Pallavi and Ayaana Garge do Mudgar drills together regularly
Picture credits: Jignesh Mistry
Location credits: Primal Base, Aundh
Bonding over burpees, not brunches’Come on! Five more seconds to complete the set.’That is what motherhood sounds like in many urban homes right now. Alongside reminders to eat properly and study on time to their kids, mothers are also counting out reps during gym sessions, discussing marathon timings over breakfast, and arguing over who skipped leg day this week. And the kids aren’t complaining either. Family bonding once meant movie nights and Sunday lunches. In 2026, it has taken a high-intensity turn with fitness routines.
We do a mix of running, weight training, yoga, and online conditioning workouts together. Sometimes we push each other through difficult sets, and sometimes we end up laughing because one of us gives up midway
Mukta Gadnis, who works out with her son Malhar
Better health, better relationships
Malhar and Mukta Gadnis start each morning with an endorphin boost through a workout.Picture credits: Jignesh Mistry
For mother-daughter Dhanashree and Anvi Bendre, workouts are about Dhanashree pushing through treadmill intervals, with Anvi unofficially becoming her motivator. “If I slow down during a difficult set, she immediately starts cheering me on,” says Dhanashree. The toughest challenge for Dhanashree was when she decided to attempt her first half marathon in her late forties. “I kept doubting myself, but Anvi had more confidence in me than I had in myself. She kept encouraging me,” she says.On her part, Anvi says these sessions have dual benefits. “Helping each other during workouts has changed my health and our relationship. My endurance is so much better now, and somewhere between sets we end up talking about everything – college stress, random life updates, even family gossip. Those conversations happen much more naturally when we’re working out together,” says Anvi.
Sometimes I spot her during weight training, sometimes she pushes me through workouts when I want to give up halfway. At some point, it stopped feeling like mother-daughter time and started feeling like teamwork.
Anvi Bendre, who works out with her mother Dhanashree
Mudgar drills and enduranceFor Pallavi Gagre and her daughter Ayaana, workouts are less about treadmills and more about functional movement training. Their sessions involve mudgar exercises, mobility drills, endurance circuits, and balance training. “If one of us slows down during a difficult drill, the other immediately starts counting louder,” Ayaana laughs.
Pallavi and her daughter Ayaana Gagre bond over fitness and calorie burn. Picture credits: Jignesh MistryLocation courtesy: Primal Base, Aundh
Pallavi says her daughter has become her biggest accountability partner. “On days when I feel lazy or want to skip training, she’s the one dragging me out of bed,” she says. Ayaana adds, “My mother is genuinely the best gym buddy I could ask for.”Workout x bonding timeIt’s 7 am and 51-year-old Shalini Gupta drives to the gym accompanied by her 18-year-old son Arjun. They spend 50 minutes in a gruelling session with three sets of assisted pull-ups. This is followed by lying leg curls, leg press, and squats. Thrice a week, the mother-son duo works out regularly, encouraging and setting goals for each other. What started as a New Year’s resolution has now become a special bonding time for the mother and son. “I usually work out with my friend, but since my mom has started working out, I like to spend three days a week with her at the gym. This has now become a bonding time for us,” says Arjun. Shalini, who is hard-pressed for time due to her job, says she has finally found time to focus on her health, while spending time with her son. “We would barely meet each other earlier. But I am glad that my son doubles up as my gym instructor and pushes me to focus on weight training. It’s a lot of fun just to spend time at the gym with him.”
Earlier, quality time mostly meant watching something together. Now it’s sweating through difficult workouts together and laughing afterwards about who struggled more.
Pallavi Gagre, who works out with her daughter Ayaana
For Trupti Rao and her son Ninad, fitness started with lockdown walks and eventually evolved into early-morning running sessions, badminton matches, and gym workouts together. “We intentionally kept our workout timings the same,” says Trupti. Ninad adds, “No matter how tired she was, she never skipped workouts.”
Sushmita Sen and her daughter Alisah work out together as well!Picture source: @sushmitasen47
Celebrity moms are lifting tooSushmita Sen regularly posts workout videos with daughter Alisah, while Bhagyashree and son Abhimanyu Dassani have turned fitness into playful online content. Sara Ali Khan has often credited her mother, Amrita Singh, for supporting her through her fitness journey, and Malaika Arora continues to make wellness look like a family lifestyle with son Arhaan Khan.