YMCA PUMPS UP SAFETY
Gym open with new rules for members
LEOMINSTER » Jane Morgan admits she was nervous to go back to the gym to work out.
As a longtime member of the YMCA, Morgan went from working out at the Leominster Community Branch seven days a week to exercising at home after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the gym closed its doors last year in mid-March.
“I was working out from home to some YouTube videos,” she said. “It was not as much fun as seeing everyone at the gym. When they finally were ready to reopen with new measures to keep the members safe, I was not ready to return feeling I didn’t want to put myself at risk.”
Nearly one year into the pandemic and just as long doing home workouts, Morgan decided to venture back into the gym and was pleased with what she found. Now she visits the gym four times a week and feels secure going there because of the litany of protocols and regula
tions in place.
“It made me feel really comfortable to find a notouch temperature screening upon entry, to have 6foot dividers between machines and bikes, face masks are mandatory, the water fountains are only for filling one’s water bottle, and the staff must spray down each piece of equipment after each member uses it,” she said. “I feel very safe here because of all of the protocols in place.”
Morgan and her husband have been YMCA members for over 20 years. They switched their membership from the Worcester Central Community Branch to the Leominster location about four years ago when they moved to Sterling.
“Early March this year I renewed my YMCA membership and returned to the Leominster Y where I was delighted to witness all the safety measures in place,” she said. “I feel very safe there and it is so wonderful to see and socialize with, at a distance, so many friends I haven’t seen for a year.”
Ted McDonnell has been the North County YMCA Branch Director for two years and 16 years total with YMCA. While the Leominster branch reopened in the beginning of July last year, the Montachusett Community Branch in Fitchburg remained open throughout the pandemic for emergency child care, but the wellness, aquatics and other programs were closed for the same time period as Leominster.
“Reopening went great, so much positive feedback,” McDonnell said. “The biggest challenge remains getting the word out that we are open with many new COVID-related protocols and it is a clean, safe and organized place to come.”
The list of safety protocols and regulations in place is impressive — contactless facial recognition when being screened for temperature that gives a warning if you are not wearing a mask, health screening and travel questions from staff, one-way directional arrows on the gym floor, masks always required, high plastic barriers between the spacedout machines, and locker rooms restricted to two people at a time.
They have a system of sanitizing the exercise machines in between client use that includes a MicroChem Plus cleaner the staff mists and wipes, red and blue cones to indicate which part of the cleaning process they are in, and a 10-minute timer they set after the machine has been sprayed that indicates when it can be used again.
Full capacity in the gym according to fire code is 120 people, including staff and clients. They are currently allowed 50% capacity according to state guidelines in the current reopening phase, but McDonnell said that at this time they are only allowing “much less” than that.
“We cap the wellness area at 20 and if there is a group exercise class that could be another 11 or eight people — 11 for spinning and eight for other classes in which the participants are not stationary,” McDonnell said. “So, the max number would be 31 members and two staff.”
Reservations to use the gym are required 48 hours in advance via phone or the YMCA Central Massachusetts app.
“The app is new since COVID,” McDonnell said. “It helps us control how many people are coming in.
McDonnell said at this point only one person can shower at a time but that they are “close” to opening up the showers for more people. He said that the child watch area, which is now storage for the machines cleared out of the main gym to provide more distance, should be opening in the fall.
“Restrictions are going to ease up in June or July when we are going into our slower time and the demand for services drops off significantly,” he said.
Spin class is limited to 11 bikes in the room, whereas before the pandemic there were 25 sweating bodies in each class. The full weight class that is held three times a week has a max of eight people per class, and the large exercise classroom has yellow tape on the floor to indicate a 14by-14 foot box per person — their own personal space.
McDonnell said that although his job has been challenging in ways he never expected over the past year, he is glad to be a part of providing an outlet for gym members, including “the multiple ways the YMCA serves our community.”
“For some people it’s a 5 a.m. spin class, for others it’s child care and many programs and services inbetween,” he said.
McDonnell said gym membership at the Leominster branch has dropped by 50% since last year.
“We are a little under half of what we were before we closed March 16,” he said. “Demonstration to our members that they can return to a safe environment is our No. 1 priority.”
McDonnell said he is looking forward to the day when masks are no longer needed — and being able to see people smile.
“It is so wonderful to see our members back,” he said. “Every week we see more and more faces back proving that the word about the safe and clean environment we are providing is getting out. We can’t wait to see more back.”
The Leominster Community Branch YMCA is located at 108 Adams St. For more information, visit ymcaofcm. org/ locations/ leominster- communitybranch/ and follow Leominster Community Branch YMCA on Facebook.