We know our customers all over the world are impacted by COVID 19, and at home in Australia we’re feeling it too.
Australian Personal trainers, yoga instructors and those in the fitness game are feeling the effects of COVID-19 as sharply as anyone. Likely more so than most.
With severe limits on leaving the house, numbers of people allowed to congregate and strict social distancing in place, running a fitness business has been harder than ever.
Many of you have been getting by with single clients, but that changed last week as restrictions were relaxed.
Easing restrictions!
In most states, you can now have an outdoor gathering of 10 people and a maximum of five guests per household.
This is massive news and I can almost hear the collective sigh of relief fanning out across Australia. We’re back!
This means you can now invite your clients to your home, visit them at their home for personal sessions and of course get your group sessions in the park cranking again. Rejoice!
Just be mindful of the distancing measures still in place – we aren’t out of the woods yet, so let’s not drop the ball.
Maintaining social distancing is your responsibility
With the easing of numbers and movement as above, comes strict social distancing.
Social distancing is still in place in all fitness scenarios, despite the relaxation, and you cannot have hands on sessions or allow groups to interact.
Keeping 1.5m from your clients and enforcing the same among your group clients is paramount to not slipping backwards into restrictions again. This is your responsibility and breaching the rules could potentially put you on the wrong side of the law.
Disinfect!
Aside from maintaining a 1.5 metre distance from your clients, the other rules around fitness businesses pertains to hygiene. This remains extremely important so please don’t be lax:
- You should avoid sharing any equipment if at all humanly possible.
- Where reasonable, encourage your clients to bring their own equipment.
- Ensure you have adequate hand sanitisers and disinfectants to wash down any equipment or items that may have been touched.
- Make sure you and your clients wash your hands after every class.
Switch up your methods
Some of your old techniques and classes may no longer be viable. If you’re used to being hands on, such as stretching, boxing, partner exercises or other close contact activities – you’ll need to switch it up.
Have a look at your usual regimes, exercises and class format. Ensure you replace close contact exercises with equivalent solo alternatives.
Create videos and fitness advice
During this adjustment period you should be actively producing content. With people still isolating at home and you with some more time on your hands, embrace the opportunity to create fitness content you can share with your clients.
Create exercise videos, demonstrate stretches, discuss injury prevention and impart your hard-won knowledge.
It’s always a good time to be a thought leader and cement yourself and your personal brand as a trustworthy and useful source of truth.
This will keep you in good stead with your clients when restrictions lift and assist you to rebound as best you can.
Keep on your marketing
It’s easy to let all business activity slip in such a tumultuous time when it may seem irrelevant.
It’s not.
You need to ensure you’re staying strong on social and making sure you don’t slip between the cracks when full business returns.
Inform people of new classes, give out training tips and the videos you made above, spread awareness of the new measures and let people know how and where they can still get their exercise fix.
When things bounce back, you still want to be front of mind with clients ready to go so you can get cash flowing again and recover quickly.
Check with your state first
Any restrictions will be state mandated so before you open up for business again, check in with your state about the specific measures you need to adhere by.