Keeping fit on the North Coast makes a digital leap

Runners are a hardy bunch, and very adaptable.

Those traits are certainly shining through during the early days of these troubled times while the country is in lockdown.

While the coronavirus crisis has put a halt to sporting events across the country, with events being postponed or cancelled, many Dolphin Coast residents are having to think of inventive ways to keep active from the confines of their own homes.

But easier said than done since the the lockdown prohibits people from leaving their properties – meaning they cannot take to the streets for running, biking or dog walking.

The Courier looked at how some residents are keeping up their fitness levels while isolated at home amid the lockdown.
Plotting the garden run:

Many runners from Dolphin Striders running club are using their gardens as their makeshift track or mini cross-country route, even if space is tight and the corners are even tighter.

Some have managed to squeeze out a 100-metre circuit, covering that distance 100 times to make up a 10k distance, while others who were planning to take part in the Comrades marathon have kept up their training by running loops around their house and driveway.

Pilates, gym and yoga instructors have taken their classes online, many giving free classes via YouTube, Instagram and Facebook Live:

• Surrounded by candles and in a downward dog pose, Lauren Stanton, yoga studio owner and instructor is leading an online class for an hour of stretching and relaxation. But for the first time as a practitioner, she is not in her a studio. Instead, Lauren is offering classes on YouTube and her students are participating in their own homes. To join in the free classes subscribe to the The Yoga Studio Ballito’s YouTube channel.

• Ballito gym IMF is offering a 21-day lockdown online challenge. For only R21, you can be inspired and motivated during this lockdown period as the IMF team shares daily workouts, daily habit trackers, host Instagram Takeovers and provide professional advice from biokinecticists, personal trainers, holistic healers and other professionals via a live, interactive feed.
To register for the challenge email admin@imovefitness.co.za with your contact number.

• Pilates guru Tash Barnard from Tash B Pilates studio is offering daily online workouts for the duration of the lockdown. At R800 per household you gain access to unlimited online group mat classes streamed live through Zoom or you can participate in limited classes for free. Tash said people from as far as Ireland, Bahrain in the Middle East as well as local enthusiasts are joining her live classes. Tash has also included children’s classes in her weekly class schedule.Go to her Facebook account at Tash B Pilates or website for details on the classes and schedule.

• Ballito’s Ringside Boxing gym is another option for those looking for a full-body functional workout. The trainers are offering free exercise sessions on YouTube. Their workouts are already proving very popular, although a word of warning – you might discover muscles that you never knew you had, and you might wake up with a few aches and pains.
With so many options available there really is no excuse.

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