Local fitness studios navigate COVID-19 challengesDate: 2/21/2022 WESTERN MASS. – For the past two years, the coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating effect on the health and fitness industry, forcing many businesses to go outside of their comfort zones to find different methods to keep their businesses afloat. Reminder Publishing asked several health/fitness clubs and studios in Western Massachusetts how they’ve managed to navigate their businesses, teams and communities through this new normal.
Healthtrax
The pandemic impacted Healthtrax Fitness & Wellness Center significantly. Vice President of Operations Marina Lebo said, “2021 was a relatively flat year. We have had slow, yet steady growth back in membership and personal training. We’re surviving, rebounding and have been able to maintain due to a really wonderful core loyal membership. They’re just this wonderful core of people where we are their fitness and social outlet.” Through thick and thin, this group of members have stuck with the center, wanting to see them survive and to have a space where they can come to be fit and exercise.
Healthtrax has been in business since 1979 offering full gym amenities such as cardio equipment, free weights and functional training as well court sports racquetball and basketball, a swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam, a sauna and a full menu of group fitness classes. They also offer personal training and small group training. Healthtrax has three locations in the immediate area: East Longmeadow, West Springfield and Enfield, CT and others in eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and a few on the east coast.
At the start of the pandemic, like most businesses, Healthtrax was mandated to close down by the state and were closed for approximately four months from March 17 until July 24, 2020. “It basically cut our business at least in half, maybe even more between members canceling, putting our memberships on hold or not renewing memberships; it was a significant change in our membership base,” Lebo replied. “Each time we start to make a little bit of a rebound of people coming back another wave of COVID [-19] comes and then there’s a step back again because they go back to a mask mandate. That leads to more cancellations and more people going on hold. Then it started to loosen up again and another wave of COVID [-19] happened in January 2022.”
Admittedly, according to Lebo, the business is having a hard time gaining traction on getting people back into the club and into committing to a membership again. She noted people are hesitant not knowing what’s going to happen with COVID-19 in the future.
Healthtrax continues to offer virtual classes and personal training, but most classes have returned to in-person training at the centers. The business has smaller mind and body rooms for individual personal training if someone feels more comfortable in a private space than out on the floor with trainers. “We’ve tried very hard to accommodate whatever members’ needs or requirements are so that they can still do something to maintain their fitness,” Lebo added. “Getting people back into the classes they love like yoga and Zumba, group power, group fight, etc. and feeling good about being back in a class or just back for workouts is what we need to do,” Lebo said.
This year, Lebo hopes for mask mandates to go away, members to be able to feel good about coming back to the centers to work out, learning to live with COVID-19 yet be able to improve their health and stay in shape. The biggest thing she said the business is working on is how can they help people understand that it is – according to Lebo – primarily the unhealthy people that are struggling the most with COVID-19.
“If we can help people understand how important it is to be healthy and take care of your health and stay in good shape, they will be more able to live with COVID [-19] and not have it be as concerning,” Lebo pointed out. “What I’ve learned throughout this pandemic is how committed the staff has been in wanting to stay with us and help the centers rebound and how dedicated the members are that have been here and love the club. It’s very special to see that commitment and comradery of wanting to help a business survive.”
Healthtrax is open 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Fridays 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visit Healthtrax.com for a full list of amenities and offering and to request a complimentary guest pass. Healthtrax East Longmeadow is located at 45 Crane Ave.
SWEAT Power Yoga
Owner Krystal Say of East Longmeadow’s SWEAT Power Yoga told Reminder Publishing that 2021 was the year of rebuilding. They spent time reestablishing themselves by getting creative and exploring various avenues of business during the pandemic. SWEAT Power Yoga describes themselves as a “transformational movement studio” that uses yoga, meditation and self-exploration to support others in living an authentic and inspired life.
SWEAT Power Yoga offers three types of classes on their schedule: SWEAT Session: a heated vinyasa class, TRX Yoga: a power vinyasa class leveraging the TRX Suspension Trainer, and Restore and Release: a gentle yoga and meditation class. In addition, they offer teacher trainings: Mindful Communities Teacher Training (MCTT), Self-Discover Yoga Teacher Training and one day immersions to learn how to teach TRX Yoga called the TRX Foundations Course and the TRX Flow Course.
Say stated, “The pandemic gave us – what I call – a gift by forcing us to think differently, by asking us to step back and see what’s possible. I had two options: I can close the doors forever and walk away or I can see what can be created out of this. There’s something we can do.”
The studio was shut down for about three months from March through June and was forced to pivot to outdoor classes during the summer. Say talked to the East Longmeadow Recreation Department, which allowed them access to a sports field to run their outdoor yoga classes during the pandemic.
