The Evolution of Classes at BHC

February 7, 2023

Dear Members,

Well, that month blew by!  We are now in the full swing of 2023. The Holidays and January are behind us and we are seeing the hours of daylight increasing every day. 

The new year brought us many new members along with existing members refocusing on their fitness endeavors at the Club and in our virtual classes. There is a feeling of renewed energy and a sense that we are going to be fine as we live in the new normal going forward and distancing ourselves from what we had gone through over the past few years.

On March 16, 2020, we were forced to completely close the Club down because of COVID. At the time, we had about 600 member visits a day and 110 classes a week at the Club.

Karen Gable, our Class Director at the time, managed all those classes. Within a few weeks of being closed down, Karen figured out a way to put 50 of the classes online for our members and to keep many of our class instructors working. At that time, hardly anyone knew what “Zoom” was, let alone try and run a class using it.

When we were finally able to have classes back “in-studio” again at the Club, the initial expectation was to end the virtual classes and just have in-studio classes as in the past. But the feedback from our members was quite mixed. Many could not wait to get back in person doing classes and the feeling of camaraderie that brings. Other members had really embraced the method of doing their classes at their home while following the instructor online.  With quite a bit of time now under our belts working on accommodating what our members want, we have quite a mix of virtual only classes, in-studio only classes and “hybrid” classes that are performed in-studio with the instructor that is also online to provide participation virtually.  Another offering we are working on is to have the instructor that is not physically at the club be projected on the wall in studio Y (via Zoom) and have participants in-studio participating in that class. Not sure yet what we should call that – “Reverse Virtual” ?

In addition to this is our Silver Sneakers classes at Leif Erickson Hall half a block away that has a room that is about twice as big as our Studio Y and it has been a very popular routine with many of our Seniors.

I do want to thank our Class Director, Marianne Clarke, and all our instructors for doing what they do to provide such a positive and beneficial environment for our members. If you have yet to enjoy a class at BHC, I highly recommend you give it a shot, it is quite an uplifting and rewarding experience.

Sincerely,

Pat Gilbrough

Owner, General Manager

pat@ballardhealthclub.com