For Caleb Mogoa, going to the gym is not optional. Even when he is unwell, the software developer says he still makes his way to his workout.

“I work from home, so if I do not go to the gym, I will be in the house the whole day. Working out is a norm to me. Even if I am not feeling well, I still go to the gym.”

It is a routine he has maintained for more than five years, but the gym became more than a place to build muscle after a tragedy that changed his life.

Caleb was a passionate rugby player who represented his primary and secondary schools and later played at national level. However, a knee injury curtailed his rugby career when he joined campus. He had also been bullied for his small frame, prompting him to take up weight training to gain weight.

A few months later, his parents were killed and their bodies burnt in their home in Kisii. “I was in Nairobi when I got the call. It was so hard,” he recalls.

Caleb and his siblings were advised to seek professional counselling, but he chose another outlet for his grief and anger.

“I had so much anger. I had to look for a healthy way of overcoming the emotions. After the burial I decided to be fully committed to working out.”

Caleb Mogoa, 24, currently weighs 100 kilograms and targets 130 kilograms. He does intense training, pushing his body to the limit every day from 6am.

Photo credit: Pool

The gym became his way of processing emotions without turning to alcohol or drugs. “I was angry because I could not imagine that someone could do that to my parents,” he says.

His commitment is reflected in the precision of his routine. He wakes at 4am to study until 6am, goes to the gym and then begins work.

“I don’t like changing my routine. If I am travelling out of town, it has to be on a weekend, and I will work out before I travel.”

The 100-kilogramme fitness enthusiast also researches nutrition extensively and says he eats at least four meals a day, including eight eggs, to support his muscle-building goals.

He hopes eventually to reach 130 kilogrammes. “I do intense training and push my body to the limit. Some of the people I train with say that my schedule should be added in a thousand ways to die. From my research, when you push your body, feed the body, then it is going to grow.”

For Caleb, the gym has become an alternative to destructive coping mechanisms and a source of discipline. He hopes to write a book encouraging men to improve themselves and overcome life’s challenges.

“If I were putting all this energy in drinking alcohol, I think I would be the worst drunkard. I can’t imagine that.”

“I really can’t do without it.”

For Kelvin Maeri, the gym started differently. Four years ago, he saw it as a way of spending time with friends after classes. It gradually became a routine he now finds difficult to break.

“I work out five days every week for two hours between six to eight in the evening. If I go without working out in a day or two, I feel like my body is totally off. I really can’t do without it.”

Maintaining the routine was not always easy. As a student, Kelvin used bursary money to pay his daily gym fee of Sh50 and later worked as a club bouncer to finance his training and the high-protein diet he had adopted.

“I used to be a club bouncer from Friday-Sunday, 6pm to 6am, earning Sh1,000 per night. I would spend all that money on meals because I used to eat lots of protein, fruits, and blended smoothies. I would take between seven to 10 eggs per day.”

The Chuka University computer science graduate has seen his weight rise from 50 kilogrammes to 87 kilogrammes. He says the transformation has also improved his confidence and given him a way to manage stress.

“If I have something troubling me, I just go into the gym, do a very nice session and when I walk out of the gym, I am free person from stress.”

His commitment now extends to his future relationships.

“When the time comes, I want to marry a woman who is into fitness. I don’t want someone who will be questioning me on why I am going to the gym every other day or why I am spending money there.”

Building gym community

For Lynnete Odongo, 29, the gym is equally difficult to resist, although her motivation is different. She began working out at home before a neighbour inspired her to join a gym last year.

Initially intimidated by people lifting far heavier weights, she learned to focus on her own progress. “I saw people deadlifting 100kg but I could not get even the correct form with 20kg. I decided not to compare myself with others.”

Within months, she realised her enthusiasm had become something more. “I realised I was becoming an addict around June last year. It was raining but I was calling my coach to find out whether the gym was open so I could go.”

Lynnete wakes at 4:30am and is at the gym by 4:45am for a 90-minute workout before heading to work. She has also built a gym community where she serves as a team leader.

Her commitment comes at the expense of other spending. She cut her weekly budget for solo outings from Sh3,000 to Sh1,000, using the difference to fund her gym membership.

Lynnet is working to reduce body fat. She follows a strict diet and periodically takes on 100-day challenges that eliminate alcohol, sugar, fizzy drinks and junk food.

But where does dedication end and addiction begin?

Counselling psychologist Catherine Muthiani says frequent exercise is not, by itself, classified as an addiction. The concern arises when exercise becomes compulsive and begins interfering with a person’s wellbeing or other responsibilities.

“When working out is causing harm to you, if it is a compulsive habit such that you feel you must work out even if you are feeling sick, or if you feel guilty when you have not done that, then that is not a normal workout.”

She says constantly increasing exercise intensity and duration simply to feel okay can also be a warning sign.

Lynnete Odongo, 29, focusses on getting rid of excess body fat and goes to gym for one hour 30 minutes every morning from 4:45 am.

“Working out is healthy but if one has to do more and more of the exercise and every other time to feel like they are okay, then there will be problems. If one is experiencing withdrawal symptoms like sleeplessness, we will be looking at a case of exercise addiction.”

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