The NHS has announced free weekly HIIT and pilates online classes.
The new offering is through a partnership with Instructor Live, with an Introduction to HIIT course as well as Introduction to Pilates.
The first video for both courses can be viewed on YouTube, and the NHS says there will be new videos each Tuesday and Thursday.
It tweeted: “We've teamed up with fitness experts @InstructorLive to bring you some exciting new workout courses.”
While the new workout videos aren’t explicitly in tandem with the news that people who suffer from diabetes (both type 1 and 2) and those who are obese are more at risk of fatality from COVID-19, today the NHS has also announced it's expanding its offer to help those with diabetes during the pandemic.
It says: “People living with diabetes face a significantly higher risk of dying with COVID-19 with a third of deaths in England associated with the condition, according to new NHS research.
“The health service in England has called on people with diabetes to access help available to them, including a new dedicated helpline and online tools to help manage the condition during the outbreak.”
The research, due to be published this week, has found that people with type 1 diabetes are three and a half times more at-risk, and people living with type 2 are at double the risk of dying in hospital with the virus, compared to people without diabetes.
Currently, 7,466 of those who died in English hospitals had type 2 diabetes while 365 had type 1 diabetes, but the research suggests the threat for those under 40 with either condition is ‘very low’.
Type 1 diabetes isn’t linked to age or weight, whereas type 2 diabetes is. The research found that higher blood glucose levels and obesity, two common factors for type 2 diabetes, are link to higher risk of fatality from the virus.
Exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle can help to lower weight which can help to combat type 2 diabetes, which could be why the NHS has launched its new workout videos.
The NHS also offers yoga, pilates for back pain and even belly dancing, all which can be found here: nhs.uk/nhs-fitness-studio
