Gyms, fitness studios crunching numbers for Stage 2 guidelines
Clients are calling. Emails are pouring in.
It’s clear Albertans are amped up about getting back into the gym and fitness studios.
But many owners are tempered in their enthusiasm after Tuesday’s news that they can open their doors as soon as Friday — with guidelines in place — in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
“A lot of people are really excited,” said Matt Kinch, co-founder of The Sweat Lab in Calgary. “People are excited to get back to being active and get into a routine and getting back to what it was like PRE-COVID.
“It’s steps in the right direction.” But there is still work to be done before gyms and fitness facilities can really make a go of it.
Owners spent the hours after Tuesday’s announcement poring over the 15-page document dubbed “Return to sport, physical activity and recreation” prepared by the province, trying to get a better understanding of what Stage 2 of Alberta’s plan to reopen means for their businesses.
For a spin-class mecca such as The Sweat Lab, which has gone virtual and taken its classes outdoors recently, it means physical distancing of three metres when it comes to spinning indoors.
“With three-metre guidelines, it’ll be really tough — we’re essentially going from 100 per cent capacity down to 25 per cent,” said Kinch, a former Calgary Hitmen star. “We realize the reasons why it is three metres, and we’ve got to respect that. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, these (COVID -19) cases stay low and we can start to see a little more freedom to operate like we were before COVID hit.”
For now, The Sweat Lab — like many other exercise studios — is still considering its options and calculating whether reopening under Stage 2 guidelines is financially feasible.
Not all eligible facilities will open this weekend. Some businesses have indicated they will wait a few days or even weeks longer to ensure safely reopening, while YMCA Calgary sent out a news release Tuesday saying it needed more time before reopening.
“We’re in the hopes of — like the restaurants getting the go-ahead after a few weeks to get back up to full capacity — seeing that happen,” Kinch continued. “Two metres would bring a lot of our classes to 50 per cent, and I think we can work with that.”
But even half-full fitness outfits may not be enough for a business to stave off closure.
That’s the worry of Natalie St. Hilaire, owner of Yoga Nova Studio, which can only house nine students per class indoors.
“We all have to get back to work and try our best and be there for people,” said St. Hilaire. “But I think if we close again in the fall, you’re going to see a lot of small businesses close for good. The federal rent relief over the last three months has really helped. But I think the big questions are, ‘Do we have a second wave and are quarantined again in the fall, and is there more rent relief?’ At 50 per cent capacity, it’s not really survivable (long term).
“With the distancing, while maybe appropriate for health reasons, I don’t know how businesses are going to make money through this.”
Yoga Nova has gone online since the crisis hit Calgary.
And in recent weeks, St. Hilaire has added park yoga — following government restrictions, of course — involving a session of 40 people in one place outside. But that’s only seasonal.
“I find people aren’t necessarily rushing back,” St. Hilaire said. “They’re preferring to stay home and online, as people are still concerned about being in public and in these situations. Maybe that’ll change now that Phase 2 has been OK’D.”
Boxing and martial arts clubs around town weren’t expecting to be a part of Stage 2, thinking they were still weeks and — possibly — months away from opening their doors.
“It’s good news that they’ve expedited everything with opening of the gyms,” said Michael Short, a city boxing promoter and volunteer coach at Bowmont Boxing Club. “We’re quite happy with the approach that the government has taken. We plan to enhance our own internal methods and approaches with cleaning protocols and screening and doing our due diligence.”