Anytime Fitness trainer Lea Roe sprays down the dumbbells with a disinfecting spray Wednesday in preparation for a Friday reopening.--NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
Fitness enthusiasts breathed a collective sigh of relief Tuesday when the province announced that gyms would be able to open as early as Friday.
It’s now up to the gym owners to make sure their facilities are safe for people to use, and that they follow guidelines put out by the province.
Anytime Fitness owner Brian Kyle says he is excited to be able to open his doors again and to see people reaching their fitness goals.
“I was super happy to hear news of reopening,” he said. “I think the regulations make a lot of sense and they are fair.”
Gyms and fitness centres are required to continually clean and sanitize equipment throughout the day. They have also been told to space out equipment to promote physical distancing between patrons. Additional space between cardio equipment like rowing machines and bikes is encouraged. Designated areas for things like stretching, kettle bell exercises, heavy rope and tire flip movements is required. Gym owners are asked to consider using tape on floors to define designated areas. Barriers between equipment that can’t be moved is encouraged as well. Spotting during heavy lifting exercises is allowed.
Kyle says his gym will be open on Friday and that new measures will be put into place for patrons.
“We’ve been sanitizing and disinfecting even more than we were before the shutdown,” he said. “We’re putting up barriers between the cardio equipment, and we’re going to have barriers on wheels so people can move them around as they need.”
Back Alley Fitness owner Colin DeWolfe says he was part of lobby groups that worked with the government to help bring people their gyms back.
“We’ve been working with lobby and advocacy groups within the fitness community,” he said. “Over the past few weeks, a reopening really started to become a reality in our eyes, so we started to make sure that we’d be ready.”
DeWolfe added that his gym will be open Saturday for people to use and that the regulations turned out to be quite reasonable.
“I think these will allow people to get settled into their routine quite quickly,” he said. “I know every facility is different, but it’s going to be on us as gym owners and trainers to ensure people are distancing in our facilities.
“We’re going to encourage people to clean equipment before they use it and after they use it.”
Temple Fitness part owner Bruce Foerster says getting open and seeing familiar faces is going to be great.
“Being closed for three months has been tough on people,” he said. “Fitness is so important for people, on both the physical and mental side of things.
“We’re really excited to be back.”
Foerster says Temple is planning a Monday opening.
