Exercise smarter, not harder, with Studio Health

Writer and Photographer Taylum Meyer

Exercising has many physical health benefits which include losing excess weight, improving bone and joint strength, improving circulation, and maintaining physical resilience. But it also assists in boosting and maintaining mental health.

Living through the pandemic and having to adjust to a new normal has resulted in high levels of psychological distress worldwide, causing a historic rise in mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Physical exercise plays a vital role in improving mental health by reducing mental fatigue and releasing endorphins, the body’s natural mood elevator.

At Studio Health in Hermanus, Leigh Murray and her team focus on improving quality of life (physically and mentally) through exercise, helping to keep people able and independent into their senior years, and assisting people of all ages to make lifestyle changes for better health which they may not be able to do on their own.

Leigh studied Human Movement Studies (now known as Sports Science) at Rhodes University and opened The Lonehill Sports Clinic which she operated for seven years in Johannesburg before she moved to Hermanus in 2004. She opened Studio Health at the Hemel-en-Aarde Village to continue doing what she loved: helping people to realise and reach their goals through exercise in order to improve their quality of life. The focus is on functional training and covers the four key areas, namely strength, flexibility, balance and endurance.

Like many in Hermanus, Leigh had to adapt her business in order to survive the difficult months of lockdown, and quickly moved her training classes onto Zoom so that her clients could still exercise from their homes. This also allowed her to open the door to international clients and to keep the social side of exercising going, which helped a great deal for those struggling with the isolation of the hard lockdown.

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