Get Moving at Home with Ju on IG Live
Keeping up with your fitness routine when you can’t hit your favorite gym or park may seem next to impossible. But if quarantine time has shown us anything in the last couple of months is that you can practice social distancing but still work out on social media. Indeed, some of Vancouver’s most popular instructors who typically lead sold-out studio classes have taken to their favorite social media platform to offer streaming workouts—many of them live and for free.
One such instructor is Julie Chutter, who’s been offering IG Live classes on her own account practically since the day gyms closed. Here, she shares a bit about life during quarantine, what inspires and moves her.
Name: Julie Chutter
Homebase: Vancouver
Web: movebyju.com
Instagram: @juchut
ABOUT
I have been teaching fitness for six years. I started as a spin instructor at Ride Cycle Club where I was the lead instructor for three years. I trained new instructors and really found my comfort and love for teaching in that space. In 2017, I joined the All City Athletics boxing crew where I have been teaching ever since. Love that fam!
QUARANTINE LIFE
I think this is likely what most people are experiencing as well but I miss my family an incredible amount. My older sister had her third baby in December and it has felt very hard to not be able to be there to help her and watch him grow. Nieces and nephews are the best—I would do anything for a squeeze from them right now. I come from a family of six kids and everyone is quite displaced throughout Canada and the US so right now I feel even further away from them than normal.
I grew up on a cattle ranch in the interior BC so I am a small town girl at heart. My partner (Noah, you've seen him on my IG Live) and I have been lucky enough to have spent the last six weeks solo at his family home on Hornby Island. In many ways it has brought me back to my roots – being able to garden, mow the lawn etc. But ultimately it has allowed us some space to really think about what we want our lives to look like in the future. It has given us room to slow down and see what is really important.
VIRTUAL FITNESS
I started doing IG Live the day after the studios in Vancouver started shutting down. I was planning to travel out of town for a few weeks for training for a new project coming up and the trip was cancelled last minute due to the outbreak. I didn’t really have a plan as to what I was doing, just knew I wanted to try to get some people together to move. Went for it, told a few friends and did up a post that said I was ‘going live’ for a 30 minute sweat. This was before I had seen anyone do a fitness on IGLive yet and to be honest, I didn’t fully plan the class but I have had an idea in my head for a long time what I wanted my own class to look like. I just knew that I wanted the music loud and a big amount of sweat dripping. It has just evolved from there!
CLASS VIBE
I would say my classes are athletic and nonstop. I encourage people to take breaks as they need but I want to keep the intensity and flow going. I mix hard pushes with slower moves that match the beat of the song. I want to keep people guessing, make them smile, and make them sweat. I play dance/house/anything fun to keep us moving. Dance party at the end always.
I currently teach Monday to Friday and Sunday and have no plans to stop right now!
PAY IT FORWARD
After people started asking about how they could support I decided to include a link in my profile for support via PayPal (chutterjulie@gmail.com). You can also access via my website.
POST-QUARANTINE TRAVEL PLANS
The first place I’ll travel to once it’s safe to do so within Canada is to Saskatchewan to see my brother; internationally to San Francisco to see my sister. My dream travel destination is Bali.
FAVORITES
Favorite food? Noah and I have gone on a hamburger bender this quarantine and it’s time for a break. But still, homemade hamburgers all the way.
Coffee or tea? Coffee no question.
Beach or mountains? Ohhhh…beach on a lake in the mountains.
Sunrise or sunset? Both. Sunset when I’m with my family in Hawaii. Sunrise if I'm solo on the dock at my cabin.
Summer or winter? Fall.
Morning person or night owl? Morning. My dad used to tell us kids that we had wasted half the day if we slept past 8. That’s stuck with me forever – a full day lies ahead, time to get moving and take it on :)
