As states continue the process of reopening after being shut down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, gyms have become a source of healing for many who were unable to work out while quarantining.

“Part of the draw to come to the gym is the social interaction,” Val Holmes, owner of Valley Fitness in Harrisonburg, Virginia, said last week. “Most of the people coming back are super excited.”

While few gyms have been allowed to reopen at full capacity, most owners of facilities noted that the attendance restrictions haven’t really hurt their business — nor has it changed the way they typically operate. Instead, keeping an eye on cleanliness has always been a priority for most businesses before and after the outbreak.

That focus, paired with social distancing practices, have been at the forefront of everybody’s plans as they reopen to the public. Ogden Newspapers spoke with gym owners in 15 states to get a sense of how business has been going, what they are doing to help prevent the spread of the virus, and how happy they are to be back.

Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, most of the counties have entered the “green” phase, which allows gyms and fitness centers to open at 50 percent capacity, while maintaining social distancing.

Most gyms have spaced out their equipment, turning off every other cardio machine. They have also reduced hours of operations, to ensure time after hours for the staff to do a thorough sanitization.

Group classes and trainings have also been significantly reduced in size and hours.

Ohio

For MOVement Fitness and Rec Center in Marietta, Ohio, many of those returning have stopped to say how much they missed the facility. The 65,000 square foot retail space was renovated by Brant Whited and his wife three years ago and turned into a fitness facility, with a soccer field and CrossFit.

“We wanted to try to revitalize part of our home town and give it something unique to where the members of that community can be proud of it,” Whited said. “It’s a long difficult road trying to get that process under way, renovating that whole building, but we got it done. So shutting down was really tough for us, of course from a business aspect, but just personally because we’ve been so tied up in this over the past three years.”

After experiencing a “tough few months,” he started figuring out what reopening would look like and what changes and improvements would have to be made. When they did reopen MOVement, Whited wanted it to be “the best for our community and our members,” while making sure everyone was comfortable.

Whited said the fitness center has even picked up new members since reopening.

“We actually have one of those electrostatic sanitizing guns which I was fortunate to buy,” he said. “We’ve kind of ramped up using that and spread out some equipment. We’ve had pretty much all positive feedback.”

He said if nothing else, he hopes the pandemic helps stress the importance of physical health and fitness for the body as a whole.

“I couldn’t be more happy and proud with our members and our staff, how they’ve embraced everything,” Whited said.

Michigan

In the small town of Houghton in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Snap Fitness reopened to its members on June 10.

Owner Barbara Rabitoy said unlike other U.P. businesses that depend on tourism in the summer months, gyms actually experience a decrease in patronage during the summer because people tend to exercise outdoors when the weather is warmer.

Snap Fitness is a 24-hour access gym in which members gain entry through a PIN pad on the door. Members are to sign up in advance for their time slot so the number of people in the gym at once remains low.

“Due to the fact that we are a low membership gym, we stay 10 or less people in here automatically with the 24-hour access,” Rabitoy said. “And I have the ability to count from home, I have the ability to count here at the gym, how many people are in my gym every hour. And it’s staying less than 10.”

Since reopening, Rabitoy has gone through gallons of cleaner, and her disinfecting wipes need to be refilled much more often than prior to the shutdown. Every single machine and hard surface is disinfected prior to and after each person uses the equipment.

“I’ve changed my cleaning product to Virex, a hospital-grade cleaning agent,” Rabitoy said. “I was a nurse at the hospital, and it’s the same exact cleaning agent that we used at the hospital. And it’s the one that was recommended by the CDC through Snap” Fitness USA, the parent company of the franchised fitness centers.

“We got what was recommended, and I put it out for people to wipe the gym equipment down with, and I also wipe the gym equipment myself,” Rabitoy added. “I have notices up that say wipe the gym (equipment) down before and after use … What I do notice is I’m going through gym wipes here much faster than I used to. And I’m refilling my spray bottles every other day.”

She said prior to the shutdown, one spray bottle would last a month.

“I notice with all of this going on, people are being that diligent with wiping their stuff down,” Rabitoy said. “So it’s good as a gym owner to know that people are taking that responsibility upon themselves.”

She said masks are provided upon request, but they are being left as a personal choice because many people find it too hot or difficult to breathe while working out if they are wearing a mask.

West Virginia

In February, Rachel Phillips and Rachel Paynter took over 1201 Crossfit in Elkins after serving as volunteer coaches there.

“After being owners for a month, we closed our business,” Phillips said.

They made the call the day before Gov. Jim Justice issued a stay-at-home order that closed gyms and other businesses around the state in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

But they didn’t stop helping their members work toward fitness and nutrition goals.

Members were given certain pieces of equipment to use at home. Three classes were offered daily using the online conferencing app Zoom, and videos of classes were uploaded to YouTube for folks who couldn’t join in live.

The new owners had been working to set up an online apparel store, and the shutdown gave them a chance to move that along.

With continued payments from members still enjoying the benefit of their services, albeit in a different way, “we didn’t take a hit financially,” Phillips said. “It was a scary time, but 1201’s an amazing community.”

The business had been family owned and run with the help of volunteer coaches, so the new owners had no workers to furlough.

“We at that point hadn’t even taken on staff so we didn’t have to make those decisions, thankfully,” Phillips said.

Justice gave the go-ahead for gyms to reopen on May 18, with requirements that include limiting occupancy to 40 percent, implementing social-distancing guidelines, employees and customers wearing face coverings and checking temperatures for staff and patrons entering the facility.

Class sizes were cut to eight people, although some have recently been raised to 10, Phillips said. The durations were shortened to allow time to sanitize rooms in between and reduce inter-mingling of participants.

Each member is given their own bottle of disinfectant and cleaning towel when they come in, Phillips said.

“Our community has been used to always cleaning up after themselves,” she said. “We had that standard all along.”

Customers were inquiring when the gym would be able to reopen, Phillips said.

“We’ve had amazing attendance. We’ve had old members … come back,” she said.