May 21, 2020 • 7 mins
As all 50 states are reopening in some form, how ready are gyms to reopen? For a lot of gym owners, there is a frustration in the lack of any strict guidelines. Temperature checks, extra cleaning, and hand sanitizer are a must, but face masks still present an uncertainty with some gyms letting the customers decide on whether to wear them. Hilary Potkewitz, contributor to the WSJ, joins us for how the first gyms are handling the comeback.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Thursday one. I'm oscar A Mirrors from the Daily
Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily
coronavirus update. As all fifty states are reopening in some form,
how ready are gyms to reopen? For a lot of
gym owners, there's a frustration in the lack of any
strict guidelines temperature checks, extra cleaning and hand sanitizer or
(00:21):
a must. But face masks still present an uncertainty, with
some gyms letting the customers decide on whether to wear them.
Hillary poko Wits contributor to The Wall Street Journal, joins
us for how the first gyms are handling the comeback.
Thanks for joining us, Hillary, Sure, thank you. As the
country is in this phase of reopening now, I think
by now all fifty states have reopened in some type
(00:44):
of capacity, I want to try to focus on different
aspects of that. And gyms are one of those specific
things that could be potential breeding ground for a virus
or any other illness to spread, just due to the
amount of people in impossible location, the different touching of equipment,
and how quickly those things get cleaned up. So, Hillary,
you wrote an article about how ready our gyms to reopen,
(01:08):
and all the gym's, depending where they're located, have to
follow their local guidelines. But it still seems that masks
are kind of that one thing that nobody agrees on.
You have to wear them in some places, you don't
in others. That seems to be one of the major stickups.
So not every state you know, agrees that jim's need
to open in the first phase, but of the places
(01:30):
that have, it seems like the states seem reluctant to
put a real mandate down. They'll say things like recommend
people wear a mask, or they'll say that the gym
should encourage people to wear a mask. It's very squishy,
and I think it's hard for jim owners to really
know what to do. But there are a few things
that they're very specific about the regulations. You have to
(01:52):
separate equipment or you know, turn off every other treadmill
for example, keep people farther apart. A lot of plays
are not allowing locker rooms to open yet, and swimming
pools and gym's nowhere are they allowing swimming pools and
basketball courts and things like that are not open yet.
As far as the way, let's say a machine would
(02:13):
get cleaned or something. If somebody is using it, do
they stop usage of that machine until somebody can come
and clean it. How is that type of thing working out?
Most places are setting up disinfecting stations within easy reach
of every machine. Every gym that I spoke to in
states that they're opening, they've multiplied the number of hand
(02:34):
sanitizing stations and disinfecting wipes, and they're telling customers to
wipe down the equipment before and after they use it,
and the gym staff themselves are wiping everything down. Some
places are doing an intermission in the middle of the
day at one o'clock and doing a deep clean of
everything and then letting people back in. Others are just constantly.
You have trainers who are now cleaners basically, who are
(02:55):
just wiping down all of the equipment all the time.
You definitely want to be You want the cleaning to
be conspicuous that whatever jim you go do, you want
it to be very conspicuous. And if possible, you want
them to have doors open. For example, every doctor that
I talked to you said that they like air movement,
exchange of air. Things should be wafting through. You want
(03:15):
windows or doors open if possible. I'm sure people are
going to be much more diligent now in their cleaning efforts.
But for anybody that's ever been to a gym before,
they've seen the little signs, hey, wipe your station down
just from your sweat and whatnot, and everybody knows that
not everybody does that. So I'm hoping this will spark
that in people and want to do it a little
bit more, But we'll have to see it as the
(03:36):
time developed. So Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, they're among these handful
of states that have allowed gyms to reopen in the
first wave of business reopenings. Tell us a little bit
about conversations you've had with people in these areas, because
there's a few differences. There's the smaller local gyms, there's
the bigger chain gyms, and then there's even CrossFit centers,
which all have their kind of individual quirks to them.
(04:00):
Most of the places that I talked to, there were
a few large gym chains that have reopened, in places
like Crunch Planet Fitness, Gold's Gym. Those chains have all reopened,
and they have they have corporate cleanliness policies that in
a lot of cases are more strict than whatever state
policies they have. And then the cross fits and smaller
(04:22):
gyms they're a little bit on their own. I mean
the ones I spoke to in Georgia, they have the
Centers for Disease Control right there in Atlanta, So I
feel like they may be are in a better position
than most because some of their members work for the CDCs.
They can ask them, hey, what do you really recommend?
