The Gym Is Closed. Now What?

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, Twin Cities gyms and fitness studios are closing their doors, but some are still ensuring we get a workout in at home.

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With the ever-changing landscape of the Coronavirus pandemic, gyms and fitness studios are joining the list of businesses, schools, events, and activities closing and canceling through the end of the month. In Minnesota, tested cases jumped to 54 over a weekend, prompting Governor Walz to mandate the closure of public gathering spaces in a press conference on Monday, March 16. Though many retailers, restaurants, and workplaces were already shuttering in response to COVID-19, the governor's order means all local restaurants, bars, movie theaters, coffee shops, and gyms are temporarily closing their doors.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, your local gym has posted its sign and locked its doors. Until they reopen in early May (fingers crossed!), many Twin Cities fitness studios have ways of getting your sweat sesh in while staying home.

Alchemy 365

This boutique fitness chain’s studios, which are solely in Minnesota and Colorado, are temporarily closed in response to the national COVID-19 outbreak and expect to reopen March 27.

The yoga-strength-conditioning workouts are available for free through their Instagram and YouTube channels, with daily, live-streaming, and on-demand workouts accessible online for at-home sweat sessions during social distancing. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday, Alchemy instructors host Midday Micro Challenges to give WFH-ers a break to move and clear their minds during this uncertain time.

“We are a small business and this crisis will affect us, and we’d like to humbly ask that if you like your experience with us and the work we do, that you maintain your membership with us,” the A-Team says in their closure announcement on the website. The studio is also asking people who are enjoying the free workouts to support their future with a $50 or $100 pledge, or a $10 virtual drop-in. 

Barre3

This Edina fitness center, owned and operated by Lucy Gardiner and Morgan Wolfe, is closed through March 29 but is live streaming workouts daily on their Instagram and offering on-demand online classes. A 15-day trial is free and Barre3 is offering 10 percent off props for new online members to support home practice during quarantine.

Basecamp Fitness

The national chain recently planted studios in the North Loop and Edina, which are now temporarily closed in response to coronavirus. While we can't do the killer 35-minutes workouts in the dimly lit studios and most of us don't have an assault bike/air bike at home, Basecamp is offering at-home workouts led by different instructors at 8 a.m. daily through their app, and free workouts shared on their Instagram, with names like Abdominal Snowman and Soup Can Combo to make you smile as you break a sweat during shelter in place.

Although we don't have a reopen date for local Basecamps, their goal with virtual workouts is to create the same support system and accountability as the physical gym. "Expect to see the same fun challenges, leaderboards, motivating messages, and positive reinforcement that is core to our Basecamp culture," says the North Loop team on their Facebook.

CycleBar

Spinners and riders are hitting pause as CycleBar closed its Ridgedale and Uptown locations through March 29. The studio is freezing member accounts and extending package expiration dates during the closure. Members who plan to keep their membership active upon studio reopening can give a free matching membership to a friend when they contact their CycleBar location.

On its website, CB encourages its members to buy a gift card to support its studios during closure. “All CycleBar studios are independently owned and operated by local residents who are likely to experience significant hardship because of this public health pandemic,” the website says. The revenue from gift cards will support studios during closure and allows members to take a pause on their in-studio workouts with a promise to return when daily life resumes.

The FIRM

The FIRM team announced its virtual fitness program on its social media this week. If you still want to sweat together from your temporary home gym setup, download The FIRM Mpls app and sign up for a scheduled class hosted by regular FIRM instructors. It's almost like going to the gym IRL.

Fit Studio

Taking the gym home is the newest trend with the governor's stay home order effective through May 1. This western burbs studio is doing just that with live fitness classes daily through their Fit Remote program. Live 45-minute workouts via Zoom are at 6 a.m., 7 a.m. and noon weekdays, 8 and 9 a.m. weekends, and prerecorded workouts via BurnAlong are available on-demand for you and up to four friends. The remote program is free to Fit Studio members and $125 a month for non-members. For kids currently doing SFH (school from home) the studio is hosting virtual gym class at 3 p.m. weekdays with no equipment needed—just a bored, over-energized kiddo.

