How I'm Making our Sessions COVID-Safe

Introduction

I am basing this document on UK Active’s framework and the current government guidance for gyms (see a summary I wrote here).

To give a sense of my exposure to risk:

  • I have had the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and my second is booked for mid-April. This appears to reduce my risk of transmission by up to 67%.

  • I currently see twelve clients from eleven different households for in-person, one-to-one sessions

  • I live with one other person. We sometimes have a student staying with us while their boarding school is on holiday but they get regular tests there and then pretty much never leave the house.

  • I visit my allotment once a week or so and sometimes see the friends I share it with (who are both from the same household) there

  • I may have very occasional co-op gym meetings outside with other members, or meet up with friends individually during the week, but this is socially-distanced and very infrequent

I will update you if this changes dramatically.

Making our sessions safe

Before arriving

  • Please bring a towel and your own yoga mat, if you have one

  • Please make sure you’re wearing socks - to make cleaning easier, it’s a shoes-off gym

  • I will wash my hands thoroughly

During the session

  • When you arrive, I will provide hand sanitiser for you to use

  • If you need to get changed you can do so in the gym room - ideally we’d avoid using the bathroom upstairs as this complicates cleaning

  • I will open all doors

  • I will set up the equipment, load weights etc.

  • I will aim to keep at least a metre away from you, and to not be directly in front of you

  • I will avoid tactile cueing

  • I will not spot you during any exercises where that would require facing each other (e.g. bench press)

  • I will wear a face mask unless you’d prefer me not to - please have a think about what you’d prefer beforehand. Feel free to change your mind at any point.

  • I will keep the door and window wide open and the fan on and blowing towards the window.

After the session

  • I will clean all the equipment we’ve used according to government guidance, paying particular attention to the touch points

  • I will wash my hands thoroughly

  • I will keep to time and leave 15 minutes between sessions with the fan on and window open

If either of us have to self-isolate

If you or I or anyone else I have been in contact with starts showing symptoms of COVID-19 (high temperature; new, continuous cough; loss or change to sense of smell or taste), or if I’m notified via NHS Test and Trace, I will:

  • Get a test

  • Move all my sessions online for two weeks from the date that I last had contact with the affected person

  • Notify anyone I’ve had in-person sessions or otherwise met with since that date

If I become so ill that I am unable to offer PT, I will pause your subscription and postpone any remaining sessions in the month. Likewise, if you become ill and can’t train we will do the same.

Improving this policy

This is a working policy and I would really appreciate your input as to how I could improve it.

Thank you.

ExperienceGuy Lochhead