U.K – The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of stir among the many industries in the world with many fields being based on human interaction and close proximity, it has put a stopper on the progress of the world’s economy and health.
One key note that is constantly uttered among experts around the world again and again is how much people need to have daily exercise to boost the immune system and to keep healthy. The pandemic has shut down all gyms and leisure centers forcing people into home routines and park visits (with COVID-19 precautions).
In the United Kingdom alone, 10m memberships were directly affected by the sudden viral spread hit the country- pausing a great number of individuals whose whole fitness and health regimen depended on coming daily to the gyms.
Major issues were the focus of the discussion regarding how the gym would survive the fall out of the pandemic’s end phase as many had not profited in months with a huge number of gyms folding for good and declaring bankruptcy.
“We had a couple of bad days at the end of March when a lot of people started to cancel, We froze our memberships instantly so nobody had a reason to cancel and when we researched why they were … nearly half were just cancelling all their direct debits saying, ‘I don’t want any money going out’.” mentions Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive of PureGym, one the UK’s biggest gym franchises.
The fitness industry amassed over 8 billion GBP a year while employing a solid 190,000 people from trainers to HR personnel.
Some gyms have tried to keep afloat with some directives given in order for them to open their doors but all strategies would point better towards online classes over something shared in proximity with people.
A set of rules by Ukactive, the trade body of the fitness industry was to maintain a 2m apart rule and placing “out of order” signs on every other machine but these guidelines were refuted when the amount of sterilizing and cleaning in the gym would ramp up to triple the amount of work needed to make clients feel safe from contracting any virus.
People flock to parks to try and train but the motivation for health and fitness amidst COVID-19 is slowly plummeting as the lack of human interaction harms the positive mindset needed to fulfill fitness goals.
