Troy Fitness Center sets new safety mandates

Tomiwa Akintode The Trojan Fitness and Wellness Center has re-opened up its facilities to students this semester with new hours and safety mandates set in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Shane Tatum, the director of Campus Recreation, the fitness center has made extra efforts to maintain social distancing while it is opened. “The department will promote social distancing at the Trojan Fitness Center by spacing out the equipment to ensure that students using them are 6 feet apart,” he said. “Machines and activities that cannot facilitate social distancing are out of service until guidelines are revised or lifted.” Students who visit the center are also made to sign a waiver when they enter acknowledgingthey have not been exposed to the coronavirus to the best of their knowledge. Masks are not requiredduring workouts and only encouraged while transitioning between activities, but they are compulsory upon entry. Fitness machines, such as treadmills, ellipticals and weight racks which require close human contact, have been closed to further maintain safe social distancing. The fitness center has also mandated limited capacity for fitness classes, intramural activities and social gatherings in order to accommodate occupancy requirements set forth by the state. Savannah Sap, a junior political science from Dothan, Alabama, and office manager at Campus Recreation, said that workers in the facility help ensure cleanliness. “The workers here are stationed on each floor to remind everyone to wipe down their equipment after each of use,” she said. “We give everyone their own cloth to use, along with spray bottles, on each floor (so) that they can disinfect what they use. Workers also make sure to wipe down everything periodically throughout the day and of course we close at 6 p.m.” Tatum said he wants to reassure students who are hesitant to visit the fitness center that the facility is making every effort to protect all students.