Online fitness classes a HIIT with Stockport residents

An online scheme to keep Stockport residents active and support freelance fitness instructors during lockdown is set to expand under the current tier system.

While its gym doors had to remain closed, local health and fitness provider Life Leisure has been online, running around 30 live Zoom classes a week.

Ranging from High Intensity Interval Training sessions (HIIT) and Zumba, to Pilates and yoga, the busy schedule of live classes was set up to make sure local residents didn’t miss out on vital opportunities to stay active, mentally and physically.

With many sessions attracting more than 50 people, and current COVID-19 restrictions still prohibiting in-person attendance for group exercise, Life Leisure has now expanded the range and number of live classes to give people the choice of over 50 different online sessions.

Ruth Lynch, Head of Health, Fitness & Communities at Life Leisure explained:

The lockdown meant we had to close the doors of our centres and freeze membership payments accordingly. Rather than only direct people to pre-recorded sessions, we decided to trial an ambitious timetable of live classes where participants could pay a small fee as they went purely to cover freelance instructor costs – a vital source of income for them while we had to remain closed – as well as booking, filming and streaming expenses.

“While new rules mean our gyms and pool are open again, group classes like these are still prohibited. So, given how popular the live lockdown sessions were, we’ve ramped things up. We’ve got all our brilliant instructors back in the studios ready to deliver some great classes!”

Existing Life Leisure members that have activated their accounts again can access any of the classes for free, as well as any of the gym and pool facilities across Stockport. Non-members also still have the option to take part on a ‘pay as you go’ basis, at a cost of £2.75 per session.

Many local residents have been praising the range of options and mental lift that the ‘live’ element has delivered. One attendee of the online fitness classes, Vashti Holland from Woodley, commented:

These online classes are fantastic! You can go at your own pace, but I usually push myself and can’t walk for a couple of days. They are helping me feel better, physically and mentally. Thank you for giving me focus and fitness.”

The weekly sessions available also include a range of free live classes delivered specifically for those ‘prescribed’ activity through the Physical Activity Referral in Stockport (PARiS) scheme, run by Life Leisure in partnership with Public Health. Everything from chair-based exercises and sessions focussed on hip and knee movement, to stroke and cardiac rehab classes are covered. Ruth Lynch added:

There is something hugely special about the live, group exercise atmosphere, and while these classes aren’t quite the same as physically being in a room with an instructor and other participants, they do deliver some of that buzz and motivational energy that keeps people wanting to move more, even if where they are doing it is their own living room.”

Image: Life Leisure fitness instructor, Hannah Ahmad, leads an abs workout in an online clubbercise class.