It’s impossible to name an industry that was left unchanged by the pandemic. The wellness industry is no exception. There’s no denying COVID-19 shook up everyone’s usual exercise routine. And while gyms and fitness studios may be returning to business as usual, many of the new habits our clients cultivated over the last year are here to stay. It’s lucky fitness business owners are remaining agile in more ways than one.
This time last year, gyms were closed, yoga studios had locked their doors and boot camps had been kicked to the curb. Things were looking pretty bleak. Fitness business owners worried their clients’ focus on fitness would fade (or they would replace attendance with online classes instead) as regular gym attendance would become a thing of the past. But COVID-19 didn’t turn Australia into a nation of couch potatoes. In fact, it did just the opposite.
There was a shift in the way we approached fitness and wellbeing, which was driven by the individual. We can all remember the time when our spare rooms and back gardens became gym floors for the first time. We can proudly look back on how the everybody turbocharged their home fitness regimes, rediscovering exercise on our own terms and schedules.
Attitudes changed. Fitness was not just about being competitive, losing weight or lifting heavy, it became a survival strategy, as much about mental health benefits as physical ones. Health was top of the agenda. Perspectives shifted to thinking about health in light of the pandemic.
A study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine reported a surge in interest in exercise following the first lockdown (PDF). Population-level interest in exercise was at an all-time high in April 2020 in Australia, the UK and the USA.
With this in mind, we’ve pulled together some tips to keep your post-pandemic fitness business at peak performance.
Are you ready for everything to go back to our ‘new normal?’ Here's a few tips on how to get started.
So, you’ve got the green light to reopen?
Fitness business owners have now had the opportunity to trial a ‘blended’ fitness model with both online and offline classes. Online does not work for everyone but its important to consider given the unknowns about the future.
The pandemic gave people a new, creative approach to fitness.
What was top of your clients’ list of priorities before, mightn’t be the same now. It’s important you give your clients the opportunity to provide feedback on what they want from their reinvigorated approach to fitness. You could:
Every fitness business that has weathered the pandemic has one thing in common – great organisation. Ensure billing, registration, scheduling and database management are up to scratch - if there is anything we need more of after this pandemic is - TIME. Good software can give you back previous hours in your day.
If you’d like to see how Clubworx could power your dojo, yoga studio or fitness business; get in touch today to find out more.