Some Fort Lauderdale gyms reopened this week. Then the mayor had second thoughts.
Gyms in Fort Lauderdale reopened this week, drawing people from near and far who wanted to get moving again somewhere other than their bedrooms.
But the reopening didn’t last long. Four days after Mayor Dean Trantalis ordered them open, he closed them back up again.
In allowing their reopening, Fort Lauderdale broke away from Broward County which has not lifted the shutdown order for gyms and fitness centers. At the time, the city was the first place in South Florida besides the Keys to allow gyms to operate.
Hours before Trantalis revisited his position, Upload Fitness’ phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
The Fort Lauderdale-based gym reopened Monday and employees have fielded questions about temporary memberships ever since.
“I love my job but that has been a little bit much,” said manager Latiska Patterson, 45.
Fort Lauderdale was the only city in Broward to defy the county’s order that deemed gyms still unsafe to open. Broward Mayor Dale V.C. Holness responded by threatening arrest or fines for violating the rules, an action Trantalis later said influenced his new recommendation to close them back up again.
Trantalis said he was following the lead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when he gave gyms the green light to reopen.
The temporary opening of the gyms lured people from outside the city. At Upload Fitness, Wednesday afternoon attracted about 25 people, several of whom didn’t live anywhere near Fort Lauderdale.
Matt Resch, 28, and Kevin Creekman, 31, flew in from Los Angeles earlier this week hoping to regain some sense of normalcy. Resch, who used to live in Fort Lauderdale, said Los Angeles County’s stringent lockdowns influenced the two friends’ decision to hit the road to South Florida.
We came “so that we can live again like humans,” Resch said between sets on the bench press.
Others, like Peggy Eason, just wanted to get back to her routine. The North Miami trainer said she combed through the Fort Lauderdale area looking for the cleanest gym before settling on Upload Fitness.
“I was willing to go to West Palm Beach if I had to,” Eason, 56, said.
Staying closed
Not every gym in Fort Lauderdale decided to reopen.
Larger chains, such as 24 Hour Fitness, Planet Fitness and the YMCA, elected to wait an extra week or two, just in case.
Gyms that reopened had to do so at half their usual capacity and follow a set of guidelines outlined in the city’s updated emergency order. These included requiring all workers to wear masks, taking the temperature of employees and customers, and ensuring all machines adhered to proper social distancing mandates. Also, gym-goers had to slather on hand sanitizer before going in and clean equipment both before and after use.
Clients “are all really happy that we’re using such precaution in order to make this a safe place for them,” said Johnathan Larkin, the owner of Upload Fitness, which boasts a membership of 2,500. “Everybody’s been fully cooperative because everybody plays a role to be part of the solution.”
Some smaller facilities took extra precautions in the short time they were allowed to open.
The Fitness District, a quaint boutique with about 80 members, used electrostatic disinfecting spray. Geoff Thomas, the gym’s owner, waved his ultraviolet light sanitizer stick over equipment. He even instituted a mask policy, a rule that some weren’t quite fond of.
“’This is for your protection and mine,’” Thomas said, pointing to his mask as he recalled a conversation with an ornery client. “Although it definitely makes it a little more challenging to breathe ... if you’re working out in here, you got to wear it.”
Thomas then tried to put a positive spin on it.
“At the end of the day, it’s like altitude training,” he added. “If you wear this mask for a couple weeks, you will adapt to it.”
At CrossFit Increase, head coach Milena Maestre changed her entire workout to make it more pandemic-friendly.
“Nobody’s doing pull-ups, nobody’s climbing that damn rope — there’s fibers and when you’re doing pull-ups, your sweat can come off of you and spray” others, said Maestre, 38. “Nobody’s using that cloth thing where you can do pull-ups with your elbows and nobody’s allowed to lie down on the ground ... I’m having to get very creative with my workouts.”
CrossFit Increase also benefits from having a relatively small clientele. With about 45 members, their training sessions never exceed 10 people.
The size, both in space and membership, coupled with Maestre’s adaptability led former NFL wide receiver and the gym’s owner, Isaac Bruce, to feel comfortable with opening their doors.
“If our gym was any busier,” Maestre said, “I highly doubt we’d be open right now.”
‘They need a safe environment to exercise’
Reopening CrossFit Increase was more than just another paycheck to Maestre.
Though the extra cash never hurt, she prioritized being able to work out safely above all else.
“I’m grateful to be working but what’s more important to me is that these guys are OK,” Maestre said.
But safety was just a small part of why these facilities chose to reopen when they could.
“A lot of people miss out on some of the benefits of strength training, conditioning and things of that nature, one of those benefits being building your immune system, strength and confidence,” Bruce, 47, said.
A 2019 medical study found that exercising can better the body’s defense mechanisms — yet it’s unclear whether this applies to the coronavirus. What’s clear, however, is that many gym-goers said they desperately needed to regain some level of autonomy.
“People are feeling down, people are sad, people are stressed,” Maestre said. “They need a safe environment to exercise in and sometimes they don’t have that at home.”
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 11:57 AM.
