Gyms Are Open In Alberta But Only These 'Low Intensity' Workouts Are Allowed
On Monday, March 1, Premier Jason Kenney announced that the province would be moving into Stage 2 of the COVID-19 reopening plan effective immediately. With that, gyms are open in Alberta again, but there are a whole bunch of new rules.
Kenney noted which restrictions will be eased, including only indoor fitness and libraries at this time. Other things such as retail, hotels, community halls and conference centers have been pushed back until further notice.
While some types of indoor fitness will be able to resume throughout the province, there are a number of new parameters and criteria for what is and isn't allowed.
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"Low intensity" activities
According to the Government of Alberta, low-intensity individual and group exercises are allowed to resume without a trainer. In Step 1 these activities could only be done on a one-on-on, booking-only basis.
These types of workouts are low in cardio and include examples such as "barre, pilates, stretching, tai-chi, low intensity yoga (e.g. hatha, yin), light weightlifting, indoor rock climbing."
There will be in-studio rules that need to be followed such as three-meters between everyone, no walk-in services, and mask-wearing for trainers.
Each studio has been given parameters to operate within and can choose to move ahead as they see fit. Therefore, it's important to check with your Alberta gym to see how they plan on reopening and what their new health protocols will be.
"High intensity" activities
If you love a high-intensity workout, you're going to need to do it at home or one-on-one in the gym with your trainer.
The Government of Alberta's examples include: "bodybuilding/heavy weightlifting, aerobics, rowing, Zumba, bootcamp, circuit training, cross fit, dance fitness, high intensity interval training, kickboxing, spin, power yoga, swimming etc."
For high-intensity workouts, you can only interact with your trainer and every pair must be three meters apart at all times.
Trainers need to wear masks at all times but clients don't need to wear one while they're doing a high-intensity exercise.
Again, only pre-booked sessions are allowed.
Team sports
As of now, team sports are not allowed in Alberta. "No sports games, competitions, team practice or league play of any kind is allowed," says the provincial government.
So, if you want to do a workout outside of your house, it will need to be something that isn't cardio-heavy or you'll need to get yourself a personal trainer to do that one-on-one.