Allegheny, area counties enter green phase Gyms face challenges as they reopen to the public
Gyms in Pennsylvania counties going green Friday will be able to reopen their doors to paying customers, but that doesn’t mean things will be back to normal for the members — or the owners.
The state’s green reopening phase will allow fitness centers, yoga studios and other indoor recreation facilities to operate with members working out in the businesses’ physical spaces. Businesses can operate at a maximum of 50% occupancy and are strongly encouraged to allow members in by appointment only in Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Clinton, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Lycoming, Mercer, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Urban Elements Power Yoga and Indoor Cycling, a North Shore yoga studio and cycling gym, is planning to reopen Monday after a thorough cleaning, but co-owner Sharon Skittle, 54, said most of the gym’s instructors are “uncomfortable” with the idea of giving in-person classes. She and co-owner Brittany Sukay will be doing the majority of the studio instruction. Urban Elements will also continue to publish free and paid virtual class materials.
Downtown gym Altus Human Performance Optimization, or Altus HPO, plans to turn the lights back on Friday. It, too, will continue offering virtual classes. Mr. Rossmiller, who noted the studio lost “a lot” of members when classes went virtual, said the majority of people with an active membership want to get back to inperson workouts.
Other fitness operations plan to take a longer timeline to open their doors again.
The Crafton Planet Fitness plans to reopen June 12 — a week after Allegheny County moves into the green phase. Voicemail for the location said the gym will reopen with more sanitation stations, social distancing measures and a touchless check-in process.
Meanwhile, Joseph A. Joseph, owner of Prep Training and Fitness Systems in Hermitage, won’t be reopening his business this Friday — because the facility is already open.
Facing mounting utility bills with no new source of income, Mr. Joseph reopened the Mercer County gym in May.
He’s kept it open despite legal backlash from the county district attorney, who later dropped the citations.
Mr. Joseph said on Thursday members of the gym have been “very supportive,” and the majority have been “thankful” to be able to come back and exercise in person.
He’s still experiencing the financial pressure of the pandemic. While he’s been able to catch up on utility bills, Mr. Joseph said he’s been set back about three years — the amount of time Prep has been open — in terms of the progress of opening and running the gym.
He set up a GoFundMe account for legal fees and additional cleaning costs when he initially reopened the gym, and so far, it’s raised $2,800 of the $500,000 goal. Now that citations against him have been dropped, Mr. Joseph said he’ll donate any money left over to local organizations.
Determining risks
So how much risk does exercising in a gym actually involve?
The Mayo Clinic advises would-be exercisers to call their gym or studio to ask at what capacity it will be operating — fewer people are better for social distancing — as well as whether common spaces such as bathrooms and locker rooms will be open.
Even if the gym is sanitizing equipment regularly and with an effective disinfectant solution, visitors should also clean everything they use before and after they exercise.
Some equipment, especially those pieces with odd shapes or porous surfaces, are difficult to clean. Don’t be surprised if certain pieces of equipment aren’t available to use or if the gym is asking people to bring their own.
Mr. Joseph said his gym has been following precautions advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since reopening, including mask and social distancing requirements, asking members to bring a pair of shoes to change into when they arrive, requiring reservations for use of the space, and providing cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer.
Urban Elements is taking similar precautions. It’s difficult. “You can’t really exercise with a mask on,” Ms. Skittle said.
Urban Elements is extending the time between classes to allow for more intensive cleaning of spaces and equipment, as well as limiting the number of people who can use restrooms or showers at a given time, not allowing item storage in locker rooms, and asking members to bring their own towels and yoga mats.
Members taking in-person classes will need to sign a waiver stating they understand the risks of group exercise in a public space.
Members will also be expected to clean their own equipment before and after class to further reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. “Everybody has to be equally responsible to make sure we’re all safe,” Ms. Skittle said.
Physical classes at Altus will be reservation-only, Mr. Rossmiller said, with a new touchless sign-in system and limits on class size to allow for social distancing. He said the gym will be operating below the 50% capacity limit imposed by the pandemic green phase regulations. Altus has also added a 15minute interval between classes to allow employees to clean equipment, and the staff will be cleaning the entire gym three times a day.
Ms. Skittle said although member response to Urban Elements’ online offerings has been positive, income continues to be “nowhere near” what it would be under normal circumstances. In addition, the cleaning company is charging a high rate for a special COVID-19specific disinfectant mixture.
“They gave us quotes which are, like, three times what we were paying, but we’re going to have to do that,” she said.
Further financial strain comes from the limits on class size imposed by social distancing requirements. “We’re working at half capacity with the same amount of rent,” she said.
And more costs may be coming.
Virtual classes Urban Elements has been giving are hosted by Mindbody, which has been offering its online services for free for a limited time. After the free period ends, Ms. Skittle and Ms. Sukay will need to pay a currently unknown fee to keep using the service.
Between the high costs of running the business, the drop in membership income and the issue of “not knowing [the] market anymore,” there’s no lack of challenges.
“We just want to get back to normal, back in the gym with all of our people,” said Ms. Skittle.