Pandemic impacting gym membership for the New Year
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind.-- Come January first, the phrase “New year, New you” crosses the minds of many, ready to start fresh with a set of New Year’s resolutions.
Gyms and fitness centers usually experience an increase of membership sales during this time, with folks ready to jumpstart a more active lifestyle. However, due to the coronavirus, membership sales and renewals at some local gyms have seen a shift.
“I think we are seeing less group, more for the others but another thing that we’re seeing Is that this has forced people to be at home which has forced them to try to do different workout modalities at home,” CrossFit South Bend Founder/CEO Brandon Wilton said.
CrossFit South Bend has been around for 13 years and are usually filled with large group classes, but this year because of the pandemic, group sizes are fewer while at-home services are flourishing!
“Where you see the hesitation in the group, the others have risen up a little,” Wilton said. “We’re here to help first so we try to solve any problems that you have and if we can solve it with our design and our programs then we’ll do so and if we can’t we won’t.”
Due to gym-going hesitancy, Orange Theory Fitness Center in Granger has promoted membership deals to reel folks in and is actually seeing an uptick in newcomers.
“It is really the pandemic that has kind of forced us to kind of rearrange certain deals and do new deals just to say like I said, get people in the door,” Orange Theory Fitness Assistant Studio Manager Alec Bradley said. “From what I’ve seen, even in past years you know and everything like that, I think it’s starting to slowly pick up too because I’ve seen more and more people say hey I want to come in with a family member, I want to come in with a work friend.”
Whether you chose to work out at a gym or work out in the comfort of your own home, getting active is a great way to relieve the past stresses from 2020.
“It’s a great way to just distress and kind of focus on yourself. We all last year probably went through something, it wasn’t just COVID-19 but other issues, job related issues, things like that and this is a great way to kind of begin the year, new and fresh, and start with a clean slate that will allow you to achieve whatever goals maybe you didn’t get to in 2020,” Bradley said.
If you are looking to head out to the gym though, many safety measures are in place to keep your workout environment safe and sanitary, such as hand sanitizing stations, social distancing and constant cleaning.
“Obviously you know in the midst of a pandemic a lot of people are still uneasy about coming into a fitness studio or gym, wherever that is, however we have our great safety and cleaning protocols in place during classes, after classes,” Bradley said.
“For those people who are a little bit hesitant about precautions, we can help dispel that and our track record here has been really well so far,” Wilton said.
You can visit CrossFit South Bend’s and Orange Theory Fitness websites if you want to learn more about their options and deals.