For the last two years, my husband and I made a commitment to work out together. It was a lifestyle change that made a difference in our overall health and wellness. We motivate each other to work hard, and it was incredible to not only see the results of that work, but feel it mentally as well. When gyms across Maine closed due to the COVID-19 virus, we were left trying to figure out how to make up for it. It hasn’t been easy, and personally, I went from feeling both mentally and physically strong, to unmotivated and lethargic. I know I’m not alone. What makes it worse is the impact it has had on local businesses.
Many Gorham fitness facilities have been affected during the shutdown; they have had to adapt the way they reach their clients during this uncertain time. There have been many challenges for this industry, and unfortunately, one of local businesses succumbed. Rachael O’Donnell, owner of Grit & Grace CrossFit, shared on the company’s Facebook page that after three years, she and her husband were announcing their permanent closing.
“Since the Governor’s announcement that we cannot open the gym on June 1, we have had a devastating amount of membership cancellations. Many of our members have stood by us despite paying for a gym that was not open for nine weeks, and we are so grateful to them for the support. But we know they can’t do that forever, nor would we expect them to. But this loss in membership is not something we can come back from,” she said.
Other businesses are trying to make the best of it and adjusting to a new way of offering fitness opportunities. Amanda Curtis Kezal from Holistic Pathways said she transitioned to online yoga. “I’ll continue the online schedule throughout the summer or when it is feasible to reopen,” she said. Each class is recorded and posted on their YouTube channel for students to access at any time.
Stacey Coleman, co-owner of My-FIT-24 with her husband Jesse, said when the pandemic hit, they took action immediately and rapidly changed their service offerings. Coleman said they have been preparing for years to offer more complete online health and fitness programs.
“We had been forecasting the movement for virtual coaching, but of course we never expected it to happen this way,” she shared. Within weeks, she said they massively upgraded their services to include live streaming and on demand classes as well as granting members access to their training app.
My-FIT-24 started outdoor classes as soon as they were able. “As we are approaching the eventual reopening of our facility, we have taken all proper precautions to maintain a safe environment. In addition to the expected sanitation and proper spacing precautions, we have also committed to the future of hybrid programming in order to continue servicing members not ready or able to return to the facility,” Coleman said. “Keeping our team on full-time throughout this crisis, our focus is, and always will be, how can we better serve our community?”
Ted Rioux of 9Round said within days of ceasing the club’s operation, they also began offering members daily at-home workouts through their online member portal. Members also gained access to the 9Round Nutrition Program and their library of how-to videos.
“These daily workouts are based on our signature, kickboxing-themed 30-minute workouts, but are designed to be performed without the use of equipment, so anyone can do them from anywhere as long as they have an internet connection,” Rioux said.
In addition to the videos, Rioux said the 9Round Gorham team of senior trainers established a closed “Members Only” Facebook group for the purpose of providing supplemental programming. “This programming has focused on technique-building, pre- and post-workout best practices, injury prevention, nutrition, bodyweight training, and much more. This tool has given us a great opportunity to share the knowledge and experience of our team,” he said.
9Round will begin resuming in-club operations for one-on-one training in early June. Members will work solo with their trainer and while they will be limited in the number of shifts they can offer, it’s their hope to supplement each member’s at-home work with one in-club workout per week, as long as conditions and guidelines require them to operate in this way.
The Gorham Recreation Department has been open during the pandemic. Office Coordinator/ Programmer Gail Platts shared that the office staff have been hard at work raking and dragging ball fields, mulching and weeding, delivering books to Gorham school students, delivering meals to seniors as well as providing online content for their Facebook page and website. Like other fitness facilities in town, both Dawn Stevens (Fitness Instructor) and Theresa Labrecque (Yoga/Pilates) had to re-evaluate how to get their content to the members of their classes.
Stevens taught her last in-person class the week of March 12; shortly thereafter the Gorham Municipal Center was closed due to COVID-19 protocols, and all activities at Gorham Recreation were stopped. Stevens stated, “Fitness classes are so important as it is more than just a workout.” She went on to say, “Fitness is feeling strong, confident and improves your mental wellbeing. People need a way to release stress we have in our daily lives and especially during this shutdown.”
Stevens said she was contacted early on and asked to do classes through Zoom or Facetime, and offer workout videos. For the wellbeing of her students, she quickly got to work. She created a Facetime schedule as well as YouTube workout videos.
“The response from the videos was so motivating and I was overjoyed with the level of gratitude that was expressed. I continued to record and make more videos in my studio (basement). In my videos I continued to show options for the workouts so every fitness level could participate,” Stevens said. When the municipal building closed, Labrecque was also able to record and send out videos to all of her Pilates, yoga and stretch and tone participants. When the stay at home order continued, she started to host Zoom classes several days a week. They were recorded and posted on YouTube for everyone to utilize at times that fit their schedules.
Like Stevens, Labrecque said, “The response was overwhelming and my groups continue to send gratitude and positive feedback. It has been so rewarding to me to help keep people engaged, healthy and sane.”
During Phase II of the Governor’s Order, which began June 1, their groups are allowed to have fitness classes outside only. Stevens said, “It is a small step, however very exciting and I had to warn participants that I was going to smile the whole class. The feeling of having the participants follow along to my workouts, having fun, moving with me is tremendous.”
Labrecque shared, “I cannot thank enough everyone who has participated and held in there; it has been my link to sanity as well.”
As the State of Maine reopens, it is important to know that each of these fitness facilities in Gorham is doing everything they can to bring their members the best possible service they can under the circumstances. They are also working hard to create and follow guidelines for a reopening that will make their members feel comfortable and safe upon their return. Until the time when we can safely get back to working out in person, you can visit their websites to find out more information on current offerings.