Falk Establishes Virtual Gym for Einstein Community

A major contributor to maintaining mental health is physical health. While our Falk Recreation Center may be closed for now, its staff has been busy employing a number of creative solutions to keep us moving during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Einstein SHOUTout! touts the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Falk team in keeping us from climbing our walls (unless, of course, it’s part of a workout).

Falk Recreation Center staff has scheduled daily at-home workouts, Mondays through Thursdays, for members of the Einstein community. The virtual gym includes yoga, barre, Zumba, and pilates instruction that can be done live or by viewing video. Falk offers printable circuit workouts for any time you want to get fit.

Soon after the center closed, members of the Einstein community were notified that several of its most popular instructors would be offering classes via Zoom each weeknight, Monday through Thursday, throughout April. Classes have been held at 7:30 p.m. each of these evenings, with options for yoga, barre, Zumba, and pilates. And they will now extend through the end of May.

Access to Zoom classes in real time is possible through Einstein’s internal COVID-19 site, though a login is needed to reach these live Zoom offerings. Simply look for them under “Einstein Virtual Gym” within the “Important Employee Resources” section of the site.

“We teamed with student activities and human resources to provide the classes, which are available to any member of the Einstein community, not just Falk members,” said Andrew Adham, manager of Falk. “These are stressful times for all of us and we thought everyone should be able to have easy access to work off steam and stay fit.”

Let’s Go to the Video

If making a class isn’t possible, the team thought of that, too, providing video from each class, usually by the next day. You can find the videos, along with some additional “at-home workout” options that are available as printable PDF files, in the Einstein Virtual Gym. (These home workouts are also available on the Falk Centers Instagram page: @falkreccenter.)

“We realized that not everyone can be available when the classes are offered and that some people might want to repeat a workout that they enjoyed," said Jake Kuhl, who makes sure the videos get posted each day. “Having the video makes the classes available to more members of our Einstein community, and we want to be sure that anyone who has an interest in the classes has access.”

Membership Does Have Its Privileges

While the Falk staff is happy to offer the classes with instructors more broadly, a new offering is now being made available to center members only. On April 22, Falk began offering an equipment borrowing program.

Through this new program, equipment will be available Monday through Friday, between 9:15 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. Members will be allowed to borrow a maximum of two items borrowed per day. It will not be possible to keep borrowed over the weekend; they must be returned the same day. Here’s how it will work:

Members may choose from the following equipment: dumbbells (up to 50 pounds), resistance bands, medicine balls, foam rollers, kettle bells, and ab rollers.
Members must call 718-430-4298 to request up to two items.
A same-day pickup and drop-off time will be scheduled with each individual.
Falk staff will place equipment just outside the Falk Center five minutes before scheduled pickup times and wait inside until items are retrieved. (If items are not picked up within 10 minutes of the scheduled time, they will be brought back inside.)
To assure safety among our community members and to avoid possible spread of germs, we ask that only you or other individuals living in your apartment or house be permitted to use the borrowed equipment during the time it is in your possession.
To keep in line with safe physical distancing, the Falk staff member will remain inside while pickups and drop-offs are being made. And members are asked to be punctual to avoid inconveniencing other members who may be scheduled after them. If someone is in the process of picking up or dropping off an item before you, please leave the appropriate safe space between yourselves.
When members return borrowed items, they must place them just outside the Falk Center front door; a staff member will sanitize the items. Again, please be punctual since others will also have a pre-scheduled time for their drop-off.

If you have any questions about any of the Falk Center virtual gym offerings, please contact jake.kuhl@einsteinmed.org or christopher.lacolla@einsteinmed.org.

Posted on: Monday, May 11, 2020

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