It’s Monday evening and I’m in a tent in a suburban Dublin car park, wearing headphones and spinning my heart out on an exercise bike. It’s not quite the traditional gym class that we’re used to — this is Dartry Health Club’s inaugural ‘silent disco’ spinning class, held outdoors to comply with Covid regulations.
round me, 14 other adults are also going for it on their spinning bikes, urged on by our instructor Ian, who’s egging us on via his headset microphones.
This is a scene that will become more familiar as this summer goes on. While gyms are set to reopen on June 7, indoor classes will still not be permitted, so gyms around the country are coming up with novel ways of holding their classes in the great outdoors.
And it’s a revelation: I’m a member at this Dartry gym and I’m not usually a class person. I normally just use the pool — but I found exercising outside more pleasant than in the studio.
And I worked harder — wearing the headset it felt like instructor Ian’s motivating patter was aimed directly at me and so I put in more effort than I might have without it.
Maybe the others felt the same, or, unlike me, maybe they had been keeping up their training with the free Zoom classes the gym had been providing when shut, but most of them were really going for it.
And from the pent-up energy in the tent it was clear the spinners were happy to be back to group exercise.
“We spent all week putting up the tent, it has no sides, and I think people enjoyed the air blowing in,” says managing director Ciara Lefroy. “We needed a proper solution to the noise because when we reopen in June indoor classes still won’t be allowed.”
The spinning classes were just the start of an outdoor summer programme which is also set to include yoga, body pump and Pilates, with outdoor personal training for groups of four to start on May 17.
“The phones were ringing off the hook with enquiries on how to sign up. We see this as a good sign, people have had enough of home exercising and want that group dynamic. Our members are telling us they are missing the routine and social aspect,” says Lefroy.
And while outdoor classes are a great temporary solution in the summer, gym owners are anxiously awaiting clarification on when they can get their businesses back to normal, after a challenging year in which memberships have understandably plummeted.
Andy Edge, manager of David Lloyd Dublin, says he is taking heart from encouraging UK data.
“Looking at gym attendance in the UK, since they reopened memberships are growing back rapidly, so that makes me hopeful this will happen here. We are lucky to be part of a big European fitness group but no indoor classes is tough for some of the independent gyms,” he says.
In the UK, saunas and steam rooms will open from September 3, indoor exercise classes are allowed from May 17 (Northern Ireland, May 24) with Wales fast-forwarding this to May 3 due to falling Covid cases, and Edge says he would like clarification on what is happening here.
“Everyone is respectful of the tough decisions to be made in public health but we would also like to see evidence for why indoor swimming lessons and small group classes can’t go ahead,” he says.
Their outdoor pool and tennis courts have been open from April 26 and on May 10, when the club started outdoor classes in their marquee (60pc of the sides are open, in line with the rules) they found the members were excited to be back.
Members are being charged a flat fee of €40 if they want to partake and they can do as many classes as they like.
“This week we had 85 weekly outdoor classes and few free spots,” says Edge.
Susan O’Grady, CEO of Kildare-based K Leisure Group, agrees older adults are especially keen to return.
K-Leisure runs three sites in Kildare and is reviewing its online offering to bridge the gap between now and June 7.
O’Grady says they have been running an online wellness system with fitness content through the closures but feels that was “just ticking a box”.
“It is the community aspect of the gym people really want. They enjoy being part of a group and exercising alone at home is not the same,” she says.
They are getting ‘a huge amount’ of phone calls enquiring about summer camps and swimming lessons.
“In our Naas site alone, we had 1,400 kids at the swim academy. Kids forget how to swim. So it is important classes are allowed back,” she says.
Hotel-based gyms and pools will reopen from June 2 and according to Joe Cosgrave, CEO of the Kingfisher clubs, with 300,000 adults using them weekly the wider reopening of pools around Ireland on June 7 will be a big event.
Kingfisher has a gym in Waterford and Galway and runs the gym in NUI Galway, and Cosgrave says they have been in constant communication with their members with free fitness classes through their app.
While indoor group exercising is viewed as risky because people expel more droplets and aerosols as they breathe more deeply, Cosgrave points out some gyms are well ventilated and with the strict cleaning protocols in place (which he says always happened anyway) he would like to see more scientific evidence.
He said they are currently weighing up demand on whether to put on outdoor classes but for the moment are focusing on making sure staff and premises are ready for opening.
Cosgrave is also Chair of Ireland Active and he feels one of the biggest blows of gym closures has been the cancellation of children’s swimming classes.
Meanwhile Liam Cunningham, general manager of Athlone Regional sports centres, said the level of enquiries from existing and potential new members was cheering him up.
“From May 24, we are offering one-to-one appointments to show people around,” he says.
Since May 10, they are offering outdoor grit, a 30 minute HIIT class, as well as boxercise with a fitness circuit and outdoor spinning class, and also a new stretch tent, to hopefully arrive shortly. “Numbers have been steady, even with the bad weather, I think people just want to see faces, to talk to others,” he says.
The sports centre has 2,000 members and similar to the gyms interviewed, had frozen everyone’s membership with those who had paid upfront for the year to have time added back in. The outdoor classes from 10 May would be charged for separately.
Cunningham said they are busy taking the coffee area out on the top floor to make more space and instead will open an outdoor coffee hut.
Overall he feels optimistic but cautions gyms’ income has taken a dive and government support should remain in place until the end of year.
Like Dartry, Raw gyms in Dublin are also using headsets but for their indoor lower impact classes which took place on the open floors of their gyms.
They don’t use the headsets for the free of charge outdoor classes they started on May 10 in Herbert Park for their Donnybrook site or in the car park at their Sandyford gym.
Operations director Hughie McGearty says they are spending a lot of time engaging with members and training staff.
“We are doing a lot of online staff training so we can double the yoga and Pilates classes on our schedule when we open and we are introducing new classes — such as Raw Rave — for a fun return to exercise,” he says.
McGearty is upbeat and feels the experience of the last 14 months with home training will change the habits of their members to some extent.
“We think there will be more of a hybrid model where people can also train at home and we plan to incorporate outdoor activities, such as hiking, to build micro-groups within our community,” he says.
“We have been through hell as an industry but the future is bright. Roll on June 7.”