We may just have graduated from advanced alert level 3 to alert level 2, but sadly, that has come too late for many gyms and fitness centres across the country.

It’s become clear that in order to stay alive, the industry will have to adapt, and that’s something that Ideas Cartel (IC) founder and CEO Schuyler Vorster is no stranger to.

Vorster and his team recently landed on the idea of modifying the coworking spaces at the Ideas Cartel Loop Street location into safe, singular pods, dubbed FitPods, which are fully COVID-19 compliant.

Starting from five-square-metre+, these glass-sealed spaces are operational at 113 Loop Street, 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, with all the equipment required for a full-body workout.

Here’s more from Vorster:

“The development of flexible yet private gym spaces mirrors the uptake of coworking hot desks and interactive spaces as opposed to commercial, ‘anchored’ offices. Pods are the future of gyms.

We want to start eliminating the limitations brought by the pandemic and give people the opportunity to move as freely as possible within a safe and hygienic environment, may it be to exercise, work, learn, sleep, eat and connect otherwise.”

Those sentiments are echoed by trainer Stirling Shaw:

“With the closing of gyms and limited opportunities to exercise in a COVID-19 free zone, the FitPod is a great, innovative solution to help you take ownership of your fitness.”

ICs team has taken significant steps to safeguard the health of its hotel guests, coworking 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.

IC’s FitPods are just the latest in a long history of innovation, with the coworking collective having expanded to offer hotel facilities, bars, club member lounges, and delis.

To keep its members engaged during the lockdown, a Cartel Connect Online (CCO) app (App Store and Google Play) was created.

For just R99 a month, members receive access to virtual networking, a virtual personal assistant, online food deliveries from its deli, and, more recently, live-streamed fitness coaching and music by local DJ favourites.

The FitPods can be booked from R199 per hour session for non-members, between the hours of 5AM and 7PM daily, and two people can share one pod at the cost of a single session.

CCO members get a discounted rate of R149 per hour, and all other members (Travellers Club, Cartel Club, Inner City) get a discounted rate of R100 per hour.

You’ll find details of the various memberships here, and if you want to dip a toe in the water, you can book ONE FREE SESSION here.

To keep up to speed with the latest FitPod developments, follow Ideas Cartel on Instagram and Facebook, and you can also join the Cartel Fit WhatsApp group if you have any questions.