Mother and daughter give free workouts during coronavirus pandemic

A Salford mother-and-daughter team have been providing free workout videos to the community during the coronavirus lockdown.

In the UK there are more than 20,000* people who have tested positive for coronavirus.

But two members of a Salford family are trying to help divert people’s attention towards more positive things.

Magali and Olivia Davies are regularly uploading at-home workout videos on Facebook and Instagram to inspire others to get active indoors, during the quarantine.

They mostly post HIISTEP exercises that everybody can do.

“You can simplify the movements for people that may struggle and you can adapt it to your level of fitness,” says Magali.

“It is just cardio.”

Mum Magali, who works full time as an accounting administrator also teaches fitness classes on the side.

She states: “You’ve got a better immune system when you exercise.

“I think because you are feeling better with yourself everything follows.”

Her 20-year-old daughter, Olivia Davies, who studies at the University of Salford, explains what inspired her to do this:

“I was obviously inspired by my mum… now I want to inspire other people,” she said.

“It’s kind of like a domino effect, you get inspired then, because you’ve been inspired, you then want to inspire others.”

Olivia believes working out can help people cope with the situation: “To have a good chance of fighting off anything illness wise, you need to have your immune system there.

“I believe you need to make sure you are fit and active and feeding your body the right things.

“I think if you did that you would have more of a chance of fighting it off if you came across it.”

Magali says keeping active, along with other personal choices, has helped her cope with quarantine.

“I took myself off Facebook and decided to concentrate on my fitness because it was too many people panicking and I don’t want this kind of negativity at the moment.

“I just want to get away from all this.”

Olivia also supports the notion that focusing on her fitness and wellbeing will help her: “I’ve not watched the news in two weeks.

“I’ve turned my attention onto fitness and what I want to do for myself.”

When talking about the response they have had Olivia says: “I don’t think we expected so many (views), loads of people comment ‘keep it up!’ and ‘keep doing it!’.

“Its nice knowing that people are doing it and getting involved.”

Olivia also adds: “HIISTEP shared our video and it got about 5 thousand views.

“And then on our personal ones it was reaching about 700-800 views so it’s definitely reaching people.”

Olivia explains what a HIISTEP workout is: “It’s basically (a workout) with a step, you can buy a step anywhere.

“You can do it without a step as well and it’s essentially a high-intensity 30-minute workout on a step. Different exercises, different tempos, it’s got good music as well.”

Magali was teaching a class in Swinton as the lockdown in the UK was announced.

The gym she teaches classes at allowed her to borrow any of their equipment to take home.

Olivia explains just how much working out means to her mother.

“It’s a big part of her life that she couldn’t give up that easy”.

The family’s relatives abroad are also joining in and following their workouts.

“Some of my family and cousins in France have never been doing HIISTEP before and now they definitely want to see what it is and have tried it,” says Magali.

“And they are like ‘Oh, we loved it’ and ‘it was really good!’.”

To find out more information and keep up to date with their workout uploads, you can visit Olivia’s Facebook page to find out more: @Olivia Celina Davies.

Click here to listen to a snippet of the interview on Soundcloud: