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returned to gyms and fitness centers after more than a year of exercising at home, if they exercised at all.

“I think people are way more conscious about their health than they’ve ever been,” said Emma Skelton, fitness and wellness director for Proehlific Park in northwest Greensboro. Eberly is one of her new training clients.

The pandemic “has made people evaluate where they are and how much they’ve let themselves go,” Skelton said.

Aside from getting vaccinated, some people are seeking better fitness and nutrition to fend off the virus if it were to resurge or were followed by another contagion, she added.

The pandemic “scared a lot of people,” she said, leaving some to worry “they may get it (when) they’re not in good shape.”

Elderly people have been the slowest to return to Proehlific Park, wary of the health risks of COVID-19. But the concerns are easing, said Skelton, noting that three of her five new clients are older than 60.

“Every one of them had gotten out of shape or had some type of health scare or health issue,” Skelton said. “It has made them rethink how they’re taking care of themselves as they’re aging.”

Rising mental stress during the pandemic may have demotivated people from exercising, according to a survey of 1,669 people, mostly women, by researchers from McMaster University and Western University in Ontario, Canada.

“Maintaining a regular exercise program is difficult at the best of times and the conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic may be making it even more difficult,” according to the study published in April by PLOS One, a nonprofit publisher of peerreviewed scientific research.

Those who reported the biggest deterioration of their mental health were also among the least active respondents, compared to six months before the pandemic.

The majority of respondents “were unmotivated to exercise because they were too anxious, lacked social support and had limited access to equipment or space,” the survey said.

The survey found those who continued exercising were less motivated by physical health outcomes, such as weight loss or strength, than relief from anxiety and other mental health concerns.

Researchers said engaging in half an hour of moderately intense aerobic exercise three times a week may be as effective as taking antidepressant medicine and enduring drug-related side effects such as nausea, fatigue and loss of appetite.

The survey’s findings ring true locally. Returning to the gym appears to have improved people’s mental as well as physical health, observed Vocke, of the Spears YMCA.

“You overhear conversations, with people saying, ‘I’ve not seen you for a year. It’s so good to be back,’” she said. “Not only did it boost their mood, it also helped jump-start the physical aspect of it.”

“Except for people dying, the worst thing coming out of COVID was that the gyms were closed,” said Bill Gibson, who joined Spears YMCA in February after retiring and moving to Greensboro from Tempe, Arizona.

Reopening of the YMCA “totally motivated me because I’m playing catch-up,” said Gibson, who exercises at Spears regularly after exercising at home during the pandemic. “I lost a lot of muscle mass and endurance.”

Maria Langman has returned to Proehlific Park five days a week.

“When COVID came and I couldn’t go to the gym, I was devastated,” she said.

Although Langman walked to maintain her fitness, she said she missed “the weights and the (exercise) bands and the camaraderie. As soon as they opened, I was here with a mask on. It was a joy to come back to the gym. My motivation: get toned up and see people again.”

For Stephanie Cordisco, the onset of the pandemic in early 2020 coincided with her diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. Aiming to reduce stress, she resigned from her position as vice president and general manager of outdoor and sportswear brand Icebreaker, a unit of VF Corp.

Cordisco, her husband, Chris, and their three sons had moved from Greensboro to Denver, Colorado, when VF relocated their corporate headquarters there. Last year, the family returned to North Carolina, with Cordisco running a marketing consultancy from her Summerfield home.

“COVID and the diabetes diagnosis made me reprioritize my life,” said Cordisco, who has swapped international business traveling and late work nights for dinners with her family. She’s improved her diet and exercises daily, starting with two hours first thing in the morning, rather than working out only when she could find the time.

At 43, Cordisco said she’s “probably in the best shape of my life.”

“Being able to take care of myself and my health was the most important thing,” she said. “The quality and ease of life is more aligned with what we need right now.”

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