Home »
Resources »
Opening Up, Securing the Supplies, and Staying the Course
Opening Up, Securing the Supplies, and Staying the Course
As vaccines are deployed and progress is discussed about battling the pandemic while businesses, gyms, restaurants, schools and retail locations open back up, the challenging balance between the two efforts is the dominant topic of conversation.
Everyone wants to get economic metrics rising, and beyond mask-wearing and social distancing, there are numerous new policies coming into place at airports, schools, medical offices, even retail stores that require temperature checks before entry or symptom questionnaires to be completed (or other measures to publicly show that precautions are being taken).

With these processes and vaccine distribution embraced, fitness and athletic training centers could be opening back to pre-COVID capacities over the next 3 to 6 months. To ensure that fitness facility visitors, athletes and gym-goers have confidence that their environment is safe, facilities are taking steps to make sure that they’re prepared to not only open back up to full capacity, but also to maintain public safety levels and sanitization practices once they’re there.
However, it doesn’t have to be painful to be in compliance with public safety measures, and to help address the issues around public confidence. There are some small and somewhat inexpensive precautions to help address safety compliance and public confidence issues.
“Beyond masks and distancing, the fundamentals for demonstrated public safety and sanitization include continued cleanliness, to stem the transmission of germs and viruses, and symptom identification and restrictions,” said Bruce Schlagel, vice president of sales for Advanced Exercise. “We’re working with facilities across the country to make sure they have adequate supply of antibacterial wipes that are proven effective against Coronavirus, and that tools like touchless temperature checks are readily available to help locations reopen and stay open as efficiently as possible.”

Temperature checks are a small part of a larger set of publicly facing precautions that many facilities are implementing to demonstrate care and vigilance towards community health and safety. Instead of having an employee point a temperature “gun” at people’s foreheads, contact-free temperature check units are much more efficient for public safety and facility entry with thermal cameras that read personal body temperatures in less than a second. No internet connection is needed, and the most prevalent units can also detect mask-wearing, and deny entry for those without masks.
“Temp Check units are easy to use, plug-and-play tools that fitness facilities, schools and other businesses are using to seamlessly keep public safety protocols front and center, without the disruption of a symptom form to fill out, and all the physical transference of paper, pens, themometers, etc that many facilities have in place as a temporary fix,” added Schlagel. “Many of the short-term COVID precautions aren’t sustainable long term, and we now know that public safety measures are going to be part of the fabric of doing business for a long time.”

The one short-term remedy to Coronavirus concerns that has staying power is the presence of anti-bacterial wipes to keep surfaces cleaner. As a nation, we’ve now been schooled to an entirely new level about keeping touchable surfaces clean and sanitized to quell virus transmission.
One immediate problem became the availability of supply, especially for single-use antibacterial wipes. While there are some brands that are in limited supply on store shelves, having a secure supply of antibacterial wipes in shared public spaces is expected to be at the top of a commercial facility’s priority list for reopening.
“We began trying to secure a long-term supply several months ago, and we’re confident that we can help customers looking to reopen and stay open long term,” added Schlagel. “We expect that the supply of anti-bacterial wipes and other products will continue to be a challenge, and we wanted to guarantee that we could supply our customers with these crucial products. We now have that guaranteed supply, of wipes proven effective against Coronavirus, and we’re ready to help for as long as needed.”

With the average person using 3.2 wipes per workout right now, facilities that are at low capacity need 160 wipes to accommodate 50 people. You can see how supply becomes an issue when dumbbells, countertops, handlebars and other surfaces need to be wiped down between each use. Facilities need to know their anticipated daily usage and plan out their wipes need for at least one to three months ahead of time, to ensure that they’re ready as capacity opens up further.
The other critical factor here is effectiveness, as not just any wipe will do. Those that contain alcohol can also damage the surfaces (including irritating human skin) that they’re cleaning. Many information sources have stipulated the supposed requirement of alcohol to kill Coronavirus, but “three commercial disinfectants – used in many hand sanitizers and surface wipes as alternatives to alcohol – kill the virus effectively.”
A chemical known as benzalkonium chloride (BKC) reliably kills SARS-CoV-2, and is the only FDA-approved sanitizer on the market that doesn’t include alcohol. The bWell wipes that Advanced Exercise has secured have BKC as their effective ingredient, as it’s also safer to use on skin and most surfaces.

According to researchers “BKC wasn’t just able to kill the virus; it killed the virus when researchers simulated real-world conditions, too, such as dirt on your hands or dilution of the hand sanitizer in residual water from rinsing. And it did it in just 15 seconds.”
“So many customers are wondering how to source all of these elements and get open, and stay open, with the changing guidelines, so we created a packaged solution to address the primary issues we’re seeing today,” offered Schlagel, referencing both the temperature check and wipes products that are becoming routinely required beyond mask-wearing and social distancing.
“Different counties have different programs,” commented Schlagel, “but we’ve routinely seen 5 to 7 requirements beyond mask wearing and social distancing that can be the difference between clearing a facility to open up or staying closed.” So, to help get essential tools in the hands of facilities looking to open back up or increase capacity allowances, Advanced Exercise is packaging wipes and temperature check units in a specially-priced package.
The Advanced Exercise post-COVID reopening package includes:
-
Touchless Temp check system (countertop unit)
-
bWell wipes dispenser (free-standing stainless steel canister)
-
3 cases of bWell anti-bacterial wipes (4 rolls/case – 800 wipes per roll)
This package or products normally sells for almost $3000 and Advanced Exercise is offering it for the package price of $2350 (not including tax and shipping). For an additional $445, you can upgrade to the temp check unit that comes with a free-standing kiosk. For the reopening package or to purchase a la carte items, interested parties can work with an Advanced Exercise sales consultant. To purchase select items a la carte only, purchases can be made directly through the Advanced Exercise website.

It has been a challenging 12 months for all of us, but with a hopeful future and the right equipment to get us through, we’re all looking forward to a stronger 2021. For any questions on the products or packages discussed above, please contact an Advanced Exercise representative or visit www.advancedexercise.com.
About Advanced Exercise
Founded in 1986, Advanced Exercise is a leading fitness equipment and facility design resource, combining more than 30 years of design expertise with access to top fitness, wellness and recreation equipment brands to help clients create fitness experiences specific to the needs of their distinct communities. Advanced Exercise fitness consultants work with clients to maximize the use of available space in any facility, sourcing the best new or used equipment solutions for diverse ranges of fitness amenity end users. For more information on fitness equipment and facility design services, visit www.advancedexercise.com or call 800-520-1112 to connect with one of Advanced Exercise’s experts.
« View All Tips & Trends