Between new COVID variants and capacity restrictions, the January resolution rush hasn’t quite hit the local gym scene the same as it has in years gone by.
Lisa Babiuk from Soul Fitness Mind Body Studios said her studio hasn’t experienced the January gym rush it has in the 13 years the studio has been operating.
“We haven't seen a lot of varied activity in the last 22 months,” she said.
Babiuk said Soul Fitness has a consistent group of people online and then has seen a fluctuation of people online and in studio.
She made the pivot to online after the province initially closed gyms.
“We've had people from all over the world come and take our online classes,” she said.
“We've gained an international following. It's been really cool that way.”
Babiuk said in the last five years she has noticed a shift in the way people make resolutions. It’s less about aesthetics, and more about overall health, going from weight loss and getting fit to building strength and gaining more energy.
“This year, I've noticed people just ditching the resolution altogether. I think a lot of people feel, whether we have restrictions or not, they feel restricted,” she said.
Babiuk said many people are in a sort of holding pattern.
“[They are] waiting until things get back to where we can all go in back into our facilities safely without restrictions, without boundaries, without masks, without spacing, without worrying, right?” she said.
As for resolutions, Babiuk said people should move and they should move in a way that works for them.
“It doesn't have to be a lot. That's one of the things that we've been teaching, is less is more and the movement has to fit what you need in that moment. So, if I wake up tired, I still need to move,” she said.
Babiuk said people also need to let go of the old adage "no pain, no gain."
“Now it's ‘pain, no gain.’ If it doesn't work for you, find something else, but keep moving.”
Stewart Bates operates F45 Training in St. Albert. The gym opened two-and-a-half years ago — just before the pandemic began.
Bates said he has noticed an increase in interest in the facility this year, but overall, with COVID it has been a disaster.
“Pre-COVID we were doing really well, and we were on an uptick to break even. And since COVID people are a little more cautious. Not many people are coming to the gym,” he said.
Bates said F45 might have 70 members at the moment, and the gym is only able to run four classes per day. If it could run eight to nine classes a day, the gym could have around 400 members.
Bates said he thinks fitness resolutions are a thing of the past. He doesn’t see many people coming in with quick-hit resolutions. Most have been going to a gym for a long time.
“Fitness is a journey. It's a lifestyle,” said Bates.
As for resolution advice, Bates would recommend that people just go to a gym.
“The gym is there to make you healthy, and if you don't look after your body, it'll stop looking after you.”
Juan Medrano of Movimento Fitness said the gym has been in operation for almost 13 years.
Medrano said Movimento has been quite busy this new year. The gym saw an influx of members in about the mid-to-third week in December. He doesn’t think the increase was entirely about the cold, either.
“I think the main reason is, these last few years ... have given some quiet time for folks to really understand what truly matters. It's during these harder times or these uncertain times, that the only thing that we really have to rely on is our well-being — physical, mental, or spiritual.
“If we are not taking care of that and a lot of things basically become misaligned then, of course, one thing leads to another, right.”
As for resolutions, Medrano said it might be cliché, and it might be very boring, but keep everything super simple. If you normally have a chocolate chip cookie for a snack, switch it with fruit and take time to move your body.
“Purposefully move your body every day for at least five to 10 minutes. It doesn't sound like a lot, but if we're talking about a person who hasn't moved in two or three years, 10 minutes a day times seven, that's 70 minutes a week. You take that times four, that’s 280 minutes in a month. Then you take 280 minutes in a month and you [muliply] it by 365 — you see where I'm going with it?
“I would say just micro daily goals that lead to successful weekly goals that lead to unbelievable monthly goal — that's the way that I would approach it.”
