Keeping connected through fitness

OSBURN — “I knew that if I was faced with having to close my doors, that doing nothing for my clients was not an option.”

Paige Olsen has been a fitness instructor for more than 10 years and owns and operates VERS Fitness Studio in Osburn.

Olsen teaches a diverse array of classes, including spin, LIFT, Tabata, as well as nutrition, which has given her a vast amount of students who depend on her for their fitness and health needs.

Despite her growing success in the Silver Valley, she was put into the precarious position of having to close her studio in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially leaving her students to fend for themselves during an uncertain time.

Olsen and her crew weren’t ready to let COVID-19 steal their thunder, which led her to allowing some of her students to take equipment, including the spin-bikes.

Olsen had actually jumped the gun a little bit when she closed VERS a week before Idaho’s stay-home order was put into effect.

“I think just like most people, I hoped for the best, but was prepared for the worst. And unfortunately, I feel like we are just embarking in the worst,” she said. “I’m just so incredibly thankful that I have a platform through VERS to be able to help keep some of the normalcy in people’s lives while the world is going crazy. I knew that if I was faced with having to close my doors, that doing nothing for my clients was not an option. Trusting my gut and closing my doors almost a week ahead of the mandated state stay-home order was a huge blessing. This gave me time to get things organized and put into motion before I wasn’t able to.”

Olsen came up with the idea of renting out her bikes and doing live classes, but wasn’t sure how the idea would be received.

To put it lightly, it was received very well.

“I wasn’t entirely sure how people would respond to renting out my bikes and doing live classes. I was thinking I’d rent out maybe half of them. But my bikes were all rented out in a matter of hours,” Olsen said. “I was able to start delivering right away on Saturday and did my first live in-home class Monday morning. I’m still getting messages and people asking if I have more bikes available. It breaks my heart not being able to get a bike to everyone. To offset not having bikes for the masses, and try to reach out to as many people as possible, I’ve been posting daily workouts through my Instagram and Facebook accounts. These can be done at home with little to no equipment. I’m also implementing more live workouts off the bike for people to join in on.”

With a refreshing take on the current situation, Olsen is operating from a place of hopefulness and helpfulness.

She hopes to see people come together in unity and stay social during a time of forced isolation.

“We are in this together,” Olsen said. “An idle mind and body are dangerous things, especially in times like this. We have got to keep any sense of normalcy that we can. We aren’t focusing on making gains or losing weight right now. This is all about getting through and staying connected to keep us from going absolutely insane.”

Olsen wants people to know that despite being out of bikes for people to use, she would like to invite anyone who has any sort of workout equipment at home to join in on the live classes.

“This isn’t about anyone as an individual at this point, it’s about everyone as a whole. I don’t care if I’ve never met you, I will welcome you in any way I can. I’ve always lived that way. And that’s a huge part of VERS and how I want everyone to feel, like they are welcome regardless of age, gender or ability level,” Olsen said. “I don’t care if you’re on a bike, treadmill, elliptical or sitting on your couch drinking coffee. If you need a little social interaction, I’ve got you. You’ll have to excuse the bed head and half dressed toddler running amuck in half of my live videos, but ya’ know… I’m surviving man.”

For more information, or to join one of Olsen’s classes, visit @versfitstudio on Instagram or the VERS Fitness Studio Facebook page.