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The Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay is helping those stuck at home stay active and fit with free virtual fitness classes hosted by professional trainer Xander via Instagram Stories every Monday and Wednesday at 10am, writes Naman Arora.
The series started last Monday with a 30-minute Cardio Core workout, which was watched by more than 1,000 people across the kingdom. Last Wednesday, Xander, along with her colleagues Manny and Metwaly, led a strength development workout featuring fast and intensive full body workouts for all fitness levels.
Xander said: “Each of us showcased the workout for a different skill level – basic, intermediate and advanced. Since many people don’t have advanced fitness equipment like dumbbells and weights at home, all the exercises utilise body weight only and help develop strength and endurance.”
On Monday, Xander led a plyometrics workout featuring jump training or plyos, exercises in which muscles exert maximum force in short intervals of time, with the goal of increasing power.
The exercises are generally high-intensity, 40-second long with 20-second breaks, but can be done for shorter spells by those who have just gotten started on their fitness journey.
A final session is planned this morning at 10am focussing on metabolic conditioning with plans to conduct more home-based sessions, based on feedback. The 30-minute workouts are available for 24 hours after the session.
The team also has been taking questions through the Instagram account, which it answers after the session is completed.
Xander added: “The whole point of this is to give people a chance to stay healthy without going outdoors. Just because we are urged to stay indoors doesn’t mean we should not be staying fit – everyone should be doing 30 to 60 minutes of exercise every day, in addition to eating healthier fresh foods instead of junk and overcooked food. It can be tempting to overeat during this time, but control and regular exercise will help our viewers and the kingdom’s residents stay healthy, physically and mentally.”
Check out today’s session by following The Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay @fsbahrain on Instagram.
