COVID has brought about one massive positive! What is it?

Just In Time Personal Training COVID-19 has been the biggest thing to happen across the globe to us all and it will change the way in which we live forever. Sadly, it has caused much devastation and loss of life. But as a personal trainer of 25 years who has spent more than half of my life helping people discover the fittest, healthiest and happiest version of themselves, the one crystal clear positive that I have noticed has been a massive increase in demand for our personal training services! Sure, that is a massive positive for me and my eight-year-old business but deeper than that is the fact that this global health pandemic has seen many people sit back and take stock and realise the importance of their health, fitness and overall wellbeing. Now you may scoff at this as being a small positive but living in Australia where in 2017-18, the Australian Bureau of Statistic’s National Health Survey showed that two-thirds (67 per cent) of Australian adults were overweight or obese (12.5 million people), an increase from 63.4 per cent in 2014-15. Now I do not want to come across as harsh but that is not only a national disgrace but embarrassing that a country with such wealth, education, access to health services and an abundance of health, fitness, sporting and recreational options could have such an elevated rate of obese and overweight Australians! So, knowing that if you are overweight, obese, unhealthy, have poor nutrition, are a smoker, unfit or with pre-existing health complications that you have a great risk of dying from contracting the coronavirus, I would like to think that surely you would use this horrible situation as the catalyst for positive change! Moving away from the increase in personal training and the many successful stories I could share, I would like to share with you some fantastic positive changes that I have heard first-hand from people that I know or know of that do not use our services: A lady in her 60s working as a nurse on the front-line, who for more than 20 years pre-COVID had smoked between 40 to 50 cigarettes a day, quit smoking during a three-week period and has gone down to zero cigarettes a day. A man that I have known from one of the apartment gyms that I have frequented for more than 15 years in Southbank who has always been overweight. Since having the restrictions of one hour a day of exercise, he has taken it upon himself to walk one hour a day or more, seven days a week and I hardly recognised him when I saw him a couple of months ago. He has lost more than 20kgs! The number of families that have connected in ways in which they rarely if ever did before by walking, riding, playing soccer/footy/tennis together! Amazing to see and hopefully will continue as the new norm moving forward! You see, we all have choices in life and we can all react to hardship in differing ways. I even heard a quote not long ago – “while some cry, others sell tissues”. If you haven’t already, I urge you to find the positive to come out of COVID and improve your health, fitness and wellbeing! For a more information, exercise guidance or if you have any questions please feel free to contact me: [email protected] •