As level four restrictions across mainland Scotland prevent gyms and sports venues from opening, personal trainers have pleaded with potential clients to support their local instructors - instead of the latest celebrity fitness trainer doing the rounds online.
The industry, feeling financially starved due to lockdown restrictions, is now largely relying on remote coaching or online classes - after being dealt its latest blow when gyms were once again forced to close from Boxing Day.
Adapt Fitness Edinburgh co-founders Willow Brady and Lynette Low were taking a gamble when they chose to open their own gym space in October last year, they admitted, but have continued to rely upon the loyalty of their customers throughout lockdown.
Ms Brady, 25, said: We knew we were taking a risk by opening a physical fitness space in the midst of a global health crisis - but that really only gave us more justification for doing so.
“As professionals on the preventative side of sickness, it didn't feel appropriate to simply roll over, no matter how uncertain our success was forecast to be.
“It felt bold and courageous to put ourselves out there at such a fragile time and in some way, I think that gave our clients some hope - something positive to get behind. And it's possibly why they've stuck with our transition to remote training!”
Taking to social media, the personal trainer of five years told clients “we need you” as she shared a post urging Scots to support their local PTs, coaches, instructors and trainers.
It read: “Instead of your Joe Wicks, Les Mills on Demand, latest Celeb bandwagon, Peloton - go find the instructors who supports you week in, week out.
READ MORE: Sturgeon urges people to 'stay at home'
“Support your local instructors like they've supported all of you at one point in your fitness life.”
Making the case for local fitness trainers over a generic video posted to youtube, Ms Brady admitted it was hard to be mad about the Joe Wicks of this world.
Her motivation as a coach is to improve the health and wellbeing of her local community, and these celebrities “do succeed in getting people moving”, she conceded.
“But”, she added, “the popularity of these cheap and cheerful celebrity fitness packages and classes undoubtedly have implications for both the consumer and local fitness professionals or gyms.
“People see value for money because the price tag is low and the hype is high. However, what most of them don't realise is why those workout experience are priced so 'reasonably' - they offer extremely limited personal accountability to participants and they care little about what you do with the service once you pay up for their bulk sale product.
“Its like buying a generic table from IKEA versus a handcrafted piece from a local carpenter. When it comes to quality - you simply can't compare.”
Ian Blake, who has been in the fitness industry for over 16 years, feels that too often local fitness professionals are overlooked in favour of trending celebrities.
“People will always follow the new fitness craze, but unfortunately this is were my concerns for local trainers comes in.
“If you find a fantastic local trainer or coach, you are not only supporting the local economy but you are investing in yourself and your life.
“Most local coaches will be passionate about helping you and will have a genuine interest and concern about your health and well-being. These local trainers will be adaptable, will ask how you are, will support and guide you through your fitness journey.
READ MORE: Gyms must be allowed to open in level four coronavirus areas, say Tories
“You won’t be just another pound sign on a celebrity bank statement.”
Having gone through being furloughed twice, salary cuts, the closure of fitness facilities and his subsequent redundancy in the space of 10 months - the Elite Performance Scotland owner, based in Edinburgh, knows better than most how difficult lockdown has been for small businesses.
And he believes the survival of private and local trainers and businesses will continue to struggle without support.
But for Mr Blake, his biggest challenge was "adapting to a more home-based work approach, being a dad-of-three and trying to juggle between home school and outdoor or online coaching."
He said: "Like anything else in life, you need to adapt with the times and the current pandemic and flip it around into a positive. This meant looking at new ways of developing my business and how I can support my current client base."
Ms Brady added: “It's never been more critical that people invest in their local health and fitness professionals.
“At a time when our mental and physical wellbeing are being most hard pressed, fast food is available at the click of a button and we are up against a virus that feeds off of poor health, it's paramount that people take a stand by investing their money and time in businesses who are on the preventative end.
“There are businesses out there with countless highly skilled and incredible coaches/instructors all armed and ready to make a difference in tbe lives of local people by connecting with them on a personal level, barely managing to scrape by in this climate and its not okay.
“You vote with your wallet ultimately, and it's time we started voting to uplift the health of our community by investing in it.”
Stuart Mackinnon, deputy head of external affairs for the FSB in Scotland, said: “We know that there are thousands of businesses and people that work for themselves that have had little or no help throughout this crisis.
READ MORE: 10 more alternative methods to keep fit
“This has has been a particular problem for firms without dedicated premises. FSB has been making the case to governments in Edinburgh and London to plug the glaring gaps in support and get help to those who need it as soon as possible.
“Some Scottish councils have opened up new discretionary funding schemes for operators in need. Those firms and self-employed people facing severe difficulties should consider getting in touch with their local authority, as well as checking out the official guidance about the wider range of devolved financial help on offer at findbusinesssupport.gov.scot.”
Previously, when Nicola Sturgeon was asked whether she would consider "future flexibilities" such as reopening gyms while level four restrictions were in place, she said making sure Scots can exercise will be "at or very near the top of the government's list of priorities" in 2021.
Ms Brady said that the label of “leisure” - often applied to gyms - grossly undervalued the role they play, and stressed how good fitness and health are “the greatest weapons we have in the fight against coronavirus.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We won’t keep the current restrictions in place for a day longer than is necessary to suppress the virus, save lives and protect the NHS.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article