Digital fitness: an exercise in resilience

Covid fuelled a boom in digital fitness but is Ireland ready to get back in the gym?

Sandra Dunne, managing director of Gym Plus: ‘We decided to do upskilling and help our instructors go online, and do health and safety training, and hone our skills for providing great online classes.’ Picture: Fergal Phillips

For every person who ate poorly and generally neglected their health during the pandemic, there’s also someone who used this time of cultural hibernation to get into fitness. Digital fitness, specifically.

With gyms closed and a ban on outdoor gatherings, fitness fans, weightlifters and yogis turned their homes into studios instead.

This cultural shift was in full swing by the summer of 2020, when August saw a month-long global shortage of dumbbells. Peloton, the upscale ...