Transcription:
Riverside Fitness Center: Steps to Ensure Workouts are Healthy and Safe

Introduction: Riverside Healthcare puts the health and wellness information you need, Well Within Reach.

Sean O'Connor: Welcome to Riverside's. Well Within Reach podcast, I'm Sean O'Connor. I'm a marketing communications rep here at Riverside. And today I'm joined by two guests from Riverside Healthcare Fitness Center. Kyle Rybolt.

Kyle Rybolt: Hi, good to be here.

Host: And Kyle, what is your title there?

Kyle Rybolt: I'm the fitness director at Riverside Health Fitness Center.

Host: And then Danielle Norby is also here today.

Danielle Norby: Hi, how are you?

Host: Danielle, what is your position at the fitness center?

Danielle Norby: I am one of the member services coordinator.

Host: Perfect, excellent. And one of the big things that we are seeing a lot of, obviously in this time of pandemic is a lot of questions and a lot of concerns about going out in public. And one of the biggest things that we're seeing is the fitness center. People want to get back, they want to get in shape. And what is Riverside Fitness Center doing to take care of making sure people are being safe when they get to the fitness center?

Danielle Norby: Sure. So we did implement numerous safety measures throughout the entire facility. Health and safety is our number one concern for all of our members. So some of the things that we did implement right when you first enter, you are going to have your temperature taken your hand sanitized, as well as walk through our sanitizing mat to make sure you don't have any germs from the outside still on you. And then we do have different disinfecting protocols with EPA registered disinfectants that inactivate the COVID-19 virus. There are over 10 different sanitizing stations throughout the facility, down on the fitness floor. And then we regularly fog the entire facility including the pool deck and the locker room showers, floors, everything.

Host: And you do that when the fitness center is closed, correct?

Danielle Norby: Yes, we do have a nightly crew that comes in as well as we do it throughout the day.

Host: It's not like at the supermarket when you go through the produce and then the little mister comes on while you're trying to pick up out your radishes.

Danielle Norby: Yeah. We won't spray you while you're working out. So, okay.

Host: And I think the mat is a real nice kind of protocol too, because you come in and you're cleaning both of your feet, your hands, the temperature's getting taken. Other steps that you guys are looking or doing as well?

Danielle Norby: So, we did space out our entire facility. We utilize the basketball court and moved equipment. Everything is six to 10 feet away from each other. So you shouldn't be too close to each other while you're working out. We've taped off some machines and we spread out our locker rooms as well. So everything is social distanced throughout the entire facility. And yeah, we just have staff going through the facility at all times and cleaning things. If they are missed, we asked our members to wipe down all of the equipment before and after they use it as well to limit the spread of germs.

Host: Excellent. Now, if somebody does have a temp, a fever, when they come in for a temperature check, what is the basis on that? Is a hundred considered a fever? Being a guy, anything over 98.9 is to me like deaths door. So but my wife says that, you know, a hundred, 101 is an actual fever. So where do you guys?

Danielle Norby: So, our cut off is 100.2.

Host: Okay. So if you have a fever above that, then you're going to be asked to go home and not allowed into the fitness center.

Danielle Norby: Correct. Yes.

Host: That's an excellent protocol because for me, you know, like I said, sometimes I feel like this could be the end for me and it's just 99.1. But you know, sometimes it's just a cold, so I understand the importance of a true fever. So do I need to wear a mask when I am working out?

Kyle Rybolt: Not directly when you're working out, we are requiring masks in any type of common area. So when you first enter the building, you have to have a mask on the front lobby, any of the hallways that we have, pretty much anywhere except for on the fitness floor and in the pools or in the showers. We are requiring masks. We do highly recommend that you still wear masks when you are working out. But we understand a lot of times like heavy breathing. It can be somewhat difficult when you're trying to work out and do that. So we're really focusing on the social distancing aspect. So we feel that we have equipment far enough away that we can accommodate both types of people who either want to wear masks or not want to wear masks while they're working out.

