At Burbank Fitness Club, we believe fitness is essential – now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and always. Here’s why.

 

Now More Than Ever
Why Fitness Is Essential During COVID-19

 

Fitness Is Essential: As a Safe Space for Health

Having a safe space for our community to focus on and improve their health is an essential resource; however, gyms have been targeted for their assumed risk of spreading COVID-19. To get the facts for themselves, a panel of experts from the California Fitness Alliance (CFA) hosted a study in July 2020 to determine the risk of getting the coronavirus at a gym. The results prove the State’s assumption is dangerously incorrect.

Let’s explore the study a little deeper. Between July 12 and July 13, 2020, the CFA surveyed nearly 800 fitness facilities to quantify the rate of infection for COVID-19. More than 5.5 million gym members and gym employees checked into the surveyed facilities during that period, and only .002% tested positive for COVID-19 following their visit to the gym. Additionally, none of those reported cases were contracted at the gym.

“Our industry takes health very seriously, which is why we implemented strict standards. The results of our survey demonstrate these standards work,” said Cory Brightwell, CFA Advisory Board member and CEO of Chuze Fitness. “The California Fitness Alliance will continue working with the Governor and local governments to demonstrate that fitness centers are not where infections are spreading.”

Marc Thomas, a CFA Advisory Board Member and Orangetheory Fitness franchisee, agreed: “While we appreciate that government officials have been dealing with unprecedented challenges associated with this crisis – especially at the outset when the severity of the situation was unknown – we now have a great deal more knowledge and data. And we have proven that we know how to operate indoor fitness safely. The time has come to let citizens have their gyms back.”

Fitness Is Essential: To Maximize Resilience to COVID-19

Regular exercise is one of the best ways to keep your body in top illness-fighting condition – especially when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Recent CDC data has overwhelmingly proven that underlying conditions such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes exacerbate the negative effects of COVID-19,” said Marc Thomas, California Fitness Alliance Advisory Board member and an Orangetheory Fitness franchisee. “Decades of research and countless independent studies have shown indisputably that regular physical exercise reduces and/or prevents incidences of those health conditions along with many other chronic diseases. These are the reasons why we unapologetically believe that fitness should be considered an ‘essential’ business.”

And the research supports it:

  • The risk of a coronavirus-related hospital death nearly doubles for people with a body mass index of 30, the lowest level of obesity, and it more than doubles for those with a BMI of 40 or more, according to a study by National Health Services England.
  • Exercise is especially beneficial for older adults who are more susceptible to infection and have also been identified as a particularly vulnerable population during this COVID-19 outbreak, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
  • Over half of U.S. adults (56%) report that worry or stress related to the COVID-19 outbreak has caused them to experience at least one negative effect on their mental health and wellbeing, such as problems with sleeping or eating, increased alcohol use, or worsening chronic conditions. Yet 43% of Americans say exercise helps with mental stress, according to the American Psychological Association.