5 Tips for Creating a Quality Virtual Fitness Studio

September 8, 2020 admin 0 Comments Fitness

Setting up a virtual fitness studio in your home is an exciting way to share your talent and love of fitness with new and existing networks in your community, across the country, or around the world. Whether you’re doing it as a hobby, finally launching your fitness dream, or growing your existing business, the choices you make regarding location, technology (i.e. cameras, lighting, and audio), music usage, and production preparation will all impact the image you convey. Below are five tips to help you create a quality virtual fitness studio so that you can teach your classes to the masses!

Create a Professional, Functional Location

When choosing your in-home studio location, take a minute to first think about the image you want to portray. Clearing out a room or the garage and setting it up like a fitness studio conveys one image whereas using your living room and leaving the family pictures on the wall conveys another. Ideally, find a space with natural light. If that’s not possible, you can brighten a room with additional lamps and overhead lights. Other important considerations include making sure you have enough space to move around and are away from noise and distractions.

Protect Yourself from Music Rights Violations

If you’re used to using current hits for your fitness classes or coaching, you have to take some precautions as you move into delivering virtual content. Most fitness studios pay a fee to enable their instructors to use popular music. As a virtual fitness entrepreneur, that’s most likely cost prohibitive. However, without a digital license, you set yourself up for hefty fines, being blocked on popular sites such as Facebook and YouTube, and possible litigation. Thus, using “royalty free” music or no music is your best bet.

Invest in Quality Video Production Equipment

Using your phone, laptop or home video camera may work under some circumstances, however, conveying a professional image will require some level of investment in quality equipment. Fortunately, there are decent options available for every budget. The most basic quality video production set up will require a high-resolution camera such as a webcam or DSLR, lighting, and a microphone. Don’t underestimate the importance of lighting and a microphone! It’s the difference between amateur and professional quality.

Prepare for Production Day

There’s a lot that goes into planning a quality virtual fitness class or video. As a virtual fitness entrepreneur, you have to plan your set or sequence, practice, and deliver your live-streamed or recorded class. For a quality virtual studio, you will also need to make sure you are prepared from a production standpoint. That means the day before you should make sure everything is in working order. It’s also helpful to make yourself a checklist of what to do before you “go live” such as testing your connections, audio levels, and camera angle.

Seek out Professional Video Production Assistance

If managing the production of your own fitness videos feels too overwhelming, considering hiring a professional to guide you through the set-up process, support you the first few times or even produce your videos on an ongoing basis. Having a professional plan or lead the video production aspect of your in-home virtual fitness studio can allow you to focus on what you do best—provide quality coaching or training to your clients.