Female fitness instructors find creative ways of keeping clients active under lockdown

AMMAN — In a world under lockdown, the phrase “the gym is my home”, commonly used by fitness lovers, has taken on a literal meaning. In Jordan, prominent female fitness figures have helped the public adjust to home fitness by moving yoga, workouts and mind-body training online.

For Zein Salti, a yoga instructor and founder of a cold-pressed, plant-based food service, the coronavirus pandemic offered a push to shift her platform “into a virtual online world”.

“The pandemic has shaken everyone’s lives through the good and the bad. We as humans have had to adapt, change and move forward,” she added.

With more than 22,000 followers on Instagram, Salti said she has used the pandemic as an opportunity to “extend help and knowledge to those thousands of miles away”.

For Maya Abdullah, a professional fitness trainer and gym owner who has more than 142,000 followers, the months under lockdown was used to create a free weight loss challenge exclusively for women.

“After working with so many clients over the years, I have noticed the immense burden that weight and body-image impose on women in our society. So, I have made it a goal of mine to empower women and make them feel good in their own skin. When a woman is confident in her body, her entire attitude and outlook on life changes,” said Abdullah in remarks to The Jordan Times.

Sensing that, during the first period of quarantine, her online following was “extremely unmotivated, lost and disconnected,” Abdullah “felt a strong need” to do something that would give her “Instagram family” a sense of unity and hope.

Although the shutdown halted her income, just like other fitness trainers, the decision to make the challenge free of charge stemmed out of Abdullah’s belief that “people are fighting so many challenges all at once, financial shortages being on top of the list”.

She added: “I wanted to create a challenge that did not impose any burdens whatsoever on anyone. My main goal behind this was to empower people and prove that such a difficult time can be transformed into something positive.”

Business did not stop for everyone, however.

Farah Abdulhadi, a Yoga Instructor and founder of Yoga studio YogaMy, said that the shutdown was “convenient” for her business, citing that the Yoga equipment industry grew by 190 per cent in March of 2020 in comparison to March of 2019.

Abdulhadi told The Jordan Times that this phenomenon occured because, as COVID-19 hit the world, “the public realised that yoga is a useful activity during harsh times. It has the potential to meet many of people’s health, fitness and relaxation needs from the comfort of their own homes”.

“There is a common misconception that yoga is only a relaxation activity; however, the public has realised due to the unfortunate events of the pandemic that yoga meets not only their wellness but also their physical and mental needs. Completing a yoga practice will invigorate your mind and body while creating endorphins that soothe you and that will assist in coping with the reality of the situation, no matter what it is, therefore helping you to adapt,” she said.

Salti echoed those points by saying that yoga “helps us explore the person within us… Yoga is a gift from the universe; we will all benefit from it no matter what state of mind and shape of body we are”.

With more than 24,000 followers online, Abdulhadi said that it “took some trial and error to find the most suitable platform to continue classes”.

“Ultimately, Zoom did the job and I was able to control who gets in the class without fear of any unwanted observers. Additionally, I am able to pinpoint certain students who are doing the moves correctly for the others to observe,” she said.

For all three female fitness figures, moving online has helped widen their circles.

For Salti, it was receiving new practitioners from outside Jordan; for Abdullah, it was thousands of women joining the challenge and providing her with positive feedback; for Abdulhadi, it was bringing her students not only from governorates within Jordan but from places outside of Jordan as well.

“I have plans this year to engage with interested people outside of Amman. Hopefully they will materialise even with the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Abdulhadi added.

Meanwhile, the post-coronavirus world has new implications for the fitness industry. In Abdullah’s newly-opened gym, masks and other health precautions are a must. In Abdulhadi and Salti’s Yoga studios, physical distancing is a requirement as well.