the risks and returns of gyms as province considers re-opening recreation facilities

by liane faulderwith a fitness group cheering her on from the computer perched on her dining room table, and a collection of weights at the ready, carine story will think twice before she returns to her old haunt, the gym.before covid-19, the 31-year-old lab assistant used to work out regularly, for free, in a fitness facility located in a downtown edmonton office building where story’s employer has a lab. but since the pandemic struck, she’s been enjoying a weekly google hangouts session with three friends — one of whom has a kinesiology degree and has helped tailor workouts to participants. between that, and long, daily dog walks, story believes her fitness level has improved since gym excursions ended in march.over the next few days, the province’s chief medical officer of health deena hinshaw will decide whether phase 2 of the provincial relaunch moves ahead earlier than forecast, perhaps with some welcome additions. hinshaw says the bumped-up launch may now include some sporting, recreation and indoor fitness activities. (to date, all gyms and fitness facilities in alberta have been slated to return in phase 3 at an undetermined time.)already, gyms in british columbia and manitoba have re-opened with stringent protocols for sanitation and physical distancing. but story isn’t sure health rules — as yet to be announced in alberta — will be enough to persuade her to abandon her new and pleasing fitness routine, and return to a shared space that is potentially a place for covid-19 to spread.story’s example is instructive as edmonton gyms, large and small, ready themselves for something like normal. some folks are anxious to return to their sweaty routines, including cyclefit classes and high-intensity interval training, or more tranquil workouts on yoga mats. but others are worried that “breathing moistly” — virtually guaranteed during exercise — may feel too dangerous, regardless of protocols in place. they’re also concerned that potential restrictions on gym capacity will make working out a hassle, rather than a pleasure.a recent survey of 10,824 gym members showed that 42 per cent of canadian gym members won’t return to their gyms when they re-open and more than one-third of canadian gym members have already cancelled or are considering cancelling their memberships. gym owners are scrambling to do what they can to convince members otherwise.some buff bodies have found they are surprisingly happy exercising outside of a fitness facility. lawyer tanya kelm, 28, who usually works out at goodlife fitness, has been enjoying long runs and walks along edmonton trails. she supplements that cardio with free online and instagram workouts hosted by studios in toronto, or edmonton clubs such as champs boxing studio or f-45.“usually i go to the gym for the machines, for strength training,” said kelm, who won’t return to the gym unless she has the same easy access to her favourite activities that she did before the pandemic. “now i’m going for walks and exploring places i never would have before. i have a friend and we explore together, and then we do workouts we make up ourselves.”online programs, often free or at low rates, have proliferated since exercise facilities closed. bike shops can’t keep stock in the store as people take advantage of edmonton’s urban bike paths and river valley trails. some people won’t return to the gym because they’ve lost jobs or taken a pay cut — a simple set of hand-held weights and a theraband is cheap compared with the ymca, which costs $66 a month for a general membership, or a class at orangetheory fitness that ranges from $14 to $22.

the pull of community

blake macdonald, president of orangetheory canada, is doing his best to ensure customers don’t turn their back on his trendy franchise — part of the boutique sector that has been leading growth in the fitness industry for the past several years.a former professional curler and long-time edmontonian, macdonald and his partner, david hardy, brought the orangetheory fitness franchise to canada in 2012, setting up the first one in st. albert. today, there are 108 canadian outlets (including 11 in the edmonton area) with 62,00 members. the studios offer workouts that incorporate endurance, strength and power to generate the “orange effect” — a calorie-burning boost that lasts up to 36 hours after a 60-minute workout.macdonald, 44, says he’s lucky to be able to observe orangetheory studios elsewhere in the world — there are more than 1,200 in 28 countries — return to operation as covid-19 is brought slowly under control. more than 400 studios in the u.s. and elsewhere are already open, including china, where orangetheory studios have been back up for roughly 10 weeks.macdonald says they will do everything they can to attract their members back, as soon as possible.“but we want to make sure we are doing it in a safe manner and protecting everyone,” he said.

orangetheory studios — which are small at about 3,000 square feet and feature exercisers sprinting rapidly station to station — are being reconfigured to keep six feet between participants. class sizes have been reduced to 12-18 people. the time between station switches has increased to facilitate cleaning equipment in between moves. some jurisdictions require participants to wear masks. sometimes, only the staff wear masks.macdonald says that so far, no cases of covid-19 have been connected to an orangetheory location, although he acknowledges poor contact tracing in places such as the united states make it hard to be definitive about that. but orangetheory studios in china, where intensive contact tracing is the norm, are free of the illness and classes are running at their capacity of about 24 people.macdonald feels his members will return because the facility provides something fitness fiends can’t get elsewhere — a sense of community.“if you talk to our members about why they love orangetheory, they’re not going to talk about the workout or the technology as much as they will talk about the community and the desire for the coach-led workout and the camaraderie of working towards individual goals with a group of like-minded people.”

online courses here to stay

of course, many gym facilities — from the ymca to f-45 — tout community to sell their services, and are counting on that draw to bring members — and money — back. keeping connected to community has been one reason many have provided free or discounted online pandemic workouts, such as the one by orangetheory that boasts 30,000 views daily in canada alone. on a much smaller scale, free online classes offered by edmonton yoga studio owner melanie checknita also have proven popular.“the response has been fantastic,” says checknita, who has operated yoga within on the south side since 2007.her life, daily 9:15 a.m. class often attracts 30 participants. numerous recorded classes, lead by volunteer instructors, are available 24/7 via youtube. checknita says her clients appreciate the online option, because some are nervous about coming back inside the studio, even with the physical distancing rules that will be tied to any re-opening.checknita doesn’t know how she feels about returning to her old format, or whether her business will survive the next few months. but she insists that come what may, online will be a part of her yoga future.“if the brick and mortar studio closes, we will stay online and charge a monthly membership,” she said. “it would be cheaper than paying rent (at the existing studio) and it would be consistent.”checknita is not the only one viewing virtual through a new lens. kent bittdorf, vice-president health, fitness and aquatics for the ymca of northern alberta, says covid-19 pushed the organization to create online options that won’t end with the pandemic.“we’re making assumptions that people are doing this because it’s all there is, but it’s likely that this will become an expectation in the market in the future,” he said. “in part, it’s because people have come to use online as their sole source of fitness content, so they’ve become accustomed to it … but some people will not feel comfortable coming back to the gym until there is a vaccine or they have a greater sense of certainty around their risk.”

for many fitness enthusiasts, the next few months will serve as a transition, both mentally and physically. goodlife fitness member rochelle prasad has been doing the club’s online workouts at home, and, since the weather improved, she’s been supplementing those with sessions lead by personal trainer paul plakas. the in-person sessions are conducted, for now, in the parking lot outside plakas’ custom fit studio.when it feels right, prasad will return to goodlife fitness, which has extensive information on upcoming sanitation and capacity protocols posted on instagram.“i think it’s important for (gyms) to create a positive attitude and for people to feel happy to be there, instead of looking at each other like they’re the enemy,” she said. “there is a lot of stress floating around and the sooner these places open, the sooner people can release this negative energy.”at orangetheory, macdonald says that, in the end, covid-19 might have a positive outcome for gyms and members alike.“at the end of the day, exercise is proving to be such a critical factor helping people build their immune system, and there are studies linking regular exercise to reducing the severity of covid-19,” he said. “i think this will bring the importance of exercise to the foreground.”lfaulder@postmedia.com