The 133 clubs in SA have not received membership fees since the start of lockdown on March 27.
Their new protocols include:
- members arrive dressed for exercise;
- temperature checks and a questionnaire at the entrance;
- floor markings for social distancing;
- class numbers reduced and booked in advance; and
- saunas and steam rooms closed.
Those members who are not yet ready to come back to the club will still be able to freeze their accounts for no extra cost for another two months. They can also train from Virgin Active’s digital platform at home.
According to Planet Fitness CEO and founder Manny Rivera, its teams met with the sports ministry on August 11 to discuss best practice and protocols. According to Rivera, the gym chain will be open from Wednesday.
Rivera said the gym had provided a number of submissions to the government during lockdown to be able to reopen its 47 venues.
When TimesLIVE first spoke to the CEO in June his concern was for smaller gyms, which he believed would most certainly have to close for good if the lockdown was not open soon.
“It’s atrocious the government would allow restaurants and casinos to open, but not us. It is just bizarre and unfair. What we offer is a protection against the virus by raising the immune system. The world is opening up its gyms, people flocking back, people need it. We are an essential service,” he said at the time.
Rivera said when it came to reopening, the company had followed requirements based on best practices recommended by the World Health Organisation and gyms around the world which had reopened. These included:
- moving equipment out of the gyms so there is adequate space for social distancing;
- disabling every second piece of equipment;
- pre-access with a nurse and compliance officer;
- members to access gyms with their tags;
- daily deep-cleaning; and
- reducing numbers
Andrew Rothschild, owner of the Sweat 1000 fitness chain, said they would be reopening on Tuesday when level 2 came into effect.
“The demand has been unbelievable and we have already had a lot of inquiries for bookings. I thought people would be scared to come back but that is not the case,” he said.
Rothschild said the lockdown forced them to go ahead with plans to create a fitness app, an idea they had been sitting on for months.
“It’s cost a fortune, but we’ve made sure our gym is safe. We’ve fitted new vents into the aircons, filters have all been cleaned. We also have a new digital system so no papers or pens will be touched when visiting. Obviously there is sanitiser and floor markings denote where people can work to keep a safe distance.”
Other changes include:
- running at 50% occupancy;
- using a “spray gun” to sanitise between workouts;
- classes will be reduced and shortened so there are more classes with fewer members; and
- the communal juice bars will only be used for takeaways.
As exciting as the news is for some, the announcement however brings little comfort for the small fitness businesses which did not survive the lockdown.
BY ALEX PATRICK
