According to fitness startups such as FITTR, Cult.Fit, Sarva and Get A Life Fitness (GALF), the need to maintain social distance is pushing people to log on to online workouts where yoga tops the list in terms of popularity, primarily due to its calming effect, The Economic Times has reported.

NEW DELHI: Few days back, everybody advocated for practising Indian way of greeting, ‘namaste’ to be the international way of greeting to avoid direct touch during shaking hands with others, in view of possible spread of corona pandemic. Another Indian traditional practice, Yoga is now getting popular among people on account of COVID-19.

According to fitness startups such as FITTR, Cult.Fit, Sarva and Get A Life Fitness (GALF), the need to maintain social distance is pushing people to log on to online workouts where yoga tops the list in terms of popularity, primarily due to its calming effect.

Other popular routines include calisthenics, resistance band workouts, Bollywood dance, and strength and conditioning as fitness studios go virtual on different mediums to cater to rising demand for online sessions.

In stressful times, people should exercise to bolster immunity, said heart surgeon and Medanta-The Medicity founder Naresh Trehan.

“You can even go for outdoor walks wearing a mask but avoid crowded places,” he said. “Also, keep a distance of 2 metres” from the next person, he said. Trehan has gone for fitness sessions via Skype since the corona outbreak has begun.

Online sessions offer users the flexibility of choosing their own timings, as many offices implementing work-from-home policies.

“People are stressed out because of the social distancing and isolation,” said Jitendra Chouksey, founder of FITTR, which recently rolled out live yoga sessions, in addition to the calisthenics and resistance band workouts that were already being offered.

Going by the statistics, the app’s been downloaded about 13,000 times in the last seven days, up 15% from the previous week, he said. It has also set up WhatsApp groups where FITTR experts will train people for free. User numbers have jumped for the Cult.live app floated by Bengaluru based Cure.fit, which operates Cult.Fit gyms. The app can be used by all its customers.

Image Source: time.com