As everyone settles into the routine of lockdown, one thing that many people are missing is the gym and a regular fitness regime. Of course the internet is full of personal trainers and advice, but we caught up with one of Leicester’s best independent studios about how they’re adapting to the situation.
Find Your Fitness UK are based in Wigston and offer personal training as well as small group classes. On a personal level I can also really attest to the quality and results from their programmes. They’re now offering a range of online classes and services and we caught up with trainer, Andrew Gange, to find out more about it all.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with Find Your Fitness, can you tell us a little about what you do?
Firstly, hello everybody, we hope you’re all keeping safe. For those of you that haven’t heard of our health and fitness company, Find Your Fitness UK, I’ll give you a brief description. Pre lockdown FYF was a fitness studio in Wigston, opened in 2013. We opened the studio with the plan to create an inclusive, community atmosphere for our clients while still offering a professional fitness experience. We offer Personal Training, group classes, nutritional programs, outdoor bootcamps and the occasional fancy dress class!
When lockdown hit and we were forced to close, we had two choices; go bust or develop an online fitness product that still had the same community values that have been crucial to our success at the studio. So now we are offering an 11-class a week online timetable including HIIT, Core, Circuit training and Yoga. Along with the fitness classes we have a 12-week nutritional program, weekly catch ups and nutritional chats and a charity quiz every two weeks. There’s a lot going on basically!
How have you adapted the services over the lockdown period?
I touched on it earlier that we had to adapt very quickly, sink or swim! Prior to lockdown we had no experience in online fitness classes, so we had to work around the clock to convert our current business model into a virtual one. We put together a class timetable, design and made all the marketing info and advertised it over a weekend. So far, it’s progressed well, and the response has been amazing. We would like to say thank you to everyone for their support so far.
How important is it to maintain regular exercise during this time?
Regular exercise and healthy foods are essential in normal life and during a pandemic they are even more important. Keeping yourself fit and healthy will give you the best possible chance of overcoming illnesses and the positive impact of regular exercise on your mental health shouldn’t be underestimated. I feel it’s important people take some responsibility for their health, to give the best chance of living a long happy life. As we have seen, the NHS is under unbelievable strain, and if we can reduce the amount of lifestyle related diseases this will help the NHS massively.
Are the workouts suitable for all capabilities?
Absolutely. We have a varied client base with ages between 18-65, men and women and varied fitness levels. We pride ourselves on being inclusive, so everyone can join in. Within the sessions we always offer a regression and progression to each exercise, to enable the exercise to be adapted to every fitness level . And if there is an exercise someone is struggling with, they’re able to use the chat option on Zoom to communicate with us and the instructor can find an alternative.
What recommendations would you give people who are wanting to increase their level of daily exercise?
I’d highly recommend our online classes! But also, going for a walk, jog or cycle, especially when the weather is good. Government guidelines are allowing us to go outside and exercise once a day, make the most of it. If you’re new to exercise, then take it slowly and build yourself up. If you’re looking for guidance, then please get in contact and try some of our online classes for free. We have over 10 year’s experience in the fitness industry, so I’m sure we can help you reach your goals.
You’re also raising money for charity through your online sessions, can you tell us a little more about that?
Yes, we’ve always raised money for different local charities, such as LOROS, and thought that with the extra free time we could continue with this. We’ve been running donation-based Facebook live classes and every two weeks we run an online quiz. The quiz is open to everyone and we just ask for an optional donation to a set charity. For the past two weeks we’ve been raising money to help buy PPE for the local hospitals. Our members are very generous so thankfully we managed to raise around £1,000. We’re really proud that even during these financially uncertain times the FYF community is still able to support local charities.
What do you think sets you apart from other gyms/trainers in Leicester?
A sense of community. There are lots of good trainers and gyms in Leicester, but we feel that we offer an honest and professional service to our clients. We aim to be inclusive for all new people with a positive outlook on health and fitness. I think the fitness industry sometimes gets a bad reputation for being full of egos, so we try to be approachable and friendly to all new and existing members.
How can people find out more and join sessions?
If people would like to try our online fitness sessions or just get in contact to ask a question then please visit our linktree button, this will take you to all available FYF pages. Or you can visit our Facebook page or our website. We hope to see more of you online in the future!