![]() 31, according to statistics from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association. Nationally, 1.4 million fitness industry employees lost jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic as of Dec. “Because PTAs (physical therapy assistants), personal trainers, massage therapists, all the backgrounds we were looking for - that prior knowledge - they were all out of work.” “We had 40, 50 qualified candidates apply,” she said. Janna Proctor, who owns the franchise in Centerville, said the studio’s recent opening attracted practitioners hurt by the economic impacts of virus restrictions. Stretch companies typically require a certification and experience in another bodywork field, plus additional training in their particular method. No accreditation is yet available for stretch technicians. Four-, eight- and 12-month packages are also available, as are family plans and group stretches. Sessions in Centerville range from $49 for a 25-minute stretch to $95 for a 50-minute stretch. It’s just getting an update.”Įvery company is a little different, but the technique generally involves a trained practitioner elongating a client’s muscles to somewhere past where they could get them on their own, and the client offering resistance for a period of time. “I mean it’s ancient, a lot of this stuff. “Stretch was definitely a trend going into COVID and probably got ramped up because of it,” she said, noting that ClassPass found that stretch classes were among the most popular online during COVID. That includes taking some activities and training online.īeth McGroarty, vice president for research at the non-profit Global Wellness Institute, said growing interest in stretch coincides with a new focus in the fitness world on recovery rather than just activity. “Our goal has always been to make it highly accessible to people - accessible from a price standpoint, from a location standpoint,” Chu said. “And as long as they’re not, or purporting themselves to be licensed medical professionals, then I don’t see much of a distinction between what they’re doing and offering a gym membership or a Pilates class or anything like that.”ĭesperation for physical touch and socialization during COVID-19 lockdowns came just as the stretching industry was already transitioning from an elite service centered in places like New York, Miami and Los Angeles to a retail model, said Vanessa Chu, who co-founded Stretch’d in New York City three years ago. “The essential question we have to ask ourselves related to any of these organizations that spring up is are they causing folks harm,” he said. He said the concept sounds like a hybrid between recreational fitness and insurance-covered wellness services. Loren Anthes, who follows the healthcare industry as a researcher at the Cleveland-based Center for Community Solutions, said stretch studios appear to be using a franchise model to offer lower prices for services resembling physical therapy and massage but delivered without the overhead and certifications required of skilled nursing facilities or hospitals. “We may not even know the other person, and yet we can still benefit in part from just the attention and the sense of connection that we have, but also from the touch itself.” Touch, he said, “is beneficial even when we don’t have a solid, strong emotional connection to the other person” - which can be the case with assisted stretching. A lack of casual touch - holding hands, hugging, putting one’s arm around somebody, shaking hands - can have a significant negative impact, Floyd said. Kory Floyd, a professor of communication and psychology at the University of Arizona, said activities that provide social interaction and some relief for “skin hunger” can help people manage stress better. ![]()
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