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The Reopening

Photos: Sarasota Gyms Reopen With New COVID-19 Guidelines in Place

Here's how three local fitness facilities are coping within our new reality.

Photography by Lauren Pritchard May 26, 2020

Jaco's Boxing and Fitness

"There were other gyms opening and training clients prior to getting the green light to reopen," says Jaco. She says she felt the right thing to do was to wait.

Jaco's Boxing and Fitness

Prior to COVID-19, Jaco says classes could be as big as 60-70 people. Now, the maximum size allowed is 15. Jaco also installed a new system to better filter the air inside the gym.

Jaco's Boxing and Fitness

Jaco's Boxing and Fitness reopened on May 18. Owner Kelli Jaco says clients don't share weights and equipment is wiped down between uses. "Clients are very cautious of remaining six feet apart," Jaco says, "and we are doing everything possible to keep the gym a safe place for our clients to work out."

Pineapple Yoga Studio + Cycling

Pineapple Yoga Studio + Cycling offers yoga and cycling classes. Owner Claudia Baeza says that during quarantine, not being able to teach was "sad and stressful."

Pineapple Yoga Studio + Cycling

Here, Baeza works with a client named Susan. "Coming back has been equally stressful, because of the regulations, which require us to open at 50 percent capacity," Baeza says. Bikes at the studio are currently spaced seven feet apart, and classes are limited to 10 people.

Pineapple Yoga Studio + Cycling

Baeza says clients are slowly coming back to the studio.

Pure Barre Lakewood Ranch/Bradenton

Alex Nickolai and Michele Santacroc chat before a class. Pure Barre has been live-streaming classes on Facebook during quarantine, and Nickolai and Santacroc say the bulk of their clients are currently more comfortable taking classes that way. There are generally about 10-25 people per class, and clients can attend live or watch a replay.

Pure Barre Lakewood Ranch/Bradenton

Clients are asked to only bring keys, phones and wallets with them into the studio and leave everything in a specially marked area to avoid contamination. Each workout station is spaced nearly seven feet apart, per state guidelines.

Pure Barre Lakewood Ranch/Bradenton

"A lot of people continued with their memberships," says Santorac. She reminded clients that they had a goal when they started taking the classes, and if they stopped, they were essentially starting over with those goals. "A lot of people were emotional coming back," says Nickolai. "This is their outlet."

Jaco's Boxing and Fitness

During quarantine, Jaco's Boxing and Fitness offered Facebook Live classes every morning for free for clients and anyone who wanted to join. "There's still a need for a lot of people who have kids [at home] that want to work out," Jaco says.

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You probably saw the news footage: a group of protestors in Clearwater doing push-ups and squats outside the city's courthouse as they called for gyms to reopen. (Who's going to tell them that, uh, they're proving the point that exercise can be done outside the gym?)

Well, last week, those protestors—and anyone else in serious need of an endorphin fix–got their wish. Gyms were officially allowed to reopen on May 18 as part of Gov. Ron DeSantis' “Safe. Smart. Step-by-Step.” recovery plan.

However, there are guidelines in place. Gyms and fitness centers can only operate at 50 percent capacity, and owners and clients must follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for social distancing and sanitation.

We ventured out to several local gyms to see how owners and clientele are adjusting to reopening, and what life has been like since they were forced to shutter last month.

Filed under
Workouts, Yoga, Coronavirus, Gyms, Pure Barre
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