Online fitness classes: a yoga studio, gym and dance company on embracing virtual workouts and keeping their clients moving
- Hong Kong-based Kita Yoga, Flye Fitness and Pherform talk about why they will keep doing online classes even after reopening amid relaxing restrictions
- Kita Yoga's founder says the studio’s virtual sessions enabled old members who had moved away to rejoin, and new ones from around the world to sign up
When government mandates forced the closures of all fitness centres in Hong Kong in early April to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, segments of the local industry responded agilely by moving from physical to virtual spaces to help keep their clients moving and in touch with their community.
Nikita Ramchandani, founder of boutique studio Kita Yoga in Sheung Wan, moved her classes online using the popular Zoom videoconferencing platform as quickly as she could.
Having started the company in 2016 to teach vinyasa yoga in “an intimate, inviting space with small class sizes and fun teachers”, she knew she would have to overcome some hurdles.
“Given that part of our offering is a tranquil space and a sense of human connection, we were worried about attendance,” says Ramchandani, who grew up in Hong Kong and studied abroad.
“We have had old students [rejoin] who moved away, and new ones join from across the world. It’s kind of incredible to see,” she says.
Kita Yoga's physical studio recently reopened as Hong Kong relaxes restrictions and looks to reinvigorate its economy. Still, Ramchandani will continue to offer many of its sessions online “at the request of our students who do not live in Hong Kong,” she says.
“We expect to keep these sessions on the schedule until lockdowns across the world start to ease. We have always understood the impact of a digital presence and had set the launch [of a comprehensive] video platform for this summer, which we have now brought forward to launch in the next few weeks.”
The platform will offer pre-recorded sessions rather than live ones that clients can watch anytime, anywhere.
Hong Kong people are relatively aware of the need for physical activity. A 2012 study by the government’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department found that about 37 per cent of adults in the city could be classified as “physically active”, exercising at least 30 minutes a day three times a week. So when fitness facilities including public recreational facilities were suddenly off-limits, many found themselves clamouring for options to stay in shape – especially when they were in quarantine or under work-from-home orders, and longing for the company of others.
In early April, it launched its own video-on-demand platform coupled with live interactive streamed sessions during the lockdown.
“It’s actually always been part of the plan to have an online offering, a virtual product for us, because since last year when the [Hong Kong anti-government] protests started, there have been other disruptions, and then Covid-19 expedited that process,” says Flye co-founder Eliza Jiang. “At the beginning, we were worried it would not be the same experience as being in the class, vibing with the community.”
Patricia Tsang, a teacher who joined Flye when its studio first opened, welcomed the online sessions when she was forced to work from home, which allowed her to keep that sense of community she’d built through the in-studio classes.
“Not being able to join in-person classes, the online platform couldn’t have launched at a better time. I loved it. It’s exactly like the in-person class. Same vibes. Same energy,” she says.
Flye’s studio has reopened but will now offer its online sessions as a supplemental service for people who don’t always have access to the studio, says Jiang, a lawyer by trade who founded the company with physiotherapist and former competitive ballroom dancer Upekha Senaweera.
“When people are travelling, and can’t get to the studio, we’ve built in a programme which they can log on to and just click on the workout of the day and follow a routine over an eight-week workout plan,” Jiang says, adding it is an opportunity for clients to help build good fitness habits.
Since opening in January 2016, Pherform had built up a roster of about 250 clients, mostly busy professional women who embraced its female-specific training ideal. It was offering up to 16 classes a day with 12 staff members. As soon as de Fina learned the studio would have to close, he arranged to continue offering classes online via Zoom.
“Knowing that our members would be socially isolated and working from home, we realised that our role in their lives was now more important than ever,” he says.
“We waived suspension fees [for putting memberships on hold], extended class packages for those who were unable to train with us online, and then launched scheduled online training sessions four times a day.”
Now that its doors have reopened, Pherform continues to record at least one live training session a day for its members to view online when they can’t visit in person. And de Fina plans to launch a regular online offering to enable clients to keep fighting fit in the event of another disruption.