BY TRICIA RIVERA
More Australians are attending online fitness classes, downloading fitness apps and speaking to dieticians in an effort to adopt a healthier lifestyle while gyms are closed during COVID-19 lockdown.
Founder of S3 Studio Joshua Norris-Ongso said his virtual studio has had a high attendance rate and that he sometimes teaches up to 50 people in a class, whereas previously there was an average attendance of 20.
“We did three classes a day [at the start of the pandemic], but then with more demand we increased,” Mr Norris-Ongso said.
“Now we run about five-six classes a day and they’ve all been pretty much well attended by our members.
“Motivation at the beginning is fantastic,” Mr Norris-Onsgo said, adding maintaining it can be difficult as “people realise they still need the drive to do these exercises”.
Fitness apps have risen in popularity during isolation with the F45 Challenge app reporting around 80,000 new members in the past two months.
Sam Wood, founder and trainer at 28 by Sam Wood, said there’s been a “considerable increase in sign-ups and engagement” for his program.
“April saw our largest month of web traffic with nearly 400,000 visitors,” Mr Wood said.
Dietician and director of Perfect Balance Nutrition Carmen Bouchier said isolation has people in “both camps”, either embracing or neglecting healthier eating choices.
“People are eating healthier meals because they are cooking,” Ms Bouchier said.
“[But for some] being at home is really a trigger for eating more, because there’s easy access to the cupboards.”
Ms Bouchier has noticed a slow increase in the amount of clients since isolation began, with more people interested in eating healthier.
“People are wanting to know how to shed the kilos they’ve put on because there have been a lot of people who have actually put on a lot of weight,” she said.
Her advice for making and maintaining these changes is to “focus on one thing” as the “whole process becomes overwhelming because people are trying to change too much at one time”.