Photo courtesy of Alchemy 365
Members of Alchemy 365 in Group Class
Alchemy 365 members getting their yoga on pre-pandemic.
Is this the end? The end of the open-close tango—the end of keeping everyone at two-arms-length—the end (maybe, eventually…) of masking? It may not be the end, but it’s certainly the beginning of the end.
As part of what Gov. Tim Walz calls “probably our biggest dial-turn yet,” gyms will be allowed to open at 50 percent capacity—50 percent, people!!—at noon on Monday (March 15th). We haven’t seen this many gym rats sharing air since the Before Times!
In a press conference Friday morning, Walz announced measures that take restaurants up to 75 percent capacity, remove capacity limits on hair salons, allow more people in social gatherings and entertainment settings, and bump gyms up to 50 percent, among other changes.
“It shows the light at the end of the tunnel,” says Drew Coleman, owner of Skybox. “Our business can’t survive at 25 percent capacity, but we certainly can at 50 percent. PPP is over and done with, so we need to be able to start safely adding more people to our classes.”
For gyms, mandatory masking (or as we like to call it: altitude training) and six-foot distancing will remain in place as they welcome twice as many members back in beginning Monday.
This comes as Minnesota is doling out 40,000 shots per day. After a shaky start that raised criticism, Walz noted Friday that Minnesota ranked second nationally in vaccine distribution this week.
“It will be weeks—not months—until everyone can get their shot,” he promised during the press conference. A welcome message for anyone itching to return to, well, anything. “Every single week that goes by, you’re going to see progress.”
But the question remains heavy on studio owners’ minds: Will people come back? “I don’t think this will bring more people in right away,” Coleman says. “Every week we see a few more people return as vaccinations go in arms. I think we’ll see more of a steady trickle back to 50 percent over the next few months.”
Vinny Amendola, founder of full-body sculpt spot ALTR in Edina and Nolo, called the increase “a move in the right direction.”
“The more restrictions are loosened up, the more consumer confidence is restored,” he says. “With vaccines available and lighter restrictions, we feel we will be able to grow business to healthy levels again.”
Fingers crossed for that growth—especially for Coleman, who daringly expanded his operation mid-pandy. The St. Paul Skybox was slated to open in June of last year but finally swung open its doors around Labor Day. It shuttered in November and opened again in January—a tough close for established gyms, let alone ones new to the neighborhood. “It’s been a slow rollout due to COVID, but we’re confident that once things start to return to normal, we’ll see more and more new faces and full classes in St. Paul,” he says.
It was a year ago almost on the dot (March 17, 2020 to be exact) when Minnesota’s COVID-19 cases jumped to 54 over a weekend and the governor shuttered the state. The first round hunker-down (including a closure of gyms and shift to virtual sweats) lasted 10 weeks. In June, gyms were allowed to reopen at 25 percent capacity, then went dark again in November amid a volcanic explosion of cases pre-Turkey Day. The most recent reopen, December 19th for individual workouts and January 4th for group classes, was still 25 percent, but with 12-foot distancing and mandatory masking at all times.
Since then, distance regulations for sweat-ers have quietly diminished from 12 feet to 9 feet to 6 feet. And since January 17th, the state’s positive testing rates have remained under the 5 percent caution threshold (this is a heel-click moment!).
With the "positive" turn, Heather Corndorf of mXe is making moves. Last year, she wasn’t comfortable (neither were her clients) with the risks of in-person classes. mXe shifted virtual and has stayed there for the duration of the pandemic. While virtual classes are going well, Corndorf says, “mXe will have some exciting news to reveal on May 1st, including in-person classes.” Stay tuned, movers and shakers.
Since the worst April Fool’s joke in history began last year, we have covered the opens and closes of studios, said goodbye to some beloved sweat spots (RIP, Fly Feet and Alchemy Uptown), and geared up for virtual classes at home.
Evidenced by the lack of weights, mats, and water bottles in the fitness aisles at Target, we love our gyms—even when we have to love them from our living rooms (or walk-in closets). These wellness warriors have fought for every member—virtual and IRL—throughout the last year and they have withstood some of the hardest conditions a fit studio could face.
In November, as I wrote about the second closure of gyms, I posed a question: How many more times will I write this article before we’re in the clear? Close, open, close, open.
Friends, it would seem that we have the answer: This is the beginning of the end. The home stretch (or rather the leave-home stretch). Make those cycle and barre reservations because we are getting back into the gym, and hope is on the horizon.
“It’s not over; we’re not turning to eleven—we are turning the dial up though,” Walz said in the announcement. “This is the final push down the end.”
He still asked for patience, which we could all use an extra dose of with these restrictions teasing “normal” not too far off.
“If the vaccine is offered to you, please take it,” Walz said Friday. “That makes all the difference; that makes these dial turns possible.”
So, gym folks of Minny, roll up your sleeves and roll out your mats, the future of sweat life is looking bright.
