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Apr 18

Dance, fitness instructors help students adapt their homes to keep moving in quarantine – WHYY

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It keeps me motivated

Virtual lessons arent only for competitive athletes. Professional fitness instructors, like Cardi Davis, offer virtual lessons for recreational students. The part-time personal trainer for the Hockessin Athletic Club teaches online from her 2-year-old sons bedroom which she jokes is the least cluttered room in her house.

Davis, who teaches everyone from women who want to lose baby weight to people with disabilities, even started The No Way Challenge, which will reward three students with prizes if they dont gain weight over a six-week period.

It encourages them to still eat clean and do other workouts when theyre not meeting with me, she said. I hear people say, Ive already gained 10 pounds and cant stop eating because Im home all day.

Her student Chimere McLean was taking fitness classes to prepare for her first Spartan Race in May. While the event might be canceled or postponed, McLean still wants to stay in shape and the Zoom classes offer one-on-one feedback that a DVD or YouTube video doesnt.

She challenges me. If I know shes watching, I put in a little more effort, she said with a laugh. If its just me I go, Oh my gosh, Im so tired. But she wont let you quit. So, it keeps me motivated, and I can ask her questions if Im doing it right.

Davis colleague Dina Saitis has moved her living room coffee table and chairs to teach fitness classes.

Saitis has found the silver lining of quarantine: being able to pick up new students in California and Florida, thanks to Zoom. While most students dont have weights at home, theyre able to do bodyweight exercises and high-intensity interval training.

It is an antidepressant. Exercise is your way to keep away the demons, Saitis said. Its also important to stay as healthy as possible and keep your immune system in top running condition, especially in this climate.

Zoom classes are also beneficial to those who cant normally take in-person lessons, yoga student and teacher Tori Dennis added.

Whats cool about the online space is were all working from home, so maybe our schedules are more flexible, so it gives people who dont always have the time to get to a studio to experience it, she said. And people who cant afford it, too. Some people are doing donation-based classes or classes that are only $5, so if you cant afford to do a drop-in class, nows a good time.

Some teachers say theyre fortunate to have a steady income stream during this time. Fitness instructor Davis, who is a school physical education teacher full-time, said shes grateful for her regular job, which now takes place virtually. Her colleague Saitis, a full-time personal trainer, said shes able to offer her Zoom classes for free because her husband is still working, and shes able to receive unemployment benefits through the federal stimulus package.

However, many instructors depend on their teaching income.

Sarah Wnenchak, the owner of Truly Yoga in Newark, said the small income she makes on Zoom classes does not compare to her normal salary but that she wanted to continue teaching to help her students.

Before the pandemic, Wnenchaks studio held two to four classes a day, taught by herself and other instructors who work as private contractors. Now they only teach about two a day between them on Zoom. Wnenchak has applied for unemployment benefits as part of the federal stimulus package but is still waiting for approval.

I think its sad so many people have lost their opportunities, especially when it comes to the service industry, she said. When people [had] to be one-on-one or in groups and interactive [for work before, now] they have to think of creative ways to make money and continue on.

All of the 150 students at the First State Ballet Theatre have registered for Zoom classes. However, tuition for the virtual classes is cheaper than the normal rate.

The companys production of Romeo and Juliet has been canceled. So has its gala, its biggest fundraiser, which last year raised $25,000. The school has reduced its full-time faculty from 10 to six. Now, the school is exploring opportunities for community grants.

Its just not clear yet how deep the damage will go. All the arts rely on being together, so we just dont know what thats going to look like yet, Beatson said. A lot of dancers are freelancers, so they are hugely affected. Most of our company dancers have other jobs or theyre students and it just worked out their contracts ended in April. But for the dance community at large, its devastating.

Wnenchak said she is trying to stay focused on the fact quarantine wont be permanent. Her goal is not to make money, but to make sure her students are staying positive during this time.

Yoga helps you come back to a place of presence and acceptance. Not complacency, but a place of, I cant control whats going on, but I do have control of how I make my choices, how I react, she said. That affects our stress response, and if weve seen any information on how stress impacts our immune system and health, its the number one thing we need to look at.

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Dance, fitness instructors help students adapt their homes to keep moving in quarantine - WHYY

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