Zoom Invitation

I’ll be honest I thought the zoom classes would fail the second I launched them free back in April 2020. What happened next almost all at once was I ended up on the national news, launched an e-commerce website, signed up a bunch of GAA teams and recruited parkrunners. Ok maybe fail isn’t the right term I thought they would fade and fizzle maybe occupy 10 or 15% of my time in the Winter (I accepted COVID-19 was going to stick around and continue to wreak havoc after lockdown 2 in October 2020).

People love a good fitness class they love the get together, the shared common goal, they love the coach who pushes and persuades them depending on their mood and most of all the coffee, chat and good mood afterwards. A class on Zoom couldn’t replace that or could it?

Advantages of Zoom Classes

• Time-saving

• Eco-friendly

• Safer (Depending on your preference and or medical circumstances)

• Accessible

• Social

I’m going to address each of the bullet points. In terms of time-saving I have often told clients the second most common reason for taking a gym membership is proximity to work or home. Clients don’t want to travel their for 20 mins back and forward workout for an hour then shower. Few have that two hours to spare in modern life. Zoom in part moves the gym to your front door. Zoom from openng click to final stretch in the cool down is 50 minutes with me. Including a shower, you can be done in an hour and be home. I even have one client who folds the washing during the 20-second breaks in the circuit. All of the above and I can record the Zoom process it in a private youtube link and send it to you to access it whenever you want again.

Zoom is definitely more eco-friendly. No need to travel to the gym via car. Zoom classes are safer for clients in special populations today as they are continually self-isolating or cutting contacts to a minimum. There is still unfortunately a lot of fear surrounding the virus. If a zoom fitness class helps them stay active great.

Accessible in theory anyone with an internet connection and phone can access a Zoom Class. I haven’t introduced small equipment to classes because of the expense and logistics of having everyone use the same type of equipment. It doesn’t mean you can’t do it just that I haven’t taken the plunge with it and curiously no one said that we should add equipment. Maybe later feedback will tell me which direction to go.

When I set about running fitness classes on zoom it was a lot like my first marathon in 2010 I hadn’t a clue what I was doing, no serious training done but there was no way I was going to stop until I was done. The first 6 weeks were a nightmare. Laptop webcams are designed for the office meeting head and shoulders only view. Trying to position them at a height, angle, and distance, where you can be seen head to toe was difficult. You would think that was the view sorted lovely now onto exercise. The laptop microphone scuppered us next. Again it’s designed to pick you up from centimeters away not meters. Projecting my voice worked but it felt weird projecting my voice in our apartment at a laptop 3 meters. Anyway fairly quickly we went and bought in a better webcam and microphone. I did initially use the AirPods but the distance and the connection failed at times and of course I wouldn’t know that because the participants were usually muted and the in chat Zoom was 3 meters away. Next up was the external monitor or tablet that I placed right next to me signed in through a different zoom account and muted so I could see everyone and see that feedback if it happened. I did at one point laugh when my buddy Conor said remember when all we had to worry about was the playlist. To finish even with all that we had to purchase extended time length on Zoom. You need to follow through with online fitness classes to bring them up to an acceptable standard.

Coaching Style

Ok here I have more than one opinion. If you’re coaching on zoom you must be instructive you must do the class on spotlight, lead and let your clients follow. You must be authoritative, you must motivate constantly and you must accept that modern coaching will not be as effective through Zoom. You need to throw out repetitions because the group will never be in sync and you should deploy an interval timer with a buzzer that everyone can hear. I’m not sure what to tell you about the mute button it’s completely audience dependent some people will chat away others won’t even turn on their camera or unmute to utter a word. I would try not to take this personally offer to engage but if nothing comes back provide the class and remember building trust takes time and this is a scary online world for some people. It will be necessary to slim down your circuit to key exercises no more than 5 that can be done in 2 meters of space with no equipment or the option of equipment and repeating the exercises in a circuit is a great way to help your clients learn the circuit and get more comfortable with a Zoom class.

Here is what you commonly won’t have an audience. I have one group of youngsters who won’t turn on their cameras and yes I teach staring into complete darkness and listen to their occasional grunts. They send private messages into the chat rather talk. I answer the questions but I never call out their name as they prefer to be anonymous. This was disconcerting for me but then I thought to myself they are cut off alone and if you want to connect with them you stay and be consistent. Trust takes time many things have changed in the pandemic but this has not.

I am aware of the irony here I have advocated and carry out the drill sergeant approach on one hand then flipped into the invincibles breeding level of persuasion synonymous with Arsene Wenger. This will happen if you offer a Zoom class. The Pandemic has pushed us into two distinct political directions in parts we all want a right-wing leader to take charge and tell us what to do. On the other hand, we’re finding this situation so hard to deal with we also need the considered compassion of the left wing. I lean right I will happily take charge and tell people what to do. I’ll bring in a system to follow and train people in so well they can’t get it wrong. This is not the best coaching style for today’s world. Creating awareness, aiding opt in, encouraging self-responsibility and mastering persuasion are now a coaches magic potions. Teaching via Zoom is at odds and close to these coaching principles all at once.

Conclusion

Teaching on Zoom is hard but it is helping people stay active. It probably won’t replace a gym because it simply won’t cover all gym user needs but it will help people access physical activity.

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