Gyms Across Long Island Adjust To Coronavirus Closures

LONG ISLAND, NY — Gyms across Long Island are adjusting as the new coronavirus prompted New York State to mandate the industry, as well as restaurants, bars and others, to not allow people inside. The measures came Monday in an effort to curb COVID-19 from spreading, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

The temporary closure of gyms removes an outlet for many to work out. Businesses small and large across Long Island and the country are transitioning to find ways for clientele to get their exercise in remotely.

Charlie Cassara owns SC Fitness, a small operation with locations in Farmingdale and Hicksville. He expressed the importance of abiding by the guidelines given to the fitness industry.

"The mayor and president know best," he told Patch. "This isn’t a time to get upset or bent out of shape about what’s going on. Obviously, it’s for the safety of everybody, for the public and for my members. The old saying is, ‘it is what it is.’ It’s for a reason and the betterment of everybody out there."

SC Fitness is using video conference services like Zoom and Skype to conduct one-on-one conferences with clients to give them fitness and nutrition advice. Members also got wearable heart rate monitors to encourage them to go for runs outside or exercise within their homes, according to Cassara. The goal, he said, is to keep people engaged and fit.

"At this time, that’s what people need," Cassara said. "A lot of people are home and stressed out, so if I can give them a half an hour to an hour of my time to kind of help them out a little bit, it works out the same as if they actually came in here. We haven’t really ran into an issue with that, yet."

Blink Fitness closed its clubs throughout several states, including New York. All memberships were frozen Monday, and no members will be charged until the clubs have reopened, the franchise told Patch in a statement.

All Blink Fitness members will have access to the app and all its content through April 30. Previously, only premium members had access to certain things. The app works with partners like Daily Burn, Aaptiv, Gaiam and Shape to offer 500+ on-demand classes from cardio to meditation and everything else.

"For Blink Fitness, the health and safety of members is paramount, and with growing concerns around COVID-19 ruling the national conversation, the premium and affordable gym feels a larger responsibility than ever to support members through their wellness journey, both inside and outside of the gym," the franchise said.

Blink began offering virtual classes from its certified personal trainers on Facebook to keep members motivated and active. Classes will be opened for live chats and to answer fitness-related questions.

SC Fitness uses its YouTube channel to do live video sessions to interact with its members, talk about the current situation and provide advice.

"That’s going to be key, especially if people have to be locked down for a little bit or whatever the president and governor say we have to do," Cassara said. "If we can help them a little bit, we can get in there and try to keep people fit, healthy and relieve a little bit of stress for an hour to two hours, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re really giving as much of ourselves as we possibly can to everybody. These members mean a lot to me. They’ve been with me for a long time. They’ve helped me out, so it’s our turn to help them."

Blink Fitness' Long Island locations are Farmingdale, Lindenhurst, Hicksville, Melville, West Islip, Baldwin, Brentwood and Valley Stream.

Orangetheory Fitness will be sharing 30-minute workouts on its website that won't require special equipment every day. The business closed all of its studios after Monday's classes with the goal of reopening March 31. Members of closed studios will have their membership dues suspended.

"The decision to close studios is not a decision we made lightly," Orangetheory Fitness wrote on its website. "We have taken significant precautions across our brand to keep our members and employees safe while continuing to offer our workouts, as many of our 1 million-plus members have asked us to do. However, as this situation continues to evolve rapidly, we believe that temporarily closing is the right thing to do."

Retro Fitness automatically froze its memberships during the forced closure, the franchise wrote on its website.

Members and non-members of Gold’s Gym are able to access premium access to the company’s digital personal training app, GOLD’s AMP, through May 31, the franchise stated via Cision.

All LA Fitness locations will be closed until April 1 at the earliest, and all memberships will be extended to cover the time the clubs are unavailable, according to its website.