Tania Grave, of Inspiring Women, a women-only gym, was thrilled to open the Filleul St gym again last week.
She watched Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement on May 11 with bated breath, Mrs Grave said.
“When she did specifically say the word gym, there was elation.”
She could not wait to let her staff and clients know the good news, which was met with “floods of support”.
She made sure all the Government requirements were “ticked off” before opening, such as spacing out equipment, lockers and people.
Fitness class times were reduced by about 10 minutes to allow for cleaning in between, and more sanitising bottles and paper towels were put out.
Clients were already required to sign in on arrival and clean the equipment they used.
The child-care facilities and beauty clinic were also open, and personal protective equipment was worn.
During the lockdown, clients were still able to keep their fitness up via the gym’s online classes.
She also invited guest speakers to talk online about nutrition and answer questions.
The staff had been “phenomenal” and their key words were “loyal” and “teamwork’, Mrs Grave said.
In the past week, there had been an increase in new members.
Most members had either made progress during the lockdown and were keen to keep it up, or had not done as much as they had hoped and wanted to ramp up their exercise, she said.
While reopening the gym was hard work, the feedback had been “uplifting”.
“The staff said they all had sore jaws from smiling all day.”
