“Our numbers were stronger this past quarter than they ever were,” said Jenny Liu, the president of Dogpound, a high-end boutique gym focused on one-on-one training with locations in TriBeCa and West Hollywood.įor some fitness freaks, there is a larger reason to return to a gym: it’s the kind of thing people didn’t even used to think about doing before the pandemic. The 24 Hour Fitness chain, which closed 100 clubs and filed for Chapter 11, emerged from bankruptcy last December following a restructuring.īusiness is booming at some smaller gyms, as well. Gold’s Gym International, which filed for bankruptcy in 2020, was recently acquired by RSG Group, a German fitness company, for $100 million. “I’m never going back.”Ī rebound is evident at Blink Fitness, where sign-ups last month, normally slow season for gyms, equaled those of January 2020, usually a frenzied month for gym-goers trying to make good on New Year’s resolutions, according to the company. “The gym is a raging dumpster fire of Covid bacteria and hamster wheels,” Mr. Before the pandemic, he would hit an Equinox gym in SoHo or Greenwich Village at least four mornings a week to lift weights, box or do yoga. Will this happen? Or will workout warriors, after a year exploring virtual and outdoor alternatives, come to see their old gyms as fitness anachronisms, like a Richard Simmons “Disco Sweat” workout VHS from the Clinton years?Ĭonsider Henry Lihn, 40, a tech entrepreneur in Manhattan. So what now? As the world reopens - or at least, we hope it does - a wounded health club industry is banking on pent-up demand to drive a gym renaissance. The masses of sweating bodies huffing and puffing just feet away, followed by the hurried shower and the wet-haired hustle to the office before the boss arrives.Īmerica’s gym habit always involved its share of hassle and expense. The interminable waits for the ab-crunch machine.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |