Hi friends! How’s the morning going? I’m trying to get everything organized for “school” – Liv is going back purely distance-based until at least Labor Day and P is home until at least January – and plan for some upcoming workout videos. We’ll probably hit the pool later today and grill chicken, veggies and sweet potatoes for dinner.
For today’s post, I wanted to chat about gyms, studios and the future of fitness. I’m going to go ahead and put this out there, but this time last year, I was actively pursuing purchasing an indoor cycling franchise. I was in the final steps, looking for real estate, and had talked with potential investors. With the Pilot’s first-year airline schedule and the fact that I’d be solo parenting so often, we decided to put it on hold until first year was over and his schedule calmed down a bit. Also, in my heart, the thought of a recession was looming and it just didn’t feel like the right time. So, I hit pause. Here we are a year later, all of the gyms in Arizona are closed, and a lot of fitness studios are having a really difficult time. Who could have ever guessed or thought we would be where we are right now?! I often think of the fact that I’d be rolling spin bikes outside into a courtyard so we’d be able to teach and trying to navigate online classes, which so many studios are being forced to do. Studio owners are constantly pivoting and changing their current model to help their clients and provide classes and resources during such an uncertain time.
(Home workouts are fun but I often have little visitors haha.)
With that being said, I know a lot of people are working out at home right now. Peloton is huge, apps, programs, and on demand classes are rocking it (thank you so much to those of you who have purchased my Fit Guides, HIIT Bootcamp and Barre Bootcamp!), and I can’t help but wonder what will happen to the fitness industry in the future. I was chatting with some friends at the pool about it the other night, and we agreed that some people have discovered the beauty of home workouts and are never going back. At the same time, there are a lot of people who thrive in the community environment and need the camaraderie and competitive aspect to get in their workouts. Also the gym has access to equipment you may not have at home. (I haven’t been on a treadmill since February!)
