Gym Adjusts For Wednesday Reopening

Starting Wednesday, members of the District Athletic Club will be able to exercise indoors again — with a few virus-prevention adjustments — as businesses ranging from nail salons to amusement parks across Connecticut reopen.

Typical social distancing habits to minimize the risk of spreading Covid, such as wearing a mask and gloves, are difficult to maintain while exercising. That poses an added challenge for fitness centers that seek to reopen.

The District Athletic Club, based at the DISTRICT innovation co-working hub on James Street, is confronting this hurdle by preparing to open at reduced capacity, with machines spaced 12 feet apart from one another, a health check-in process for customers, and a rolling ​“PPE cart.”

Fitness centers are permitted to reopen on Wednesday alongside other ​“Phase 2” businesses such as libraries, indoor restaurants, museums, nail salons, zoos, amusement parks, and tattoo parlors. (Read more about how businesses will operate differently under Phase 2 reopening requirements here.)

Connecticut’s Phase 2 regulations for fitness centers will permit for both customers and instructors to exercise without a mask, provided that individuals work out at least 12 feet apart from one another.

Forced to close physical premises in March as the coronavirus pandemic mandated social distancing measures, the District Athletic Club needed to adapt.

The fitness center has been holding online fitness classes and personal training sessions, helping customers work out in their homes. It also started an equipment rental program for members, lending supplies ranging from yoga mats to spin bikes.

The District Athletic Club’s physical space has slowly revived over the past several weeks, keeping pace with changing statewide regulations.

Since May 20, the gym has been running outdoor classes in which participants exercise on fitness machines spaced out twelve feet apart. Many of those classes are streamed online so that participants who do not feel comfortable attending in person can still learn and exercise with fellow gym members, said Carla O’Brien, the gym’s co-founder.

“It depends on what your comfort level is,” she said. ​“We reach both worlds.”

O’Brien said that turnout at the outdoor classes has been high. In some cases, a majority of people registered in previously all-virtual classes have transitioned to in-person outdoor classes.

Exercising often involves heavy breathing and barehanded handling of equipment, both of which increase chances of spreading infection. The District Athletic Club’s outdoor classes have needed to adjust to address this concern, so as to minimize the possibility of infection.

O’Brien said that in addition to spacing out class members, the gym has a ​“PPE cart” with multiple types of disinfectant.

The classes themselves do not involve exercises that would require spotting; barbells are swapped out for dumbbells.

When the District Athletic Club opens its indoor space back up on Wednesday, it will continue to make Covid-era alterations, according to O’Brien.

Members will be asked to check in 10 to 15 minutes ahead of their slot so that they can undergo a temperature check, fill out a health questionnaire, wash their hands, and find a socially-distanced ​“zone.”

Staff will clean the gym, in part, with an electrostatic disinfectant spray machine.

In preparation for Wednesday, O’Brien attended a workshop on the Phase 2 reopening led by New Haven’s Office of Business Development, which featured an in-depth presentation on new regulations by Health Department Director Maritza Bond.

Bond noted that in fitness centers, equipment must be wiped down after each use; water fountains should only be used to refill water bottles; ventilation should maximize the circulation of outside air; every other or every third locker should be out of use to promote social distancing; and lifeguards should enforce social distancing in swimming pools.

Bond said that all businesses opening during Phase 2 will be subject to random inspections. ​“We’re working with you to provide education, and we want to make sure the health and safety of employees and customers as much as possible,” she said.

She also reminded attendees of a mandatory self-certification program through the State of Connecticut for re-opening businesses. In New Haven, inspectors have found that among businesses that opened during Phase 1, very few have self-certified, she said.

O’Brien said she found the workshop to be a refresher on protocols her gym had already begun following in its outdoor classes. She could not think of any reservations about reopening on Wednesday.

“I’m excited,” O’Brien said. ​“It’s like the first day we opened the gym. All the staff here are really excited about it.”