Last week 24 Hour Fitness laid off a large percentage of its workforce.  24 Hour Fitness is one of the largest fitness chains in California and where many people (Including me) got their careers started in fitness.

On a personal note I found out that the 24 Hour Fitness where I started as a trainer nearly 15 years ago  and where I taught cycle classes for years was on the list of 10 Bay Area 24 Hour Fitness locations that would not be re-opening.  I was sad for the members who were among the best in the city and the wonderful team of workers I had a chance to work with for the last 16 months or so.

Safe to say that the fitness industry is going through some major changes and I would encourage regular gym goers to learn to adapt and be flexible about your exercise choices because things are definitely a changing.

  • Order more home workout equipment (when it becomes available)
  • Research Apps (Peloton is excellent)
  • Look at YouTube for Free Workout Resources (Sarah Beth Yoga and Blogilates)
  • Get outside and start hiking or walking

Gyms are not the be all end all of fitness and while I love the community and relationships that you find there,  (I’m still working with one of my first clients from my first gym 15 yeas ago) there is no guarantee that we will be having a normal gym experience for a very long time.


Expanding our vision of Health and Wellness

This is our 14th week of sheltering in place in San Francisco and in these past 14 weeks I’ve expanded my vision of what Health and Wellness really is.

It’s as much about managing mental/emotional health behaviors as it is about eating fresh food.  I would encourage you to turn off the news and social media because it becomes an addictive cycle that doesn’t help you or anyone else.

Several of my friends who are mental health professionals went off of social media completely last week and they are encouraging others to do the same.

If I can be completely honest, then let me say this: The Road ahead will be filled with more uncertainty and more unrest.  What we can do is manage our response and our behaviors because we are being asked to adapt to the next version of normal.