For Erinn Quinn, exercise is a saving grace.
“It’s very hard to explain to somebody what it means to me,” said Quinn.
The Stratford woman, who works at Veterans Affairs Canada and as a nurse at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, has been enrolled in UFIT fitness classes for the past 12 years.
It’s hard to stop doing what keeps you going, Quinn said.
“It’s a lifestyle, you kind of learn to love it and once you’ve had it you probably don’t want to let it go if it suits.”
Run by longtime UFIT trainer and P.E.I. MLA Gord McNeilly, Quinn said she stuck with the classes due to McNeilly’s enthusiasm and positivity.
“He always gets everyone smiling, he’s a funny guy.”
With most gyms and fitness centres and classes closed during the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic, most Islanders find it challenging to keep fit.
“It’s a lifestyle, you kind of learn to love it and once you’ve had it you probably don’t want to let it go if it suits,” Quinn said.
However, McNeilly has been hosting several home-workout sessions on Facebook live since March 19. McNeilly said his motivation in a time like this comes from the health-care workers in P.E.I. and across the country.
View Gord McNeilly's Facebook workout from Monday, April 13 below
Monday week 4
Posted by Gordon McNeilly on Monday, 13 April 2020
“It’s devastating for us and I couldn’t be any prouder for our front-line workers.”
McNeilly said exercise doesn’t only help with physical fitness but also with mental health.
“It’s unbelievably crucial,” he said.
“There is nothing more important for people’s well-being at this time than active movement … trying to do it together is the only way to do it for me.”
Regardless of the positivity his Facebooks sessions bring, it is no comparison to the efforts of health-care workers, McNeilly said.
“I’m just trying to do a very tiny little thing in the grand scheme of what we are going through.”
McNeilly encourages Islanders help each other in their own way.
“If everybody does their tiny little thing, our society will come out of this in good shape.”
As for Quinn, she has nothing but praise for McNeilly.
“Gordon’s just awesome. He’s really positive and livens things up,” she said, adding his sessions have been “extremely important” for her.
“I really have appreciated it a lot since he started.”
McNeilly hosts daily live workout sessions at 2:30 p.m., with some being group specific for seniors, kids and adults.
He encourages Islanders to use music during workout sessions, to stay motivated and keep moving.