The health and fitness industry—much like the restaurant industry—has been quick to adapt. As gyms and boutique studios closed their doors, their instructors took to YouTube, Instagram and Zoom to create tutorial, live videos and participate in moderated chats about our health, fitness and how to stay in some degree of balance during this time.

The health and wellness industry is colossal, commanding a reported £3.5trillion globally and it shows no signs of bending or shrinking. Once upon a time, a healthy lifestyle referred to two weekly step classes and an extra serving of broccoli with dinner. Today it’s everything from intuitive eating workshops to sound-bathing to vegan ready meals.

And it’s this idea that wellness encompasses everything in our life that frames The Energy Project at Psycle in London. The idea being, if you’re not sleeping properly, you’re probably not getting the most out of your workouts. If your workouts aren’t effective, perhaps you’re reaching for the wrong foods afterwards. If you’re fuelling yourself incorrectly, perhaps you’re not performing your best at work, and so on. And it makes sense, if one piece is off balance, perhaps in a way, everything is. But when you’re busy, stressed and left to your own devices, it might be hard to see that, or it might feel so overwhelming that you choose to ignore the signs. That is where Psycle CEO Rhian Stephenson, who is a qualified nutritionist and naturopath, and her team of experts come in.

Psycle first launched in London back in 2014 on Mortimer Street, just a few minutes from Oxford Circus. An immediate success, they opened more studios in Shoreditch, Clapham and Westbourne Grove. The brand started out offering its high-octane spin classes, promising a full-body workout on a bike. And it worked, they had waitlists, packed studios and sweaty, smiling clients. So they expanded, with certain studios offering barre, strength and yoga classes too.

Next they launched The Energy Project, a transformative programme that lasts six or eight weeks with an aim of creating lifelong habits and routines. It starts with a one-on-one session with Stephenson, which in a way works like therapy—the more honest you are, the more you get out of it. She scribbles away as you talk, and then you’re handed your food plan, fitness schedule, new work habits, and sleep chart. In short: you work-out most days, eat healthily, shutdown your laptop in the evenings and prioritise eight hours of sleep. And once you start, you can’t remember why this isn’t how you live all year around.

The fitness plan includes a mix of spin, barre, strength and stretch, the balance of which depends on your goals. One thing you’re quickly reminded is that sweat isn’t everything. The Ride classes might leave you dripping, but in their own way, the barre classes, which focus on tiny movements and isometric holds, are equally challenging.

One of the knock on effects of coronavirus is that suddenly, all around the world, billions of people have far more time on their hands. Time to think, time to read, time to reflect. And what a lot of people have realised is, they’ve actually always had a lot of time, they just weren’t using it wisely or were filling it with activities that they’ve now realised they don’t need or miss. That’s a bit like the thinking behind the energy project, suddenly you have the clarity to realise that the workout you were convinced you didn’t have time for, is actually precisely what you need to set yourself up for a successful and productive day.