Dear Valued Members,
Time has frozen and flown by all at the same time. We wanted to give you some insight into the projects, initiatives and efforts O2 Fitness has taken over the past four months. Let’s recap...
On Tuesday March 17th we closed our clubs at 4:00pm. This was seven days before Governor Cooper mandated the closure of fitness facilities and ten days before the stay-at-home order. Health is our number one priority and we felt that this proactive closure was the right thing to do. We had no idea what would unfold over the next couple weeks. At that point we started training our team of instructors and trainers on how to record themselves for a virtual library called GO2 Fitness. Here you will find instructor led classes, live Zumba Zoom workouts, virtual Personal Training bootcamps and even one-on-one Personal Training sessions. We have continued to build answers, solutions, and access to fitness from home.
On Monday May 18th five O2 Fitness locations opened in South Carolina. Since that date we have safely welcomed 45,000 individual check-ins. Your health and safety is important to us - our restrictions far surpass the South Carolina guidelines and we will do the same when we reopen in North Carolina. Each day we close for a mid-day fogging of our equipment, provide individual sanitizing spray bottles to each member and much more.
On Wednesday May 20th we found out fitness clubs were excluded from the North Carolina Phase 2 opening. We began working with other fitness leaders to establish The Fitness Operators for Responsible Reopening. (FORR) That weekend we created suggested guidelines and a website for all gyms in North Carolina to use as a resource for a safe reopening. We sent our plan to state and local officials, legislators, members of the Governor's office, the Department of Health and Human Services - really to anyone who would listen.
On Wednesday June 24th many of our team members presented to the North Carolina House & Senate the impact physical fitness plays on mental, physical, and emotional health. Our team worked with lobbyists on a bill that would have created strict guidelines for fitness facilities to reopen and provided a safe way for North Carolina residents to access their gyms. Twice...Twice - these bi-partisan bills easily passed both the House and the Senate and were ultimately vetoed by the Governor.
On Wednesday July 14th Governor Cooper issued Executive Order 151 which extended Phase 2, keeping fitness facilities, museums, playgrounds and more closed until at least August 7th.
On Saturday August 1st North Carolina members were not charged due to the fact that clubs are still closed.
We will continue to work with our local and state officials to monitor cases and provide helpful information from the health and fitness industry. Information such as the Oslo Norway medical research study that showed that gym goers contracted the Coronavirus at a lower rate than non-gym goers and data from the California Fitness Alliance that showed 5.5 Million check-ins from June to July with only .002% of members testing positive. And of that fraction of a percent, none were traced back to a fitness facility.
Though we continue to comply with the Governor’s order, we are seeing throughout the United States that fitness facilities can reopen and create an immediate positive impact on their states’ physical and mental health.
We have spent this time closed working on our overall experience for you as we strive to be your community resource for fitness. We have painted, cleaned, and renovated many clubs. The individual spray bottles are ready and we pledge to be the cleanest and safest fitness club in the Carolinas.
We look forward to your safe return, but until then, thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this together.
In health,
Team O2
Still have questions? Click here to have a team member reach out to you directly!