Beverly Gym Owner Sees Confidence Boost From Eased Restrictions

BEVERLY, MA — Nearly a year into the coronavirus health crisis — and seven months after his two Mass. Blink Fitness locations reopened in Beverly and Medford — Steve Stabile is starting to see some older, familiar faces once again.

While Stabile said the attendance at the spacious gyms was steady throughout the summer, fall and even into the early winter when tightened restrictions of 25 percent capacity amid a holiday surge of coronavirus cases capacity caused wait lines outside the gyms. But over the past few weeks, as state restrictions have eased first to 40 percent and then 50 percent capacity as of Monday, while those over 65 years old have started to get their vaccinations, Stabile said many of those hesitant to hit the gym during the pandemic are starting to gain newfound confidence.

"We had a lot of signups over the past seven months," Stabile told Patch. "We've lost members and we've gained quite a few. A little bit of our clientele changed. But now we are getting some of our former members to come back a little more in that older age group.

"Now that they've gotten vaccinated, they feel more comfortable and are excited to get back to the gym. They missed it."

Along with indoor dining at restaurants, gyms were at the center of debate for much of the past year between those who looked for relaxed restrictions and a touch of normalcy as coronavirus numbers waned at points and those who viewed any unnecessary indoor activities as a threat to the region's greater health.

While transmission rates within gyms were extremely low, those who severely limited all contact with the public for the past year considered it even a remote risk not worth taking amid the unpredictability of the virus.

"It was fear of the unknown, which is understandable," Stabile said. "(The recent improvements are) definitely going to help. It's good to hear people talking about getting back to the gym."

On Monday, the state moved to Phase 3, Step 2 of its reopening, which allowed for unlimited capacity at restaurants while maintaining social distancing requirements, and 50 percent capacity for gyms, stores, offices and the reopening of some indoor recreational venues.

"As COVID cases go down, as vaccinations go up, you will find people more comfortable and more willing to go out and 'play' a little bit," Gov. Charlie Baker said during his news conference announcing the eased restrictions last Thursday. "Part of the message (with improving numbers) is that it's OK to go back to doing some of the things you were doing before."

The statewide seven-day rolling average positive test rate, which reached as high as 8.6 percent in early January, stood at 1.83 percent as of Tuesday.

Those attending gyms must still wear masks while working out and equipment must be socially distanced or separated with partitions. For large gyms like the Blink locations, which are between 17,000 and 19,000 square feet, that means up to 150 to 175 people can work out at once.

Stabile said the locations adhere to strict physical distance and sanitizing protocols and that Blink has enforced the mask policy since reopening even though it wasn't originally required while members were actively working out.

"We had some pushback (on masks) at first," Stabile said. "But all in all our members appreciated that we were enforcing because it helped them feel safe while they were here."

Full List: What's changed this week in Massachusetts

Like most gym owners across the state, Stabile points to the numbers as evidence working out at a gym is a safe activity if guidelines are followed.

"We've had 200,000 check-ins and not one case has come back to start in any of our gyms," he said. "That's something we're proud of."

Blink has a "capacity tracker" that allows members to check the crowd level at a gym and Stabile added lifestyle changes — likely associated with more people working at home — have lessened "peak times" and resulted in a more even flow of members coming to the gym over the course of the day.

Stabile said all the same protocols will remain in place at the Blink locations for the foreseeable future but that he is happy the eased restrictions and vaccinations are giving a signal to the public that it's OK to at least dip a toe in some of the activities that make them healthy, but that they may have missed for the better part of the year.

"You can see people are coming in and can see the consumer confidence is there," he said. "We're excited to be moving in the right direction. We hope it keeps going as weeks and months go along and things get back to normal so we can get into a phase of reducing masks in the long haul.

"Consumer confidence is definitely up. With the different age groups, the first to leave were the last to come back. But we're happy to have everyone."

Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

More Patch Coverage: 'Next Normal:' Broad Reopening Measures Outlined In Massachusetts