High Life Highland is joining forces with the University of the Highlands and Islands to look for volunteers to take part in a new study to see whether the benefits of online exercise differ from in-person classes.
As online exercise classes continue to boom from the ongoing effects of the pandemic, the university wants to assess whether the intensity people exercise online differs from face-to-face classes.
HLH Head of Health and Wellbeing Lynn Bauermeister said: “There can be various barriers to physical activity and HLH is keen to better understand if offering online exercise classes can help to overcome some of these barriers.
“We started running online classes due to the pandemic and they remain popular so it will be interesting to understand in more detail if or how online classes differ from face-to-face classes in terms of people’s experiences from participating.”
To take part in the study, the university is looking for both males and females, over 50 years old who currently have low to moderate levels of physical activity, but do not have any medical reasons that they cannot exercise.
The study, which will involve a mix of stretching, aerobic and resistance activities, is being carried out by the University of the Highlands and Islands Division of Biomedical Sciences and Department of Nursing and Midwifery.
Dr Matthew Fraser, a postdoctoral researcher at the university, said: “It is a really exciting study which looks to build on previous work which we conducted last year which investigated the role of online exercise classes.
“It is also a great chance for members of the public to get a taster into both styles of class for free.”
Participants will be required to attend four exercise classes over a four-week period in March – two online and two in-person.
For more information and to take part, visit https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-enterprise/res-themes/health/biomedical-sciences/active-health/volunteer-for-our-studies/online-vs-face-to-face-exercise-class-study/
