woman working out at goodlife

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things – it has changed the way we work, how we socialize, who we can see, and where we can go.

From restaurants to retailers, hospitals to schools, and parks to gyms, everyone has had to find new ways to take care of their employees, their customers and the community.

These past few months have been the most challenging our Clubs, our Associates and our industry have ever faced. Change is hard, as is uncertainty, and since we closed our Clubs in March, there has been plenty of both.

Reopening GoodLife Clubs across the country is a complex undertaking and we are making every effort to make sure it is done with the utmost care. We have embarked on an unprecedented effort to ensure our Clubs are as safe as possible for all of our Members and Associates, and we are proud to share a reopening plan that is caring, informed and consistent.

Our plan is focused on three main areas: ensuring physical distancing, reducing capacity levels in our Clubs, and enhanced cleaning and sanitization practices. We have brought all three of these important considerations together to create The GoodLife Standard, a comprehensive playbook that continues to guide our reopening efforts.

This new standard has been months in the making, and has been developed with guidance from public health authorities and all levels of government, as well as through consultation with experts in healthcare, infection prevention, and cleaning and sanitization.

Our principles and procedures will be updated on a regular basis as we monitor public health guidelines and make any adjustments required to strike a balance between creating the safest possible environment and providing an exceptional experience for everyone in our Clubs.

Below, you’ll find a brief outline of our new Standard. You can read a complete version of The GoodLife Standard, which will be updated regularly, on our website.

CLEANING AND SAFETY PRACTICES

As we reopen our Clubs across the country, we are introducing a number of new cleaning practices and protocols. Updates to our safety cleaning practices include:

  • All GoodLife Clubs will undergo an intensive, deep clean, prior to reopening.
  • Our Clubs will close for 30 minutes after every hour of Member activity to reset and clean.
  • Our Associates will adopt a “constantly cleaning” mind-set, ensuring special attention is always given to high-touch surfaces.
  • All Associates will be required to wear masks, with the exception of group fitness instructors who are actively teaching a class.
  • We have procured a one-step hospital grade disinfectant and contact sanitizer that will be used for frequent touch-point cleaning throughout our clubs.
  • Additional hand sanitizer has been made available, including the installation of hand sanitizer stations at strategic locations throughout the club.
  • We have invested in 300 Victory Electrostatic Sprayers so that each club has its own dedicated device. When combined with our increased touch point disinfection and our industry leading cleaning program, this will ensure all our clubs receive a comprehensive thorough cleaning every day.

BOOKING & CAPACITY

With online booking, we are finding a balance between providing the safest Club environment possible and an exceptional experience for our Members.

Booking workouts allows each Club to maintain a pre-set capacity, helping us facilitate physical distancing and reduce the potential spread of communicable illnesses. This new system will also allow our Members to guarantee their workout time.

Using the GoodLife App or the Member portal on our website, Members can book into pre-scheduled one-hour time-slots in the General Workout Area, Group Fitness Studio or Cycling Studio up to seven days in advance. To ensure everyone has an opportunity to work out, we’ve limited bookings to one per day, but Members can access the Club through our walk-in system as many times as they’d like throughout the rest of the day, if space is available.

To create our booking system, we closely reviewed past check-in volumes, Club square footage and provincial government regulations. As we reopen, we’ll continue to monitor the system and Member feedback to update our procedures where needed.

CLASSES AND TRAINING

Personal Training and Group Fitness will continue to be available in Club, and they have been modified to meet our new standards.

In addition to offering a new Remote Personal Training option, we are introducing a number of guidelines to help enhance the safety of our in Club Personal Training sessions. All Personal Trainers will be required to wear a mask when training with clients. To ensure proper physical distancing measures, no physical contact will be permitted unless needed to ensure safety and prevent injury.

Members will continue to have access to an amazing selection of live and virtual Group Fitness classes. Studios and classes have been modified to ensure physical distancing is possible and to keep Members in a smaller general area during the course of the class. To reduce potential touch points, Group Fitness classes will be set-up for Members when they arrive, and equipment will be cleaned and put away by Associates following each class.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

We want to do what we can to support our Members and make them feel safe and prepared while working out during these unique times.

In addition to the robust standards we are implementing, we are also providing diverse options to accommodate our Members, like Remote Personal Training, digital workouts and content on our app and website. If someone is not ready to return to their Club right now, we are offering a free temporary Membership freeze.

COVID-19 has presented a new challenge, but we are up to the task. Together, we can all come out of this stronger if we work in unity to keep everyone healthy and safe. By taking care of those around us, we are also taking care of our community, and ultimately our country.

This pandemic has changed many things, but it has not changed our level of care and passion towards helping everyone in Canada live a healthy good life.

Photo credit: Trainer Academy