The impact going virtual has had on my home
Tiffany from MSE Fitness shares the impact going virtual has had
Date: 25 June 2020 Author: Energise Me
Group exercise instructor Christine Saunders shares the challenges and surprises of going from delivering classes in leisure centres to setting herself up in a home studio from her garage.
Christine is a group exercise instructor in Yoga, Pilates and freestyle classes such as HIIT, conditioning and aqua. Specialising in GP exercise referral for older people and those with chronic conditions, she delivers classes specific to individual needs. Pre-lockdown she taught over 18 classes a week for a range of organisations including Winchester College, Places for People and the Saints Foundation. She’s now busy offering a range of daily online classes including Pilates, Yoga, Les Mills Body Balance, Legs Bums and Tums and HIIT from her garage.
My biggest worry when Covid started was how am I going to get my exercise referral class online? It’s so important for these participants to exercise due to the chronic nature of their conditions
My biggest worry when Covid started was how am I going to get my exercise referral class online? It’s so important for these participants to exercise due to the chronic nature of their conditions. Conditions such as COPD, diabetes, arthritis and osteoporosis. But they actually became the first group of participants that I managed to get onto Zoom. This was brilliant considering they are all in their 70s and 80s.
I set up Zoom on the Wednesday. Got my COPD class online for a test on the Thursday and we went live with our first class on the Friday. It did take me three weeks to get one lady online. We got there through gentle encouragement via text messages and telephone calls. Another lady had issues with video. We couldn’t see her for the first class but we soon worked out it was because her computer didn’t have a webcam! Fast forward 2 weeks and she’s now bought herself one, as she’s determined to make the sessions work for her. It was so good to see her smile!
For many of my older participants my classes really help them with keeping a routine during lockdown. Life can become pretty mundane and boring due to social distancing and self isolating. It’s also brought a greater sense of community to all my classes. People are getting to know each other better. I have one participant who comes in fancy dress each week, which brings a bit of fun to it all!
I’m always worried about the internet connection going down during a class. This has happened a couple of times. My whole house has to shut off their devices when my classes go live. No catchup TV no phones off the Wi-Fi and kindles off! I’ve upgraded our internet package with our provider and use an ethernet cable to boost connection.
I can only see what participants are doing and can’t be hands on to correct. So I am modifying what I’m getting people to do. I don’t ask people to do advanced work, as it’s too risky in terms of the potential for injuries. Although I’d love to introduce new exercises, now is not the time. My participants are familiar with everything we do as we’ve been doing it for years in our physical classes.
Online classes are a great way to introduce people to exercise. I know a lot of people want to try Yoga, but perhaps don’t want to come onto a screen and do it with people that they don’t know. I recently ran a small class taster session online which was a great way for people to dip their toe in the water and see if it’s right for them.
I’m always thinking of new developments, particularly as this is going to be normality for potentially the rest of this year
I plan to keep classes running online, as I do think there will be demand for them post lockdown. Many leisure providers are going to take a long time to return to a full timetable of classes and even when they do run, the number of participants in each class will be reduced due to social distancing.
I’m always thinking of new developments, particularly as this is going to be normality for potentially the rest of this year. Thinking about little initiatives that can help me retain my current participants, as well as encourage new ones. I’m just about to undertake Pilates training for children and teenagers, as there is lots of demand from parents to find new ways to keep their kids fit. I aim to have these classes ready by July. I’m planning further taster classes and have recorded classes that can be sent to my participants when they can’t join the live sessions.
• Don’t forget that the current guideline for exercise is 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week such as brisk walking, dancing and gardening – break this up to make it more manageable. Small things such as walking up and down stairs can help you reach your weekly target.
• The NHS website has huge amounts of information on how to exercise for lots of different conditions.
• Use exercise videos trusted and supported by organisations e.g. Versus Arthritis, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation.
• One of the biggest problems we see now is that people are sitting for prolonged periods of time in their homes due to working from home or social distancing – set a timer and get up and move every 45 minutes.
Explore more tips on being active at home with a long term health condition.
Find out more about Christine and her current online classes on the re-energise site.
Helping us tackle inactivity to boost health and happiness
