PG the PT – How a gym owner has handled the easing of restrictions

We’re coming up to two weeks of gyms being reopen, have you been back? How have you found it? Are you happy with the safety precautions that your gym has put in place?

I know before we reopened we honestly didn’t know how people would respond to multiple sanitizer stations peppered throughout the gym. We were unsure if asking people to wipe down all the surfaces they touched once they were finished their sessions would be off-putting, or ignored.

And mostly, with our new training pod system we just didn’t know if people would would adhere to the social distancing rules and literally, stay in their box.

Happily, they have. The feedback from our members has been they couldn’t wait to get back, they appreciate the efforts we’ve put in to ensure not only their safety but that we haven’t had to sacrifice anything to ensure the same quality experience they’ve grown to expect at The Edge.

In fact, with larger training groups being taken off the table it’s meant we’ve had a chance to get more focused in on our members as individuals and get really dialled in on their own specific goals. I’m hoping that once the dust settles, this whole crazy period will have been a blessing in disguise for us as it’s given us a chance to step back and refocus our attention on the few instead of the many.

I hope your own training experiences have been similar, and if you haven’t got back to the gym yet, when that time does come I hope you feel comfortable with the barbell on your back again!

And by the looks of things up and down the country there’s a fair chance that your training over the second half of 2020 could be gym orientated as opposed to on the field as positive cases of Covid-19 continue to pop up across the country.

With clubs pulling from competitions, players have suspected cases which in turn places their team mates and opposing players at risk of infection I honestly can’t see how games will continue over the next few weeks.

With any luck I’m completely wrong, but I know off-hand of three separate groups of players who have all had to go and get tested off the back of contact with two individuals who tested positive.

And that’s going to be an ongoing issue. As much as we’ve adjusted, adapted and became more vigilant during the pandemic, this week has been a reminder to those in GAA circles that it’s very much still out there.

All you can do is to continue to be vigilant and do everything we’ve all been doing over the last four months, washing our hands, social distancing and all the rest. If we get to play ball, great, if not, use it as a positive to get in and put the work in on the gym floor!

For more information contact me via Facebook.com/PGthePT or on Twitter @PGthePT.