Tuesday 25 May 2021

Fitness Clubs During COVID: Safe or Unsafe?

The world today can be a difficult place to be working or working out in the fitness industry:

  • Last week there was an advertisement in the Toronto Globe and Mail Newspaper. It was a plea to keep Fitness Clubs open during the pandemic lock down. The advertisement was sponsored by Orangetheory, Movati Athletic, and Life Time.  https://www.getmovingagain.ca/
  • In Ottawa, an Anytime Fitness is challenging a city lock down ordinance. The manager claims that they supply a place for the disabled and injured to perform therapy exercises and should be considered an essential service.
  • Two other Ottawa Fitness Clubs are defying lock down orders and racking up multiple fines in the process.                                                                                                                          https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/two-ottawa-gyms-fight-fines-for-defying-public-health-orders
                                           Anytime Fitness Manager defying lockdown order          


Most reasonable people can understand that social distancing is necessary to try and curb the Coronavirus. However, many of the laws are inconsistent.

  •  Big box stores such as Wall Mart and Costco stay open while many local stores remain closed. As a compromise, some regions now make the big box stores cordon off all sections deemed non essential.
  • Liquor stores and beer stores remain open. 
  • Cannabis dispensaries are open. Their line ups are always populated by many just legal age aficionados who might be healthier going to a fitness center to work out.  
  • Are a few stoners passing around a reefer actually safer than people with masks in a fitness center with controlled entry numbers?

                                         Do you really believe that a trip to the pot dispensary is better for the mental health than a trip to the fitness center?


Does this really pass the common sense test?
  • Last year, when fitness clubs reopened after the first wave, 15 people from a spinning class in Hamilton, Ontario tested positive for COVID-19. 
  • This seems to be where the idea that Fitness Centers are hot zones came to be.
  • Working out on your own would logically be less risky than a group exercise class.
  • Fitness clubs that practice social distancing should be relatively safe.
  • Working out at a club could be a respite from being cooped up at home.
  • The mental health of the population is at stake!  
Until the lockdown can be eased, keep working out at home or outside using safe distancing protocols. Hope is on the horizon!

Little Bobby Strong

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