And most of the places, instructors are required to wear masks,
and as far as the members go, it seems to
(04:44):
be optional. But some of the places, like Orange Theory,
for example, is making their instructors wear masks and goggles
and they're requiring members to wear masks so everyone is
like fully covered and protected. Other places they're making it
more optional and really is down to like you, as
a gym member have to kind of way the risks
and the benefits. Because now we know about you know,
(05:06):
heavy breathing and coughing and singing the choirs. You know
that had the spread in other parts of the country.
And the problem with you know, the heavy breathing and
then panting is that those particles go in the air,
then they fall onto the machines, and that's what worries
doctors the most. So it's really about cleanliness, space between people,
and your own comfort level. And a lot of the
(05:27):
frustration that I got from your article also was a
lot of these business owners are looking for some real set,
strict guidelines that they know that they can follow it
and implement. And these gym owners, while they practice in
making the body better and keeping healthy, they're not necessarily
public health officials. They don't know that aspect of this,
and that's one of their frustrations about reopening and just
(05:49):
not having all the guidelines they feel they might need.
It seems like the states are reluctant to set down
these mandates and you require customers to wear a mask,
which makes it the challenge for business owners because they
do what they're required to do by law, but they
also want to make sure that they're keeping everybody safe,
from employees to customers. And I think in different parts
(06:10):
of the country it's become a much broader issue, and
I think that it's hard for people to really know
what to do. So the states are reopening slowly. Some
of these gyms have started operations again. What has been
the turnout to the gyms. What has been the return
of people so far. It's only been a week or
two for most places, but all the gyms that I
spoke to said that they're looking at about half capacity.
(06:33):
They've limited the number of people that can work out
at a time a lot of places now you have
to reserve your spot online ahead of time, even if
it's not a class, you just need to reserve your
workout time, for example. But only about fifty if that
of them, out of traffic that they would normally experience
at this time of year, they're seeing. However, I will
say that every gym I spoke to had new members joined,
(06:56):
and they say it's a combination of people just itching
to get out of the house and do so thing.
And also people are much more aware of health and
the implications of poor health and how sort of this
virus has impacted people who are on the unhealthier end
of the scales, and so a lot of the gym
so that they have a positive uptick in people saying,
(07:16):
you know what, I really want to take control and
of my personal health and like starting a direction. Hillary Pokowitz,
contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Thank you very much
for joining us. Thank you. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this
has been your daily coronavirus upting. Don't forget that. For
today's big news stories, you can check me out on
the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday, so follow
(07:39):
us on I Heart Radio or wherever you get your
podcast
It's Thursday one. I'm oscar A Mirrors from the Daily
Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily
coronavirus update. As all fifty states are reopening in some form,
how ready are gyms to reopen? For a lot of
gym owners, there's a frustration in the lack of any
strict guidelines temperature checks, extra cleaning and hand sanitizer or
(00:21):
a must. But face masks still present an uncertainty, with
some gyms letting the customers decide on whether to wear them.
Hillary poko Wits contributor to The Wall Street Journal, joins
us for how the first gyms are handling the comeback.
Thanks for joining us, Hillary, Sure, thank you. As the
country is in this phase of reopening now, I think
by now all fifty states have reopened in some type
(00:44):
of capacity, I want to try to focus on different
aspects of that. And gyms are one of those specific
things that could be potential breeding ground for a virus
or any other illness to spread, just due to the
amount of people in impossible location, the different touching of equipment,
and how quickly those things get cleaned up. So, Hillary,
you wrote an article about how ready our gyms to reopen,
(01:08):
and all the gym's, depending where they're located, have to
follow their local guidelines. But it still seems that masks
are kind of that one thing that nobody agrees on.
You have to wear them in some places, you don't
in others. That seems to be one of the major stickups.
So not every state you know, agrees that jim's need
to open in the first phase, but of the places
(01:30):
that have, it seems like the states seem reluctant to
put a real mandate down. They'll say things like recommend
people wear a mask, or they'll say that the gym
should encourage people to wear a mask. It's very squishy,
and I think it's hard for jim owners to really
know what to do. But there are a few things
that they're very specific about the regulations. You have to
(01:52):
separate equipment or you know, turn off every other treadmill
for example, keep people farther apart. A lot of plays
are not allowing locker rooms to open yet, and swimming
pools and gym's nowhere are they allowing swimming pools and
basketball courts and things like that are not open yet.
As far as the way, let's say a machine would
(02:13):
get cleaned or something. If somebody is using it, do
they stop usage of that machine until somebody can come
and clean it. How is that type of thing working out?