The drop-in program at Fit Studio combines social distancing and the gym, taking advantage of warmer temps. Hop over the the studio parking lot in St. Louis Park at the four scheduled weekday times, and two weekend times, where equipment will be out, along with a whiteboard that details three different workouts. Grab the gear you need and pick your parking spot for a social distancing sweat sesh; free for members, and available in single-class or 10-class packs to non-members.

Life Time

The Minnesota-based fitness chain’s clubs in the U.S. and Canada are temporarily closed, and the reopen of each club is dependent on governmental guidance. LT members will be credited the number of days that the club is closed, and workers will be compensated.

“We are working quickly to upload on-demand group fitness classes and also to provide complimentary virtual training plans and videos to our members so that they can continue their healthy lifestyles at home,” says Dan DeBaun, Life Time public relations specialist. The on-demand classes are available to members and non-members during COVID shutdown. During the closure, Life Time is also working to help communities, and considering repurposing its vacant facilities as resource and service centers for members.

mXe

This alternative workout studio closed its Linden Hills doors until April 1 and is offering online classes with a free week-long trial. mXe, pronounced “Moxie,” offers classes on cardio, strength, boxing, barre, dance, and yoga to mix up the mundanity of limited home workouts. With kiddos home from school too, mXe is offering virtual kids' workouts using stuffed animals instead of weights.

Pure Barre

Before Gov. Walz’s order was issued on Monday, March 16, Andrea Banducci and Kate Peterson, owners of Pure Barre in the North Loop, St. Louis Park, and St. Paul, closed their studios through at least March 27. Banducci and Peterson say they will continue to monitor the local situation and reevaluate their opening date following state recommendations and send updates to members via email and social media.

The low-impact, high-intensity barre workouts are available on demand to members, and two classes will be live streamed each day.

Skybox

This industrial-style gym in St. Louis Park closed its doors for the remainder of the month, crediting members for the time closed, and launched a virtual gym program, Skybox Stay Fit Club. This is exactly the type of club we need during quarantine. Free, at-home workouts are posted each night on their website with a corresponding Instagram story explaining the format, timing, and demonstrating each move. The workouts are saved in a highlight reel on their Insta for when we need an alternative to binging Love is Blind AGAIN all day.

Studio ME

This Northeast gym, known for its personalized workouts and one-on-one training, has closed its doors, but is continuing its usual four to seven daily classes, Kettlebell Bootcamp meetings three times a week, and personal training live through its online system. For those of us getting pre-recorded video fatigue, these classes are live and interactive at their usual class times.

Sweat Minnesota

Minnesotans are strong—we endure bitter winter, sticky summer, mosquitos, and constant passive aggressive driving. But this online community that sprung up in the last week is ensuring that isolated Minnesotans stay fit, too. Sweat Minnesota, founded by Dawn Bryant, is a resource guide to virtual fitness classes, on-demand workouts, and wellness resources. Everything from boxing and aerial fitness to lululemon workouts and a virtual 5K community. 

TITLE Boxing Club

As of Tuesday, March 17, all TITLE gyms in the Twin Cities area are closed through March 27. The boxing club is providing free on-demand classes to members for 30 days, so you can still be Rocky at home. For the foreseeable future, we can let out our stir crazy on our invisible shadow partner with hits at home.

Urban Cycle

The husband and wife team behind this South Minne cycle studio is offering live classes through everyone's fave new app, Zoom. Pre-register for class online to get a link to the live class. The UC team is continually adding new classes to their online repertoire to keep your Work(out) From Home life spicy. 

YMCA

Catch group classes like barre, yoga, low impact programs, senior-focused sessions, and youth sports programs with YMCA 360. The Y plans to release more classes on the platform throughout the next month.

