With everyone asked to stay at home during the first lockdown back in March, a lot of people turned to keeping fit to stay healthy, but also as a way of looking after their mental health.
It has left gyms facing an economic hit. During the first lockdown gym owners had to pause customers memberships and shut up shop. Some offered online boot camps and classes, but it did not come close to making up for the lost revenue. Even the glimmer of light provided by the newest levels of restrictions - allowing for individual training to take place and swimming pools to remain open - there is no sign of a return to the popular fitness classes of the past.
With the likes of Apple fitness plus being launched, offering 0nline workout classes, gyms have to look at different ways of making income in the current climate.
It is something Westpark Fitness general manager, Kevin Doyle has had to consider.
“We have a Westpark app for our members, which have all our classes on demand. It is something we definitely have to think more about in the future.”
The need for extra revenue is clear when he speaks about the impact the lockdowns have had on memberships.
“We have about 25 per cent of our memberships that are still on hold since the start of the pandemic.
“A lot of my colleagues in the industry said that they have at least a quarter of their membership still on hold with no payment coming in. A whole other cohort have cancelled them altogether." he says.
While people have started to come back to gyms since Level 5 restrictions were lifted on December 1st, there are still those who are hesitant to return.
Westpark–which is based in Tallaght–is luckier than most gyms seeing they have quite a big premise, which means they have much more space available for social distancing.
“We have the advantage of having an underground car park, so we have a lot of our equipment down there. Booking on the app also means we can control things more easily when it comes to social distancing,” he says.
Despite there being no clear evidence yet that has linked outbreaks to gyms, it is still hard to get the message out and encourage people to come back.
Covid-19 restrictions
As Mr Doyle says:“We have got people who have come back to give testimonials, and we are trying to push the mental and physical health side of things as well."
Like most businesses one of the biggest changes since the pandemic started has been making sure that they are compliant with Covid-19 restrictions, as well as the extra costs that come with it.
He says there is a massive cost as regards wiping the equipment down and having sanitizer around the gym.
“As a rule we had people wipe down the equipment even before Covid, but now it is almost a crime not to do it!,” he says.
In terms of understanding the changing landscape of the fitness sector, the owner Iveagh Fitness is someone who is well aware of how different things have become since the onset of the pandemic.
As he says, Iveagh Fitness is more of a club as opposed to just a gym, so he has a lot more to contend with. "We are probably the most expensive club in the city centre, and we also have a swimming pool which is a huge cost.
“Our insurance is €77,000 a year and our rates are €6,000 a month. That is €138,000 a year before you even putaccount for electricity.
With it being a bigger club than most, they also have to think about heating the pool, which costs €5,000 a month.
Extra costs
They, too, have to deal with making sure that the gym is sterilised regularly, which adds extra costs.
“We have people who come in and coat the entire gym, which is about €32,000.”
With these extra expenses to factor in, he feels that the gym industry in general has been left behind by the government.
“The gym industry has been decimated and it is very fragmented. They are going to decimate us again in January which is our only recovery period.
“The two biggest growth periods for the industry are January and September, and we have missed out on the usual college surge as well.”
Iveagh fitness is in a particularly tough situation seeing as it is in Dublin city centre, which has seen a massive decrease in football in recent months.
Meanwhile, places like New Element fitness, based in Milltown, do not have the same issue because they are based within their community.
As co-owner Niall Grehan says: "This January we had the best start to year ever.It was going unbelievable until March when Covid-19 hit. We literally went to zero revenue, and we had to pause all memberships.”
They have got a lot of people joining from Ben Dunne gyms and Flyefit because they can only accommodate a certain amount of people.
“A lot of the members are from the community, so we are lucky in that way. There are a few business around us as well,” he says.
So while they are in a lucky situation some respects, the industry as a whole is still fighting an uphill battle trying to get people back on board. Under the latest restrictions, gyms and swimming pools will remain open for individual training only. That means classes will have to remain online and gym sector will once again have to adapt to a changing landscape and try to cater for those who want to say fit but in a safe environment.
