Friday 3 April 2020

Will the Coronavirus Crisis Change the Fitness Training Industry?

 Most of us have never seen anything like this in our lifetime!
Due to this COVID 19 pandemic, all non-essential businesses throughout much of the world are closed. People are being ordered to self -isolate. The closed businesses include fitness centers, private fitness training studios, aerobics classes, and indoor spin and cycling clubs. They are not considered essential services.
   All businesses are affected but Fitness Trainers are especially vulnerable. What are the possible options for Fitness Trainers to continue plying their trade?
Fitness centers: Most are closed for an indeterminate time in much of the civilized world. This option is a no go for the present time! Given my experience with fitness center chains, they are unlikely to continue paying their trainers while they are closed.
Personal Fitness Training studios: If the business is registered and incorporated it is likely closed. To try and sneak in clients on the sly could earn a Fitness Trainer some stiff legal consequences or at the very least, some public shaming as a COVIDIOT.
Visiting the client at their residence: There are Fitness Training companies that specialize in this specific business plan. The client would need workout equipment, the Fitness Trainer would need portable fitness equipment; or the Fitness Trainer would need to improvise using body weight exercises or aerobic activities such as running. Personal distance precautions would be prudent and wise.
Meeting the client at a park or other convenient neutral place: Again, there would be a need for portable exercise equipment or to improvise using body weight exercises or playground climbing bars, hills, running or bicycling. Social distancing is still a necessity.
Train your clients interactively online: This can be done using skype, digital cameras or even just e-mailing or messaging the client. The online training phenomenon is currently exploding. YouTube has no shortage of online fitness gurus pedaling training packages. A Fitness Trainer without a place to work with their clients may be tempted to try this. Such a personal training route could have some underlying issues.              
·         The online field may be already saturated. The newcomer will be jumping in against established online trainers. There are possibly more online trainers than the market will bear. It could be a slow, uphill process rather than a quick financial solution.
·         Does the client really benefit?  Internet training takes the ‘personal’ out of Personal Fitness Trainer.  I tend to share a view held by Edmonton Fitness Trainer Greg Harvey “There are visual cues that you can only pick up by being physically present while the client exercises.”  However, it might be a good way to keep the client engaged and in contact until the health crisis and lock down is over.
·         Could there be legal issues? There are potential safety and liability issues to consider when pushing a client through a strenuous workout but not being in attendance with that client. Some sort of waiver form should be a requirement but even that might not protect totally against a lawsuit for negligence.
·          Fitness Trainers should absolutely have a website to promote and market their services. However, earning a living strictly online might arguably prove to be a difficult, if not questionable, undertaking.

A GoodLife Fitness in Toronto temporarily shut down because of ...
Workout center patrons were greeted by signs like this in mid March of 2020.
   

This current world health crisis leaves the Fitness Training industry in a crux. If the above options are not feasible, what is a Fitness Trainer to do? Some may qualify for employment insurance. Many are private contractors and may or may not have paid into the employment insurance plan. Government emergency payouts are possible but it would mean navigating through a bureaucracy in which civil service employees are working from home.  
There is certain to be a culling of those that work in this industry! This crisis seems to be growing by the day. No one can predict how long it will continue. There are many possible outcomes and questions to the aftermath:
·         Can the Fitness Trainer recover? “When the immediate threat has passed, how many personal trainers will be able to pick up where they left off? How many will even want to?” asks fitness guru Greg Harvey.
·         Will the client return to the fold? Does the client want to start up again paying a Fitness Trainer, especially if they have just finished an extended period of reduced income? If deferred bills have piled up, hiring a trainer could be very low on the priority list.
·         What will happen to Fitness Trainers that have fitness studio rent, warehouse leases, equipment and staff pay? According to Harvey, many personal training studios open and then go bankrupt within a few years year even in the best of times. “How many can weather the storm through this type of catastrophe?”
·         It seems probable that only the strong will survive. Fitness Training is close to a saturation point. There is a growing population of Fitness Trainers, but the growth of the client base is questionable. Screen time on a phone or computer appears to have the winning hand for people’s attention.
·         Expect a weeding out in the fitness industry. Harvey forecasts rough times ahead! I agree. Many full-time trainers could move on to other careers. Some might seek other jobs and keep the Fitness Training as a sideline part time gig.
·         Home exercise equipment is certain to have a resurgence when emergency health measures end and the economy begins to recover. Expect companies such as Peloton, with its interactive fitness guide, to explode with sales. I predict that the rise of the machines may sadly make Fitness Trainers obsolete. The new world order may be upon us! Please let me be wrong!

Should I go to the gym? Should I go to a restaurant? Your guide to ...
Will this become a common sight in the future world of fitness?

Until next time

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