Most places are setting up disinfecting stations within easy reach
of every machine. Every gym that I spoke to in
states that they're opening, they've multiplied the number of hand
(02:34):
sanitizing stations and disinfecting wipes, and they're telling customers to
wipe down the equipment before and after they use it,
and the gym staff themselves are wiping everything down. Some
places are doing an intermission in the middle of the
day at one o'clock and doing a deep clean of
everything and then letting people back in. Others are just constantly.
You have trainers who are now cleaners basically, who are
(02:55):
just wiping down all of the equipment all the time.
You definitely want to be You want the cleaning to
be conspicuous that whatever jim you go do, you want
it to be very conspicuous. And if possible, you want
them to have doors open. For example, every doctor that
I talked to you said that they like air movement,
exchange of air. Things should be wafting through. You want
(03:15):
windows or doors open if possible. I'm sure people are
going to be much more diligent now in their cleaning efforts.
But for anybody that's ever been to a gym before,
they've seen the little signs, hey, wipe your station down
just from your sweat and whatnot, and everybody knows that
not everybody does that. So I'm hoping this will spark
that in people and want to do it a little
bit more, But we'll have to see it as the
(03:36):
time developed. So Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, they're among these handful
of states that have allowed gyms to reopen in the
first wave of business reopenings. Tell us a little bit
about conversations you've had with people in these areas, because
there's a few differences. There's the smaller local gyms, there's
the bigger chain gyms, and then there's even CrossFit centers,
which all have their kind of individual quirks to them.
(04:00):
Most of the places that I talked to, there were
a few large gym chains that have reopened, in places
like Crunch Planet Fitness, Gold's Gym. Those chains have all reopened,
and they have they have corporate cleanliness policies that in
a lot of cases are more strict than whatever state
policies they have. And then the cross fits and smaller
(04:22):
gyms they're a little bit on their own. I mean
the ones I spoke to in Georgia, they have the
Centers for Disease Control right there in Atlanta, So I
feel like they may be are in a better position
than most because some of their members work for the CDCs.
They can ask them, hey, what do you really recommend?
And most of the places, instructors are required to wear masks,
and as far as the members go, it seems to
(04:44):
be optional. But some of the places, like Orange Theory,
for example, is making their instructors wear masks and goggles
and they're requiring members to wear masks so everyone is
like fully covered and protected. Other places they're making it
more optional and really is down to like you, as
a gym member have to kind of way the risks
and the benefits. Because now we know about you know,
(05:06):
heavy breathing and coughing and singing the choirs. You know
that had the spread in other parts of the country.
And the problem with you know, the heavy breathing and
then panting is that those particles go in the air,
then they fall onto the machines, and that's what worries
doctors the most. So it's really about cleanliness, space between people,
and your own comfort level. And a lot of the
(05:27):
frustration that I got from your article also was a
lot of these business owners are looking for some real set,
strict guidelines that they know that they can follow it
and implement. And these gym owners, while they practice in
making the body better and keeping healthy, they're not necessarily
public health officials. They don't know that aspect of this,
and that's one of their frustrations about reopening and just
(05:49):
not having all the guidelines they feel they might need.
It seems like the states are reluctant to set down
these mandates and you require customers to wear a mask,
which makes it the challenge for business owners because they
do what they're required to do by law, but they
also want to make sure that they're keeping everybody safe,
from employees to customers. And I think in different parts
(06:10):
of the country it's become a much broader issue, and
I think that it's hard for people to really know
what to do. So the states are reopening slowly. Some
of these gyms have started operations again. What has been
the turnout to the gyms. What has been the return
of people so far. It's only been a week or
two for most places, but all the gyms that I
spoke to said that they're looking at about half capacity.
(06:33):
They've limited the number of people that can work out
at a time a lot of places now you have
to reserve your spot online ahead of time, even if
it's not a class, you just need to reserve your
workout time, for example. But only about fifty if that
of them, out of traffic that they would normally experience
at this time of year, they're seeing. However, I will
say that every gym I spoke to had new members joined,
(06:56):
and they say it's a combination of people just itching
to get out of the house and do so thing.
And also people are much more aware of health and
the implications of poor health and how sort of this
virus has impacted people who are on the unhealthier end
of the scales, and so a lot of the gym
so that they have a positive uptick in people saying,
(07:16):
you know what, I really want to take control and
of my personal health and like starting a direction. Hillary Pokowitz,
contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Thank you very much
for joining us. Thank you. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this
has been your daily coronavirus upting. Don't forget that. For
today's big news stories, you can check me out on
the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday, so follow
(07:39):
us on I Heart Radio or wherever you get your
podcast
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