When the beginning of the pandemic hit, all but two gyms were quick to close: Crunch and Zoo Culture. Recently, more and more gyms have opened up such as LA Fitness, Athletic Society, private gyms, etc. Crunch and Zoo Culture are always full of people since they have been the two gyms that remained opened throughout the pandemic. I think this was the best thing that those gym owners could’ve done. Not only did they make lots of money, but they also provided the public with a form of relaxation throughout these crazy times.

Zoo Culture also has a reputation for having celebrities attending it which makes more people interested in joining and brings a lot of attention. New faces are showing up every single day, opening memberships, bringing an extra person in as a guest, but there has been no news of the virus spreading at any of their locations. If there were, then they most definitely would’ve shut down knowing the amounts of people who attend the gym and wouldn’t put them at risk of getting the virus. I believe it’s a good idea to keep gyms open because we have access to the vaccine now and those who go may want to better themselves after being in quarantine for so long.

The reopening of gyms may be something that causes people to have different opinions. The virus is not going away anytime soon unless the population gets vaccinated so some may say it only makes sense to continue to live life. What is meant by that is we can’t just stay isolated from everyone and everything. You can’t live in fear and you might as well go out while taking
precautions.

One common thing among lots of people is how they lost their confidence during quarantine. They don’t feel comfortable in their body and want to look their best before showing up to school or wherever it may be. The gym is their only answer and they might find comfort in it. So knowing this, it makes sense to keep the gyms open to the public.

Nonetheless, it’s understandable why some wouldn’t think it’s the best idea to have them open up. Who wants to work out with a mask on, be disinfecting the equipment every single time they’re about to use it, and be surrounded by tons of people? It would almost be selfish too, seeing things finally getting better for us and now that gyms are reopening there’s always the possibility of going back to where we first started with. As we are all aware, elders are more at risk and cautious when it comes to this whereas teens are not. There are many teens who don’t take it seriously which is why having the gyms reopen will not make a difference to them and they might take advantage of it. Though if we’re all careful and follow the guidelines this may be prevented.

Brian Gutierrez, a member of Crunch, says “I have been coming almost every single day since the beginning of quarantine and nothing has happened. I can say there has definitely been a big change when more people started coming here and now it’s full every day at every hour. But, there’s disinfecting wipes around the whole gym, janitorial maintenance workers too, and some people keep their mask on during workouts.”

Adding on to what Gutierrez states, the gyms are not as bad as they may seem. There are precautions that need to be taken and most do their part too. I think reopening the gyms will help us in many ways. It’ll boost our confidence again, entertain us, let us socialize and be free, and it’ll help the economy after all the stores that shut down.