 
Deal-A-Meal and the Thighmaster are yesterday”™s fitness news, but staying physically fit and accruing the mental health benefits that come with a good workout remain timeless. Even historically tough times don”™t alter the equation.
“From what I”™ve been hearing our business is up,” said Mike Wolf, manager of the Running Company in Greenwich.
Wolf said he has heard that more clubs have begun to offer reactionary pricing in order to retain their customers due to the economy.
“There”™s a lot of bargain clubs popping up,” said Wolf. “You can go to Planet Fitness for 10 bucks a month now. For a while the fees were out of control. In order to keep the clubs going you have to have clients; it”™s not just the bargain clubs it”™s all the clubs that have brought their fees down.”
Wolf said running has become an inexpensive outlet for many looking for a way to stay fit but rarely do they pursue it just because of its monetary appeal.
“It”™s just shoes and shorts and that”™s pretty much it,” said Wolf.
James Kelly, a personal trainer, said jogging is a great way to stay fit for cheap.
“I lost my primary job a few months ago, and I can still afford to enter races,” said Kelly. “Even competitively it”™s a cheap sport.”
Kelly worked selling high-end exercise equipment.
“The company I worked for was out in January,” said Kelly. “That was directly related to the economy.”
Kelly said that rather than return to home fitness, many people decided to ride out memberships and wait for the fees to drop.
According to Wolf, outdoor running is a female-dominated sport, why he”™s not sure.
“Especially the people who are new to the sport, we see more women than men,” said Wolf. “It”™s not just running that we do here. I get a lot of people who are walking. Charity groups have actually brought a lot of attention to walking and running. We get a lot of referrals from those types of organizations.”
Wolf has seen people who have more time on their hands taking on running and long-distance training as a way to spend their time while the economic and job market remain uninviting. “I think it”™s more a question of people having time,” said Wolf.
Wolf said although club memberships may have slumped for a short time, reactionary pricing and the fact that most memberships are on a multiple-month basis has staved off any significant losses. He said some memberships are as low as $10 for the “bargain gyms.”
The White Plains YMCA has added 220 new members during January and February, one of the largest influxes ever seen.
Helene Mogridge, executive director of the White Plains Family YMCA, said many newcomers have started exercising to work off stress caused by the tough economy, with a growing number of working parents applying for YMCA scholarships.
“We started seeing an increase in membership and more requests for financial assistance last year when the economy started to slow down,” said Mogridge. “We”™ve seen membership rise during other economic downturns because people come to the YMCA for affordable fitness programs and day care,” Jim Johnstone, owner of Ridgefield Fitness Club, resounds the echo that everyone is hurting.
“Fitness clubs are not immune,” Johnstone said. “We are looked at as a dispensable item though I don”™t know how anyone can consider their health to be dispensable. There certainly are less expensive ways to get fitness.”
Kelly said gyms that optimize their capabilities and offer residential and commercial memberships are allowing themselves to operate at full capacity in a partial economy and will be the ones that will survive.
The Fairfield County and Westchester County parks departments say they expect this summer to have a significantly increased rate of people using the outdoors as a way to stay fit or find no-cost ways to spend their downtime.
According to Johnstone, he”™s not surprised that parks expect to see an increase in frequency during the summer.
“We”™ve been fighting that battle for years,” said Johnstone. “It”™s all about value of keeping health.”
Johnstone said, though memberships have not increased, the frequency members are using their memberships has increased significantly.
“We”™re not as affected because our community a little isolated,” said Johnstone. “But we are seeing 80 percent usage now; they”™re using it more than they ever did. People are squeezing their membership and the value. Our usage numbers are way up.”
