Making gains: Winnipeg gyms flexing their muscles, but COVID-19 risks remain
Body builder says it's like Christmas morning as fitness facilities open for first time in 2 months
Joseph Harding says the reopening of his gym was like Christmas morning — but for body builders.
"I woke up and was waiting for the alarm clock to go off — 30 minutes felt like an entire day, just waiting for this to happen."
Bright and early, Harding was among the first people Monday morning to pump iron at Brickhouse Gym on King Edward Street in Winnipeg, after being deprived of his workout machines for two months and counting.
Fitness facilities are among the businesses now able to reopen as Phase 2 of Manitoba's sweeping restart of the economy took effect on Monday. The province is gradually loosening restrictions due to low COVID-19 case counts.
Restaurants, bars and spas can swing open their doors as well, so long as they follow physical distancing protocols and limits on capacity.
Backyard workouts no substitute
Harding says his return to the gym was a long time coming. He's a body builder, but didn't have any workout equipment to his name before the pandemic.
He's since bought resistance bands and exercises in his backyard, but he says it's not the same.
The feeling is mutual for Rob Anderson, who missed the welcoming atmosphere at the St. James gym.
"I have never been so excited to get up at like five in the morning to get to the gym for seven," he says.
WATCH | Winnipeggers are working out again:
But he cannot show up whenever he wants to. Anderson had to book his workout in advance by phone. Each appointment is limited to 75 minutes.
Brickhouse Gym owner Paul Taylor was spending much of his morning talking with his members.
"It's been really overwhelming on the phones," he says. "It feels like a hotline."
Aside from booking workouts, Taylor's staff closes the gym for 15 minutes between each exercise block to sanitize high-touch areas.
He's shut down the change rooms so members are changing at home and every user is carrying around a bottle of hand sanitizer. He will close his gym at night since he doesn't have overnight staff.
"We'd obviously like to go back to 24/7, but in the interim, while things are the way they are, we just have to adapt and roll with the punches."
For now, the province is requiring a booking system and proper cleaning, but those protocols alone do not prevent COVID-19 from appearing.
"With anything, we're not going to get to a zero-risk situation," Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief provincial public health officer, said on Monday. "It's a balance. We're balancing the number of cases we have here, balance that with the benefit of physical activity."
"With all the appropriate precautions taking place — the spacing, the 50 per cent capacity — we feel that it's a lower risk situation at this point."
A number of gyms, including Reh-Fit Centre and the GoodLife Fitness and Snap Fitness chain, are preparing to open and have yet to announce an opening date.
Winnipeg epidemiologist Cynthia Carr says COVID-19 spreads most easily through respiratory droplets. She says that risk would be heightened in tight quarters where there's heavy breathing, such as a cardiovascular activity.
"The more we work hard, we expel breath, the more opportunity there is for that to spread," says Carr, who founded EPI Research.
She says the people at highest risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19, such as seniors and immunocompromised persons, should think twice about engaging in those activities, or returning to the gym.
"For me to go back to the gym, I would feel safe, I would be very aware of my setting," Carr says.
"I probably wouldn't go to a cardio class yet, I would probably do that outside."
Derek Wickham, owner of Prairie Crossfit, is going above and beyond the physical distancing protocols set out by the province, which is half of normal business levels or one person per 10 square metres, whichever is lower.
Since his CrossFit gym in the Fort Garry Industrial Park is large enough, members can be around 18 feet away from each other, he says.
"We are definitely lucky in that aspect," Wickham says, adding that tape is separating sections of the floor.
He says some members are hesitant to come back, owning to their health concerns or those of the people they live with. Wickham says he'll continue to offer online classes in the meantime.
At Brickhouse, Taylor won't be prodding people to come back if they aren't ready.
"That's OK, but get outside," he encourages. "The weather's beautiful."
"You can do pushups — the floor's right underneath you."
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With files from Meaghan Ketcheson