Games consoles, once the darling of couch potatoes, have taken on a new role in public health

With fewer mass sports events to attend, a reluctance to go the gym over safety concerns and facing quarantine at home, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lifestyles of tens of millions of fitness enthusiasts in China.

But none of these challenges have changed fitness lovers' passion for sports. While many make their home a gym, adjusting daily training plans, others follow online fitness courses or even buy smart devices and fitness video games to keep exercising.

Lyu Wenqiang, a Dalian native who finished a 21-day quarantine at home last month, is among those who refused to stop his fitness routine.

The father-of-two told China Daily that, along with his wife and children, he participated in about 20 long-distance running events including marathons in 2019. But he only managed to join in five fitness events in 2020 due to the pandemic. So doing sports at home became an inevitable choice for him.

"I started quarantine with my family at home from the middle of December for 21 days. And everyone in our family kept exercising during the whole period," said Lyu.

"Actually I've lost 4 kilograms in the past month. Each day, my wife and I would each at least finish about 8 kilometers in about 40 minutes on our running machine.

"Also, I have enough equipment at home just like in the gym, such as dumbbells and barbells. My two sons followed us on the running machine and they also have their fitness video games."

Lyu said that doing exercise is a much better way to kill time at home than browsing smartphones for hours on the sofa.

"The pandemic has forced us to change our ways of doing sports. For example, now the gyms are open in Dalian, fewer people would like to be there to avoid people gathering," Lyu added.

"But we still need to keep healthy. So, even at home, we have to keep running and doing other fitness training. Also, we need to have a healthy diet. We can't just stop as we need to maintain our physical condition."

The General Administration of Sport of China began promoting scientific indoor exercises after the start of the pandemic. A series of online fitness courses, activities and competitions have been organized across China. They attracted tens of millions of participants throughout last year.

As several Chinese cities have reported new COVID-19 cases in the past months, many are following pandemic-prevention regulations and have postponed public sports events. Once again, local sports departments are shifting focus to promote indoor fitness methods and organize online activities.

Since early January, Hebei Sports Bureau has been working with sports associations and lower-level sports departments in the province to organize online fitness classes and competitions, such as a martial arts course and rope-skipping challenge.

Hebei Sports Bureau also invited sports stars in the province to record videos teaching people how to keep fit at home scientifically. For example, Hebei's martial arts star Guo Mengjiao posted fitness videos online calling on people to "build a stronger body to fight against the pandemic and learn how to exercise at home with world champions."

Meanwhile, Shenyang Sports Bureau worked with 15 sports associations in Shenyang, Liaoning province, to film and upload more than 1,000 videos online that guide locals on how to exercise at home. The videos cover a wide range of sports including baseball, tai chi, basketball, yoga and martial arts.

According to Shenyang Daily, the city's marathon association has a one-hour online fitness course each night. So far, about 200,000 people have participated.