BUTTE — Well, it’s a new year and many people are taking the challenge of getting fit as a resolution. At the same time, many people in the fitness industry in Butte are meeting the challenge of getting people in the door and keeping them here.
“We’ll never be what it was before COVID, but I think just making the prices affordable for people, we added some scholarship programs. We don’t want that to be a barrier, we want everyone to enjoy it,” said Kinetic Fitness owner Melissa Kindt.
January is a big month for gyms with many people making resolutions to get in shape and joining gyms.
“Yeah, definitely we’ve seen a big uptick in past members ready to come back or new members or people in general wanting to start a new challenge for themselves,” Kindt said.
The next challenge is keeping these new members coming back. Trainers encourage new members to start slow to avoid burnout.
“Give it six weeks on whether you’re going to quit or not because nobody gets something on the first try or likes it because they don’t know how to do it,” said the Butte YMCA’s Fitness Director Laurie Peterson.
Kindt showed me some simple techniques for people getting back into working out after a lapse.
“So the weight is pretty darn light, it’s 5 pounds,” said Kindt.
“Five pounds?!? I can handle five … ,” said John Emeigh.
“You don’t have to come in at the highest fitness level to try and keep up with everyone. Everything we do here is customizable, modifiable for everyone,” said Kindt.
Peterson added that at the YMCA, “The members here are like a family and they welcome new members and help with anybody new coming in all the time. You’re never going to feel like you don’t belong here.”
