{"id":50192,"date":"2020-11-27T13:57:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T20:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gyms-yoga-studios-face-restrictions-despite-lack-of-outbreaks\/"},"modified":"2020-11-27T20:57:22","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T20:57:22","slug":"gyms-yoga-studios-face-restrictions-despite-lack-of-outbreaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gyms-yoga-studios-face-restrictions-despite-lack-of-outbreaks\/","title":{"rendered":"Gyms, yoga studios face restrictions despite lack of outbreaks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A boxing class was held at TruFusion in Denver on Nov. 19. Closures earlier this year and subsequent capacity limits have been challenging for Colorado gym owners. Now, new public health restrictions because of a rise in COVID-19 cases are an added setback.<\/span>Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As new limits on gyms and fitness studios in Colorado\u2019s most populous areas take effect, owners of these facilities are trying to assess what it will mean.<\/p>\n

Many have already been struggling financially because of closures this spring and subsequent capacity limits, and owners said the new rules are an added setback.<\/p>\n

Perrin Kringel, who owns Yoga Pod Denver West at the Colorado Mills mall in Lakewood, said she first heard about the latest restrictions through multiple text messages from her staff members. At first, she couldn\u2019t face the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ended up watching four episodes of \u2018The Crown\u2019 and turning my phone off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kringel said she came back to the studio the next morning determined to make things work, but it will be a tough slog. Already, she\u2019s lost half her membership base since she had to close in the spring. Even when she reopened, she had to limit her classes to less than half their normal size. Now, she has to limit them even further.<\/p>\n

Last week, Gov. Jared Polis announced that gyms in the highest risk \u201cred\u201d counties, which includes La Plata County, would have to limit capacity to 10% or 10 people per class beginning Nov. 20. Currently, at least 21 Colorado counties are at Level Red.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to be healthy. It\u2019s good to work out,\u201d Polis said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t want that to be a social environment where the virus will spread.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no evidence gyms have driven infections in Colorado. So far, there has been one documented outbreak in the state linked to a gym in Montezuma County. Kringel thinks the benefits of group exercise and yoga practice outweigh the risks of transmission, especially given how careful she and other businesses are to limit the health risks. She said her industry has been unfairly singled out for restrictions while other businesses have been allowed to thrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in recovery for 16 years. I don\u2019t drink or smoke pot, but those are considered essential businesses,\u201d Kringel said. \u201cYet for many of us, this is essential. Yoga is part of how we survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Courtney
Courtney Samuel, owner of Body by Perseverance, in his Welton Street gym in Five Points on Nov. 21. Samuel says he feels a duty to keep his clients exercising despite all the new limits.<\/span>Courtesy of Colorado Public Radio<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Source of stress relief, community<\/div>\n

In Denver\u2019s Five Points neighborhood, Courtney Samuel said he feels a duty to keep his clients exercising despite all the new limits. Samuel owns Bodies by Perseverance, a gym with a boxing ring, workout equipment, exercise classes and personal training.<\/p>\n

Samuel said he spends a lot of time these days making sure his employees and clients are safe, which means, among other things, enforcing the mask requirement and frequently disinfecting equipment. Like Kringel, Samuel sees his business as essential.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are losing their minds,\u201d Samuel said. \u201cSo, you know, hitting mitts for 20 minutes is one of the biggest stress relievers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veronica Figoli, who works out at Samuel\u2019s gym, said she misses the pre-pandemic exercise classes and the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe (would) come every Saturday and we used to do classes,\u201d Figoli said. \u201cIt was actually our place of gathering. And our place of being together and forming community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Figoli, who went to the gym this weekend with her husband, David Fleischer, and their son, Mateo, said the classes are much smaller and they have to make an appointment now to be allowed to work out there. The couple jumped rope while they watched Mateo\u2019s boxing lesson in the ring.<\/p>\n

Figoli said she\u2019s happy her family still gets to exercise but it\u2019s not the same as being with a large group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re together, you feel the human energy,\u201d she said. \u201cWe burn calories by being with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A client gets ready to lift kettlebells at TruFusion in Denver. There&#x2019;s no evidence gyms have driven infections in Colorado. So far, there has been one documented outbreak in the state linked to a gym in Montezuma County.<\/span>Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Airborne transmission a concern<\/div>\n

Despite the lack of documented outbreaks in gyms, some public health researchers said they can be more dangerous than other public places because of all the heavy breathing, especially if they lack good ventilation.<\/p>\n

Jose-Luis Jimenez, a chemistry and environmental sciences professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies how COVID-19 travels through the air, said he believes the tighter restrictions on Colorado gyms right now are justified and that he might go even further \u2013 temporarily.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019d be better to do a more aggressive closure \u2026 try to lower the virus to much lower levels and then try to reopen more smartly,\u201d Jimenez said.<\/p>\n

But that would likely mean more closures on top of the handful of Colorado gyms and studios that have already shut down permanently because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Samuel at Bodies by Perseverance said public health orders have hurt his bottom line for a while now, even before the latest restrictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to offer more classes so my payroll is increased,\u201d Samuel said. \u201cBut my membership hasn\u2019t increased, so we can\u2019t generate as much revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Perrin
Perrin Kringel owns Yoga Pod Denver West at the Colorado Mills mall in Lakewood. Kringel thinks the benefits of group exercise and yoga practice outweigh the risks of COVID-19 transmission, especially given how careful she and other businesses are to limit the health risks.<\/span>Andrea Dukakis\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Still, Samuel and Kringel with Yoga Pod Denver West in Lakewood said they remain committed and see their work as critical to the well-being of their members, especially now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people struggling with anxiety and depression. There\u2019s rates of suicides going up, depression, substance abuse,\u201d Kringel said. \u201cAnd this is a place where people can calm down and relax.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gym and studio owners dream of the day when their classes will once again be full of happy, sweaty students working out together. Even Brett Cortese, who just opened TruFusion studios in Denver in September, expects to see his decked out, ultramodern exercise studios at capacity at some point soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited for the day when we can have 70 people in one classroom enjoying it and feeling like (they\u2019re in an) amazing, healthy nightclub, and that day is coming,\u201d Cortese said.<\/p>\n

For more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

documented outbreak linked to a gym statewide was in Montezuma County<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,28,61,1994,668],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-headlines","tag-health","tag-physical-fitness","tag-public-health"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50192"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}