Business finds way to remain active for Limestone Coast community through online fitness programs

Lisa Fyfe Dsc 5149  TBW Newsgroup
CHANGES AFOOT: Lisa Fyfe has made changes to the way she delivers the F45 fitness program, with the online system helping to keep people connected during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Picture: JAMES MURPHY

Lisa Fyfe Dsc 5149 TBW Newsgroup
CHANGES AFOOT: Lisa Fyfe has made changes to the way she delivers the F45 fitness program, with the online system helping to keep people connected during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Picture: JAMES MURPHY

THE world has become a different place to live in the shadow of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Businesses are closing, restrictions are in place to limit movement around the community and sporting groups have all-but ceased operations.

It leaves many people in the community with little to do to remain motivated, fit and connected.

Those hoping to return to sport in the future need to retain a certain level of fitness, but are limited with their interaction with others.

With no support, the danger is people let their fitness slide, but also their social interaction, which can also effect mental health.

But many can find it hard to remain motivated on their own and as a result give in to the current social climate.

The whole scenario requires creative ways to keep motivated, mobile and connected within the community.

Gym owner Lisa Fyfe looked for unconventional ways to keep everyone fit and interactive and as a result has provided the F45 fitness program on the online zoom platform.

The result sees several options for people to remain fit and focused, interacting via video to keep motivated and using what is at hand in their own homes.

“We have been recreating the wheel,” Fyfe said.

“We have been getting people to use their shopping bags and backpacks as weights – all sorts of things at home.”

While entry to gyms has been severely restricted, Fyfe said her trainers were able to provide the program over the internet, with members interacting through video hookups in their own homes.

Some sessions are run live, but others are pre-recorded if people find it hard with their children at home from school.

However, one of the most positive aspects is the social interaction.

“Staying connected is the most important thing right now,” Fyfe said.

“There are a lot of free apps out there, but all you are doing is looking at a screen.

“We are trying to keep everyone connected.

“I am not doing this for a financial gain – this is not the time for that – we just want as many people as possible staying connected and staying moving.

“We cannot run our normal classes each day, so we are running some via zoom.

“We can log in and see everyone and we can interact with them, because they are up on the screen.”

Fyfe said the online program had proved quite popular, with close to 200 signing on in the first couple of days.

“Everyone who signs up with us has access to a private Facebook group where all of our trainers take the workouts,” she said.

“We sometimes do them live and sometimes pre-record them so people can do them in their own time and at their own pace.

“It is really good to stay connected.”

Fyfe said her members’ mental health and physical activity is the priority at the moment with the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

“We could be like this for six months,” she said.

“It could be more or it could be less.

“We are planning for six months and that is a long time to not be part of a community and connected with people.”