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Did 2020 turn the gym industry into criminals?

16 December 2020

Enforced closures, police raids and hefty fines - what 2020 has done to the gym landscape…

It’s safe to say that 2020 has been one of the most unpredictable years on record, worldwide lockdowns and closures for household-name businesses as they have fallen into administration. For the fitness industry, it’s been a mixed bag, fitness and the importance of exercise and health have never been more in the spotlight, thanks to the likes of home workout celebrities Joe Wicks and Courtney Black.

The Government has also been actively pushing the message of exercise and how important it is for mental health and more importantly in the fight against COVID-19, yet they closed over 7,000 gyms and leisure centres across the country. As a result, unlike the fitness boom of 2020, the gym landscape painted a very different picture, one that included hefty fines, police raids and even a protest outside parliament with a tank.

One of the most-high profile gym closure cases of the year was Andreas Michli who actively defied all the government lockdown rules by keeping his London gym open. Openly saying that keeping the gym open “felt like the right thing to do socially, morally and scientifically”. After the news spread about his gym, he received a visit from not one, or two but 30 police officers and was also threatened with jail time.

Now we know that safety is always a number one priority, but 30 police officers and time spent in prison? Was keeping his gym open really the act of a criminal? Not to forget that with the gym closures, of course, came the fines, as many gyms across the UK were threatened and given fines ranging from £1,000 to £10,000. Andreas was also publicly given a £67,000 fine and a closure notice, a staggeringly huge amount of money that could have perhaps gone to better causes in our current climate?

As the frustration from the gym industry began to grow many advocates spoke out against the closures. England Rugby star James Haskell teamed up with Grenade to lead a protest in an orange tank to try and raise awareness about gyms being classed as a non-essential business. CEO of Grenade said ‘’Gyms and leisure centres aren’t just ‘another sector.’ After working in them for most of my life I’ve seen how they positively impact people’s lives - and not just physically.”

As 2020 draws to a close, gyms have finally reopened but with strict rules around classes. Looking back on the year it’s hard to see how these decisions were made regardless of the COVID data, which showed that gyms were in the lowest percentage of positive cases at only 2.8%, while supermarkets are 11.2%, pubs and bars are 7.4% and secondary schools are 6.8%.

Here at PT Academy, we hope 2021 brings some positivity to the gym industry!


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