24 Hour Fitness to open June 22 in California!!
Last week, California Governor Newsom announced Phase 3 opening for the state, allowing bars, salons, movie theaters, and fitness centers to open as early as June 12th with extensive cleaning and precautionary measures. In response, 24 Hour Fitness, which has recently opened many of their facilities throughout Texas, Florida, and Hawaii, will be re-opening most of their gyms in California on June 22nd!
As with their other opened facilities in select states, 24 Hour Fitness will be requiring reservations for workouts via their 24GO app. Each member is allowed one reservation per day of up to 1 hour, and members can currently reserve for any gym regardless of their membership level (e.g. Active members can reserve and access Super Sport clubs). After each 1 hour reservation slot, all members will be asked to leave as the gym performs a full comprehensive cleaning for 30 minutes before the next 1-hour reservation slot is granted access. Governor Newsom has called for significant capacity controls and social distancing of at least 6 feet for machines and over 6 feet for cardio machines which often result in heavy respiring (assuming you're actually working out and doing it correctly). The guidance suggests that "equipment can be arranged in an “X” pattern to provide greater distancing", so it'll be interesting to see how 24 Hour Fitness implements this at their facilities since cardio machines are usually stacked adjacent to each other for the greatest capacity. Masks are recommended, though not required.
As you can see above at gyms that are already open in Houston, workout slots are for 1 hour every 1 1/2 hours, which factors in the 30 minute cleaning period. For instructions on how to reserve a workout time on the 24GO app, go to their FAQs. And as reminder, 2-3 pm is dedicated to seniors only, who do not need a reservation. It should also be noted that even with a reservation, you're not guaranteed a space in the limited studio classes that are now being offered as the classes with have strict capacity controls on a first come first serve basis. They should also now be re-branded as 16 Hour Fitness due to their new operating hours:
- Club hours will be from 5am to 9pm daily to allow for overnight cleaning
- Currently members can make a reservation at any open club, regardless of your membership level
- Some equipment may be powered off or moved to provide ample space to work out safely
- Courts will be repurposed as extra workout space; no ball sports will be allowed
- Classes will meet at modified times and locations to support social distancing
- All Kids’ Clubs, wet areas and drinking fountains will remain closed for now; please bring your own water bottle
The gym will definitely be a different environment post-pandemic. Even with the extensive 30-minute cleanings after every hour, there are still many frequently contacted surfaces in the gym in any given hour, including barbells, dumbbells, and weight machines. Unless you're staying on the same cardio machine for the entire hour, which you shouldn't since excessive steady state cardio is boring and not very effective, you'll most likely want to wipe down everything. 24 Hour Fitness has promised to 24 Hour Fitness has promised to make paper towels and cleaning solution readily available throughout their clubs, so I would use them religiously. Wearing masks during cardio and especially HIIT isn't very feasible unless you're training to climb a tall mountain with low oxygen. But if you're resting in between sets, it may be a good idea to slip on a mask as there's a high probability that other members will be passing by you. And above all, do NOT go if you are feeling unwell! I don't care how much your muscles are starving to workout. You went 3 months without hitting the gym, so you can do it for another week or however long it takes you to recover.
Bottom line
It's exciting to see gyms re-open their doors after a much needed 3-month hiatus. As with restaurants and recreation, many folks are probably itching to go back to the gym to maintain their gains that they have worked so hard for. Undoubtedly, many of us have lost strength during the pandemic as our muscles didn't really have an incentive to stay with us since we weren't lifting heavy. There definitely is a risk factor involved with going to the gym as it can be cesspool for pathogens, so it's good to see 24 Hour Fitness take extensive precautionary measures in reducing the risk. On the flipside, exercising should be a vital party of your daily routine, so avoiding the gym can be even more dangerous for your health. In fact, the American Cancer Society upped the CDC's recommended weekly exercise time from 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise to reduce the risk of cancer. Achieving or exceeding the upper limit of 300 minutes is optimal, so you'll want to reserve workout slots at 24 Hour Fitness everyday to hit 400 minutes.
From all of us at Flying for Fitness, please stay healthy during this trying time. We hope you enjoyed this post. Please consider visiting one of our sponsors by clicking on the advertisements. Our sponsors pay us for customer visits and help us to keep the lights on. Thanks!
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