Guayaquil gyms: online training and equipment rental to avoid going bankrupt

Paula Jairala  is one of the teachers who took advantage of the opportunity to teach her classes on  Live Streaming  starting two months ago as a way to keep in touch with her face-to-face clients of her gym and with the passing of the days the response of her students It was positive, which is why it now has more than 70 people who follow it under this modality but already in a paid way.

Paula Jairala is one of the teachers who took the opportunity to teach her classes on Live Streaming in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Gym owners are well aware that these establishments are one of the places where there is a high risk of COVID-19 infection, a disease that has kept the world paralyzed and expectant for three months.

It is impossible to train with a mask, those who exercise change machines constantly, it takes time to disinfect them and worse to respect the distance of 2 meters.

So these businesses have had to reinvent themselves in order not to fail. Some gyms and crossfit boxes have chosen to rent their equipment so that students can continue training at home and have also implemented online classes and training through virtual platforms such as Zoom.

All this is accompanied by physical, nutritional and psychological monitoring and motivation, says Mapi Zambrano, a coach at Kallpa, a center where crossfit, functional exercises and even yoga are practiced.

All these classes are available online and the trainer assures that now they even have students from other countries, not only are there regular clients, so she says that the gym is about to launch a website and an application to upload routines.

Being part of these online trainings , which have no limit, costs $ 40 per month. There are classes in the morning and in the afternoon. The monthly fee at Kallpa was $ 100.

Zambrano says that in this way and with the rental of the equipment they are maintaining the business and that only one worker was liquidated, the rest of the coaches have organized their groups and win according to how many students they have.

There, for example, a pair of dumbbells is rented for $ 50; the bars, at $ 55; and a box to practice crossfit, at $ 20.

Regarding the premises where the gym is located, in Samborondón, they have deducted 10% from the rent.

Mapi believes that when the quarantine is over and the gyms reopen, online classes will be maintained because it is a niche in which they are succeeding.

Mario offers a $ 70 monthly package. “There you have a training schedule and nutritional guide, plus 24/7 advice in the WhatsApp group. If you take this package you will receive a kettlebell, a dumbbell and a mat, ”says the coach, who indicates that they also have a $ 50 plan, which does not include the equipment.

Some figures

• A yoga mat and two 8-pound dumbbells cost $ 68 at thesportshop.com. Free home delivery.
• $ 70 costs a month of crossfit at Antares gym. Includes shipping a kettlebell, a dumbbell, and a mat.
• $ 50 dumbbell rental cost; the bars, $ 55; and a box to practice crossfit, $ 20, at the Kallpa gym.

Home gyms

During a crisis some lose and others win and that is what happens in this fitness market.

Despite the closure, people do not stop exercising and those who sell sports equipment online have tripled their sales. This is what happened in recent months to The Sport Shop, a virtual store that has been running for a year and a half, but that has never sold so many products.

They offer all the brands on the market, ship at home at no cost and accept all forms of payment.

Álex Almeida, one of the store’s owners, assures that what they are selling the most are: mats, weights, balls, yoga implements, bars and sportswear.

Protein and supplements are also promoted on Facebook with free shipping. There is also tatami (rubber floor) to install at home and not damage the floor. Cardacio sells the square meter for $ 22. (I)