Beginning Friday, July 10th, all athletes will be required to wear a mask at all times, including during their workouts. While we expect this to be a challenging hurdle, we strongly believe that this additional precautionary measure will help ensure your safety and allow us to continue serving our community.
As Covid cases continue to rise all over the country, states are regressing in their phases; we want to contribute to a solution, not the problem. As leaders in the fitness community, we aim to be an example for surrounding small businesses, in hopes that others will follow suit in a global effort to flatten the curve.
With that in mind, we ask that you use these next few days to find a face-covering/mask that you are comfortable wearing during your workouts. These tips might be helpful in deciding upon a mask or face covering:
- Avoid paper, surgical masks; they rapidly become wet when we breathe into them vigorously and lose some of their ability to block outgoing germs.
- Look for cloth masks made from breathable, synthetic materials; that should lessen moisture buildup. Choose models that have two layers of fabric or less to avoid facial overheating and any bunching of the cloth that might constrict breathing.
- Some athletes may prefer neck gaiters, which can be pulled up over the mouth and nose but remain open at the bottom, increasing air flow.
- Some athletic clothing companies, including Under Armour, Koral, Zensah, and others, have begun to manufacture masks for use during exercise.
“Wearing a mask can be particularly important if you are exercising indoors at a gym, where air circulation is less likely to dissipate the virus. Look on masks as an opportunity to be a good citizen and show that you care about the well-being of others, even as you bolster your own well-being with a workout.”
**PLEASE NOTE: If you are outside training on our back landing or if you experience brief overheating, you can take your mask off temporarily, knowing that you will have to put it back on as soon as possible.
This was not an easy decision to make, but we know it’s the right one. While we do not have nor have we had any cases of Covid-19 at Defined, we do believe that this temporary restriction will allow us to continue to keep our doors open for training.
We are a resilient community that has proven its ability to adapt. Knowing that we’ve already come so far together, we can hope you can stand behind this decision with your support.
Interested in further reading? Check out this article to learn more!
Questions for us? Email us at [email protected]
Stay strong. Stay healthy. Stay positive.