Learn to move like an Avenger
Studios and gyms keep clients moving with virtual workouts and a lot of creativity
The gyms are closed. The pools are closed, too. And jogging is increasingly perceived as a nuisance, if not a menace.
In many GTA neighbourhoods, safe, socially-distant walking is next to impossible, given the city’s small sidewalks and stubborn refusal to curb traffic to help downtown residents. On top of all this, people are being fined for exercising in a park.
None of this is ideal. We can — and probably should — debate these public health issues for months and years after the COVID-19 crisis subsides. But, for now, we have to find interesting new ways to exercise at home.
While we’re at it, we might as well use this as an opportunity to mix things up and explore something new — maybe the workout of your dreams is online, just waiting for you to discover. Want to inject a little “Animal Flow” into your regimen? Or maybe it’s time to learn to “Move Like an Avenger”? Get the kids into Muay Thai? Now is as good a time as any to learn what Yin Yoga is, right?
Toronto’s many shuttered fitness clubs and studios are offering all these creative options (and more) in the form of Zoom and Insta-classes. This pivot from bricks-and-mortar to socially-distant virtual fitness happened quickly, with many studios offering contactless workouts and classes in a matter of days. For many, that necessitated a crash course in negotiating the brave new world of distance learning and social media.
“We do a bit of social media, but building a bigger outreach on Instagram wasn’t really my priority, because we’ve always been more focused on serving our community,” said Dana Dineen, owner of Beaches Hot Yoga. “But then we quickly realized that Instagram offers this great platform where we can teach live classes and bring people together.”
Bringing people together has been one of the big reasons Dineen’s online classes have attracted a following since day one, when students eagerly responded to the news that the (virtual) studio was open for business.
“At first, we focused entirely on live classes because we really believe in the power of a schedule,” said Dineen, noting that they’ve evolved to offer pre-recorded classes to make things more accessible. “Having a schedule helps us feel better on a regular basis but even more important is the community. When you prioritize getting to the mat and then find likeminded people and familiar faces, it really lifts you up.”
To help foster that sense of community, Dineen shifted most of her classes — HIIT Pilates Live, Hot Yoga (bring your own space heater), Family Yoga and stress-busting Yin Yoga — to Zoom. Seeing a gallery of faces helps the instructors feel like they’re not teaching into a void and helps students feel like they’re regaining a little of their lost social lives (there’s a promo code, FREE1STCLASS you can use, if you want to try them out).
Rekindling community has also been a big factor in the popularity of Twisted Yoga Studio’s online classes, since this was a studio with a unique social addon: namely, that, after-class, many students would head to the bar downstairs to hoist a pint. And, if it was the last class of the day, owner/instructor Christine Hooper would usually join them. Now the drinks are virtual, but it’s almost as good.
“Part of what I offer that’s different is the social interaction,” said Hooper. “Yoga’s good for anxiety, so you get a little relief from that, and then a little stretchy-bendy, and then you get to socialize with your friends.”
Essentially, all of Hooper’s clients followed her online, so she’s opening up her model to allow groups of people looking for an interesting way to hang to buy a group experience. She sets up the Zoom platform, teaches the class and, of course, post-yoga drinks are optional. Since her clientele skews older, she thinks setting up the sessions is helpful for people who haven’t yet mastered the new social media landscape.
Another good way to relieve stress is vocalizing it out of the body, said Amber Joliat, creator of Misfitstudio, which is why screaming, yelling and growling is encouraged during her sessions that are a blend of Pilates, dance and yoga.
“You know, you walk around all day and you don’t even notice that you’re clenching your jaw,” said Joliat. “So, when the teacher says open your mouth and growl or let out a noise it feels so good to have permission to just be like, ‘Roar! I had a shitty day. Roar!’ It’s amazing how healing it can be.”
And, starting this week, the team at Misfitstudio is renting out equipment so people can get back to their trampoline and bosu ball classes. In addition, as an extension of the studio’s overall philosophy of working stress and emotional pain out of the body through movement, it’s offering a special online grief workshop with Tammy Faulds on May 3 from 1 to 3 p.m.
“We talk a lot about grief and where it lives in the body,” Joliat said. “But I think, collectively, we are all experiencing an element of grief. You have to grieve that life might never be what it was before. I think it’s really healthy to process that, rather than to hold on, so, I think the timing couldn’t be better.”