Jimenez is chief research & innovation officer at GOfit LAB & Professor at AWRC Sheffield
We have academic collaborations around the world, but we wanted to go a bit deeper with the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) in Sheffield, UK,” says Steven Ward, chief transformation officer at GO fit. “One of our current R&D investments is the RICOVR project, which among other things is taking a scientific approach to developing an exercise prescription model for COVID recovery.”
Professor Alfonso Jimenez – who splits his time between the GO fit LAB, the AWRC and EuropeActive’s new research centre – Think Active – is leading on this project for GO fit.
“The work of the RICOVR unit, based at the AWRC, provides evidence of what works to support people recovering and rehabilitating from COVID-19,” he explains. “We’re particularly interested in supporting those with long COVID-19 symptoms, whose recovery journey is complex and non-linear.
“A further group of people living with long-term conditions, who have not contracted COVID-19, but whose physical and mental health may have deteriorated during lockdown, will also be supported through the research agenda of RICOVR.
“So, this is one facet of GO fit’s investment. We’re also working hard to support our members here and now.
“During lockdown, we introduced the GO fit Everywhere digital platform. It saw more than three million visits. That level of usage inspired gofit.tv, which launched last month. One of its key areas of content at the moment is COVID protection.
“Meanwhile, our app offers exercise programmes for members based on science, to be safe and effective.
We’re taking a scientific approach to developing an exercise prescription model for COVID recovery
“The four main programmes at the moment address health challenges in the aftermath of COVID-19. There’s a programme for sarcopenia, to help address muscle loss. There’s another for weight loss, there’s one for mental health. And there’s also a programme to reinforce immune function.
“Members can follow these programmes at home and in our clubs, where we’ve also identified group exercise classes that support this approach and optimised our studio schedules around them.
“We’re going further in the shape of ‘GO fit 2.0’, which launched in our new Madrid club in September and which we’ll roll out as quickly as possible.
“This new model is all about counselling members across seven key areas of health, with exercise prescriptions tailored to the individual with a view to improving their Happiness Score. Embedded in this approach are new families of programmes, one of which is Life Recovery – and this, as the name suggests, includes COVID recovery.
“All of this is complemented by high-quality educational materials that help members understand why they should do all of this – how exercise helps their immune function, for example. It helps people commit to change.”