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Gyms offer cut-price deals to tempt back 'nervous' fitness fanatics

A gym member sanitises gym equipment after use at a branch of Ultimate Fitness - Morgan Harlow/PA
A gym member sanitises gym equipment after use at a branch of Ultimate Fitness - Morgan Harlow/PA
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter

Gyms are offering free memberships and cut price deals in a bid to tempt people back following lockdown.

Leisure centres were allowed to reopen just over a fortnight ago as long as they followed strict rules which included spacing out equipment and removing sweat towels from the exercise floor.

Glen Hall, of Parkwood Leisure, which operates around 80 centres, said that the response since reopening had been “overwhelming”, but that the number of people working out in the firm’s gyms was still only at between 20 and 30 per cent of normal levels.

He said: “I think most of the sector is doing a promotion, really just to stimulate that interest. People have returned but obviously not to pre-Covid levels so the promotions are very much to stimulate demand.”

Parkwood is offering existing members 50 per cent off in August, to reflect the reduced service on offer with swimming pools closed, and has also removed its joining fee with some discount memberships available.

Mr Hall said a number of Parkwood’s members are yet to unfreeze their memberships.

He added: “We expected people to be nervous and I think every operator would agree there is still an element of that.

“But once people come and experience the environment and how we have spaced out the equipment there has been an overwhelming feeling of good will and I’m confident that will swell over time.”

Other gym brands are also offering discounts. The Village Gym, which has a number of sites around the country, is offering August membership for free with £200 of rewards, while Puregym has temporarily axed its joining fee at some of its gyms.

Puregym said this was normal commercial activity and not a result of the pandemic. A spokesman added: “We are pleased with the member reaction to our reopening in what is typically the quietest period of the year for gyms.

“The vast majority of members are continuing their membership but some have opted to take advantage of our offer to freeze their membership for free.”

The firm has seen more than a million visits since reopening across its 230 gyms.