Gyms and Studios Offer Novel Ways to Keep Fit

By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez

Six weeks and counting of sheltering in place is taking its toll. So many of us are grateful we are successfully avoiding the potentially deadly coronavirus, while also noticing our pants when we finally put them on are growing a bit snug.

With organized sports, races and events canceled, and gyms and parks closed, many groups and individuals are looking for different ways to stay fit.

Specialized Exercise

Pure Barre, with several studios including one in Red Bank, has an on-demand offering across their franchises and has joined forces with five other New Jersey studios to livestream four classes a day through Facebook live. “Think platform of 200+ classes,” said Melanie Colman. “We’ve got a great following.”

On a more intimate level, Pure Barre offers classes through Zoom. “Zoom is interactive so the teacher can see you” and provide feedback. “They can check on your form,” Colman said.

“We’re also driven by music so we are still streaming our fabulous music,” she added.

Although Colman said it’s “a scary time” for businesses, including studios, Pure Barre has been faring OK, especially in Red Bank. “Our luck is that we’ve been here for eight years and have a loyal client base,” she said. “We’ve built such a community.”

In fact, she’s had clients who have returned after stopping for time constraint reasons such as a new job or having a baby. “And they’ve come back because we’re doing it livestream.”

The 15 or so teachers in the Red Bank studio are, for the most part, enjoying the chance to livestream from home. “I think it brings more of a human element to it,” Colman said. “We’re in this together even though we’re not together. It’s interesting how it’s evolving.”

She thinks the most challenging part of the shelter-in-place rule is isolation. “The hardest part is not seeing each other on a daily basis.”

Yoga and Pilates

Practicing your downward dog in your living room may work for some yoga studios, but hot yoga studios are at a disadvantage.

“Most studios are offering online classes,” said Jen Portman of Synergy Hot Yoga in Fair Haven. “But with a hot studio half of what we’re selling is the heat.”

Instead, Synergy has created a Facebook group and offers free daily live classes conducted from teachers’ homes. “Anyone who’s on the group can click on it. It also stays on the page indefinitely” for those who want to tune in later.

Participants can make a donation. “All donations that come in are used to pay teachers,” said Portman. “I can manage to pay rent and utilities without having an income for a little while. The biggest issue is the teachers. This is their livelihood.”

Although she doesn’t want anyone to feel compelled to donate, she said people are being generous.

What she notices the most is “people just want to see each other. They’re happy to maintain the connection.”

It’s been fun, Portman said, and gratifying. She has also found that opening her class to others outside the Two River area has added an interesting element. Through word of mouth and connections, she’s had students from as far away as Colorado and London. “People who live anywhere in the world can see our classes.”

Portman wonders, when coronavirus restrictions ease and small groups and social-distance rules will still be engaged, what will it mean for studios. “I have rooms that can hold 38 people in a class,” she said. “I don’t think we’ll be doing that for a long time. It’ll be interesting.”

Pyour Core, a Pilates and fitness studio in Little Silver, is offering a variety of free workouts on its YouTube channel. It also provides custom workouts upon request for free as well. “We will continue to keep this content free,” said owner Carolayn Crane. “All workouts are all levels and there is a variety to fit everyone’s likes.”

Crane said they can accommodate requests for a custom program.

“Classes run about 25 minutes and we encourage people to pair workouts up to give them a 50-minute, full-body workout, or simply do a stand-alone 25 minutes.”

In addition, Pyour Pour, the on-site café that offers juices, smoothies and more, is offering a dietitian-designed Cleanup and Reboot program for pickup or delivery every Tuesday and Friday. Clients must preorder and pay via email.

Training and Competition

Runners, cyclists and others with similar activities can still work out on their own but for runners who enjoy the thrill of the race, it can be a challenge.

The Jersey Shore Running Club’s 16th Annual Lake Como Spring Bash 5k, which was planned for April 25, will now be a virtual race. Registered participants will complete a 5k between April 25 and 30 in their neighborhood, home or another safe spot.

Runners can then email their results through a social fitness network that tracks exercises, such as Garmin, Strava or Fitbit. Awards and a post-race party will be planned for a later date.

The Spring Lake 5, an unofficial start to the summer at the Jersey Shore for club runners, has been rescheduled for Sept. 5.

Critical Mass in Tinton Falls is helping to make sure no athlete goes without their training.

“We created a platform, a private Facebook page, where we provide support with live and recorded classes every day,” said Jon Kalnas. They also provide an exercise library and Quarantine Online Workouts.

“Basically, we’re trying to move our gym virtual,” Kalnas said. And although it was a plan they always wanted to include, they never had the time to properly construct it.

Kalnas, a sports performance coach, trains track and field and Olympic-level lifting athletes from New Jersey and throughout the country. “So we have participants from Wyoming, Oklahoma, Florida.” His students range in ages from 13 to 68.

“Don’t let the corona virus destroy your spring 2020 season,” the website boasts.
With secondary education athletics on the horizon for many of his clients, especially high school juniors promoting themselves to colleges, it’s important to make the most of this time, pandemic or not.

“Their seasons are over and they have to submit what they did,” he said. “They need to show what they’ve been doing.”

Critical Mass is helping by running a Virtual Throws competition. With schools closed and therefore no competition events for high school athletes, they can measure, record and submit their shot put, discus, javelin and hammer throw results.

“We tell them to throw wherever you can where it’s safe,” Kalnas said.

The entries have been interesting as the quarantined athletes find creative places, including throwing from off-road into a field or out of a barn. “It’s been pretty unique to see what they do,” Kalnas said.

Although he says this would never hold up in an official competition, it gives a fair recording of what the competitor is capable of.

Many of the gyms, studios and other businesses offer gift cards that the fit and the want-to-be fit may want to purchase. That gesture can help keep a small business afloat and serve as a reminder that we will be back to our lives one day and we’ll have to button those pants.

This article originally appeared in the April 23rd, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.