PARKER, Colo. (CBS4) — Exercise enthusiasts could go back to Planet Fitness Monday in Douglas County. For the first time since mid March, the doors opened after a variance was granted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).
Members, like Ashley Skinner, were stoked.
“I feel like I get my best workout here,” Skinner told CBS4 Health Specialist Kathy Walsh. “Great to be back.”
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The 23-year-old mother, college student and gymnastics coach joined Planet Fitness in Parker in 2018 and works out four days a week.
Despite the coronavirus still circulating, Ashley said she feels safe here.
“It’s really great to see people taking this seriously,” she said.
“We’ve always been very clean and sanitized, but we really turbo-charged that,” explained Jonny Jost, Planet Fitness franchisee.
He said changes start at the door. With the gym app, there is touchless check-in. “Social fitnessing” means 120 square feet per member.
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Gym workers sanitize high-touch areas. Members have more cleaning stations. There are lockers on the wall but locker rooms and showers are closed.
“You can’t see the smile here because of my mask but I’ve got a huge ear-to-ear grin right now,” said Jost, excited to finally reopen.
Jost says staff will wear masks. They’re not mandatory in Douglas County, but Ashley wears one.
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“Still wear those masks, take those precautions and let’s not get back to where we were,” she said.
The folks at Planet Fitness know not everyone is ready to come back. If asked, they say, they’ll freeze a person’s membership and won’t charge an enrollment fee when they do return.
