Online fitness classes: a yoga studio, gym and dance company on embracing virtual workouts and keeping their clients moving

Hong Kong-based Kita Yoga, Flye Fitness and Pherform talk about why they will keep doing online classes even after reopening amid relaxing restrictions

Kita Yoga's founder says the studio’s virtual sessions enabled old members who had moved away to rejoin, and new ones from around the world to sign up

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Kita Yoga founder Nikita Ramchandani says she will continue to offer online classes at the request of students who do not live in Hong Kong. Photo: Kita Yoga

Published: 9:30am, 23 May 2020Updated: 6:51pm, 24 May 2020

When government mandates forced the closures of all fitness centres in Hong Kong in early April to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, segments of the local industry responded agilely by moving from physical to virtual spaces to help keep their clients moving and in touch with their community.

Nikita Ramchandani, founder of boutique studio Kita Yoga in Sheung Wan, moved her classes online using the popular Zoom videoconferencing platform as quickly as she could.

Having started the company in 2016 to teach vinyasa yoga in “an intimate, inviting space with small class sizes and fun teachers”, she knew she would have to overcome some hurdles.

“Given that part of our offering is a tranquil space and a sense of human connection, we were worried about attendance,” says Ramchandani, who grew up in Hong Kong and studied abroad.

Ramchandani was already planning to launch a video platform before the pandemic hit. Photo: Kita Yoga

Instead, holding virtual sessions at a time when social distancing measures were keeping people isolated and affecting their mental health actually helped to not only maintain, but expand her client base.