WALKER, MICH. — With the current executive order in Michigan gyms aren’t allowed to open until June 12th, but one gym in West Michigan is hoping to get things moving sooner.
The owners of CrossFit 616 are asking the Governor for an exemption and showing her how their space could work better than the traditional gym setting so they can open immediately.
Tom Sullivan, Owner of CrossFit 616recently sent an email to Governor Whitmer’s Office in hopes she sees how their gym that’s been closed since mid March can meet all the requirements that retail stores are currently following and can keep gatherings to 10 or less people.
“We have diagrams pictures, basically showing that in our gym because it's a CrossFit gym, unlike most gyms and fitness centers we're really grouped in with them. And I don't think we belong to you know, be grouped in terms of space, we have 6500 square feet of open floor space,” says Tom Sullivan, Owner CrossFit 616.
Sullivan goes on to explain in his proposal how they can limit their class sizes to just nine members and one coach.
“Athletes would wait in their cars until we roll up the door to enter. We'd have them enter one at a time, use hand sanitizer. Go straight to their assigned area. And then from there, we would do the workout keeping our distance staying in our areas and then upon leaving, we would have them wipe everything down that they used and would have cleaning solution in every single lane, they could wipe all their equipment down,” says Sullivan.
The owners also plan to keep some amenities closed to help keep everyone in one area and make it easier to clean.
This plan would also give each athlete a minimum of 15 feet between each other, all to avoid a common concern.
Sullivan says, “Because our classes have a program workout, we are able to control essentially how hard people breathe. We can do strength movements, other exercises, mobility, stretching and strength, stuff that is not going to make people huff and puff and cough.”
With the hope they can soon return to some normalcy for not only their members but business as a whole.
“We know that we can do this properly and safely and we care about our members more than anyone. We're not going to just open, we don't believe in that. We want to follow the law and do things legally but we want to let it be known that we are different than most gyms,” says Sullivan.
At this time the coaches at CrossFit 616 are still doing daily Facebook live workouts for their members and will continue to do so when they eventually go back for those who aren't comfortable yet.
Sullivan says unfortunately they’ve lost a handful of members because they haven’t been able to offer the same value without their normal setting.
