Happy New Year!

Personally, I’ve never been much of one when it comes to New Year Resolutions. I’ve always believed that if I want to make a change in my life, whether it be on a professional level or a personal level, to just rip the bandage and make that change right away. The idea of waiting for a new calendar year to begin in order to make a positive change has always perplexed me. Ofcourse I do understand as to why some people might feel that a fresh new year provides them with a fresh new start in life. It’s almost as if we can wipe the slate clean and leave all the drama, misfortunes and bullshit behind in the previous year. But in my opinion life doesn’t work like that. Problems from our past can still have an impact on our present and our future unless we deal with them accordingly. If there is anything that 2021 taught me, it’s that you really can’t sweep your problems under the rug and hope that they will just simply disappear. And as uncomfortable, painful and/or terrifying as it may be, I feel that we have to confront these issues before leaving them in the past for good.

2021 – The Year of COVID

I’m not going to lie. 2021 was without a doubt, one, if not the most challenging years that I’ve ever had to live through. As any Business Owner will tell you, running a business is not easy. Add in a Global Pandemic to the mix, a virus that refuses to die, and restrictions that are placed on your company by the Government in which you have no control over, and the thought of closing up shop and calling it quits becomes more of a reality with each passing day. And lets me honest, look at how many businesses collapsed in 2020 when the Coronavirus first shut down the world. Then in 2021, with the introduction of the new variants of the virus, many of these businesses, (including ours) were forced to close their doors once again. And the reality is that many, if not most of these businesses will not be able to survive these latest restrictions and shutdowns. Even once we do get some control over COVID-19, there is a recession looming and talks of inflation coming along the way. As much as I’ve tried to remain optimistic throughout these past two years, I can’t help but anxiously wonder as to what’s next for our society moving forward.

Switching Sides?

Throughout the past two years, I’ve tried my best to listen to the Science and support our Health Care Workers. And I’ve publicly stated time and time again, that I will continue to show my support because my number one concern is to prevent as many deaths as possible from occurring, while at the same time not allow our Health Care System to become overwhelmed. And for the record, I do take COVID-19 incredibly seriously. And I do understand that certain measures must be taken in order to help slow down the spread of the Coronavirus and it’s variants.

With all that said, I do find myself starting to question some of these measures that are being taken. Here in B.C. for example, all gyms are forced to remain closed, yet restaurants can remain open as long as they keep their seating capacity to no more then 6 people per table (enter big eye roll here). As a Business Owner, I am happy for the restaurants that they can remain open, as I know they took a massive hit to their businesses during the earlier stages of COVID-19. However as a Gym Owner, I see this measure being taken by the Government as more of a political move to show people that they are trying to do something to help slow the spread of this new variant called Omicron. Let’s keep it real, restaurants generate MUCH higher revenue than gyms do. And higher revenue equates to higher taxes being paid back to the Government by these types of businesses. The Government has spent/wasted so much money in the past two years dealing with this Pandemic that they need to ensure that a steady cash flow is still coming in. Hence why businesses like restaurants remain open.

Whether or not you agree or disagree with me on that statement is irrelevant. I think we can all agree though that regular exercise is not just important for our physical health, but equally as important for our mental health. And unfortunately I do believe the closure of gyms is going to cause some serious long term effects on both peoples’ mental and physical wellbeing, some of which will become irreversible.

My Stance on COVID-19

To be clear, I still believe in the Science and I will continue to support our Health Care Workers. I would however like to see the data and research that shows that gyms are super spreaders and are primarily responsible for the latest spread of this new variant as well as others. I have spoken with other gym owners across our Province, along with a few gym owners that I know in other parts of Canada as well as in the U.S. and not a single one of these owners has had a massive COVID outbreak at their training facility. Yes, I’m sure there are gyms across the globe in which COVID outbreaks have occurred. However I believe it’s the responsibility of those gym owners to set their own measures and put safety protocols in place to help avoid potential outbreaks from occurring again.

I should really only speak on behalf of our gym as throughout this entire Pandemic we have not had a single COVID outbreak, nor do we have any clients that have tested positive for COVID due to training at our facility. I understand that the new restrictions put in place are preventable measures. I guess I just don’t understand as to why the Government believes that being sedentary and stuffing our faces with greasy food and consuming copious amount of alcohol (both of which are allowed during this Pandemic) is any safer then contracting COVID. Last I checked, according to the World Health Organization, close to 20% of deaths worldwide are attributed to living an unhealthy lifestyle, which includes LACK OF EXERCISE and a POOR DIET.

Then again, what do I know? As long as the money keeps coming in, what’s a few hundred million deaths caused by living an unhealthy each year really matter?

“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.”
Thomas Jefferson

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance