How Covid-19 Impacted the Online Health & Fitness World
Macayla Cline [September 14, 2021]
There were many ways our world was impacted by the hardships of this Pandemic, but there was one community that could not be silenced or shut down. The health and fitness community took online advancements in exercise and healthy living to a new level, proving that a stay-at-home order did not have to stop healthy activities as we know it. Being active and healthy is not just a choice, it is a lifestyle. With so much free time at our disposal, many people decided to utilize that liberty to actively focus on their overall health. I can’t count the amount of times I heard friends or family say, “I want to come out of this pandemic more attractive than I was going into it.” But, with gyms and fitness studios going into lock down with the rest of the world, it was crucial for new technology to advance health and fitness outlets. Here are 7 ways the health and fitness world turned to an online forum during the pandemic:
- Live Streaming Fitness Classes
Through live streaming fitness classes on the internet, people could receive feedback on exercises from a professional expert. Need to separate your knees more when doing squats? It is important to have engagement during an exercise class, and live streaming fitness classes was a new way of providing that. This could be accessed through a variety of resources. Many athletic organizations transformed gym memberships to subscription memberships, providing organized online platforms for these live streams. Classes of all fitness levels and types of fitness were offered as well, making it accessible for everyone to join in on the action.
2. Instagram & TikTok Fitness Influencers
While not every Instagram and TikTok Influencer can be considered a professional, many health and fitness driven influencers took the pandemic by storm. Through social media platforms, they provided healthy food recipes, personal exercise routines, touched on motivational conversations and expanded on the understanding of taking care of yourself. Let’s admit it, everyone spent way too much time scrolling through social media with all this freedom. However, it was motivating and educating to have the health community taking over social media content. To name a few individuals who were behind this movement, here are some well known fitness influencers known for demonstrating the most impact during the pandemic:
- Sarah’s Day [@Sarahs_Day, https://www.sarahsday.com/]
- Kayla Itsines [@kayla_itsines, https://www.kaylaitsines.com/]
- Ulisses [@Ulissesworld, https://www.ulissesworld.com/}
- Chris Bumstead [@cbum, https://www.cbumfitness.com/]
3. Peloton and Digital Exercise Machines
Although the Peloton made its debut before the pandemic hit, there is no exaggeration when I say the Peloton changed the fitness game in lock down. According to Jordan Valinsky, reporter for CNN Business, the Peloton, “was bolstered by a 172% surge in sales and more than 1 million people subscribing to its streaming classes.” The Peloton offered at home, online activated, fitness machines to guide individuals during exercise. They offered a variety of internet classes streaming from the attached screen, while at the same time, your fitness statistics from the machines are being sent to the fitness instructors. When individuals were more interested in using treadmills and bicycle equipment for exercise, technology and the online fitness world turned to the Peloton.
4. Online fitness Clubs and Groups
A concept we would not have necessarily thought of before, many online fitness clubs and groups were created during the pandemic. No matter what type of health and fitness you were interested in, there was an online group for you: Biking clubs, yoga groups, moms who run with their strollers club, you name it. This movement began by individuals connecting on the internet, while in lockdown, discussing similar interests. It evolved into these groups having zoom meetings, emailing motivational messages to instigate exercise and using online chains to help connect you to group members in your area. Sometimes, people did not want to exercise in their homes or alone. Therefore, the internet allowed for people to continue making connections and plan meet ups to exercise together.
- Meetup, was one of the #1 sites for connecting groups and clubs during the internet in all regions. These groups are still active and meeting, so check out what is offered in your area.
- InstaMeets, which is not a website but a social construct, is the idea of face-bookers and instagram geeks creating groups through social media hashtags. As Diane Schmidt from The Spruce explained, “users of similar interests get together to take online pictures and videos to share with one another and with a larger community.”
This was a great way for people to continue merging socializing and fitness during the pandemic. And although gyms and fitness clubs are back in action, these online clubs have not gone anywhere.
5. Youtube Fitness Resources
There were many people that wanted to begin a fitness and healthy living journey during the pandemic, but did not know where to begin. On top of that, lots of people were struggling financially during this time and could not afford a lot of the online fitness forums I discussed above. Thats where Youtube became a central hub for all things fitness, and just to name a few things offered:
- Fitness for beginners introduction and instructions
- Influencers
- Online streaming fitness classes
- News on health and fitness advancements
- Marketing for fitness brands
This was offered for free and was an easy way for people to find what they were looking for.
Although many of the standard fitness gyms and healthy living resources have returned, these online forums are sticking around. The world has adapted to online advancements during these times. And, as these examples demonstrate, the internet has opened up many more opportunities for people to get active and healthy.
