Skipping the gym wasn’t just an option for many months in 2020, it was required as gyms were temporarily shuttered. But gyms are back and even better than ever with upgrades and safety protocols like the ones offered by the four Planet Fitness locations in the Midlands. Consider fitness as essential for a healthier 2021 and get ready to get back to the gym, thanks to plenty of upgrades that will make working out safer and easier in 2021 and beyond. Physical activity builds a stronger immune system and helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression — something everyone can use these days.
“We have online apps with new workouts and we’ve had a lot of activity on it, but generally health and physical fitness in America has declined, and people’s mental health too,” says Brian Bobenage, owner of the Planet Fitness locations in the Midlands.
Going back to the gym after time away isn’t easy, but Planet Fitness has added a lot of new features to their online app, including workouts for beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts so people can work their way back into their pre-pandemic fitness routine. “We also offer free consultations with our onsite trainers to help people ease back into it,” says Bobenage.
Planet Fitness centers are all between 10,000 and 20,000 square feet in size, with 15 foot ceilings that have always given plenty of space for social distancing and air circulation during workouts. But the spaces have undergone major upgrades too. “Our robust cleaning and air purification systems give us what I’d say is the cleanest indoor air in the Carolinas,” says Bobenage. The technology used in the gyms cleans both the air — replacing the air inside the building every hour — and sanitizes high-touch surfaces.
Unlike other health clubs, Planet Fitness has a very streamlined business model that doesn’t include any close-quarter activities such as group exercise classes, pools, or saunas. Another new app feature is the crowd meter, where a member can monitor the amount of people in their preferred location in real-time. With the new data on when people are coming to the gym with altered pandemic life routines, the app can also recommend the best times to come in where the least amount of people are in the gym, something which will be useful long after pandemic restrictions are lifted too.
Just getting back into the routine of including physical activity in daily life is an important part of getting fit. “The important thing is to just move, even if it’s 10-20 minutes to begin with to improve your physical and mental health,” says Bobenage. “You don’t have to be or look like a muscle builder to prove your fitness.”
Remember in 2021 that fitness can easily be essential every day of the year at the kind of gyms that are putting safety first. Find a Planet Fitness near you with locations in Cayce, Orangeburg, and on Two Notch Road and Clemson Road in northeastern Columbia.