When gyms reopened earlier this year after weeks of being shut down, things looked a lot different – plastic shields at counters, machines blocked or spread apart and lots of reminders about physical distancing. But one fitness business, with its New Zealand operations based in Auckland, was prepared for the new need for social distancing while working out. Boutique personal training company fit20 New Zealand, with a studio at Albany, offers 20-minute one-on-one sessions with personal trainers. There’s no shower or changing area because of the company's no-sweat routines.
As traditional gyms struggled to adjust their layout and capacity to fit new physical distancing requirements, fit20 was already operating in a mode that limited customers. “Our studios are by invitation only to our members, and our approach is one trainer with only one or two members at a time,” says Catharina Flisijn, Managing Director of fit20 New Zealand.
“Using social distancing and disinfecting our equipment between uses creates an even safer environment for members to work out during this pandemic,” she adds. ""Strong people live healthier and longer lives. Something that has become clear over the past months is that it’s very important for us to keep our body strong and healthy.”
After the age of 30 our muscle mass declines rapidly. The medical term for it is sarcopenia, the gradual loss of muscle mass, muscle strength and muscle function. With that decline comes all sorts of health issues, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis and aches and pains. However, you can slow down and even reverse this process by giving your muscles, and therefore your entire health, a strong stimulus every week in a safe way.
"That is exactly what we at fit20 are specialised in," Catharina says. “Strength training can restore 30% of muscle loss within a year in the elderly. With fit20 you can often achieve a higher percentage in a shorter time, from a few weeks to a few months. With the right stimulus, the muscles improve amazingly quickly. When the muscles improve, everything in you improves.”
The aim of this approach is to bring the body safely to a point where it adapts and becomes stronger, healthier and fitter.
"Work smarter, not harder."
This fit20 concept is different because its members meet once a week for just 20 minutes with a personal trainer for an “intense slow-motion high resistance training session”. A circuit of specialised strength training machines are used to create a full body workout that increases strength and vitality, without straining the joints. “I understand when people are a bit sceptical about just 20 minutes,"says Catharina. "But the concept is not new, and there has been a lot of research done around the health benefits. If you read up about high intensity resistance training, the science and the logic of it is all there – the human body is not made to spend hours in hard training and exercise. If you train with slow, measured movements, at the correct posture and at as high an intensity as you can, you will get fantastic results.”
Elements of the fit20 training approach include:
“I always tell people who are interested to come in for a free introductory training session. Then they can experience what we do and how it benefits them.
“We want it to be your moment. When you go in there the whole studio is for you or you and perhaps a partner… it is actual personal training. It was always a great approach. Now, after Covid, we’re ready for the future with this model."
fit20
4 Antares place, Rosedale
www.fit20.co.nz
021 02652819
