Bank Holiday workouts give people a lift as gyms reopen
GYMS finally reopened their doors in Wales yesterday following the latest easing of lockdown restrictions – and owners were delighted by the turnout despite the bank holiday weekend.
Gyms, fitness facilities, spas and swimming pools are now allowed to reopen after over four months of coronavirus lockdown.
And despite it yesterday being a bank holiday Monday with bars and restaurants open outdoors, people found the motivation to return to their gym, with owners reporting a fun and positive atmosphere.
“It has been fantastic this morning, obviously it is a Bank Holiday Monday, usually hours are a little bit more restricted, but we have had classes on the hour back to back since 6am,” said Robin Sowden Taylor, who owns Cardiff’s Ion Strength & Conditioning gym.
“They have all been full classes. We have our afternoon classes coming shortly. I think everyone is just glad to finally be back in the gym and seeing each other with smiles on their faces.”
As a class-based training facility, Robin explained the restrictions are a little tight, but they had an idea of what restrictions to expect when they reopened this time around based on the 2020 lockdown.
“After the first lockdown we were pretty aware of how things would look, we had to change the way we operated. We are a class-based training facility, so we implemented a social distancing throughout our facilities, every member has their own set training area.
“There have been a lot of positives on that same front, I think it makes it less intimidating coming into a new training facility when you know exactly where to go, where all thee equipment is, it is obviously a lot safer from a health perspective.
“We will continue with this manner obviously in the short term but also further down the line.”
Robin’s customers – including Iwan Morris – were also pleased to be back.
He said: “It is fantastic to be back, you know I’ve got ‘Mickey Mouse’ equipment in the house, nothing compares to the proper thing.
“I was doing a bit of gym work in the house, lifting light weights, squats, and
I was walking an hour and half to two hours a day, just to try and keep fit.
“I’ve been doing a lot of exercise, I’m sure if I wasn’t it would have effected me mentally.
“It is great to have the whole family back again, it is really good.”
Iwan added that he plans to return to the gym three times a week, he joked: “To keep this belly down!”
Another person to return to Ion in Cardiff yesterday was John Edwards, he said while its been great doing circuits on Zoom classes in his living room, nothing compares to the equipment at the gym.
“It’s having all the kit, it is all laid out and I don’t have any of this stuff at home so it is much better, you’ve just got access to more things, and being in a class with other people just motivates you more.
“I think this will be the last of lockdowns, at least until the autumn/winter time, so I think we have a nice few months or so.”
The issue of gym reopening has been a contentious issue in Wales, with demonstrations having been held to protest at the length of time it’s taken the Welsh Government to allow them to reopen.
While the Welsh Government said its cautious approach was designed to minimise the possibility of coronavirus cases rising again, campaigners say the health benefits of gym-going – both in terms of mental health and physical health – should not be underestimated and believe they could have safely reopened earlier.
But members and venue owners were clearly overjoyed to be back in business yesterday.
“Today has surprised me how many people have returned already. We have had 246 people in since this morning and for a Bank Holiday that is really good,” said Alex Bodin, director of One Gym in Newport.
“I think opening on a Bank Holiday was a good decision as people are off work so have been able to come throughout the day.”
Alex said gym owners like him have spent the last few months twiddling their thumbs, waiting for an announcement on their return.
Speaking from the gym’s front desk, where you can hear plenty of activity going on in the background, Alex said seeing people happy to return to the gym has given him and others the motivation to keep going, with a long financial recovery ahead.
“It has given us the motivation to spur us on and keep pushing to keep us going. We know it is going to be a couple of months recovery from this,” hes said.
“But it is nice, when people are leaving they are stopping and saying how great their first session was.”
However, Alex said he knows there will be some people who will struggle with the return, so they are keeping some online classes available until people see the success of those other customers who have made their way back already.
“We are creating a six-week programme too, for all our members, just to get them started again. People have been inactive for so long they need that help and guidance. I think it is good, it will give people some structure back too.”
One key issue those campaigning for gyms to reopen have focused on is the mental health aspect of it, and that
is one thing that Lindsey Sian White, a personal trainer, has seen great benefit in her customers today.
Lindsey owns a fitness studio in Swansea and has been running classes since 6am yesterday, an unusual start time for a bank holiday she admitted.
“I am fully booked for the week, I’m having half a day on Friday, but I say half day I will be starting at 6am. I even
had new people weekend,” she said.
She trains women in classes and one to one, and said she has found that for women in particular, the last 13 months have been hard for them to keep training at home as they have seen an increase in other responsibilities, such as caregiving and home schooling.
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“A lot has gone on in the last five months, I think this lockdown has been a lot more challenging, a lot of people have lost their jobs, home life has not been easy.
“I think people haven’t been putting themselves first, so its good to get back to the classes.
“I’ve been doing classes on Zoom throughout, and it has been quite nice
actually to focus on the technique instead of the lifting. When we are in the classes women want to lift heavy stuff so it has been good to take them back to the basis and show them the correct techniques.
“The women who have been doing the classes online have been skipping out of their cars to get in here,” she said.