Return To The Gym

The Government announced the “Plan to Rebuild Britain” on the 26th May, complete with a rough estimate of the different phases of reopening society and the economy, based upon five tests to establish the control and reduction of Coronavirus. If all goes according to plan,the gym will potentially be allowed to reopen, if under restrictions, on the 4th July. This is by no means certain, and there are likely to be strong guidelines as to what the government would like this to operate like. As a result, and in hope that this will happen on the 4th, we have created this document to help us anticipate and prepare as staff and as members to do what we can to ensure we can not only get back into the gym, but do it in such a way that will keep us and others safe.

We do not yet have any guidance as to what the Government expects of the leisure industry and gyms to ensure the protection of our members and members of the public. We can,however, look at what is happening in other sectors that have opened, as well as in other countries, to make a best guess as to what we will need to do to reopen.

• Social distancing is going to be key. We will mark out eight squares across the gym floor, as well as two on the outside rig for individuals to use during classes. We are currently planning for 8 people to attend the class at a time. Sufficient pathways will be created to allow movement into your box at the start, and end of the class as well as to use the bathroom. Please do not leave this box for any other reason. All of the equipment you will need will be within the designated box.
• Classes will be 45 minutes long to allow time after each class to disinfect the equipment, for the coaches to reset the equipment. Please do not come into the gym until the coach of your class has cleared the previous class through the fire exit. They will invite you in through the main doors. Please maintain social distancing of at least 2m/6ft outside the gym. Chalk will not be used to classes or during Open gym.
• Along with the equipment you will need for your class will be disinfectant equipment for after the class and hand sanitiser. Isopropanol spray will be used for theequipment after each class. This requires a spray, and not a scrubbing. The floor and any sweat may need to be wiped, the coach can advise on this. Any bags etc please leave in your car.
• Please do not bring your children to the gym at this time. We expect to be limited to the number of people within the gym and any extra bodies may make this difficult to control. If you, or anyone at home is displaying Covid like symptoms, please do not come into the gym for 7 days if it is you, or 14 days if it is a member of your family.The main symptoms of coronavirus are:
  • high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back(you do not need to measure your temperature)
  • new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it maybe worse than usual)
  • loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
• Open gym attendance will be allowed ​in between classes​, however adherence to the above rules must be maintained. Please do not move equipment set up for the classes around the gym. This will again be limited to eight people in the gym at a time. We will create a booking system through Team Up for this. Overlapping classes
  for a period will be removed to allow for the numbers in the gym to be maintained.Please be aware of how many classes you are booking onto during this time, class sizes are going to be limited, and if you need to cancel, please do so with plenty of notice.
• Coaches will clean the gym, regularly throughout the day. We will have more regular cleaning of the bathrooms throughout the week.

This is not the most convenient way to return to the gym, or to workout, but at least we will be open. Before lockdown, there was some vocal comment on the unreality of the virus as well as comment on our social media, and the same on the opposing side. There is likely to be a comment either way once we return too. All we ask is that we all do two things. Stick to the above rules, and not try to one up others. It is important we look after each other and take all of this one step at a time. This is unknown to us all, and I think we have shown great resolve and community through the zoom classes, and mutual support during the lockdown phase of this pandemic. This is an evolving situation, and an evolving document so don’t take this all as gospel, we just want to get ourselves organised and moving so that we are ready to open when we can, and make any changes quicker. Timetables of class will be released closer to D Day.

If you wish to rejoin, I have a list of those of you who left due to the negative effects of coronavirus. We would love to have you back, just drop us an email and we can get that rolling. We are moving to a new system called Team Up so we will get you set up on there.We wish to get everyone over eventually, so if you want to preempt the change, give us an email and we can move you over. Let me know ideally before reopening so we can ease into the new booking system. Once we have had a couple of weeks to bed back in, and any former members have rejoined, well then look to start to accept new members to the tribe.

Deposits for equipment are available once the equipment is dropped off and inspected for damage. If you paid by card, we will need to arrange that transfer. A number of people have asked to donate the money to the gym. If you wish to do this let us know via email, and we will put all of that money toward equipment in the gym.

Thank you for your support and diligence so far. You are all solid people and we could not wish for a more impeccable tribe to be surrounded by. We look forward to getting back into the gym, and working out with you. We have quite abit of stuff in the gym we look forward to showing you, we have been quite busy. If you have any questions, concerns or queries,please get in touch with us.