Outdoor Fitness Makes a Comeback in Santa Monica
Instructor Clayton Bailey leads the 5 p.m. ‘Ass and Abs’ class at Barry's Bootcamp in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. (Brad Wilhite | The Corsair)
Despite Los Angeles county still being in the most-restrictive purple tier with a daily average of 16,500 COVID-19 cases, Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted stay-at-home orders across California on January 25, 2021. In attempts to keep business afloat and cultivate community, the fitness studios and gyms of Santa Monica have been getting creative with their outdoor fitness business model.
Some establishments, such as Burn Fitness, already had outdoor facilities which they were able to use once gyms began reopening. Burn Fitness—located on the Third Street Promenade—offers a variety of classes and includes a ‘world-class’ range of cardio equipment as well as a free-weight room.
But for others, such as Barry’s Bootcamp and SoulCycle, the transition to outdoor instruction required a little more strategy and brainstorming. From the start of the pandemic, Barry’s Bootcamp began providing numerous ways to get your Red Room sweat in from the comfort of your own home. You can buy your own weights, bands, and towels to replicate the Barry’s experience.
They have since introduced Barry’s Outdoors, assimilating the Red Room in an outside environment. To ensure safety of their guests and staff, they have implemented a mandatory temperature check station, requiring that masks remain on at all times, and use hospital grade cleaning supplies in between classes.
Barry’s Outdoors is offered in select locations across the country, with five being in the greater Los Angeles area. Barry’s Santa Monica is located in the lower level of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel on Appian Way.
Using a silent disco sound system, classes are conducted through 50-minute floor workouts that implement weights and bands. While this new sound system might not be a fan favorite, it allows instructors to stay socially distant while also keeping the noise level to a minimum.
Anna Mogilny, Santa Monica local expressed, “I would’ve much rather them just put the music on a speaker. They were muffled…and didn’t really stay on” She also added that “playlists weren’t as good”.
Like Barry’s, SoulCycle has also since offered safer-from-home workout classes. In March 2020 the company first announced their plans to roll out their first at-home bike. In addition to this, they also offer outside classes, titled as SoulOutside, for select locations – including Santa Monica, where you can book a bike on an open-air rooftop deck.
Student athlete, Harper Brandt, shared her experience with SoulOutside: “I was outside and it was cold… I feel like the environment was a lot different; it was the silent-disco style and even though you can hear, you don’t have the typical SoulCycle classroom environment”.
Similar to Barry’s, ‘The SoulCycle Standard’ is committed to the safety of their guests and staff. Health screenings are required upon entry, and masks must be worn at all times – including during class. SoulCycle seems to go above and beyond with their sanitation protocols; they have implemented an upgraded air filtration system that “scrub[s] the air with PECO air-purification tech, which satisfied FDA performance criteria for use in helping to destroy the COVID-19 virus”, according to their website.
Grace Palmer, a front desk associate at Barry's Bootcamp, disinfects the equipment after each class in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. (Brad Wilhite | The Corsair)
When asked about her thoughts on the safety of group fitness classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brandt explained, “If I were to get it [coronavirus], I wouldn’t assume it was from a workout class since they are taking proper precautions.”
While studios may be opening up again, it is clear that the experience is not the same. In a time where social interaction is condemned, the culture of group fitness has been stripped away from one of its most defining features: sociability.
Avid group-fitness attendee Katelyn Jacobson touched on the lack of community when it comes to group fitness during a pandemic.
“I love working out in environments that pump me up and make me feel like I am in a team setting,” Jacobson continued, “we are all in the same room, fighting different battles, but all feeling the release together.”
From a broader perspective, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent stay at home orders have altered the composition of the fitness industry as we know it. Without gym subscriptions or regular studio-experiences, fitness establishments have greatly suffered the effects of the pandemic. Big names in the fitness industry like Gold’s Gym, 24 Hour Fitness, and YogaWorks all filed for bankruptcy in 2020. 17% of fitness facilities were forced to permanently close across the US. With the closing of health clubs, studios, and gyms, the US Fitness Industry saw an unsettling 58% revenue drop in 2020, according to The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA).
However, COVID-19 wasn’t the bearer of bad news for everyone in the fitness industry. In March, the fitness industry went virtual, seemingly overnight. Studios and instructors were able to quickly pivot to virtual instruction through platforms such as Instagram Live and Zoom. More or less, the pandemic has offered instructors the flexibility to leverage themselves into the virtual coaching-scene and begin building a successful platform which offers services to all demographics.
With breakthroughs in new technology such as Mirror while combining both the uncertainty and general fear of COVID-19, it is hard to say what the future of fitness establishments will look like. However, there are many fitness fanatics like Jacobson who, in the end, are just simply happy to be there.
Jacobson concluded our interview by saying, “It is definitely not easy for anyone and I think that being able to access these studios and get the workout we all want is super exciting and makes me very happy”.
