There was a sense of excitement at the Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre (BALC) on Thursday morning after Ballarat City Council announced the facility would begin to host fitness classes outside.
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The announcement comes as COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease, now allowing groups of less than 10 people to exercise outside together under the pretense that people remain socially distant.
No membership is needed as each class is booked on a casual basis. Classes will cost $10 per person per session and payment can be made via eftpos in person prior to the session starting.
Ballarat City Councillor Belinda Coates said she is very excited to see the centre open back up in this capacity to help community members exercise.
"We're very excited to be able to bring back some of our fitness sessions to the Ballarat community," she said.
"It is incredibly important to have the reopening - even if it is in a staggered and staged way - of facilities so people can access the facilities that they know and love.
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"People are really hanging out to get back involved so having that staggered reopening is really great."
Cr Coates added while these classes will be different from what some community members may be used to, the importance of physical and mental well-being during this period is vast.
"These sessions are going to look a little different to what people normally expect from a BALC class, but they will definitely get your heart rate up and have you remembering what a workout is like at the end of a session," Cr Coates continued.
"Keeping active and staying healthy is an important part of living in this new pandemic-normal world. Our outdoor fitness sessions are just one way for us to support our community to continue to be active during this time."
These sentiments were echoed by BALC manager Michael Riseley, who added his staff and trainers are thrilled to be able to work with community members again.
"Even looking at our instructors and staff, we're really keen to get them back into their jobs and roles that they enjoy doing," he said.
"They've really missed working with their customers just as much as their customers have missed working with them.
"Our staff do their jobs because they love working with people and delivering the physical and mental health benefits that go along with these classes."
He added the importance he feels the sessions will play in helping provide a sense of normality for community members who previously were involved in classes like these.
"The pandemic obviously brought a lot of change to people's lifestyles," he continued.
Getting people into some sort or normality and helping people to return to their routines to whatever extent we can is our goal.
- Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre manager Michael Riseley
The sessions will run at 9am and 5pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and at 9am, 11am and 5pm on Tuesday and Thursday.
The sessions will be capped at 10 participants until June 1. After that the maximum amount will increase to 20.
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