Some of Orillia’s health and fitness centres are learning how to adapt to life in the COVID-19 pandemic, and are finding ways to keep people in our community healthy.
CrossFit Orillia closed their doors on March 16 but found a way to resume programing two days later using Zoom video conferencing.
“Our product is group fitness coaching and all of a sudden you take away the ability to gather in groups, it really hand-strung us,” said Matt Spencer, the only operating level three CrossFit coach north of Toronto, and the owner of CrossFit Orillia.
“What everyone started to realize is that we can still gather in groups in new ways and we’ve done that with our training.”
Connecting with their gym-goers through video conference helped Spencer keep the structure of accountability, connection and motivation intact.
“They are loving the fact that they can see each other's faces, chat and support each other rather than get through the workout alone,” Spencer said.
“That’s what everyone is struggling with the most right now - that alone aspect.”
The video conference workouts aren’t the same as they would be in person Spencer admits, but adapting has always been something he has taught at CrossFit.
“What we teach here is about strength through struggle, overcoming adversity, learning to adapt and trusting the habits that are built overall,” Spencer explained.
“In CrossFit we say we are preparing you for the unknowable and that’s exactly what we are dealing with right now.”
For folks who are eager to get back into a routine and would like to start working on their health and fitness, Spencer says there has never been a better time to get started than now.
“Those who have underlying health issues are susceptible to this virus, and they shouldn’t really wait for everything to open back up to start working on their health,” he said.
Over at Lake Country Physiotherapy, owner and physiotherapist Rob Gordon and his staff have also found new ways to connect with their patients, offering services through telerehab and phone consultations.
“It’s certainly a challenge, but we are making the best of it and our services are still in demand,” Gordon said.
“People still need us and we are doing our best to get the help to them in the safest way possible.”
Gordon and his staff have been using a portal that is similar to Zoom video conferencing, but their software is compliant with health-care and patient privacy.
“We can do all the stuff we would normally do except perform the full physical exam,” Gordon explained.
“We can have them demonstrate their full range of motion, functional movements and the software allows us to take some photos and track progress.”
The biggest limitations for Lake Country Physiotherapy is doing hands-on testing and treatment that patients are accustomed to.
“Part of our process is to identify who is not a good fit for it. We certainly can’t treat everything this way, so we are trying to identify who would best benefit from treatment with this style,” Gordon explained.
So far, Gordon says patients have been ecstatic with Lake Country’s online services, which will be available for as long as the pandemic continues and even further.
“There is no telling how long this is going to go on, but we want people to know that we are here during it, we are going to be here after it and we will be here for this community who supports us,” Gordon said.
