04/09/2020
A TOAST to CHANGE... the industry and economy has changed and we are changing too...
As I write this post, I have been running a low grade fever the last few days and have general body achiness, slight headache and general fatigue. I experienced a couple days of fatigue and lack of sleep leading up to this and some really slight labored breathing a couple nights ago depending on what position I was lying in. No, I have not been tested or diagnosed as of this writing, but I don’t normally get sick like this at this time of year either. Besides grocery shopping I haven’t been around the public for over a week other than a lunch with only 3 tables of two people each well spread out in a huge restaurant over a week ago. I have an 88 year old father who lives with us and needs daily assistance so suffice to say the situation is a little stressed more so because it is hard to keep any distancing when you need to perform many daily functions around and for others.
I know what everyone is thinking… but I am hopeful it is just a short “thing” and like many of you feel “let’s just get this over with”, but without further testing who knows. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is only to keep you from spreading the problem, that will likely eventually pass and leave little affects but it is that thought you have right now as you read this that is the problem with the industry and the general economy; the paralysis that comes with fear of getting sick right now. It is causing most people to hunker down and not go to gyms, restaurants, movie theaters, bars, concerts... After having been in a government mandated shut-down for almost half the year, even as the government allows us and these other industries to open, the paralysis and the many options available to everyone has pushed people to alternatives.
Although not all bad, some of those changes are actually an improvement in how we spend our time and the quality of our lives.
All of the above is a microcosm of how many of our clients feel in general about being out in crowded areas at this time. They may not fear it, but if they can avoid it they will and prioritize the most important essentials for their lifestyle. Many things don’t kill you, but being sick sucks and takes away from the gains and productivity of your life in general. In addition, nobody wants to be responsible for hastening the little time some others around us have left if it can be avoided.
But that all being said, changes can sometimes be positive and can open our eyes to what may have been negative or wasted energy better put to use elsewhere.
Although 2020 has been a tough year for everyone it’s been particularly devastating for gym owners in Arizona that have been essentially shut down since March. No membership revenue for almost 6 months is more weight than most business can sustain but given the state of Arizona’s last executive order on how we could open, and the general population sentiment about returning to normal activities, we no longer believe there is a business model we can make work at least for the foreseeable future or remainder of this year. So we are looking at change as well.
You may not be aware but gyms in Maricopa county are allowed to open at 25% capacity, 6 feet of distancing and the wearing of masks while training. At least 30-40% of what we do is grappling (wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) which cannot be performed with 6 feet of distancing. Most of the rest is kickboxing which requires high intensity cardio work and is very difficult to sustain not to mention dangerous with a mask on. The state has said that any activity requiring high intensity work making it hard to breath through a mask should not be performed at this time. Clients would tend to agree that a mask is suboptimal for kickboxing. Even the strength and conditioning work is difficult for us to perform safely as that room is much smaller at about 1/6 of the facility and difficult to distance properly as we don’t use machines such as an EOS or Mountainside Fitness. In short, the governments regulations at this time make it impossible for us to operate properly or profitably legally.
We have been asked about and we are aware there are and have been gym and martial art schools operating against state laws to survive and we wish them and their clients well but we intend to follow the law as it is currently being written and interpreted during the Covid pandemic.
The Pandemic has changed this industry and we realize it may not come back anytime soon if ever and we aren’t going to be able to salvage the economic model we originally created for our business. As such, like many of you, we are going to be evolving with it and leaving the combat training model behind and transitioning into our health and fitness assessment and technology business full-time.
We have another entity, Six Sigma Fitness LLC (sixsigfit.com) that is in the health assessment and software technology business that we will be giving 100% of our effort to. We hope to have more news regarding that business and UltraFit’s Clinical Assessment Programs in the near future, but we won’t be actively training inside of a traditional brick and mortar structure anymore. We appreciate the UltraFit family we cultivated and will continue to be active here and in the Cloud in the future. So here’s to evolving…