“With many people practicing social distancing or impacted by school closures due to the spread of COVID-19, we saw a need for healthy living and youth development programs that could be accessed from anywhere,” said Glen Gunderson, CEO of the Greater Twin Cities YMCA. The online classes are free and available to everyone (not just Y members). Emotional support and youth classes are included in new 360 content.

For Twin Citians with little ones at home this month, the Y's kid-centered wellness initiative CycleHealth has launched a free virtual activity program. The digital platform 12Bursts challenges families to stay active together with 12 five-minute activity bursts each day. The activities, like tidying a space as quickly as you can or singing the alphabet while doing jumping jacks and pushups, don't require equipment or special skills. A new set of bursts is released each day on the site to keep the routine fresh. Just add kiddos!

Yoga Studios

Yogis will have to roll their mats out at home until the end of the month. Order a new mat and some fancy-shmancy yoga supplies for your living room studio. We’ll be in Savasana pose indefinitely.

Starting Tuesday, March 17, Blooma switched from in-person classes in their Lyndale studio to online classes throughout the day using Zoom. The Blooma team says in their closure announcement: “We are all learning in this time of uncertainty and we appreciate you taking this leap with us. We can use the practice of yoga now more than ever!” The studio's mama-centered classes like prenatal yoga, BYOB (Bring Your Own Baby), and kids yoga are especially important now for those expecting and those with babies and kids at home to provide entertainment and stress relief amid isolation.

Two days after limiting class sizes with a reservation system, CorePower Yoga announced on Sunday, March 15, on their website that its multitude of yoga studios nationwide would be closed beginning Monday, with plans to resume classes on March 30. Members and teachers in training are receiving email updates.

The CP team encourages members to share yoga with friends and family during this time of isolation. “What’s important to remember right now is that our yoga practice is always there for us—wherever we are,” CorePower says in the closure announcement. Keeping with that sentiment, online on demand classes are available for free to members, with new classes going up each week to keep things fresh even as we down dog at home.

An early morning email Monday, March 16, announced the immediate closure of Modo Yoga Minneapolis through March 31. Instead, opt for online classes through their new database with classes from local instructors and instructors from around the world. The code MPLS provides a free month trial for yogis everywhere.

The team is going live on Insta at select times throughout the day to bring free classes to our homes. Modo is encouraging followers to participate in its 30-day challenge, which would have begun in-studio on April 1, but will instead take place virtually throughout April. 

Northeast studio Rise Yoga switched its schedule to live online classes with a registration system starting Sunday so that members can continue getting their flow on at home. The husband and wife team behind Rise will be teaching and demonstrating together in their live class videos.

Insta-Workouts

We're already spending copious amounts of quarantine time scrolling through social. Why not integrate a workout into our screen time too?

Minneapolis-based fitness guru, Holly J Fitness (@hollyjfitness) has tons of workouts on her Instagram feed and in her stories. Her highlight reel has fitness categories like HIIT, Core, Bodyweight, and At Home Faves—take your pick and get sweating. She also has a brand spankin' new app (seriously, it launched two weeks ago!) for home workouts and the first 30 days are free. Well timed, Holly. 

Caitlin Thielen, wife of Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, routines shares workouts on her lifestyle Insta (@life_with_mrst) and will be putting extra emphasis on sharing her go-to home workouts over the next few weeks. If Mrs. T can get in a workout with two little boys buzzing around the house—and occasionally making workout video appearances—we have no excuse.

Minneapolitan and creator of Fit Freedom Lab, Kaitlyn Cookle (@fitfreedomlifestyle) is a fitness-lover and even has a highlight dedicated to home workouts. Plus, her sunny pics give us some much-needed vitamin D during this gray Minnesota spring. 

Check back for more updates throughout the week as more gyms and fitness studios begin providing online and at-home fitness tools in response to COVID-19 closures.

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