this matter?
The gym kello movement isn’t even about the gym. It’s about Sri Lankan women occupying space, both physical, cultural, and social, in a manner that is traditionally disallowed.
A Sri Lankan woman has posted a video of her in the deadlift position with her legs extended and the caption, “I’m not apologizing for being fit.”When a Sri Lankan woman posts a video of herself deadlifting and caps it with pride instead of an apology, she’s doing more than lifting weights; she’s raising the bar. She’s demonstrating to the next woman who is apprehensive at the gym entrance that she belongs there. She’s challenging a cultural script which has been telling women for generations to tone down their strength, ambition and physical confidence.
The women at the helm of this movement may not refer to it this way. They might just be stating that they enjoy training. The reality of what they’re doing, however, is real, and it is growing.
The Bottom Line
Sri Lankan women are changing the definition of “gym culture” in Sri Lanka. One workout at a time, one post at a time, and one hard-earned rep at a time.
The gym floor is for all those who walk through the door with the intent to get better. Gym ‘kello’ culture is about Sri Lankan women reminding others and themselves that they are always welcome there.
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