Cold Sweat: Gyms Test Winter Workouts During the Pandemic

That’s music to the ears of David Blitz, the CEO of her gym, Studio Three.

“We were going gangbusters [outside] all summer, but we thought we’d be back inside by October,” he says. He didn’t plan on running an all-weather program until member surveys showed people wanted it. Members like Ms. McGrath, who works at Camp One Step, a series of programs for kids diagnosed with cancer, say they aren’t comfortable with the risks of indoor exposure.

Covid-19 forced gyms to get creative with their offerings in 2020, moving workouts online and outdoors. As the pandemic stretched into winter, renewed lockdown measures across the Northern U.S. are leaving some gym owners and members with no place to go but back outside.

Since November, many states have halted indoor group classes or tightened restrictions limiting gyms to 25% or even 10% capacity. About one-quarter of fitness studios were at risk of closing by the end of 2020, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, an industry trade group.

But a number of gyms are taking over rooftops, parks and empty lots to help people build up a cold sweat all winter. Independent studios have been leading the way, while boutique chains like SoulCycle, Barry’s (formerly known as Barry’s Bootcamp) and CycleBar have also set up outdoor locations in the Northeast. The surprising popularity of some classes has some gyms wondering if they’ll keep them going beyond the pandemic.

The outdoor arenas of Studio Three, which specializes in high-intensity interval training in groups, provided an unexpected boon, Mr. Blitz says. While indoor workouts were limited to 15 people per classroom due to Covid restrictions, each outdoor venue can hold at least 25.

Chicago gym-goers aren’t the only ones defying expectations.

“We didn’t plan on being outdoors beyond Nov. 15, but people asked us to,” said Gyee O’Malley, co-owner of Boston’s Row House, a rowing-themed fitness studio. She and her staff roll 15 ERG machines and a stereo system to a patio on Lovejoy Wharf for each session. Classes have happened with the temperature as low as 28 degrees.

The studio moved some classes indoors when restrictions eased in the fall, but many members said they weren’t comfortable going back inside, she says. In mid-December, Boston banned indoor classes, and Ms. O’Malley reverted to an all-outdoors schedule. “My new motto is, ‘If you keep showing up, we’ll keep showing up,’ ” she says.

Winter fitness warriors have always powered through frigid weather. But to survive, gyms need to attract more than just the die-hards. They need to convince less enthusiastic customers, the casual exercisers who would happily stay home.

Jennifer Fahy is one of them. “Every gym membership I’ve had has been kind of a failure,” says the 44-year old, who works for the nonprofit Farm Aid. She joined Row House to support a neighbor’s new business a year ago and figured she’d drop it after the trial period. But she got hooked on the low-impact workout and waterfront views. Now she doesn’t blink at choosing an outfit for an early-morning workout in 34 degrees. Plus, there’s the sunrise to look forward to.

“There’s a great sense of purpose in getting ready for something that gets me out of my house, out of my neighborhood and out of my head,” Ms. Fahy says.

Zi Yan, an associate professor of health sciences at Merrimack College, says outdoor classes can provide physical benefits and much-needed social support, especially during this Covid winter.

“Believe it or not, weather is one of the biggest predictors of exercise,” she says. Exercise self-efficacy, or confidence in your ability to do a workout, goes way down in harsh weather, she says, even for those who exercise indoors. But group workouts, even with just one other person, can serve as a huge motivating factor.

These new outdoor workouts have caused at least some people to rethink their relationship with winter.

Mental-health counselor Jennifer Liu, 33, says she’s always hated the cold. Zoom sessions mean she rarely has to leave her Seattle home. But she makes an exception for classes at The Bar Method in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood. The studio offers online classes, and set up 20 stand-alone ballet barres in a parking lot under a canopy. In November, Washington state halted indoor group fitness and limited outdoor classes to five people.

“The in-person classes are a hot commodity. I try to go twice a week if I can get in off the wait list,” Ms. Liu says.

Eric Lawrence worried at first about leading outdoor spin classes for the studio where he works, BYKlyn, in the winter in Brooklyn, N.Y. “My biggest concern was after class, when you’re all sweaty and it’s freezing. I mean, that’s how you die in the wilderness,” he says. “But hey, guess what: We’re not in the wilderness.”

Riders usually show up to BYKlyn’s industrial courtyard in layers, hats and gloves. By the third song, they’re often down to T-shirts. “It becomes this bizarre fitness strip tease during class, with people just flinging off their clothes,” Mr. Lawrence jokes. BYKlyn stations bins next to each bike to catch all the excess layers.

Cindy Brauer, founder of Mojo Fitness, a studio in Wayne, Pa., moved her dance-based workouts to a nearby amphitheater. There’s enough space to go maskless and blast music. She set the original temperature limit at 40 degrees, but recently dropped it to 33.

“It feels like I’m playing a game of limbo with our community. How cold can they go?” Ms. Brauer says. With December classes still drawing 25 to 30 people, she wonders if “Polar-style Mojo” might have a future beyond the pandemic.

Many gym managers admit they’re still in uncharted territory. The computers in stationary bikes or rowing machines may freeze at extreme temperatures. The season’s first snowstorm collapsed BYKlyn’s canopy. The structure took a few days to rebuild. Ms. O’Malley stayed up late checking Row House security cameras after the storm, not for damage, but to monitor Boston’s snow removal.

“I had four classes scheduled that were completely booked, so I needed to make sure they plowed the wharf,” she said.

In Chicago, Studio Three member surveys indicated people would be willing to come out in 15-degree weather, but Mr. Blitz isn’t convinced. “I think 20 degrees is probably the limit, he says. “We’ll see.”