As students around the world finally get the nod to return to their colleges and universities, there’s a sense that things are gradually returning to normal. Yet it’s unquestionably a New Normal, with social distancing measures meaning campus life – even in the next academic year – is likely to remain a somewhat different experience from previous years.
Post-COVID, it’s also the case that today’s students – who’ve grown up surrounded by myriad fitness options and who, when compared with previous generations, have already demonstrated notably different priorities around health and wellness – are likely to place an even greater focus on their wellbeing, both physical and mental, moving forward.
Throw those two factors together – high levels of interest in fitness and wellbeing, combined with the ongoing challenges of social distancing, plus of course the ‘digital native’ status of the new student intake – and one obvious solution immediately to the fore. Online fitness.
Particularly after a year in which (if this wasn’t already the case) their phones became the portal to pretty much everything this generation wanted to do, today’s teenagers now expect everything to be accessible on an ‘any time, anywhere, click and consume’ basis – and that includes fitness.
It’s why every educational establishment preparing for the next academic year needs to be putting plans in place for a digital fitness offering, if one doesn’t yet exist. This isn’t just a nice-to-have. It will be expected.
Fitness in the palm of students’ hands
This is where Wexer comes in, with the Wexer Web Player a ‘go-to’ first step.
This world-class digital platform allows students to stream their choice of fitness and wellbeing content at any point in their 24-hour day, wherever they want to train, to any internet-enabled device.
There are hundreds of music licence-free, on-demand classes curated from Wexer’s global content partners – something for everyone, no matter what their interests or fitness experience.
If you’d also like to create and upload your own content, that’s possible too thanks to the live streaming section of the platform, which is unique to you. Think of it as your own TV channel. Whether you choose to live stream, pre-record and schedule or make content available on-demand – or all of the above – it allows you to bring high quality wellness content to your students 24/7, wherever they may be.
Whether it’s a cookery workshop for teens who may be away from home for the first time, a mindfulness session to help stressed students unwind, or workouts designed specially for the university sports teams, your content can sit alongside and complement our on-demand classes to even better serve students’ wellbeing needs – a great USP for your residence.
We white label the portal, too, so students perceive it as an added value offering that comes directly from you. It’s password-protected, so you can offer it exclusively to your residents. And if you want to monetise some or all of the content, that’s possible too through a series of paywall options.
Meanwhile, data gathered on usage patterns means you’re able to fine-tune the content, tailoring class collections and live streams to meet the specific demand at each of your locations.
Make your studios on-demand too
Meanwhile, for those students who do want to train in a dedicated space, you might like to consider creating a virtual group exercise studio – even if it will need to be marked out for social distancing for now.
These can be created in just about any space, whether that’s an existing exercise room or an under-used communal area: just add a large screen, a high-quality AV system for an inspirational environment, and a Wexer Player.
With over 1,600 different classes, all led by the world’s top instructors – from HIIT to mind-body, strength to dance, stretching to meditation to boxing and far more besides – Wexer Virtual caters for every possible student profile.
It also dovetails perfectly with the Web Player, whose curated selection of classes can all be found on the Wexer Virtual platform too. It means students can take part in their favourite class in their room, in the park or in your studio – a seamless experience that fits around them.
Wexer Virtual classes can be scheduled, or else you can leave it to students to choose their own class – or a mixture of both.
And all of this on a robust, commercial-grade platform which boasts 99.9 per cent up-time, supported by a tech team who are on-hand 24/7 to quickly address any issues that do arise.
It all comes together to make Wexer the perfect partner for a student accommodation development, where potential 24/7 usage by a tech-savvy, fitness-focused audience makes seamless reliability, class quality and variety of content key.
To find out more, please contact us at info@wexer.com