Tag: economy

The Economy and your Health/Fitness

Over the past several weeks we have heard a lot about how changes in the US economy have affected the job market, peoples’ willingness to make purchases, and retirement accounts. On-and-off-again tariffs and trade wars have impacted a large swath of the American public. These changes have hit the fitness industry as well–even my own company, At Home Senior Fitness.

Last week, I had a client email me that she was going to need to take a break from training for a while. She is retired and relies on her retirement accounts to pay for her expenses, including working out with me twice weekly for the last 5+ years. Her accounts took a bad hit as the stock market lost value and she is concerned that her money may not last as long as she thought; this called for some tough decisions, and dropping my services was one of them. While it is my hope that the economy will improve, I do not know if I have lost a client for a short while or for good. This obviously impacts me as well–especially since the majority of my clients are retired and on fixed incomes.

A couple of years ago, I blogged about a related topic. Many people view belonging to a gym or using the services of a fitness professional to be a luxury. The reality is that money put toward health and fitness should not really be considered discretionary; without good health and the ability remain active and independent, what good are the financial savings? In the long run, it is much less expensive to keep in shape than it is to become sedentary. It is not unlike doing maintenance on a car; if you keep to a regular schedule it will cost money–but much less than repairs later on as a result of neglect.

I know that these are tough times for many. I am fortunate to have lost only one client (and hopefully only temporarily). Short-term decisions about saving money, however, may end up having long-term implications. Let’s not lose sight of our priorities.

COVID-19 Gym Trickle-Down

trickling falls--so little rain here lately

We are living in an oxymoronic world. Many states and cities are continuing to “open up,” while infection rates for COVID-19 are surging.

It is true that the economy added more jobs than expected last month, but that reporting was from before the “second wave” made its appearance in full force. I am not an economist, but from my little corner of the fitness world, it looks to me like we are in for a lot more pain before it gets better.

My gym began a phased opening at the beginning of June. Before that, I was training clients on-line–at first, free of charge (the JCC paid a salary based on my previous paychecks), and after May 15 at the regular training rate. Needless to say, business for me is way down; it is true of many of other personal trainers too. I may be hit especially hard because I train many seniors and super-seniors who are especially vulnerable to infection and complications/death (and therefore don’t won’t come to the gym) and who are also skittish about using on-line platforms for their workouts. I know that many of them who truly benefited from their training regimens pre-COVID are rapidly losing fitness ground.

Additionally, because of the limitations on how many folks can use the gym at a given time (and even then by appointment only), there are less people at the gym and fewer folks taking tours and joining. This results in less opportunities to meet people and build my business. So, things are not great and there are few signs of much improvement. On the contrary, with the current surge (and no end in sight) it could get much worse.

If folks cannot come into the gym, they may wonder why they are paying monthly membership. I’ve lost a few clients this way as well. Their feeling is that they should not have to pay the same membership fees to train on-line as in-person; they are not using the building, its locker rooms, cardio equipment, pool, etc., so way pay for all that?

This becomes a downward spiral that affects trainers and gym facilities. Even those gyms that just threw open their doors at the first chance will likely see another downturn as infections rise and fears along with them. ow will they build their business?

Of course, if I am making less money as a trainer, that means I have less money to spend on all kinds of other things which in turn further weakens the economy. It is a vicious cycle and the federal government IMHO is not showing enough leadership and creativity.

Personal Training is only one example. The same thing is happening in spectator sports, restaurants, houses of worship. Things are spiraling downward.

It is clear to me that without appropriate and speedy intervention OR a radical make-over of the industry OR effective vaccines/treatments, gyms will not survive. People are not willing to risk their lives to improve their health/fitness.

In the meantime, I am doing my best, trying to motivate my clients and be the best trainer I can be. Hopefully my efforts will trickle down and water some seeds that lead to growth–not only for me, but for my clients, and the economy. There is a long, arduous road ahead.