The restrictions have been lifted, and people are heading back to the gym.

Pandemic measures forced the closure of fitness facilities several times over the past two years, with the final one happening from mid-December to mid-January.

That meant the annual rush of New Year's Day fitness fanatics didn't happen.

However, since masks have been removed and vaccine passports are no longer needed, people of all ages are heading back to the gym.

Chris Woods of Vernon's Iron Heart gym says regulars and new members are showing up to work out.

“It's been nice to see. It seems like it is busier than before,” said Woods. “Obviously, mental health is a big part of it and the more they work out, the better they feel mentally and physically.”

At CrossFit Vernon, business has also picked up.

Jeremy Meredith says some members who were impacted by the vaccine passport have returned and some new members have signed up as well.

He said when gyms reopened in January, he saw a large influx of new members.

“The January rush combined with the reopening of gyms was kind of like a double whammy rush of new members,” said Meredith.

In South Vernon, business is booming at Snap Fitness, which is open 24 hours a day.

Beth Gabel has been the manager of Snap Fitness Vernon for the past year. She says once restrictions were lifted and the doors were open, “everyone was so hyped to be back. All of our original members have returned to the club plus our New Years get-fit crowd began filtering in after we were open.”

Gabel said the gym is seeing lots of new faces, young and old.

“The age range is fantastic. We have 16, 17, 18-year-old kids now all in the gym having a great time,” said Gabel. “A huge, diverse crowd came back. More than we actually expected.

“A lot of the teen kids you could tell they were really affected during the closure, especially not being in organized sports, not being in school. We had an influx of (high school) students and university students coming back to us.”

Kendra Castro says the dynamics of the gym have changed.

“We have a wide range of people I would say, all the way up to seniors,” said Castro, who works the front desk and is often the first person new members see.