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SAs First CV-19 Free FitPods set the Pace for the Future of Indoor Workouts
- Sonja Bezuidenhout
- Aug 19, 2020
- 2 min read
If you are anything like me - 'kriewelrig', curious and addicted to that floppy feeling after a gruelling workout, then the lockdown put a spanner in the works regarding controlled indoor workout environments. I'm over it...
After joining Ideas Cartel's CEO and founder, Schuyler Vorster and his team in the wee morning hours for my first demo of their 'FitPods', I was hooked. Fast-forward two days of FitPod trials and I was pitching my PR services hard. If there is something you love doing and have the chance to add it to your professional repertoire, it's worth putting in your all. Following a series of interviews with the likes of ENCA, Business Day, Independent Newspapers, KFM, Smile FM etc., PR!ME onboarded as Ideas Cartel's dedicated PR, yay! #ProudAsHell
Since the government’s lockdown instigation shut the country behind closed doors in March this year, numerous industries have been tied in a knot. A month ago (July 2020), there were expectations of more than 80 percent of gyms to close.
Offering a full circle hybrid environment (coworking, FitPods, dining, hotels), Ideas Cartel felt the blow of the pandemic in all sectors. It motivated the team to 'think outside of the box' and develop partitions of Loop Street location into bases for South Africa’s first COVID-19 compliant and private FitPods.
Photo credit: www.ideascartel.com
Currently, the 5m x 5m+ glass-sealed spaces are operational at the 113 Loop Street setting while more are being developed at the inner-city Old Foundry and 71 Waterkant Hotels, and Casa Labia in Muizenberg.
The respective pods are fitted for indoor running, spinning, rowing, yoga, and boxing and everything else you would need to complete a full-body workout - just like in a conventional gym space.
According to Vorster, as we may be moving into a COVID-19 conscious era, work and active environments are going to change rapidly. “The development of flexible yet private gym spaces mirrors the uptake of co-working hot desks and interactive spaces as opposed to commercial, ‘anchored’ offices. FitPods are the future of gyms.”
ICs team has taken significant steps to safeguard the health of its hotel guests, co-working tenants, FitPod users and staff. This includes instituting hygiene and preventative measures based on WHO guidelines, government requirements, and its own creative initiatives to limit the transmission of COVID-19 in a safe exercise-friendly space. From check-in and the walk-through to the FitPod, including on-site shower facilities, safety and hygienic checks and requirements are documented.
For guests checking in at 113 Loop Street, the use of the FitPod is included in their stay. CCO and Cartel Fit members can book an hour session after registering on the Cartel app from the App Store and Google Play (non-binding monthly membership). The FitPod can be booked from R149 per hour session and two people can share one pod at the cost of a single session. Club members and co-working tenants receive various discounts. Bookings are subject to availability between 5:00 and 19:00 daily.
Follow updates on the latest FitPod developments, follow Ideas Cartel on Instagram, Facebook and Vorster’s LinkedIn, and join the Cartel Fit WhatsApp group.
For more information, visit ideascartel.com/
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