He’s already got most of the nation trying to get ‘Lean in 15’ and brought HIIT sessions to the masses, but now it seems ‘The Body Coach’ has turned his attention to schools.  

Joe Wicks, a former teaching assistant turned fitness celebrity, recently ran a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) aimed at young people and it ended up being viewed 250,000 times and being used by around1,200 schools (you can watch it here and here). The level of interest was a shock, says Wicks.  

“I was completely stunned by the response of this first HIIT - it was phenomenal,” he says. “We couldn’t keep up with the comments that were coming in from schools all across the UK and around the world too, I couldn’t believe how many people were taking part.”

Improving fitness

The session was inspired by a visit Wicks made to his former school and a desire to reach younger people with his fitness message.

Schools are fertile ground for assistance when it comes to fitness, particularly primary schools. For the latter, budget constraints are making the use of external PE coaches increasingly difficult, so more in-house PE is going to be inevitable.  Instructional videos are going to be increasingly popular. Meanwhile at secondary, a little stardust can ensure PE kits are ‘forgotten’ less often. Both phases have obligations to help tackle a growing obesity epidemic among young people. 

It seems Wicks may have noted a potential need for his services as he plans to make these school-centred videos more often.

“I’m always looking for new ways to make videos that appeal to everyone that follows me and to inspire more people to get into fitness and exercise. Part of that is about reaching younger people to show how easy exercise is and that’s why I wanted to reach out to schools specifically. It’s definitely something I want to do again in the future.”

To better tailor the content to schools Wicks is asking for feedback from teachers about what sort of sessions they might want and how they should be delivered (via the email address schools@thebodycoach.com) and TES will bring you all the latest updates and videos. 

With many teachers among his fanbase, it seems likely that inbox will be pretty busy and future sessions will have the teachers, as well as the students, busting out some burpees.

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