Mental health focused Leeds studio gym amongst those forced to stay closed under Tier 3 restrictions

North Studio in Roundhay, Leeds is one of the many studio gyms in the area which will not be allowed to open on Wednesday as the national lockdown is lifted.

But, under the Tier 3 restrictions across Leeds and in all Tiers across the country, gyms will be allowed to open.

Owner of the Roman Terrace based studio, Rachel Woolford, feels that exercise spaces like hers are being treated unfairly after the initial opening of North Studio was delayed five months due to the first lockdown.

The 25-year-old said: “It’s so frustrating because gyms in all tiers are allowed to open which of course is amazing but we’ve fallen through the net with this single rule about group classes.

“The biggest part for me is not just about the physical side of things but the mental side - it’s about mental health not calories.

“In the three months we were open we built a community and really helped people to escape and break up their day especially when working from home.

“I just don’t see the difference between people all socially distanced doing the same exercises in my gym studios to people doing different exercises whilst distancing in a ‘normal’ gym.”

Rachel believes her exercise studio is safer than a larger gym with staff on hand to take temperature checks and ensure sanitisation on every member’s arrival and staff around to ensure distancing is upheld at all times.

She added: “I can clean every piece of equipment between each class, there’s an empty treadmill between each one that can be used and the building is actually really cold due to constant fresh air ventilation.

“We were already working on 50 per cent capacity during the months that we could be open and I’m just frustrated by the fact that this isn’t enough and I don’t understand why.

“If the whole gym sector was closed then fair enough but to be singled out is just absolutely gutting.”

Rachel has frozen all of her member’s membership accounts and extended all class passes into next year which means the studio’s income in the first half of 2021 will be minimised.

She said: “People have already bought their classes so they aren’t going to be buying new ones when we’re allowed to re-open in say January.

“Not only that but the virtual classes we put on are becoming less popular as people have online fatigue and don’t want to spend their days on Zoom.

"There’s also a lot of free content out there so why would they pay for mine.”

When the news broke that lockdown would force her studio to stay closed, Rachel managed to rent all her equipment out within one day to members who had not already left her to re-join other gyms which will be allowed to open.

She said: “I’ll keep running the health cafe for takeaways on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays as I want to keep my staff in work as much as possible and keep our community alive.

“Apart from that I’m worried as these measures are just not sustainable long term.”