Cleaning protocols are expensive for gym owners, but necessary according to a national survey

Image credit: Motiv Fitness

Part of the charm of the early CrossFit gyms was that they lacked the bells and whistles and shiny equipment of the Globo gym. Often housed in sturdy garages, few expected them to be clean. In fact, the humble, if not filthy, garage feel was at least part of what drew members to the CrossFit culture. And while that has changed over the years, many gym owners have become more picky about cleanliness. However, it is also clear that the global pandemic has changed expectations about the cleanliness of a gym.

One Big Deal : According to a new National Morning Chalk Up / Triib / TrueCoach survey of CrossFit athletes and gym owners, there is a huge gap between the cleanliness of your gym and the perspective of individual members.

• 86.7% of the surveyed partner owners said that they do a "very good" job on cleaning, health and safety. Only 62.9% of the members agree.

Going Further: Although there is a perception void, gym owners take their members' expectations seriously and spend time and money (hundreds, if not thousands, more dollars per month) on cleaning supplies and equipment, laundry, and hiring professional cleaners. to meet the new standard. For many, the additional costs are particularly high as corporate sales often decline due to COVID-19.

• George Dobbins, the owner of CrossFit Dover in DE, is currently spending nearly $ 400 more per month on paper towels, while Casey Anderson, the owner of Flagler Village CrossFit in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is spending $ 400 more per month on one Cleaning. Business to do a thorough disinfectant clean every weekend. In the meantime, Andrés Schwartz's cleaning bill has doubled.
• "Deliveries and cleaning staff pay are causing this increase," said Schwartz, owner of FTX CrossFit in Wheaton, IL.
• Even more extreme, Lawrence Jacobs, the owner of CrossFit Park Ridge in Chicago, IL, said his cleaning costs increased from $ 1,000 to $ 1,500 per month, and Adam Coyne, the owner of Seismic CrossFit in Rohnert Park, in California did Invested "several thousand dollars" in making sure his gym was clean enough.
• Finally, others like CrossFit Games veteran and CrossFit strongman Rob Orlando have partnered with Purifly , a professional cleaning company with years of experience in the cleaning and plumbing industries. to develop specially designed cleaning programs for individual homeowners.

Overview: There's a new expectation that anything you touch - be it a medicine ball, box, rod, or even a foam roller - needs to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before anyone can put it on. deliver. In fact, 84% of respondents said cleaning all of the equipment in their gym has become a habit, which it certainly wasn't before the pandemic. Only 25% said it was common before the pandemic. It's safe to say that this new standard of cleanliness, coupled with the time and financial costs it imposes on the gym owner, is unlikely to decrease anytime soon, pandemic or not.

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