IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i4p1942-d745407.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Going Online?—Can Online Exercise Classes during COVID-19-Related Lockdowns Replace in-Person Offers?

Author

Listed:
  • Eszter Füzéki

    (Division of Preventive and Sports Medicine, Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jan Schröder

    (Department of Sports Medicine, Faculty for Psychology and Human Movement Science, Institute for Human Movement Science, University of Hamburg, Turmweg 2, 20148 Hamburg, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Rüdiger Reer

    (Department of Sports Medicine, Faculty for Psychology and Human Movement Science, Institute for Human Movement Science, University of Hamburg, Turmweg 2, 20148 Hamburg, Germany)

  • David A. Groneberg

    (Division of Preventive and Sports Medicine, Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany)

  • Winfried Banzer

    (Division of Preventive and Sports Medicine, Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany)

Abstract

Germany experienced a 6-month second lockdown (November 2020–April 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the closure of all physical activity (PA) facilities. The use of online exercise classes (OECs) was promoted by public health and exercise organizations. Using the present cross-sectional online survey, we assess the use of and opinion towards OECs in Germany during the second lockdown. We used contingency tables and the Chi 2 test to calculate the frequency of awareness and use of OECs according to PA status, well-being and demographic data, and conducted a binary logistic regression with OEC awareness or use and dichotomized independent predictors. The associations between opinion and activity status, frequency of use, educational attainment, age and body mass index were calculated using Spearman correlations. A total of 993 datasets were analyzed in detail. Of the 785 (79.1%) participants reporting awareness of OECs, 536 tried them, and 262, 188 and 85 used them <1 per week, 1–2 per week and ≥3 per week, respectively. The users were typically active, female participants with poorer mental well-being. The opinions towards OECs varied according to participant characteristics, such as activity status, BMI and age. Overall, regular OEC use was quite limited, and, as such, cannot replace in-person exercise opportunities. Keeping physical activity facilities open and safe must be prioritized in the ongoing pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Eszter Füzéki & Jan Schröder & Rüdiger Reer & David A. Groneberg & Winfried Banzer, 2022. "Going Online?—Can Online Exercise Classes during COVID-19-Related Lockdowns Replace in-Person Offers?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:1942-:d:745407
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/1942/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/1942/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michelle Symons & Carmem Meira Cunha & Karolien Poels & Heidi Vandebosch & Nathalie Dens & Clara Alida Cutello, 2021. "Physical Activity during the First Lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Investigating the Reliance on Digital Technologies, Perceived Benefits, Barriers and the Impact of Affect," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-23, May.
    2. Michael Mutz & Johannes Müller & Anne K. Reimers, 2021. "Use of Digital Media for Home-Based Sports Activities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from the German SPOVID Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-12, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Argang Ghadiri & David-Lennart Sturz & Hadjar Mohajerzad, 2022. "Associations between Health Education and Mental Health, Burnout, and Work Engagement by Application of Audiovisual Stimulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Hussain Chattha & Markus J. Duncan & Negin A. Riazi & Scott T. Leatherdale & Karen A. Patte, 2024. "Changes to Secondary School Physical Activity Programs and Policy after Emerging from COVID-19 Lockdowns," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-12, June.
    3. Youngshin Lim & Areum Han & Mingoo Lee & May Kim, 2022. "The Effects of an Online–Offline Hybrid Exercise Program on the Lives of Children with Cerebral Palsy Using Wheelchairs during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-11, June.
    4. Patrick Wilms & Jan Schröder & Rüdiger Reer & Lorenz Scheit, 2022. "The Impact of “Home Office” Work on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-24, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jacqueline Ruth & Steffen Willwacher & Oliver Korn, 2022. "Acceptance of Digital Sports: A Study Showing the Rising Acceptance of Digital Health Activities Due to the SARS-CoV-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Yu Zhang & Jiayu Li & Xiaoping Jiang, 2022. "Household Physical Activity for Adults in the Context of the Pandemic: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Tadashi Ito & Hideshi Sugiura & Yuji Ito & Koji Noritake & Nobuhiko Ochi, 2021. "Effect of the COVID-19 Emergency on Physical Function among School-Aged Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-9, September.
    4. Carmem M. Cunha & Nathalie Dens & Georg D. Granic, 2023. "University Students’ Well-Being and Engagement in Activities in the Early Days of Covid-19," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 279-303, February.
    5. Sunghae Park & Yeonjae Kim, 2024. "Leveraging Educational Technology in Liberal Arts Dance Sports: Exploring Effectiveness and Sustainable Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-15, September.
    6. Kobe Helsen & Mark Janssen & Steven Vos & Jeroen Scheerder, 2022. "Two of a Kind? Similarities and Differences between Runners and Walkers in Sociodemographic Characteristics, Sports Related Characteristics and Wearable Usage," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-17, July.
    7. Polyakova, V. & Streltsova, E. & Iudin, I. & Kuzina, L., 2024. "Irreversible effects? How the digitalization of daily practices has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:1942-:d:745407. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.