CARSTAIRS - CrossFit Carstairs gym owner Michelle Ball says she would like to open her doors to more clients right now, but the province’s Step 2 of re-opening doesn’t make that possible.
The province relaxed restrictions on gyms last week to enable low-intensity fitness.
CrossFit is a high intensity, interval-style fitness program that pulls from multiple sports and aims to improve physical and cardiovascular fitness.
Ball, who owns the gym with her husband Luke, says because Step 2 only allows for low-intensity workouts at gyms, her facility can’t ramp up its client numbers.
“We are doing a modified one-on-one system, but it limits us so much with numbers that we are open to some members but no new members. Our hands are tied,” said Ball.
“Crossfit by definition is high-intensity training and it is listed as one of the exercises that is not allowed to happen in Step 2. Before we can have our full membership access it will be Step 3.
“Right now we are strictly structuring it as a one-on-one class system. We are allowing our members to come in but they have to be training one-on-one.”
The gym could re-open strictly as a weight-lifting facility, “but then how do you monitor everybody to make sure that their intensity is low enough to be considered low-intensity?” she said.
The gym is doing classes for kids and teens but “I’ve got a huge wait list because I can only allow nine at a time, with one trainer,” she said.
Ball is one of the gym owners who took part in a recent town hall hosted by the province regarding gyms
“They basically said the only way you can get away with low-intensity exercise is if you are doing yoga or pilates or Tai Chi that is not going to accelerate your heart rate to get you into heavy breathing, and even lifting weights is going to do that.”
