More 24 Hour Fitness gyms to re-open with stricter rules

Fitness centers in the Santa Clara County, otherwise known as the center of the Silicon Valley, have been given the green light to re-open on July 13, 2020 by the State of California.  These gyms have been closed since the State's shelter-in-place mandate imposed in March.  In response, 24 Hour Fitness, the second largest gym chain in the U.S., announced that they would be re-opening their Santa Clara County gyms on July 13 while closing the following amenities as directed by the County:

• Indoor cardio & aerobic exercise
• Water fountains
• Vending machines
• Seating, waiting, and lounge areas
• Locker rooms and showers
• Indoor pools, spas, saunas and steam rooms

To see which and when your gym will be re-opening, visit their constantly updated club list.

Mandatory reservation system

Santa Clara County has also mandated a reservation system for gym usage, meaning that you can't just walk in and work out but need an actual reservation as part of capacity controls.  24 Hour Fitness has already been using a reservation-based system with their 24GO app since their gyms first begin re-opening in mid-May in the state of Texas.  You can reserve a 1-hour slot within one calendar day of your desired workout time, followed by total gym closures for 30 minutes of cleaning.

No cardio

The closure of indoor cardio and aerobic exercises make sense as they often (and should) result in heavy perspiring that could enhance the spread of COVID-19.  But this shouldn't be a big deal for "cardio cows" as they can just go for a run or bike ride on their own outdoors.  It remains to be seen if any of their locations will be moving cardio equipment outside.  But given the outdoor restrictions and additional labor required for such moves, I would expect the gyms to keep everything indoors and just power off all the cardio equipment.

Even with 30 minute closures for cleaning after every hour, cardio equipment will remain closed

It's unclear if this restriction also applies to functional and HIIT training such as battle ropes, sled pushes, and tractor tire flips.  One could argue that when done correctly, battle ropes are HIIT and anaerobic exercises and not "aerobic exercises".  However, given the extreme breathing accompanied with HIIT, I would expect 24 Hour Fitness to also disallow many of the functional activities, which means that the gym will now be a weight lifter's haven.

Bottom line

The gym "post-pandemic" is definitely going to look very different with only free weights and weight machines being available for use.  24 Hour Fitness is simply adapting to the times and the rules, and it's definitely been a struggle for the privately owned company as they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.  While it's good to see gyms slowly re-opening, we have seen spikes in COVID-19 cases throughout the state, so extreme caution should be taken for gym rats wishing to get back into their weight lifting routine.  Existing members have been given a Goodwill Offer of either a 90-day gym pass for a friend or a one year buddy pass, so those wishing to claim a Goodwill Offer will need to do so before their local gyms open on July 13.

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!