23 April 2020
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Home Workouts increase with 20,000 Completed On Derval.ie In The Past Four Weeks, With Participants From Every County In Ireland
Three-time Olympian, best-selling author and Ireland’s Fittest Family coach, Derval O’Rourke has been steadily building her healthy lifestyle community, breaking through the crowded fitness space with her one-stop online platform, Derval.ie.
Celebrating its first birthday, Derval.ie has gone from strength to strength over the past year with over 3,500 members nationwide.
Members of Derval.ie have access to a wide range of tried and tested healthy lifestyle plans and resources. The platform provides fitness plans for beginners and advanced levels, hundreds of recipes, nutritional advice, Pilates classes, pregnancy fitness and self-care strategies for a positive mindset. The expert-led advice is delivered through easy-to-follow videos and workbooks, as well as a very supportive and motivational private members group.
Commenting in relation to the current Covid19 restrictions Derval.ie creator Derval O’Rourke says, ”It’s more important than ever that people take care of their minds and bodies during the unprecedented challenges that the Covid-19 restrictions present. The closure of gyms and sports clubs is not a reason for people to abandon their fitness routines, as there is so much you can do from the comfort of your own home without the use of equipment.
“The platform has seen 20,000 home workout videos used in the past four weeks. With more time at home people are cooking more than ever, dinner recipes and snack recipes on the site have been used around 10,000 times in the past four weeks. We are thrilled that so many of my existing and new members are finding the Derval.ie site useful during this unprecedented time when many of us are spending more time in our homes. We may be restricted in our movements but my members are showing they are not restricted in their exercise and cooking! With all of us realising we need to be mindful of our snacking its great to see my healthy snack recipes for Lime Chocolate Oaty Biscuits and Peanut Butter Squares being utilised more than ever before.
“Derval.ie is a passion project, which was born out of my desire to find ways to juggle work, kids and me-time. After I retired from professional athletics, I was coaching a group of friends who were at the start of their fitness journey. Our main struggle was how busy we were, and how hard it was for us to find simple ways to reach our healthy lifestyle goals. This encouraged me to create plans that could be completed in our homes, giving us the results we were looking for. It’s amazing to think I’m now celebrating one year of Derval.ie and a whole community of amazing women have joined me on this journey,” says Derval.
Behind the Derval.ie platform, Derval has enlisted an expert team of trainers, women’s health specialists, nutritional scientists and more. She has learnt a lot from her members over the past twelve months, incorporating their feedback and suggestions into new tech innovations and content which includes the introduction of a fresh new site design and App.
Along with this new site design and App, to celebrate the first birthday of Derval.ie, has launched a new Summer Strong four-week challenge. This exciting new challenge, which can be completed from your home, offers fitness sessions, a healthy and tasty meal plan and daily self-care tips.
Derval O’Rourke.
Picture Denis Minihane.
Derval O’Rourke.
Picture Denis Minihane.
In an effort to keep spirits up during the extended Covid19 restriction period Derval is also opening up access to Derval.ie, by offering everyone the opportunity of checking out the site and avail of a free 7-Day Trial.
For frontline workers, Derval has launched an exciting initiative where members of her site can gift frontline workers a free three-month Derval.ie membership, as a way for her and her online community to show appreciation and gratitude for their vital work during this time. So far Derval has gifted over 400 free memberships to frontline workers, with more coming in daily.
Speaking in relation to the importance of her online community Derval comments, “The more my community chat with me, the more I learn about their challenges and what’s important to them. My aim is to make it easy and enjoyable for people to make healthy choices, no matter how busy they are or how many other commitments they have. I work with my team of experts every step of the way to develop plans such as Fit Blast and Healthy@Home which my members have tried, tested and are reaping the rewards of. My members are learning to put themselves back on their own to-do lists.”
Derval has always been conscious of making the Derval.ie platform accessible to as many people as possible, and has deliberately kept the price of membership low, at only €7 a month (23c a day). Cost is also taken into consideration when it comes to creating content. Her fitness plans involve minimal equipment and her recipes are simple and inexpensive.
As well as having access to expert advice, Derval.ie members are part of a private members group. This group checks in daily with Derval and her team to share their progress, get answers to any questions they may have, and to share their successes and challenges. This group also provides a safe place for members to form bonds and create a support system for each other.
“The outpouring of support that this group shares with one another is amazing. If someone is having a tough day or week, our community members lift them up and motivate them. This is needed at a time like this more than ever,” Derval remarks.
Member Marguerite Ryan comments: “Derval.ie is super. The recipes, blogs and workouts are easy to access through the site. I’m loving the fact that the work-outs are broken down into shorter parts, you can always find ten minutes in a day to move and if you have more time, you can just combine the workouts! Derval.ie is the most sustainable plan I have come across in relation to keeping healthy.”
It’s the structure of the plans that member Sinead Flanagan enjoys: “Being able to access tools, strategies and ideas around all aspects of our daily living in an easy-to-follow, realistic environment is what makes Derval.ie my go to place each morning.”
To avail of this free seven day membership, which can be activated between now and the start of May, visit www.derval.ie. For more information, or to gift a frontline worker a free three-month membership, email team@derval.ie or connect with Derval online at Facebook/dervalorourke, Instagram/dervalo.rourke