Fitness centers, customers aim to get back in shape
Like most other businesses in Franklin, fitness centers have had a challenging year.
As the COVID-19 pandemic nearly ground the economy to a halt this spring, the town’s exercise gyms were forced to shut down for several weeks. Although most managed to weather the shutdown and expect a surge in business after the vaccine is distributed, some gym owners have taken big financial hits.
“I had to get rid of the ladies that came and cleaned up. Now I do it myself because I can’t afford to pay anybody with no money coming in,” said Gino Pignataro, longtime owner of Body Visions gym on Highlands Road. “It’s pretty tough, but so far we’ve managed to stay open. I used a lot of my retirement money, but I kept it open because for one thing it’s a service to the community.”
Coping with COVID
After North Carolina gyms were forced to close from March until August, Pignataro is still trying to make up for lost money. He estimates that Body Visions missed out on $150,000 in revenue during the summer shutdown, and the 10,000-square foot gym is currently operating at roughly one-quarter capacity due to social distancing rules. Pignataro believes his business will rebound once people have a chance to take the COVID vaccine, but until then gym owners must be diligent in incorporating COVID safety measures.
“Our facility is over 20,000 square feet, so people can certainly spread out,” said Rodney Morris, owner of Franklin Health and Fitness on Main Street. “We do require masks in the facility. The cleaner that we use is EPA-registered to kill the COVID-19 and the SARS virus. [We’re doing] group exercise programs with Les Mills through a projector where people can come in pretty much any time and play a class. They can do it by themselves or with a small group of people, so they can get their own exercise without worrying about huge crowds of people.”
In order to prevent COVID from spreading inside his gym, of which a large portion of members are older, Morris has been forced to get creative this year. In addition to slashing membership rates and offering tutorials online, the gym is allowing clients to use its space for small-group, self-guided workouts complete with a projector screen for workout videos.
Morris said many of his clients are eager to return after nearly a year of social distancing. The area’s fitness centers have been proactive in coming up with plans to meet the anticipated demand in the new year.
“Back in March we had to close, and we were in the process of building out a new facility,” said Travis Shook, owner of Kavod Fitness on Ulco Drive. “We had just signed the lease in January. One of my coaches is a contractor, so after the workday in between lunch breaks we would come over for an hour or so and start laying out where we wanted walls, where we wanted the office. We were trying to squeeze it in and it was going to take a long time, and when March hit we realized that we had to close, so we pivoted and offered all of our classes online.”
While Kavod was unable to welcome customers into their physical space during shutdown, Shook and his wife/co-owner Lydia’s decision to offer classes online largely kept the business afloat. With the help of video-call services like Zoom and Facebook Live, the gym’s trainers were able to hold virtual sessions with their clients from their homes, and on the gym’s website members can follow a six-week plan to keep track of their exercise, sleep and nutrition.
While a few existing clients cancelled their memberships, Shook said most of the gym’s clients stuck with them through the shutdown, and since then the gym has actually been gaining members due to word-of-mouth referrals. While a gym gaining clients might seem unlikely during this year’s pandemic, Kavod isn’t the only gym that has found success moving classes online.
“Once COVID started hitting we preemptively shut down and started doing one on ones,” said Rick Tarleton, owner of Downtown Fitness Training on West Palmer Street. “Whenever the governor gave the order to shut down completely we shut down. I luckily had an online training system already built, so I was able to take most of my clientele and keep them on board, keep them going. I actually saw a big uptick in online training.”
For the last 10 years, Tarleton has done a chunk of his training business online, mostly training power lifters one on one over video-call services. While Downtown Fitness Training has reopened its doors following the shutdown, Tarleton said nearly half of his clients have now moved to attending sessions online, and that many have grown more determined to stay in shape after a wealth of downtime during shutdown.
Getting back in the routine
After several months of local residents being barred from fitness centers, Franklin’s gym owners report a surge in clients in the months since they reopened. With so many people returning to gyms, one local athletic trainer said gym-goers should take things slow for the first few days.
“The best thing I can say is that you want to come back slow,” said Lynette Gibson, head athletic trainer for Mission Sports Medicine, Franklin High School and Macon Middle School. “Even if you were listed at a certain weight before the shutdown, if you haven’t done anything for months you don’t want to go back to that same weight. You definitely want to ease back into things and go slow, because there’s a lot of risk with coming back and doing too much too soon.”
Given the risk of pulling or overexerting muscles after months of inactivity, Gibson advised local residents to use caution when getting back into exercise routines. She said personal trainers can be a useful resource in planning a strategy for getting into shape, especially for those with little experience working out. Even if you aren’t in the same shape you were in before the shutdown though, Gibson said a little exercise goes a long way.
“It’s so important,” said Gibson. “Any time we exercise our body releases endorphins and endorphins are like the body’s happy pills. I’m not going to say it’s going to cure depression or mental health issues, but it definitely is going to aid in people feeling a lot better. Plus, now it’s wintertime so you get the winter blues on top of everything else. It’s definitely, definitely a benefit to exercise.”