A two-week suspension of indoor group fitness activities has left some Airdrie business owners feeling singled out and angry.
Alongside other new directives, Premier Jason Kenney announced Nov. 12 a 14-day halt on any indoor group fitness workouts in an attempt to slow down the ongoing spike of COVID-19 in Alberta.
"I know they'll be very hard for many people and we are sorry for that impact,” Kenney said during a press conference. “These decisions, however, are not made lightly. It remains true that minimizing the impact of restrictions is as important as minimizing the impact of COVID itself, but COVID is starting to win, and we cannot let that happen."
PUSH Cycle Studio in Kingsview Market is among local fitness businesses impacted by the restrictions. Co-owner Janine Hartsook said the clinic has postponed spin classes until after Nov. 27.
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“[We] definitely feel a little bit singled out, as the fitness industry has been,” she said. “Safety has been one of our utmost concerns and priorities since this pandemic started, so it was a little upsetting that the media has portrayed our industry as a dangerous place to be. In reality, we’re really trying to keep our population happy, healthy and strong.”
Co-owner Tammy Block added the studio has suspended membership fees while classes are on hold and will be renting out its inventory of stationary bicycles to members – as it did back in the spring, during the early months of the pandemic – to maintain some revenue flow. She added members will be able to access pre-recorded videos of more than 200 spin class workouts.
Both Hartsook and Block said they felt the government’s announcement was "unfair" and that they and other fitness studios have gone above and beyond to adhere to public health measures since being allowed to reopen.
“We’re operating at 40 per cent capacity right now, with 10 bikes in our studio,” Block said. “They’re all three metres apart and we have more than enough ventilation in our studio. Nobody is touching each other; they’re at their own station and using their own equipment. They’re in and out and we use contactless temperature checks.”
Hartsook said she doesn’t expect the prohibition of group fitness to have a significant impact on the spread of COVID-19 in the next two weeks.
“We’re such a small industry with a small group of people who attend group fitness,” she said. “How is this going to impact the numbers? I honestly feel our industry has been singled out as a scapegoat.”
She added she felt the interruption doesn't make sense, as gyms and non-group fitness facilities are allowed to remain open but studios like PUSH that exclusively offer classes must close temporarily.
“I don’t see the difference why we’re told we can’t stay open, yet a circuit-based workout facility with the same amount of people in the room and people working hard are able to,” she said.
While PUSH has had to close its doors, some group exercise facilities in Airdrie remain open – albeit with a shift in focus.
Oranj Fitness Airdrie co-owner Warren Keane said the circuit-based exercise studio in Kingsview Market has converted some of its space to offer aesthetic services throughout the pandemic, such as laser hair removal, as well as workout merchandise and smoothies.
“That’s one survival technique we’ve brought to the table,” he said.
With group fitness banned for the time being, he said the facility is still able to remain open by offering members the opportunity to use an online reservation system to book slots for individual exercise.
“Right now, we can’t have classes, but for our members, we’re offering fitness – to come in with no teacher and work out,” he said. “Basically, to do what you would do at GoodLife.”
According to Keane, Oranj will continue offering its video streaming platform – a service called Oranj on Demand – for members throughout the two-week hiatus.
“We recorded a lot of them during COVID, so we’re offering them again,” he said.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
