Hyderabad, July 20 -- "By 2030, I want Hyderabad to become the fitness capital of India," says Rishikesh Kumar, founder of XtraLiving, a fitness centre in Hitech City.

It is a bold declaration, but for him, it is a roadmap. For years, the city's workout culture revolved around a predictable routine: heavy bench presses, dead lifts and post-workout protein shakes. But now, a shift is happening across Hyderabad's gym floors. Aesthetic vanity metrics are giving way to endurance, functional strength and competitive sweat.

XtraLiving is driving this change by partnering with HYROX, the fitness phenomenon dubbed "the marathon of functional fitness." For those who do not know, HYROX combines alternating 1 km runs with eight standardised functi...