At its worst, the Covid-19 pandemic closed down all the gyms in the UK, which was no small event considering that the UK has over seven thousand health and fitness clubs and over ten million users.
While luckily, gyms are back up and running to support the health and fitness of the nation, some gyms are choosing to reduce the stringent cleaning measures taken when the pandemic was more present.
It’s important to know that. There are still many reasons to maintain just as high a level of cleanliness. In fact, it makes you wonder if the industry was perhaps lacking in proper cleansing routines pre-Covid.
In particular, sanitization is often the first to be dropped, which is a real mistake because there are multiple reasons gym equipment should always be sanitized.
So, if you are making changes post-covid and sanitization is being parred down, consider the following reasons to continue to keep up a complete cleaning regime to the benefit of your equipment, customers, and brand:
Fitness equipment maintenance & brand image
Wellness, as an industry, is worth over 2.8 trillion pounds worldwide, and forecasts suggest that we will spend at least 500 pounds each year on wellness products and lifestyle choices.
One of the biggest health expenditures that Brits make is gym memberships. They do so to have access to high-quality, safe machines that can help them to enhance their health.
From your side, that means investing in the very best equipment, and maintaining it well, so that it lasts a long time and you don’t have to keep paying to replace it. It also means you will continue to welcome loyal clients and keep current customers coming back. The equipment is at the center of what you offer, so it has to be maintained well.
Functional maintenance, safety checks, and general cleaning form part of that upkeep. In addition, sanitization is also an essential part of keeping your gym equipment maintained. It ensures the item is clean and thoroughly cleansed of germs so members can expect hygienic and safe use of the equipment.
Health & hygiene
Pre-pandemic, there was more of an onus on members of the gym to be responsible for sanitizing equipment by wiping it down before and after use. Gym owners would organize general cleaning, but it was never as focused as it became during the covid-19 pandemic.
As the pandemic winds down, two areas of cleaning that were ramped up during that time must continue to be maintained at the same level.
Those two areas are professional sanitization and encouraging customers to utilize all available self-cleaning products and areas.
Professional sanitization can continue to kill Covid-19 particles and ensure detailed cleaning and removal of all kinds of germs that commonly spread and thrive in a warm, moist gym environment.
When it comes to self-cleaning opportunities, you offer hand washing stations, anti-bacterial hand washes, etc. In addition, what can further enhance your gym is encouraging customers to sanitize their equipment and the regular sanitization that occurs between uses. You can do this with sanitization sprays and vital blue roll in cleaning stations across the gym and by offering sanitization gel for customers to use.
Fundamental to this work is increasing the use of clear, bright, and encouraging signage, which clarifies what is available for customers and how to use it. The increase in products and the signage has been proven in a study to enhance the number of customers who are likely to clean gym equipment after use.
You may wonder why the above two types of gym sanitization matter so much when Covid-19 is winding down its impact on the UK. The answer to that is germs and the gym environment.
Germs present in fitness centers fit into several different bacterial families, including Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, and Klebsiella. Without considering bodily fluids like sweat, toilet debris from the 1 in 10 adults who do not wash their hands, spit, residue from sneezing or coughing, and dirt and debris carried in on a person’s clothes and shoes.
Then, when you consider that the environment is hot, moist, and often under artificial lighting – the conditions germs love to breed and thrive in – it’s easy to see why sanitization is not only something that continues to be important but is something that should have always been at a high level in the gym to protect staff members and customers as much as possible.
Consider professional sanitization & cleaning of your gym equipment
The health and hygiene of those using a commercial gym have always been important, so it makes sense for any forward-thinking business to embrace the changes that came about through Covid-19 and hold onto cleaning habits that enhance the gym environment.
If you’d like to offer exceptional gym equipment standards to your customers, why not speak to a local cleaning company about their sanitization services?
Professional cleaning companies like J & I Cleaning Services use the latest cleaning techniques, solutions, and tools to ensure that gym equipment is sanitized thoroughly. This can be done discreetly when the gym is closed or during off-peak times, and all at a competitive rate, so you don’t have to pay through the nose for your employees and customers to enjoy safe, fresh, and clean equipment day after day.
