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Online Workouts are Keeping People in the High Country Active During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Gwen Dhing picture here during one of her Facebook Live streams with “Dance with Gwen”

By Nathan Ham

With social distancing being the new normal and all gyms closed throughout North Carolina, being able to get in a good workout is becoming a challenge during this unprecedented time.

Enter the Zumba Queen.

Gwen Dhing, owner of Makoto’s Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, had been actively teaching Zumba classes during the week at the Paul H. Broyhill Wellness Center until the stay-at-home order was issued by Governor Roy Cooper.

Dhing, along with other class instructors at the wellness center, decided to change things up a little bit and started offering free classes through Facebook Live streams.

“Dance with Gwen” teaches Zumba moves to people in the comfort of their own homes. Gwen and other class instructors will come into the wellness center and set up their phones or tablets for a live video stream on Facebook.

“We got approval from the hospital to let us come in. We set up our phones and we’re out there on the floor pretending like people are there with us,” said Dhing.

If you miss the live classes, the videos can be watched later and you can watch them and still get a good workout.

“I always tell people that if they follow my Facebook page or the wellness center’s Facebook page, I will put out links that say live classes start in 15 minutes. People will share it with their family and friends and it makes it a lot of fun,” Dhing says. “Classes from last week are still on there so they can do it at any time or they can go do it more than once.”

Best of all, these classes are offered free of charge and all you really need is just your body and some energy to enjoy the class.

“My class is geared toward not having any equipment at all. It’s just you and your body and you’re dancing,” said Dhing.

Gwen says that being able to do these classes helps keep her sanity as she waits anxiously for the stay-at-home order to be lifted and some semblance of normalcy return to the restaurant industry in the High Country. Until then, she says she’ll continue doing her online classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week.

Free online classes are offered every day of the week ranging from aerobics and dancing to yoga and strength exercises. Info on the online programs offered at the wellness center can be found here.

Check out Gwen’s Zumba Class.

The Wellness Center is here for you with our Virtual Programs

Let us remove any potential obstacles to your commitment to health and wellness in a time when we need it most. As you scroll the some of the options below, please reach out to wellness@apprhs.org if you have any questions, or call (828) 266-1060 between the hours of 9am – 12pm

Join us every day of the week for live classes from our Aerobic and Yoga Instructors! We have something for everyone, from low intensity Stretch & Flex with Horton, to dance with Gwen, and Strength with Trish. To access any of these classes, simply follow these steps:

1. Go to the “Paul H. Broyhill Wellness Center” Facebook Page

2. Scroll down to the “Posts” section

3. If a video is “Live,” you will see it there, and it will have red letters that say “Live” in the top left corner of the video.

4. Simply click on the video, and it will get larger.

5. To do a workout outside of our “Live” times (which are always posted on our Facebook page as well), simply scroll to the “Videos” section.

6. In the “Videos” section, find the video you want to do, click on it, and enjoy!

If you do not have Facebook you can access all our classes here: https://wellness.apprhs.org/wc-group-exercise-classes/. 

Classes viewed on our website will be posted a couple hours after the live class.