Online Classes-The Varied Opinions

With every industry switching to virtual work, the fitness industry has had an interesting mix of success and challenges moving classes online. Virtual classes are a great way to maintain connected to clients when we can't meet in person, and for clients to maintain their workouts, but it can be challenging as well to miss the communal space and physical touch that many trainers prefer to work with in order to stretch and connect with our clients.

For some clients the switch to virtual sessions has been perfect, they are so happy to be continuing their sessions while they're stuck at home, and they have time to be able to take more sessions each week than they used to before the safer-at-home orders. They are loving not having to commute to the studio, they can just flip on their screen and be in their class.

Other clients are stuck in the mindset of they are "missing" something because they don't have the Reformer, Cadillac, or other equipment that they use in their studio. Instead of seeing what they do have now, they haven’t been able to look past what is not available for them in the current situation.

Some people can't concentrate at home, with kids running around, phones ringing, chores looming in the next room, part of a long list of to-dos. They don't feel they can give themselves the time while so many other things are needing attention. They don't feel they're getting as "good of" a workout without the equipment. They can't feel the benefit of bodyweight exercises, and won't give themselves the opportunity to settle in to try.

I get it. The best reason to go to a gym or studio for a class is that the environment is set up for you specifically to have your time to breathe and move. We go to the studio in order to have our space, we schedule our time, we have the equipment, and we exercise. Having that specified space helps us to settle into the mindset of workout time, and we can concentrate, leaving everything else at the door. Once we settle on the mat it is our time, workout time, time for ourselves.

At home it is much more challenging to create that environment, to ignore all the distractions. When we are commuting to a studio or gym the two biggest constraints are traffic and scheduling time. Now, we don't have those constraints, but there are always other reasons to skip a workout or movement session. The challenge is to figure out how to create this space at home. It can be done, it just takes discipline and continuing to adhere to a schedule to make it happen.

So is online training as beneficial?

My answer is Yes, I do think that it is. But, this comes with a caveat…everyone has to understand that we are in a new situation so our expectations must be adjusted. Both teacher and client need to arrive together at the session knowing things will feel different than when we are in the studio and acknowledge that this doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile or isn't beneficial.

Personally, I love learning online, in my own space, taking the time that I need for myself. I also have learned to love teaching online. It has been amazing to be able to continue working, teaching my clients, knowing that I am still able to help them feel better, eliminate their aches and pains from sitting, and teach them how to move better. I have been learning how to describe what I want them to feel since I can't reach out to prod the muscle that should be activating or place their limb in a better joint angle. Learning how to use descriptive words instead of touching them has empowered me as a teacher, and I see it has deepened my clients' understanding of their body- a better feeling of what to do and how it makes a difference in how they connect to the movement.

Now, depending on where their screen is set up it can be challenging to see the client without being cut off. Some clients are unaware of how to angle the screen in order to be best seen within the camera. However, with this too I have learned how to work around it, and it has actually given me a better awareness of how to look at the client. When their image is partially cut off because they are too close to the screen, I can use other markers of the body to see that the exercise is correct or conversely, where they are compensating. With the clients I have worked with in-person for years I know their compensatory tendencies, so that also helps me to know what their body is doing.

I've had some clients react with surprise that I can see them do something through the screen… "you can see that?!" Yes, I can see in the rest of the body how the weight shift and muscle activation changes when you do that. The whole body is an interconnected web, so each part impacts another. I can use other landmarks through the body to see how you're working even if the screen cuts you off.

My ongoing joke is that when we get back in-studio, no one will be able to use the excuse that they can't hear me because their internet connection is going out, or try to cheat an exercise they don't like by angling themselves out of the camera. But their response is that they can't get away with it even now! I can still catch them!

So even with some clients not preferring the online model, there are many who do. There is so much that we can appreciate being able to continue teaching and training our clients online. If this pandemic had hit merely 10 years ago, this wouldn't have been as possible.

There are pros and cons to everything, and I think it is important to see the silver linings, especially when things are difficult. As a teacher I have become more confident, and my clients have become more empowered knowing we don't have to rely on a specific space to workout. We can meet anywhere, even online, and still be able to continue on.

For some people, this doesn’t work, or they simply haven't been able to allow the change. As a teacher, I have to know that this is okay. Everyone is different, everyone has different challenges they are facing. It is very hard to not take this personally, but it is important to learn to take myself out of it and focus on the work.

During this time some clients tried online sessions and it just didn't work for them. Others weren't even willing to try, and yet many others have tried and loved it, and those are the people we are continuing for, keeping them healthy, happy, and moving. Every session they tell me how good they feel afterward, and how grateful they are that they can keep up with their sessions. I tell them how much I appreciate their trust in me, sticking with me, and giving me the opportunity to continue teaching and sharing my passion.

Do what moves you!