Maintain your Wellbeing using Virtual Fitness Platforms
By Dinesh Godara, Founder &CEO, TREAD
From online fitness classes to counselling, sustain your mental health during the corona virus crisis with the help of online fitness platforms …
Panic in the time of pandemic is normal. Staying at home for long hours amid the lockdown, while juggling work assignments and household chores may leave one mentally fatigued and more stressed out than the usual 9-5 working day. Add on to that is the constant news updates on the spread of the coronavirus disease, which may even cause a bit of paranoia.
A growing number of Indians are turning to online health platforms to seek help for mental health issues ranging from anxiety and loneliness to concerns over productivity and job loss since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Physical inactivity and lack of daily traveling, increased stress levels due to the new work set up/arrangement and managing household chores all at the same time is taking a toll on people’s overall physical and mental well-being. Our daily lifestyle has not just become sedentary but given the implications of the situation is also ceasing to motivate us to sustain our fitness regime. However, if there ever was a good time to embrace a fitness and wellness regime, this is it!
The opportunity has presented itself to help us break away from detrimental habits and commence our journey towards a staunch and healthy lifestyle. Physical and mental health is of utmost importance during quarantine and there can be no better way to indulge in self-care than this. It is not known to many that exercise may block negative thoughts or distract you from daily worries. Physical exercises can also do a great deal in improving your sleep patterns especially during the lockdown when the erratic sleep cycle is emerging as the ‘new normal.’ Exercise may also change levels of chemicals in your brains, such as serotonin, endorphins, and stress hormones resulting in higher productivity with day to day tasks.
Fitness regimes like yoga, meditation, etc can also boost your cognitive abilities and help one maintain the much-needed work-life balance and stay put even while being confined within their homes. It is the perfect time for people in self-isolation to leverage this opportunity and explore various forms of exercise to ease any form of anxiety, depression, or stress.
With gyms or classes becoming impossible to attend, it is interesting to see virtual platforms becoming the new normal to cater to the evolved needs of the consumer. People who have always been into fitness have been sharing their routines virtually to inspire and motivate others to join.
Thus it can rightfully be said, while the catastrophic effects of the pandemic on one hand have brought the country to the standstill, it has also given people an alternative outlook towards living. With an increasing number of app downloads, the virtual world is gaining momentum due to this. We can witness the social media platforms being loaded with tips and live sessions curated to encourage people to remain healthy while staying at home.
There is a serious need for robust interactive platforms to help bridge the gap between the novice and the expert, to help start a revolution encouraging Indians to take a step towards a fit today and a fitter tomorrow!