Most students prefer a real gym to online workout technology.
photo by natalie jenkins

College will offer online workout to bolster student exercise routine

Natalie Jenkins
Biz/Tech Reporter

Humber Athletics is keeping up with new online work out technology, while maintaining conventional services at the gym.   

Online workouts are the new high-tech solution offering people the ability to work out from their living rooms.

“We don’t feel it will take business from our personal trainers. Our personal trainers are booked up,” said athletic director Doug Fox. “Any way that you can get people to do exercise is obviously beneficial. We are totally in agreement with the concept.” 

Humber Athletics created an online fitness test pilot in November. They endorse online workouts as a supplement to in-gym workouts and plan to offer their own programs to students and staff in the fall of 2008.

“You’ll be able to download and do it when you want to do it. We won’t be charging for the programs. We are trying to look for new ways to service students and staff,” said Fox. “We’ll probably produce it in the off-season, during the summer. It’s not something we have time to produce during the school year.” 

Humber Athletics aren’t worried about online workouts stealing their personal training business.

“There’s not as much a relationship with the client and they still have to make the decision to do it,” said Fox of the new technology.

“The trend is still personal training. There is that little extra bit of motivation that you can’t let someone down. When clients start to breakdown they have someone there to help them through it.”   

Leanne Henwood-Adam, fitness coordinator at Humber said online workouts give people who are stuck at their desks a chance to get up and move but agrees with Fox about the importance of a human instructor.

“There are always going to be people who want the one on one training, you can’t beat it,” said Henwood-Adam.

“When you’re watching a video you can’t always catch that you aren’t in the right position or if you have the wrong posture.” 

The online workout companies admit nothing beats a well qualified, certified personal trainer at a reputable gym. 

“If you have access to it – do it,” said Pascale Vandenbroucke of www.workoutsondemand.com. “Many of our clients do both:  They train with their trainer once or twice a week and then to supplement the program use our videos.”