Finally ... Back at the Gym ...

"Will it be three metres or four metres instead of the current two? I'm not sure, but a policy needs to be developed [for safe COVID distancing at gyms]."
"Gyms should identify hot spots [areas with poor circulation] within their building and adjust air flow, if possible, to make sure no one area is at increased risk."
Jason Tetro, microbiologist, author The Germ Code and The Germ Files

Gyms and fitness studios are reopening with new health and safety protocols.

During the SARS-CoV-2 virus lockdown against COVID-19, exercise gyms were among the first social/exercise outlets to be identified for closure. They were targeted just like every other place in the social arena where people tend to congregate, from schools to pubs, entertainment venues to restaurants, in an effort to dampen the infection enthusiasm of an unknown new threat to humanity circling the globe with unprecedented infectious capabilities.

For many people, this action cut out a significant event in peoples' lives, almost as serious as those who eventually received notice of sudden unemployment, either temporary or permanent. People dedicated to exercise on a daily basis for their well-being both psychological and physical resorted to a wan second-best by exercising at home as best they could. There have been ample exercise routines available through online videos while remaining sequestered at home.

Now that we've as a society become more accustomed to the vital need for social distancing, wearing face masks, washing hands, avoiding hard surfaces -- along with a reduction in infections and deaths in many areas, restrictions are being loosened, if not lifted. The former is conceivable, given people's adaptedness to the 'new rules''; the latter would invite a return to a second societal lock-down.

Fitness centre, (The Canadian Press)

That gym membership for so many people is sorely missed. For its opportunities to use equipment no home gym has, for the socialization among like-minded exercisers, for the live group events. Gyms will shortly be re-opening, and former clients will be returning to the gyms of their choice, and they will be different, as different as all other aspects of life, including the work-from-home syndrome of infection avoidance.

Gym management is aware that their facilities can not and will not host the same numbers of exercisers at the same time. That they will have to introduce innovative new mechanisms to continue hosting clients with safety in mind as well as profit. So, the choices are there; Plexiglas barriers where appropriate, wide separations between people working out. Measured workout pods for basic workouts.

Some exercise equipment such as cardio machines; treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes will no longer be used on a casual first-come basis, but rather by reservation, with thorough cleaning in between uses. BYOs, will become a utilitarian necessity. Or seasonal rental of certain equipment. Any communal use of exercise equipment or peripherals, a thing of the innocent past.

Gym staff will be busy with constant cleansing of all touchable surfaces and equipment, and even so clients will themselves be encouraged to wipe down any equipment they're preparing to use and have used. Just like in supermarkets where aisles are marked one way, the gyms will have to consider the same tactics to keep people separated. And forget locker rooms, and showers that Mr. Tetro calls a breeding ground for germs.

Elisha Matier runs on a treadmill at Gorilla House Gym in Altoona, Pa., Monday, May 4, 2020. (Patrick Waksmunski//Altoona Mirror via AP)

Gym members will follow a new protocol, one where they arrive, perform their workout, and leave; in that order with no deviations such as changing workout clothing, showering into clean clothes; that too is the past. Evidence indicating that poor ventilation may increase coronavirus spread in public spaces will mandate that an adequate exchange of stale and fresh air be arranged; open doors and windows to adjust air flow.

A CITYROW class in Ann Arbor.

Oh, and of course, all of these precautions, the more cautious use of floor space that would once have been deemed inefficient and costly, the constant cleaning of the facilities, will be regarded as necessary but expensive maintenance for safety's sake. And for that safety, gyms, sacrificing usable square footage and facing increased costs associated with cleaning, means that memberships for gyms will increase in price.

It's the price paid for security amid assurance that social and  group exercising in public/private spaces has an increased cost to the consumer. To those for whom that exercise routine assumes an importance in quality-of-life, that should be no problem.

Omar Ali, owner and founder of Formula 4 Fitness Fredericton, said there has been a combination of clients eager to return to the gym and others who don't plan to come back just yet. (Submitted/Omar Ali)