COVID-19: Why We Aren’t Running Outdoor Classes

A smiling group of runners moves past Functional Fitness 204 at 483 Berry St. in Winnipeg.

The government of Manitoba is allowing gyms to run outdoor fitness classes—but we aren’t going to just yet.

You can read the order here (scroll to Section 82).

Here’s why we’re going to stay online.

The Best Service for the Greatest Number of Members

First and foremost, we’re committed to providing fitness for all our members.

Right now, many are on disrupted or unpredictable work schedules, and many are dealing with children who are out of school. We regularly see kids playing while mom or dad works out, and we know time is very precious. Travel to any location won’t be possible for some.

Our current online coaching system allows people to do personalized workouts on their own, join one of four Zoom classes or replay an archived Zoom class. It offers the most flexibility for everyone.

Capacity Restrictions

If we trained outdoors, class sizes would be limited to 10.

Our lunch classes online normally go over 20 people, so we would be forced to turn people away.

The other option, of course, would be to run a host of outdoor and online classes, but the economics and logistics of staffing simply don’t work at present given the fixed costs associated with 483 Berry St. We’re also devoting our out-of-class time to staying in constant contact with members to ensure they have everything they need to train.

Right now, we can serve the greatest number of people with daily coaching and online workouts that have no capacity restrictions. We just don’t want to be forced to turn anyone away.

We also know that some people would not be ready to head outside in a group, and we’re not going to ask them to move outside their comfort zones.

The Best Workouts

We are a strength and conditioning program, not just a conditioning program.

Despite the limitations of the current situation, our members are using gear they had, they’re acquiring new equipment, or they’re using gear we loaned them. That means they have enough equipment to do conditioning and strength training.

Perhaps we aren’t maxing out squats, but with tempo training and clever rest/rep schemes, we’re able to maintain and improve strength.

In an outdoor setting, we would have to lean too far toward conditioning and body-weight workouts, and the list of movements available to us would be reduced significantly.

Participants would also be limited to the gear they bring with them, and we don’t expect people to load their cars with stuff every day.

Right now, we can offer a better training program online.

Weather

As you all know, the weather is unpredictable. We aren’t going to ask you to deal with rain, snow and bugs.

Nor will we risk the confusion created when weather is iffy. “Is it cancelled?” is currently not a question we get because our systems are dialed in and everyone knows where we’ll be and when.

Outdoors, we’re at the mercy of nature and things will get weird at some point—like when it inevitably rains on May long weekend, as it always does in Winnipeg.

Right now, we’d like to control as many variables as we can so we can serve you best.

Bathroom Breaks

We’d not be allowed to let you inside the gym to use the bathroom.

If you’ve done a workout with us, you know that this would be troublesome for a large number of people.

This might bring a chuckle to some, but it’s a real concern.

Our Very Best Service

While we’d love to see our members in person, we’ll hold off on outdoor classes. As I said above, our overarching concern is offering the best service to the greatest number of people.

Right now, we’re confident we can do that best online.

Members, we’ll keep you updated as the situation evolves. Trust that we’re talking to other gym owners daily to find new ways to serve you better.

Finally, we’ve received some great feedback from members about how we can help them accomplish their goals. So we’re building something new. Details to come shortly!

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