The business received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, which Say said helped tremendously in keeping the studio afloat. With the PPP loan, they were able to offer the teachers paid opportunities to come in and record classes establishing an on-demand platform that turned into a live stream opportunity. When the class capacity was very limited, SWEAT Power Yoga was able to offer programs in addition to classes. They offered four-week programs where individuals would join at the same day and time for four weeks in a row. That way they could ensure a high level of comfort within a controlled, physically distanced setting where they could build upon and educate the participants. The idea behind these sessions was that each person could grow at their own pace, and the teacher can guide them, lead them and progress them.
Say recalled, “From a federal level or a state level or a town level, the government would mandate a mask when indoors. As soon as the mask mandate happened, participation would drop by at least 50 percent in class. Then we had to ride the wave and pivot with our marketing and make sure people knew about virtual classes and other services to support their practice.” She went on to say, “The entire SWEAT Power Yoga teaching team rose to the occasion every time this happened. Everybody was stretched thin doing the best that we could. That’s why 2021 was a year of rebuilding. We were figuring out what’s the next best step. Every time we turned in a direction, there was a different decision from the government and we had to pivot and change. It was allowing yourself to go with the flow and have faith.”
Now in 2022, SWEAT Power Yoga has a teaching team of 14 and a full thriving schedule, welcoming people into the studio or virtually into classes to support their practice. SWEAT Power Yoga has just established themselves as a yoga school. Not only do they offer classes, but they are beginning to offer yoga and meditation teacher trainings. They are collaborating with a local fitness facility called Continuum Performance Center where Say and Continuum owner Geoff Sullivan are partnering with a company called Move to Heal. It’s an organization that provides subsidy to all individuals in recovery to take part in fitness classes, nutritional counseling and access to a certified therapist. The organization was established in Connecticut and they are the first in Massachusetts to become part of this program.
“What I have learned is that I am forever grateful for this community. They are resilient and brave. They’re vulnerable and real,” Say responded. “I’m very proud of my SWEAT Power team. They’re invested. They show up even when it’s hard and they’re true yoga teachers. They have helped me see who I want to be as a leader and understand how I can best support and empower them to grow. For us, we look at a yoga teacher as an individual living their authentic life and speaking from their truth.”
SWEAT Power Yoga is located at 219 Shaker Rd. in East Longmeadow. The earliest class is at 6 a.m. and the latest class is at 7:30 p.m. To learn more information, log on to www.sweatpoweryoga.com.
Anytime Fitness
Throughout the pandemic, Anytime Fitness had to become more flexible as a business and connect with all their members by adding a fitness app which allows them to run virtual training for members.
Owner Jeff Swanson shared, “Now that people have become more comfortable living with COVID [-19] and taking the necessary precautions, they’re looking for support and help. We’re seeing members coming back. Not everybody, but more and more coming back asking for help. That’s where we excel. Not only is the training piece important, but we now offer nutrition and recovery. People need to have more support in more areas with their Fitness Journey.”
Originally known as being a 24/7 gym, according to Swanson, they’ve taken a holistic and wellness approach to improve members’ health. Every member receives a coach. They have 24/7 access to the building, but with a coach, they have the accountability to begin their fitness journey. The business works to coach, care and connect with their members and want to be able to be available anytime and anywhere.
At the beginning of COVID-19, Anytime Fitness was shut down for over 15 weeks. The business was able to continue with the use of the PPP program to offer virtual fitness while everyone was asked to stay home and remain socially distanced. When the club reopened, they made sure that they took all the precautions in making sure everything was cleaned and socially distanced properly. The club bought Bipolar ionization systems to add another filtration layer of safety for their members. Then the business went through another transition – being told they had to shut down at 10 p.m. and reopen at 5 a.m. due to restrictions set by the government.
This year, Anytime Fitness is kicking off their AF Group Training with the 21 Day Transformation program incorporating three weeks of six to 10 group training sessions. “Now that we’ve learned a valuable lesson of how important it is to stay healthy, we’re here to help and be part of the solution for our current and future members,” Swanson replied. “We feel that we are essential to our communities’ health.”
Anytime Fitness has four locations in Belchertown, Northampton, Southampton and Westfield. They are open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 4 to 7 p.m. for prospective members and guests. Once a member, they are open 24 hours with a key fob to access the gym. Visit their website at www.anytimefitness.com for more information on their locations.
YMCA of Greater Springfield
The YMCA of Greater Springfield has been open all through 2021 and are glad to be back serving the community, said President and CEO Dexter Johnson.
