Making gains: Winnipeg gyms flexing their muscles, but COVID-19 risks remain

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 30minutes 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 areamong the businesses now able to reopenas Phase 2of 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 abody builder, butdidn't have any workout equipment to his name before thepandemic.

He's since bought resistance bands andexercises in hisbackyard, 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 fivein the morning to get to the gym for seven," he says.

WATCH |Winnipeggers are working out again:

Winnipeggers are working out again

4 years ago

Duration 1:54

Gyms across the province can re-open starting June 1, as the province looses pandemic restrictions even more.

But he cannot show up whenever he wants to. Anderson had to book his workout in advance by phone. Each appointment islimited to 75 minutes.

BrickhouseGym owner Paul Taylor was spending much of his morningtalking 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 closesthe gym for 15 minutes betweeneach exercise block to sanitize high-touch areas.

He'sshut down the changerooms 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 requiringa booking system andproper cleaning, but those protocols alone donot 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 50per cent capacity we feel thatit's a lower risk situation at this point."

A number of gyms, includingReh-Fit Centre and theGoodLife Fitness and Snap Fitness chain, are preparing to open and have yet to announce anopening date.

Winnipegepidemiologist Cynthia Carr says COVID-19 spreads most easily throughrespiratory droplets.She says that risk would beheightened 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 andimmunocompromisedpersons, 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 thoseof the people they live with. Wickham says he'll continue to offer online classes in the meantime.

AtBrickhouse, Taylor won't be prodding people to come backif they aren't ready.

"That's OK, but get outside," he encourages. "The weather's beautiful."

"You can do pushupsthe floor's right underneath you."