Now you can find Cheung working out three to four times a week, doing a variety of exercises: Pilates, weights, dance and stretching. She also overhauled her diet, switching to low carbs, and tries to do intermittent fasting when she doesn’t have a night shift. For recovery, it’s a regular trip to her chiropractor, and meditation.

“It’s like habit for me now,” said Cheung, who insisted her energy has drastically increased. “It’s a supplement to a busy job, it helps me when I got to work to stay calm, it’s almost more for my mental health than anything else.”

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Fitness trends, along with health and wellness, went into the pandemic on the rise, and have now gone into overdrive. A June 2021 study by McKinsey & Company found 40 per cent of the global population now consider wellness a top priority in their lives. People like Cheung are turning online for information and to fitness classes as a way to stay healthy during trying times, shifting lifestyles and ideologies in the process.

Trixie Isla-Velez, the owner and founder of Defin8 Fitness in Central where Cheung is a regular, said she’s seeing more of this as the pandemic drags on, especially in Hong Kong where international travel is incredibly difficult given the strict three-week quarantine period.

“We’ve seen people starting to come in who never used to work out before,” said Isla-Velez, who has worked in the fitness industry for more than a decade. “Because they have nothing to do, and nowhere to go, so they have time and they’re working from home, and they’re thinking, ‘Oh, I have time to work out now.’ And they’re obviously seeing the benefits of it.”

Isla-Velez added that the advice she is giving all the newcomers is to follow your mind to the discipline that suits you the best.

“They have to find something they like and they enjoy doing, you have to find that form of exercise that you enjoy doing, and that you think you can do long term, instead of just trying to go for a hike or something randomly,” she said. “So things like Pilates or yoga or stretching are good because you can book it in your calendar, and then you can commit to it until you find something you like.”

The World Economic Forum is starting to see some startling data roll out of the pandemic. In the US, nearly half of those studied reported feeling anxiety or depression at one point, and in France, cases of depression doubled, disproportionally effecting younger adults. The WEF also estimates cases of insomnia have increased by as much as 20 per cent since Covid-19 swept across the planet in early 2020.

Hongkongers, like others around the world, are also turning to vitamins and supplements, much like professional athletes. Diet and nutrition have become staples for Ramos, James and other age defying pros like 44-year-old Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. Internet searches and YouTube videos on the subject of physical and mental longevity have in turn, boomed. A 2021 study found that at the start of the pandemic, many people let their diets slip, however this also brought about a sea change in what people are now choosing to eat – more holistic options.

Aman Dhillon, the regional manager for Nature’s Village, who studied nutrition and has been working in the industry for more than 15 years, said he’s seen people coming in with more educated mindsets concerning fine tuning their bodies and minds.

“I see a lot of customers taking vitamins, green powders and adaptogens for stress management,” said Dhillon. “For sport recovery, essential amino acids and electrolytes are the hot selling items. For sleep, people are looking for magnesium and CBD oil supplements. The latest trend in the market is the keto diet, people are doing it for weight loss and other health benefits.”

Dhillon said for those starting out just getting into health and wellness as a lifestyle, it’s remarkably simple.

“For a beginner, I suggest cutting out processed foods and refined sugar, and then eat a well-balanced diet and then add a supplement in if you need.”

For some, health and wellness has been a lifelong endeavour they have refined over the years. Sue de Broglio, who works out regularly at ATP Personal Training in Central with her trainer Jon Turton, was raised doing sports such as cycling, running, bodybuilding, tennis and golf. Now a grandmother of three, she works as head of compliance for Asia at a global investment bank, and her ideology has expanded to include an ethos along with the physical side.

“I started travelling in Asia about 20 years ago and my mindset began to change to embrace a more holistic approach to vitality with able longevity,” said the 57-year-old. “I want to live a long time but also be of sound body and mind. Essentially, nourishing the mind, body and soul through yin and yang elements.”

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For De Broglio this includes meditation every day when she wakes up, hiking in nature, as well as painting as a form of relaxation. She said now the foundation is weights, and she builds off that into other activities, and highly recommends hiring a trainer to keep one’s self on point.

“There is quite a lot of research starting to point to how [weights] can positively reduce the symptoms of menopause which I think has a lot of credibility,” she said. “It is the most effective way to burn fat as well with long-term metabolic benefits. Many women are worried about bulk or being too muscular but it really depends on your body type and very few women are going to define like a man might.

“Essentially it is infinitely better for you than doing nothing, and as I said, it sets one up for the sports they may want to play into their later years, tennis, golf, soccer, hockey or whatever.”

Damian Jacobs, who also works out at ATP Personal Training in Central, has a background in competitive swimming and is a lawyer at an international law firm. He said he spends a lot of time during working hours at a desk tied to a screen, which means his body needs regular maintenance to balance this out. This starts with regular stretching, and fans out into weights, swimming, cycling and sports massage.

“I think recovery is kind of overlooked a lot of the time,” said the 41-year-old Australian. “And the best recovery is sleep and given the intensity of my job I’m just never going to get a lot of sleep. So I try to find other ways to bridge it and stretching is extremely important for me particularly because I am desk-bound for a lot of the day.”

Jacobs said staying in shape and taking care of himself essentially makes him a better lawyer, and person overall, through a sports-based performance mindset.

“There’s a whole bunch of skills you pick up from athletics that are transferable to the workplace. You learn from a very young age to be organised and always thinking strategically about what you are doing. On top of that, you learn how to continually push your body and your mind, and how to think through problems and set long-term goals, and then breaking down those long-term goals into small steps so over time you reach where you want to be.”