When it comes to adjustments, the YMCA notes that they understand due to COVID-19, fitness enthusiasts are experiencing a different environment than they have in the past. For instance, members have become adjusted to reserving lanes in pools and reserving spots in group exercise classes.
Johnson explained, “We expect those things to continue at least through the first half of 2022, but our hope is that we are moving beyond these huge COVID [-19] concerns and that 2022 we’ll see somewhat of a return to normalcy. People will once again feel comfortable coming into large group environments and getting back to their memberships at YMCA and staying healthy.”
Primarily, the YMCA of Greater Springfield operates in the health and wellness area as well as youth development. They have two wellness centers – one in Springfield at Tower Square and the other in Wilbraham. Both centers have group exercise classes and personal training opportunities. In addition they also operate a dozen after school programs and preschools around Springfield, Chicopee and Wilbraham.
“COVID [-19] has been tough,” Johnson explained. “We had to close our wellness operations in 2020 when everything else closed down. Health and wellness were one of the last things able to reopen due to the state mandate.” Johnson went on to say that most YMCAs are operating at 50 to 60 percent of their membership prior to COVID-19. There are still members that are concerned about coming back to large environments with numbers of people. In addition, there are different regulations in Springfield, which has an indoor mask mandate, versus Wilbraham which does not.
The YMCA of Greater Springfield has reduced the number of people that they allow in their group exercise classes in order to maintain proper distancing.
The biggest other adjustment, according to Johnson, has been staffing which he said has become a greater challenge. Overall, the workforce and work environment are very different – in addition, there is the concern of employees quarantining if an individual contracted COVID-19 or if they were around a family member who has it, which has in turn put a significant strain on staffing their programs or facilities.
One of the great things Johnson mentioned since reopening has been the number of children involved in swim lessons. Johnson said they understand that there have been a lot of other activities and leagues that have not operated since the pandemic, but they are glad that more youth are learning how to swim with them than ever before. “We’ve definitely learned that we’re adaptable. We had to change on the fly,” Johnson responded. “The YMCA has always adjusted to whatever the community needs are and while this was an extreme change that was thrust upon us pretty quickly, we still have the ability to adapt and overcome those obstacles.”
The YMCA of Greater Springfield is located at 275 Chestnut St., and in Wilbraham at 45 Post Office Park. Both locations are open Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Sundays the Springfield location is closed, while the Wilbraham location is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Go to springfieldy.org to find out more information on both branches.
Fitness First Health Club
Through this experience, Fitness First Health Club in Feeding Hills saw several positive outcomes that happened for their club.
Owner/Director Kurt Welker shared, “We’ve learned to be more open-minded and be more educational and searching for how to be creative with our fitness programs. What are other clubs doing nationwide, worldwide that have been working and have been successful – we want to try and duplicate that.”
Fitness First is adding new group fitness classes such as jumpsport – a trampoline class – hot yoga and pickle ball. Welker anticipates these programs to continue to grow and incorporate more inventive activities to their club.
Welker and his wife Paula opened Fitness First in 1985 to help people achieve the needs and goals of their health and fitness. It’s an all-inclusive health club that includes a fitness center, indoor pool, spinning studio, yoga studio, Zumba studio, weight loss program, senior pool classes, youth fitness, kid’s club childcare and more. When the center was closed for four months, First Fitness decided to upgrade their building by cleaning, painting and remodeling their entire facility. They took several racquetball courts and remodeled them into private pods if people didn’t want to wear a mask, they had the option to occupy the room for free and have their own workout room.
“COVID [-19] hurt us the first year and we lost about 50 percent our members – 2021 was still a difficult year for the first six months because the virus was still strongly with us. What we had agreed to do for all of our members that didn’t feel safe was freeze their membership or put their membership on hold so that they wouldn’t be charged,” said Welker.
By the summer of 2021, most of the people that were on hold for membership felt safe enough to come back. By the fall of 2021, Fitness First’s membership base grew back to about 70 percent of what it was two years prior. That said, they still hosted live streaming of their exercise classes if members want to do the workouts in the comfort of their home. They can plug in what class is going on in Fitness First and live stream it at their home.
At the studio, there are plastic dividers between the equipment for members to feel safe and have their own private space when they work out at the club.
“The most fulfilling part of my job is seeing the many smiling faces of our members every day while they are here exercising and knowing that I helped make a difference in their lives,” Welker concluded. “I always try to end their stay here at Fitness First by saying ‘keep smiling’ on their way out.”
Fitness First Health Club is located at 60 North Westfield St. They’re open Monday through Thursday from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit their website at FitnessFirstHealthClub.com or visit them on Facebook.
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