As gyms across North America prepare to reopen, many trainers who have managed to gain a following online during quarantine aren’t sure whether they need to go back.
As gyms across North America prepare to reopen, many trainers who have managed to gain a following online during quarantine aren’t sure whether they’ll go back.
Zumba instructor Assata McKenzie, who was used to leading a packed room of dance devotees at various Toronto gyms pre-COVID, took the popular Latin-inspired workout classes online when the pandemic began.
A following for her free “Zoom-ba” workouts — streamed live via Zoom with a laptop on her North York balcony — grew quickly. McKenzie supplements her income with private online classes for small groups.
“I don’t know for myself how comfortable I’ll be going back to the gym, and I don’t know how comfortable other people will be,” said McKenzie. “I’ll definitely keep the online classes going for a while.”
Online classes help instructors reach new audiences
It’s a sentiment shared by other fitness experts as well, many of whom feared a major loss of business when stay-at-home orders first began. Private instructors and companies are now exploring paid online models to make more money — and in some cases, they’ve been so successful that they plan to keep it up even as lockdown restrictions are lifted.
“I think it’s been a surprise to people how much they’ve benefited from the at-home online workout,” said Jennifer Nichols, whose Toronto ballet-based fitness studio was forced to shut down last month.
Nichols wasn’t sure her ballet boot camps would translate well to an online audience at first. But within weeks of offering free classes on Facebook and Instagram Live, her social media following doubled.
“I get photos sent to me with people working out with their jar of lentils or their peanut butter jar, their water bottle. With their babies strapped to their belly while they’re doing barre classes,”