LET’S GET PHYSICAL
Gyms finally reopen but owners say it could have happened weeks ago
FRUSTRATED gym owners finally threw open their doors again yesterday amid anger in the industry that it took so long to ease lockdown restrictions.
Large chain gyms and local smaller gym owners welcomed back customers after the Scottish Government allowed them to reopen for the first time in more than five months.
Tony Curtis, 39, owner of the Omnifunctional Gym in Glasgow’s Merchant City, was one of hundreds trying to make it work on the first day back.
He said: “Classes have been really busy so far and I am relieved at how well it has gone.”
He had remodelled the gym’s way of working, with smaller class sizes and everyone having their own equipment.
Tony reckons the shutdown has cost him £35,000 and 60 per cent of his clients.
He said: “It will take a long time to get things back to the way they were.”
Kevin Wesson, 48, who owns Clyde Coast CrossFit in Ayr, was annoyed that gyms in England were allowed to open in July.
He said: “Getting back to work and being able to start building up the business is great.
“It is great to get the guys back doing physical activity but it is not just physical, it helps the mental side of things too.
“A lot of guys during lockdown were at home going through lots of different situations, furloughing or getting paid off.
“For them to get back to a bit of structure, a bit of activity means a lot to them and a lot to me to be able to provide it.
“It has been frustrating being last to open up. We felt very, very angry that pubs and restaurants could open before us. “At the beginning, the Government said how important it was to keep healthy and fit.
“Yet you could go to McDonald’s or a pub before you could do something to improve your health.”
PureGym has 25 gyms in Scotland. A spokesman said staff were “delighted” to be able to welcome its thousands of members back.
All of its gyms have sanitising stations, contact-free entry and overnight deep cleaning.
The spokesman added: “We’ve received highly positive feedback on cleanliness from our members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, who have already returned for millions of gym visits without incident.”
Cafe worker Anya Breen, 23, from Ardrossan, Ayrshire, travelled from her home to PureGym’s Silverburn branch in Glasgow for her first proper workout in months.
She said: “Before lockdown I went to the gym three or four times a week. I missed it. I have not been able to keep as fit during lockdown. I went out running but it wasn’t the same.”
Anya did not feel anxious about returning to the gym. She said: “There are boxes to stand in for social distancing while using equipment and there are cleaning stations everywhere. I felt completely safe. I don’t understand why pubs were opened before gyms but I am happy gyms are open now.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the move to reopen gyms and swimming pools would be a “major relief for people who work in the leisure centre”. She added: “It also obviously brings risks and that is why we have delayed this until now.”
THE Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh is one of 31 Scottish hotels on a register of 175 UK “coronavirus-safe” places to stay. Others on the Safe to Trade list are in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Aviemore.