Angry gym owners feel the burn over ‘unfair’ health advice

With health and fitness centres across NSW forced to close and endure yet another round of lockdown cancellations, gym owners and operators are claiming they have been stigmatised as unhygienic.

‘We’re very health conscious’ … members of an F-45 gym work up a sweat during a socially distanced outdoor bootcamp session at North Sydney Oval. Picture: Chris Pavlich

With health and fitness centres across NSW forced to close amid yet another round of lockdown cancellations, gym owners are growing increasingly frustrated with the state government, claiming it has unfairly targeted gyms as “unhygienic places” where the virus can run rampant.

Wayne Fergusson, who runs an F45 gym in North Sydney, has seen a 70 per cent plunge in revenue since the onset of the Greater Sydney lockdown last week and fears businesses will struggle to recover due to the stigma attached to gyms during the pandemic.

“I think NSW Health has unfairly stigmatised gyms and fitness studios as unhygienic places where the virus can easily spread,” he said. “I think this is going to make it even harder for businesses to bounce back.

“Many of the requirements about extra sanitisation and cleaning advised by NSW Health already existed in gyms long before the pandemic … we’re very health conscious locations and I’d say equipment is sanitised more.”

Since the beginning of the Sydney lockdown, Mr Fergusson’s gym membership has more than halved, forcing him to put on more outdoor bootcamp sessions and reduce the cost of online virtual classes to retain customers.

“While I think people are a bit more confident with exercise during this lockdown compared to the last, it’s not enough to help.

“We’ll survive a two-week lockdown, but if we don’t get assistance – either government support or a change in message – it will be very tough,” he said.

At City Gym in Darlinghurst in central Sydney, director Billy Kokkinis said inconsistent government messaging on gyms and exercise had been just as damaging as the lockdowns.

“I understand the Delta variant changes the game and I don’t disagree with the government approach, but I think gyms have been stereotyped as not up to standard, when we have great processes in place to make sure everything is clean,” he said.

Darlinghurst’s City Gym, which boasts more than 2000 members and a history that stretches back to the 1980s, continues to offer online classes and outdoor bootcamp sessions, but Mr Kokkinis said membership was beginning to dip.

“I think NSW Health don’t recognise that gyms are much safer and cleaner than many of the other places that people have been permitted to attend during previous restrictions,” he said.

“Why were some people able to attend a pub and have a beer with people, when you couldn’t go into a well-sanitised gym and do exercise which is also good for your mental health?”