Are you allowed to “share equipment” when training with someone else?

We are taking our members Health and Safety very seriously with Covid-19 and here are some of the things that we have implemented during the lockdown to help get us ready for re-opening:

• All members are able to use their own personal spray bottle and cloth to carry around with them and wipe the machines down after use. This helps prevent people “forgetting” to do so.
• Brand new changing rooms including showers, vanity units, benches and toilets. We have slightly increased the size of the mens changing room and added private changing cubicles in the ladies changing room.
• We now have a new touch-less speed gate system, using your personalised in app QR code for quick and easy and exit. This also helps us monitor usage numbers and keep within government guidelines.
• We have new spacious, antibacterial lockers that just require a padlock to use as well as smaller, convenient wallet/keys/phone lockers, so that you can train hands and pocket free.
• We have knocked down walls and a narrow corridor between training rooms to greatly increase the space to move around and comply with social distancing regulations. We have also replaced the flooring throughout the entire gym where necessary.
• All our doors have the option to push or pull them open and closed via a foot plate so that you don’t have to use door handles and we have multiple hand sanitisers on entry to the club, in every training room, studio and changing rooms.
• Blue towel, wet wipes and sanitising stations are conveniently spread throughout the gym for you to wipe down equipment before and after use.
• Face masks are optional but not mandatory for training within Phoenix Gym. We have moved all our equipment around and sufficiently spaced it out to meet government guidelines for social distancing. The new improvements have helped us achieve this greatly. Where the 2 metre rule can not be achieved we have provided sneeze guard protectors as mitigation.
• Rather that selling supplements behind reception and handling supplements, we now have a vending machine that takes both cash or card. This provides drinks, protein bars, healthy snacks as well convenient “ready to go” pre, intra and post workout supplements.
• Even our water fountain machine now has a foot pedal rather than a push button activation.
• There is signage on entry to the club and amended gym rules posters throughout the gym. Our staff will help to ensure that these recommendations are followed.

Booking In for peak times:

We are now using an optional booking system through the club member app, which shows you how many people are within the gym at any given time and as well as the busiest and least busy times to train.

Due to Phoenix Gym having the largest variety of equipment in Norwich, our maximum capacity at any one time will unlikely be met except maybe for peak times (Monday – Wednesday 5-7pm).

When booking your space the app will ask you how long you will take to arrive, from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. Just click the appropriate time and away you go.

You will be able to also see how many people are on their way and bookings can only be done up to 6o minutes before hand to avoid people booking and not showing up.

Squeaky Clean

We will have a thorough deep clean before we open on the 25th July, so you can be sure that your training environment is clean and safe as well as physically and mentally rewarding!

Yes, all members are provided with a personal sanitise bottle and cloth from reception to wipe all the equipment down that you use after use. This ensures clean equipment ready for the next person.

Some people like to wipe down the equipment both before and after use.

We have also provided multiple sanitise stations with blue roll, spray and hand sanitisers conveniently around the club in place of using gym towels, which are not currently allowed in gyms.

Government guidance recommends that you try your best to arrive at the gym already dressed and ready to go and to shower at home where possible.

When either of these are not possible then you may use our brand new changing facilities to both change and shower.

The ladies changing rooms now have private changing cubicles to enable adequate social distancing as well as privacy and the mens changing room has more space for social distancing.

Yes, people from the same household can “spot” the other person in close proximity.

If you are from a different household then you must wear a mask and wipe the equipment down that you touch in between sets whilst socially distancing.

If someone is in a dangerous situation and needs help immediately then assistance can of course be provided to prevent a potential serious injury.

This would not be expected to be used as an excuse to spot people consistently without the use of a mask though.

95% of our equipment is still available to use due to the extensive refurbishment we have done whilst closed down.

There are a few pieces of equipment that are no longer available but most of these exercises can still be done on the other machines still available.

A few smaller things won’t be available to use because we can’t ensure that these will be adequately cleaned in-between usage or we need to restrict staff handling items for their safety.

We recommend that you download the member app to ensure that you can book in during peak times.

If you do not train at peak times in the evenings and or do not have a smart phone with app capability then we can provide you with a key fob for club access but you can’t book without the member app.

The member booking system is managed through your member app.

The whole idea of a booking system is to prevent too many people turning up to the gym at any one time and thereby comfortably adhere to social distancing regulations.

This of course helps to prevent queuing and congestion in changing facilities etc…

Our total capacity is quite high relative to our total membership so exceeding our maximum limit is unlikely except maybe for peak times.

Our peak times are shown in the member app but are typically Monday to Wednesday from 5:30pm to 7pm.

If you train in the mornings, afternoons or later evenings then we would still recommend that you book in but it is less likely that it will be needed.

There are currently no time restrictions on how long you can exercise for. The car park does have a 2.5 hour restriction though.

Yes, during the initial lockdown, we brought in an expert to assess Phoenix Gym and since installed appropriate extractor fans and air flow systems, to provide the adequate necessary ventilation to meet the government guidance.

The air is recycled within the gym regularly, within minutes, ensuing adequate air flow for our maximum capacity.

No we currently do not have any time restrictions on how long you can workout for.

This is subject to change depending on usage numbers and we will email everyone to let them know if this changes.

No, face masks are not currently mandated to be worn in gyms in the UK.

You can book a spot to train at Phoenix anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes before your workout starts.

This ensures that people do not book days in advance and then do not turn up.

When you click the button to book through the app, it will ask you how will your journey time will be as mentioned above.

You just select the time and you can see not only see how many people are within the gym at that time, you can also see how many people are on their way also.

It is unlikely that you will need to book in outside of peak time hours.

You do not “Have To” book in to use Phoenix Gym but we do recommend it, to avoid potential issues.

The member booking system is managed through your member app.

The whole idea of a booking system is to prevent too many people turning up to the gym at any one time and thereby comfortably adhere to social distancing regulations.

This of course helps to prevent queuing and congestion in changing facilities etc…

Our total capacity is quite high relative to our total membership so exceeding our maximum limit is unlikely except maybe for peak times.

Our peak times are shown in the member app but are typically Monday to Wednesday/Thursday from 5:30pm to 7pm.

If you train in the mornings, afternoons or later evenings then we would still recommend that you book in but it is less likely that it will be needed.

There are currently no time restrictions on how long you can exercise for. The car park does have a 2.5 hour restriction though.

We have a very fast speed gate access control system in reception that can process up to 40 people per minute, which far exceeds our normal membership usage numbers within one minute.

Our reception area has been simplified so that it is for entry and exit only, thereby ensuring less inconvenience to members.

We are encouraging all new members to join online ahead of time before coming down to the club. This helps to avoid joining up in the reception area.

The same goes for day passes. We no longer provide pay as you go classes and when classes do start agin members will need to book at least 30 minutes ahead of time.

Rather than using class passes from reception to take to class instructors, we are using a simple register system. This way you can go straight to the class and bypass reception.

All these things combined should prevent any need for queuing. If a queue does appear for some reason we will work to reduce this as soon as possible and there are social distancing floor markings to maintain 2 metres apart.