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Navi Mumbai DCP breaks stereotypes, keeps fit by lifting weights

ByGautam S. Mengle, Navi Mumbai
Oct 29, 2021 09:57 PM IST

Navi Mumbai DCP Rupali Ambure has only recently started publishing videos of her workouts but has been sweating it out on the mat for the last seven years to keep herself fit

A DCP with the Navi Mumbai police is using social media to break traditional stereotypes that associate lifting weights in the gym with male exercisers. While DCP Rupali Ambure has only recently started publishing videos of her workouts, she has been sweating it out on the mat for the last seven years.

Navi Mumbai DCP Rupali Ambure during a workout at the gym. She keeps fit by lifting weights. (HT PHOTO)
Navi Mumbai DCP Rupali Ambure during a workout at the gym. She keeps fit by lifting weights. (HT PHOTO)

Currently posted as DCP Special Branch, Navi Mumbai, Ambure, a mother of two daughters, first hit the gym in 2014 when she got posted as DCP Central Railway, Mumbai Government Railway Police.

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“Fitness has always been a passion since childhood. I used to be a runner in school and have also participated in marathons. During our training at the academy, we used to have daily morning and evening physical training sessions and drills. After I became an officer, I found myself missing these sessions and also realised that I wasn’t able to give time to my fitness,” Ambure recalls.

During her initial postings in districts like Nashik, Jalgaon and Amravati, Ambure also had two daughters, who are now 14 and 12, with her. By the time she got her first posting in Mumbai, she had resolved to turn back to a fitter lifestyle. She joined a gym in Mumbai and started a combination of weight training, cardio and diet – a regimen that she still follows religiously.

“Slowly but very surely, I started noticing a change in myself. The change was not just physical but also in my attitude and mental health. I started feeling youthful and more energetic throughout the day,” Ambure says.

Today, she wakes up at 5am and is in the gym by 5.30am, determinedly obeying all her trainer’s orders, faltering sometimes but never giving up. She works out hard till 7.30am, after which she heads home to take the rest of the day by its horns. Videos of her workout, where she is seen lifting heavy weights without breaking a sweat, occupy positions of pride among her Instagram posts, with each video - or Reel, getting anything between 500 and 1,500 views.

“It is a myth that lifting weights makes you look masculine and I am aware that a lot of women still have this misconception. There are so many women in my gym who follow the same workout programme that I do. Although I have never thought about it in terms of gender, these are definitely some notions that we need to do away with,” Ambure says.

Along with her workout, her diet, too, is an important part of her day. She makes it a point to take home cooked food with just the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates and other nutrients with her to work. Besides, she avoids junk food whenever she needs to go out for meetings. Even if she does indulge herself once in a while, she makes sure she eats small portions.

“The trick is portion control. After all, what is the point of lifting all those weights if you can’t have a cheat meal once in a while?” Ambure asks.

Like a true-blue gym-rat, Ambure, too, has her favourite day at the gym; leg day. “Squats are truly a full-body exercise and very beneficial. While some hate leg day because of how gruelling it is, I find myself looking forward to it,” she says.

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