As coronavirus crisis keeps people at home, APSU’s Foy Fitness Center steps up with online sessions
(Posted April 3, 2020)
As we all inch our way towards reclusion, it’s important to remember to keep our bodies, as well as our minds, in shape. Lucky for Austin Peay students, Lauren Wilkinson, assistant director of services at the Foy Fitness & Recreation Center on campus, is coordinating online fitness instruction courses.
“We’re really just trying to keep students engaged and active during this time,” Wilkinson said.
The idea for this developed from a collaboration between all the minds of APSU’s recreational facilities.
“When the Foy Center closed (due to the coronavirus crisis), we started talking about various things we can do online for the students or how we can still keep people engaged with the Foy Center,” Wilkinson said.
The first meeting was online yoga last Friday, March 27. Wilkinson said she hopes to have Zumba, yoga and cardio/high-intensity interval training (HIIT) live sessions in the coming weeks.
“We’re also working on pre-recorded videos to post on social media,” Wilkinson said.
These sessions include home-friendly exercises you can do without equipment. Wilkinson and her team can modify the exercises to vary the difficulty.
“For any social media live feed, people should receive a notification when someone they follow goes live,” Wilkinson said. “We’ll be posting about any live classes in advance though so people can start watching for it.”
Wilkinson said she expects the instructors to rotate hosting live sessions.
“Last Friday Brittany Brown led yoga and this Friday it will be Goodwin Brown,” she said.
While there is no schedule set in stone, the next live yoga class will be 5 p.m. Friday, April 3, via Instagram.
“Anything we post will be through @apsufoy social media accounts, so as long as students are following our pages they’ll be notified when we go live or post reminders about upcoming classes,” Wilkinson said.
Keeping fit while staying home
Wilkinson also had a few tips for students to make the most of their time in quarantine.
“My biggest tip for anyone during this time, besides keeping yourself safe and helping limit the spread, is to stay active and keep yourself not just physically healthy but emotionally and mentally healthy as well,” Wilkinson said. “It’s so easy to just binge Netflix shows, live on your couch, or sit on your phone all day and that’s often when emotional and mental health can start to take a hit, as well as your physical health.”
Wilkinson recommends students go for walks, workout in your backyard/driveway, anything that can get you some fresh air. Wilkinson also suggested students tackle a new project around the house such as meditation, gardening, cooking, or anything else that may interest you.
“Anything that does not revolve around a screen,” Wilkinson said.
For more information about live yoga, Zumba and exercise sessions, contact Wilkinson at wilkinsonl@apsu.edu or send a message directly to the Foy Center via its Facebook or Instagram pages @apsufoy.
To learn more
- For more about the Foy Fitness & Recreation Center at APSU, go to https://www.apsu.edu/recreation/.
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