Given he thrived in the NRL for 17 years, Wests Tigers champion Robbie Farah has long felt the tremendous mental and physical powers of group exercise.
And as many struggle to cope with the isolation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the retired hooker is hoping to boost morale and raise money for charity by helping run a massive online gym session.
Along with Vision Personal Training, Lane Cove studio owner James Tampion, Farah will host a one-hour virtual workout through video conferencing website Zoom from 7am on Saturday.
A call to arms has been put out to all 58 Vision Personal Training gyms, though anyone can join by clicking a link.
The event is encouraging participants to donate to mental health organisation Beyond Blue, with a $10,000 target. More than $3500 has already been donated.
"James reached out to me to do an online class for some of his clients a couple of weeks ago. I popped down and we did an online session which was a lot of fun," Farah told NRL.com.
"He came up with the idea of doing a similar sort of thing for charity and raising some money for Beyond Blue.
"I was more than happy to get involved. It's obviously a great cause, especially with everything going on at the moment."
After planning a workout comprised of bodyweight and cardio exercises on Friday, Farah will join Tampion in the Lane Cove studio the next morning to broadcast the session.
"It'll just be an hour of a bit of fun and exercise. Obviously we'll work hard as well," said Farah, who retired at the end of last year after 303 NRL games.
"We'll make sure it's a suitable session for everyone to do from their lounge room or their backyard or wherever it may be.
"I'd just encourage everyone if they're up early on Saturday morning to jump online and get involved, and make a donation if they can."
Tampion has held online training sessions over the past month and said keeping his members connected has been a big success.
"It’s like you are part of a community," Tampion said.
"Before the studio closed group training was loved by all our clients. It’s great that we can still physically work out together and seeing everyone come together has been fantastic."
While Farah said he's adapted to isolation and even found some positives, his events company Two4Seven has been impacted.
"It's kind of on hold at the moment because there are no real events to attend and there is no overseas travel which is predominantly what our business is based on," he said.
"We'll be fine once things get up and running again. We're pretty fortunate in the fact we don't have many overheads, so we're not bleeding money at the moment, but there's no money coming in."
For urgent assistance please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24 hour counselling, information and referrals) or the Beyond Blue Support Service 1300 22 4636.
