The return to downtown Ottawa gyms has been slow as people who adapted to the pandemic shutdown by working out from home stuck to their new habits.
At Parc Sainte-Therèse in Gatineau, Que., a handful of neighbors began developing a workout routine together in the early months of the COVID-19 restrictions.
Karen Rau, who cycled to work and went to the gym at lunchtime, said the group boosted their physical and mental health.
“When the pandemic started, we really felt this lack of physical activity, so this became a really good alternative to that,” Rauch said. “It really built our community.”
We couldn’t survive that long-term.— Caitlin Runions, Spark Street Fitness
Some group members have already planned their return to the office around a Monday-Wednesday-Friday practice schedule.
Liz-Anne Melanson said she finds it more motivating than going to the gym – even if they will have to adjust their schedules to take on the commute again.
“We’re all enjoying it and we’ve made friendships so we’ll want to continue,” she said.
Gatineau residents say the pandemic has forced their workouts outdoors
Karen Rau and Liz-Anne Melanson used gyms downtown, but said the pandemic has pushed their workouts outdoors, something they’d like to continue doing even when they return to commuting.
This can present a challenge for downtown gyms that thrive on offering a comfortable break for desk jockeys.
Gym manager Caitlin Runions, a trainer at Sparks Street Fitness, hopes some of those old exercise habits will return in September as more federal employees return to downtown Ottawa.
Ultimately, Runions said, people working at the center two days a week don’t see the value of a monthly membership.
“A lot of our membership base was people who live out of town, who commute into town for work … we just haven’t seen them come back,” she said.
“We’re not going to be able to survive this long term.”
Without office workers commuting downtown, some Ottawa gyms say they’re struggling
Caitlin Runions, manager of Sparks Street Fitness, and Phil Green, owner of Bodies by Phil, say they’ve both seen memberships drop downtown as the pandemic keeps people from commuting.
Phil Green, owner of Bodies by Phil on Albert Street, said the majority of his members live downtown, but the traveling clientele is slowly coming back.
“We haven’t fully recovered from where we were before COVID in terms of our membership numbers, but things are — slowly but surely things are on the up,” he said.
During the pandemic, Green began offering live and on-demand virtual training, and said that will continue for now. He’s also finding that some of the customers he lost during the pandemic are signing up at Kanata’s new location, which opens next week.
Green said he’s optimistic that fall will see a resurgence in the group fitness business as people try to build new routines.
Like Runions, Green said people can get more out of a guided workout with the right equipment than anything at home or at the park.
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