Gyms reopen, but fitness enthusiasts wary

Mysuru/Mangaluru: Nearly five months after fitness centres shut, some opened on Wednedsay following a green signal by the central government for resumption of activities under Unlock 3.0 guidelines. However, only a few turned up at several gymnasiums.
Equipment have been rearranged to ensure distance of 6 feet and only 10 to15 can exercise for an hour. They have to book slots and carry their own water bottle, masks and sanitizers. Entry is allowed only if the body temperature is normal and interacting with other gym goers inside the studio is a strict no-no.
Santosh, a regular at a gym here, is very happy with fitness centres opening. "I’m a fitness freak and physical exercise is most essential in these ties. However, the responsibility is on us to ensure we follow the safety protocol," he added.
"It’s a challenging time for gym and fitness owners. We can’t expect fresh admission but have to provide service to existing members," says MS Harsha, president of Mysuru Gym and Fitness Owners Association.
Harsha who owns a fitness centre says time slots have been fixed to ensure social distancing. "Our gyms in Siddarthalayout and Vijayanagar received about 50 members each in the morning session and we are hoping that it will be business like before, " he added.
Mysuru city has close to 250 gyms and fitness centres and all its owners have taken it as a challenge to revive the fitness culture, explained the president appealing to property owners to exempt gym operators from paying rent till the year-end.
In Mangaluru city, many are adopting a wait and watch policy and are likely to open next week depending on the response from fitness enthusiasts.
One of the gyms to resume with a new normal in Mangaluru is Zuese Fitness Club which saw only 25 per cent of members returning to the exercise floor till afternoon.
Rajesh P, managing director of the club told TOI there was demand from patrons to open the club. "Earlier every batch had about 60 to 70 members but the first day-first batch had less than 20 members. We have placed the equipment six feet apart. Each batch the time is reduced from 60 minutes to 45 minutes; the truncated time is used to sanitising the place and equipment," he explained. Apart from it, the club is planning to open its regular yoga and Zumba classes depending on the response.
Rajesh said that the women turn out was a trickle. "The reason could be online classes for children. As a result, we have temporarily closed our ladies-only gym inAttavar," he explained.
Another gym Atomm Fitness Club has decided to restart after August 10.
Mahabala Punchathody of Yogarogya said that yoga lovers are asking yogis/yoginis to teach those asanas which strengthen respiratory systems such as pranayama, bhujangasana and others. "There is more demand for home instructors as people are wary to travel to to yoga studios. So far only 50 per cent of them have returned," he pointed out.