Life is slowly creeping back to some sort of normality, with gyms opening for socially distanced classes, but how does this leave you feeling? Are you enjoying the flexibility of home workouts? Or do you yearn to be part of a class again? It seems that yet another new term has entered our vocabulary, which probably describes how many of us may approach our workouts. ‘Blended’ has become the buzz word for balancing ‘at-home-online’ with being ‘out and face-to-face’.
Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve all had to change how we exercise. With gyms and studios closing, opening, and then closing again, we’ve become used to working out at home with online sessions. These have become very popular as they save time and are much easier to fit into a busy lifestyle, than travelling to and from a class in a studio. Many clients have said they’ve actually managed to fit in more classes from home than they would going to a studio.
However, doing Pilates alone in your kitchen does not give the same buzz or feeling of motivation as exercising with other people. The ‘group effect’ plays a part in positively influencing the overall workout experience. Also gyms have more equipment than most people have at home, meaning that classes can be more varied.
So it may be that the future of fitness lies in a combination of all the different things we’ve tried recently. ‘Blended fitness’ may become the new normal with a combination of convenient digital classes at home and exercising with others in a studio or gym.
Blended fitness may offer the best of both worlds, in studio and online. It gives a choice of when and where to work out, depending on what suits you best at the time. When fitness becomes part of a daily routine, this is when it has the most impact on well-being.
The pandemic has really focussed attention on the value of health and blended fitness could be the best way to workout in 2021.
Sending you lots of positive thoughts
Jo (Willow and Daisy) xxx
Yes I think blended is a great idea. Sometimes you might have a spare hour and that doesn’t allow time to leave home so doing it at home alleviates the stress of rushing and getting your exercise in.