SIBU, May 29: Sibu Division Bodybuilding and Weightlifting Association has come up with the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the state government to consider so as to allow gymnasium and fitness centres to reopen.
Gym and fitness centres statewide have remained close since the Movement Control Order was enforced on March 18.
The association president, Chia Soon Cheong today presented a memorandum of the said SOP for these centres to Michael Tiang, adviser to the Association, who is also the political secretary to the Chief Minister.
The memorandum also includes guidelines for the gym and fitness centre to comply with such as health, control and safety measures should their request for reopening is accepted.
He said with the Covid-19 situation in the state under control, Â the association hoped that the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee will grant the green light for all gym and fitness centres in the state to reopen as earliest as possible.
According to Chia , their proposed SOP only allows a limited number of members working out in the gym at one time. Also in the SOP is that gyms must clean and disinfect the used or unused fitness equipment at all time.
“Staff are required to wear masks and gloves. At the same time, gyms need to provide the towels to the members during their  training and the used towels need to be washed and and disinfected,” he said.
The SOP also requires only small numbers of dumbbells, barbells and weight plates in the gym to facilitate the cleaning of the requirements.
Gym users are also encouraged to skip heavy loaded exercises which require the help or assistance from the members/trainers.
The association also wants fitness equipment be rearranged to ensure social distancing of at least one metre between users, and that the gym needs to take the members’ body temperature including recording their names before they are allowed to enter the gym.
Others guidelines include sanitising the members’ hands and that hand sanitiser should always be available at the gym counter.
Chia also advised members to avoid hand-to-floor fitness exercises during this time.
“We also urged to limit on the number of training days, members can train per week in order to limit the number of gym users. Members are encouraged to make training appointments beforehand so that the number of members at a properly particular time slot per day can be arranged,”he said. -DayakDaily
