Gyms that survived the pandemic are gradually returning to form

Gyms and fitness studios have been among the hardest hit businesses during the pandemic, due to lockdowns and later restrictions.

NEW YORK. One day in January, a once-regular customer of the Fuel Training Studio in Newburyport, Massachusetts, stopped by to take a Tiny course. She hasn’t been to the gym since the pandemic started.

The buyer told owners Julie Bokat and Jeanne Carter that she worked out at home alone in her basement but gradually lost motivation and sometimes worked out in her pajamas without breaking a sweat.

“I got bored with what I do, and here I am,” Bokat is quoted as saying. She’s heard similar comments from clients who have returned after more than two years of working in a basement or converted home office.

During the “dark days” of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Bokat and Carter took the equipment outside to teach in parking lots and in the greenhouse they built for the winter. They also held classes online, but attendance still dropped by 70%. They weren’t sure the business would survive.

They were not alone. Gyms and fitness studios have been among the hardest hit businesses during the pandemic, due to lockdowns and then restrictions on the number of people they could allow for classes and workouts. Unlike bars, restaurants, and concert venues, health clubs did not receive federal assistance in specific industries. Twenty-five percent of US health clubs and studios have closed permanently since the start of the pandemic, according to industry group National Health & Fitness Alliance.

For gyms that have weathered the worst, there are signs of stability. Fitness studio footfall was still down about 3% from 2019 in January, but up 40% from 2021, according to data from Placer.ai, which tracks retail footfall.

There is no greenhouse at Fuel Training, and there are no spin classes in the parking lot. Attendance is still down about 35% from 2019, but Bokat and Carter say more people are coming every day. Gym goers say they miss the sense of community that a gym can provide.

“I am sure that if we supported our community in the darkest days, it could only rise from there, and it happened,” Bokat said.

Many gyms and fitness studios have had to quickly diversify their offerings to attract customers during the pandemic, and some say the changes have worked so well that they’re permanent.

Guy Codio, who owns the NYC Personal Training Gym in New York, changed nine trainers for four during the pandemic and had to switch to online training. In 2021, he moved to a different location with a lower rent and began leasing space to other workers in the health and wellness industry, including physical therapists and massage therapists.

“Everyone was worried during COVID so we just need to downgrade a bit,” he said. “We had to change the model to be successful – almost take a step back to take another step forward.”

Now he’s back with six coaches, but he plans to keep the new business model alive by renting out space to hedge against another downturn.

In its new space, Codio is limiting the number of people per floor to 10 or 12 to make customers feel more comfortable amid COVID. But most of the clients he sees are “sick with COVID” and aren’t as worried about getting sick as they used to be, he says.

“If a person is worried, we take action, we have masks or we wear them at different times when there are fewer people,” he said.

For Jessica Benheim of Lumos Yoga & Barre in Philadelphia, some of the changes brought about by the pandemic have led to a business boom. She not only returned to pre-pandemic attendance levels, but also recently opened a second location.

Demand is back to normal in the summer of 2022, Benheim said. She raised the price of the course by $5 to $25 to offset higher costs for employee salaries and cleaning supplies, but says it hasn’t deterred customers.

Benheim believes two changes brought about by the pandemic have helped restore demand: outdoor activities and limited class sizes. She started outdoor activities from April to October during the pandemic at a nearby community garden out of necessity, but now has no plans to stop.

“People just love being outside, especially when it’s really nice outside in the spring, even in the summer when it’s hot,” she said.

The number of classes is still limited to 12, compared to 18 before the pandemic. She is making up for this reduction by offering more classes in her two studios.

“I think it just gives everyone a little more space, like just having a couple extra inches between the mats, people really appreciate that.”

When the pandemic hit, Vincent Micheli, owner of the Body Blueprint gym in Pelham, New York, expected 30% of his clients to not return. He underestimated.

Miceli believes that about 30% of its members have left Pelham, a bedroom community near New York, and moved elsewhere. Another 30% changed their habits and stopped exercising altogether.

It is now seeing a slow rise similar to pre-pandemic levels of about 5% per month as home workouts lose their luster. It is still 35% fewer customers than in February 2020. According to him, most of the new clients are people who have not worked before.

“It gives us a whole new kind of business lifeblood,” he said. Personal training is booming – up to 60%. And he’s focusing on fewer classes that are more geared towards his current clients, such as a strength and conditioning class called “Strength in Numbers” for women 40 and up.

He says people’s interest in health overshadows their fear of getting sick at the gym.

“I do think that the severity with which unhealthy people have gotten sick over the past few years also allows people who have not been into fitness to pay more attention to it,” he said.

Miceli’s business has recovered to the point where he is ready to start opening other outlets.

“I think personal fitness will never go away,” he said.

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