Currently Gym owners are ready to take all necessary precautions if they are allowed to open. This includes physical distancing, sanitization, temperature checks, among others. Some are also mulling making wearing masks and gloves mandatory. Joshua Sinto, who has been in the fitness industry for nine years, runs Mizpa Fitness, a chain of five gyms in Bengaluru. “At my gyms, there is already enough distance between treadmills. If air conditioning is the issue, we can open windows and switch on fans and exhausts. Sanitation will be taken very seriously,” he tells TNM.
Sravan, who runs a chain of gyms called Chisel Fitness Studio in hyderabad, says that he has always been “obsessed” with hygiene at his gym, which will now be stepped up. “I have at least four housekeeping staff at all times cleaning equipment after each person uses it. I will now also sanitize the entire gym twice a day and am putting in place more such safety measures,” he adds.
Fitness has also moved online to an extent, with home workouts gaining popularity. A testament to that is that consumers are increasingly searching for fitness equipment and athleisure wear online across all age groups. Both flipkart and amazon told TNM that the platforms have seen 2x and 2.2x growth, respectively, in demand for fitness products as compared to the pre-lockdown period, with sales of equipment like yoga mats, resistance bands, dumbbells and at-home gym-kits seeing a steady uptake. But as gym being shut for four months has left gym owners and trainers struggling financially, which is one of the reasons why they are eager to do all and more for safety once they are allowed to reopen. However, some have had to shut shop in search of other means of livelihoods.
