Beat isolation blues with YMCA online options

HUNTSVILLE, MADISON – Many people are feeling ‘cabin fever’ symptoms from social distancing guidelines to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Luckily, Heart of the Valley YMCA has a healthy solution.

To break the boredom, individuals can stream favorite workouts or check out online fitness classes. “Get more out of your membership with online classes and workouts by visiting our website ymcahuntsville.org,” Mary Anne Swanstrom said. Swanstrom is Director of Communications with Heart of the Valley YMCA.

“Because we know that some of our members will be unable to attend their favorite group exercise classes for the time being, we have built a catalog of 50 workouts requiring little or no equipment that you can stream at home — or anywhere — to maintain fitness and stay active,” Swanstrom said.

Some of these options include yoga; High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT, which is a method of cardiovascular exercise in varying intensity; boot camp; barre; “Mindfulness”; “Active Older Adults”; “Core”; “Centergy”; and many others.

“Our partners at Les Mills, MOSSA and YMCAs across the country have prepared these videos for you to enjoy at no charge,” Swanstrom said. “Les Mills and Y360 classes do not require a subscription. MOSSA Move classes are free for 60 days but do require a card on file should you wish to continue streaming classes after that time.”

“Our Y branches are currently open. You can enjoy use of the fitness centers, swimming pools, basketball gyms and racquetball courts, even though group exercise is on hiatus,” Swanstrom said.

During the COVID-19 constraints, Heart of the Valley YMCA membership branches are closing at 8 p.m. on Monday through Friday. Hogan Family YMCA, along with the southeast and downtown branches, will open at 5 a.m. Weekend hours will not change at this time.

For the latest health information and daily updates about the YMCA, visit ymcahuntsville.org and click “View Updates.”

“We hope that this benefit (for online sessions) will be useful to you, and we hope to add more classes as they become available,” Swanstrom said.

Heart of the Valley YMCA’s office address is 120 Holmes Ave., Suite 300 in Huntsville. In Madison, Hogan Family YMCA’s address is 130 Park Square Lane. For more information, visit ymcahuntsville.org.