Host: Yeah. And I think that's a good thing to keep in mind too, is not only are you sanitizing everything, but social distancing is important when you're working out because as anybody knows a good workout will really work up a sweat and get you really breathing heavily, but that's not very comfortable wearing a mask either. So it is nice to be able to not have to wear a mask when you're actually working out, obviously going through the main corridors and stuff, it's important to still keep a mask on. So are the locker rooms open?

Kyle Rybolt: The locker rooms are open. We do have a lot of the lockers blocked off to, again, focus on that social distancing aspect. Our showers are open and we do have our body wash shampoo and conditioner in there. As far as our countertop amenities, we're really just focusing on hand sanitizers soap and paper towels. So we're not really allowing any community type of products to where you're, you know, same person is pumping the same lotion or going off of the same mouthwash bottle. And then inside of our locker rooms, we also have sauna steam room Whirlpool. Those are pretty confined spaces. So we've actually blocked those off and it's actually the perfect time for us to get some main maintenance done on those.

Host: That's what I was thinking. I mean, this is a great time for any company out there. Who's been thinking about doing maintenance projects, to knock out those maintenance projects, especially in spaces like you said, the sauna, the Whirlpool that, you know, otherwise people would normally miss. Now is a perfectly good excuse to say, Hey, we shut it down and we're going to redo anything that we needed to do. So that's excellent. And I'm assuming the showers are obviously being sanitized multiple times throughout the day? And so in addition to being scrubbed down?

Kyle Rybolt: Yeah, so it's the same with the pool area too, we use the same disinfected, it's an EPA registered disinfectant and we use foggers and sprayers to spray down the pool deck, as well as the shower walls and shower floors. We're doing that on an hour by hour basis. And like we said before we have housekeeping crew day and night, 24 hours per day. And we're making sure that that place is as clean as possible.

Host: And are you guys doing the pool classes or other classes as far as for membership right now?

Kyle Rybolt: Yes, we are. So with that, we're following IDPH guidelines on how many people are, how many participants we can have. Again, we're focusing on that social distancing. So some of our classes, we have 10 people, some of them, we have 14. The nice thing is we have a lot of space to where we can spread people out pretty sufficiently.

Host: I saw Danielle sent an awesome photo of the spin class is actually having class outside. I don't know if that's all the time or some of the time, but that's?

Danielle Norby: So, weather permitting, a lot of our classes are being held outside and it's kind of up to the instructor and kind of feeling out you know, whether, and if they want to be outside or not. The weather's been pretty awesome lately with some nice breeze. So it's actually been kind of better to go outside and do them, but we are doing classes, indoors, spaced out, and outdoors. We could have more people outdoors, so that's why a lot of the classes have been moving outside.

Host: Yeah, that really made me want to take up a spin class because I've done spin class before, and I'm not a big fan of sweating profusely. So being outside seemed like a nicer opportunity for me, but, you know, I think that's a very good way of addressing the situation too. How about massage? Are massage appointments still occurring?

Danielle Norby: Yeah, so our massage therapy department is open. Anyone who schedules a massage we are asking them to take a shower beforehand, either in our locker rooms or before they come in at home. And then they will be asked to wear a mask during a duration of the massage. So if the massage therapist, if your face up and close to the massage therapist, we will ask you to put a mask on. Otherwise the mask can be taken off. But yeah, it is open for members and nonmembers as well.

Host: Well, that's fantastic. See, all those other times I've worn a mask when getting a massage seemed weird, but now it's socially acceptable. So that works out very well. So what are some of the benefits of returning to the gym or a workout routine? Because I know a lot of people are afraid to go out, but I think a key proponent of getting a good workout in is there's some health benefits as well.

Kyle Rybolt: So yeah, so, and it's not only physical, but it's also mental as well. So with the physical aspect getting in and getting your workout done, that seemed to be a huge priority for a lot of people before this whole COVID-19 thing happened. And since everything was shut down after that, you got people that go from working out multiple times per week, and now they're not able to do anything. So that's a huge part of their life that was taken away for a short period of time. And that can drain on somebody a lot mentally. As far as like the physical wellbeing, it's good to have a healthy body and a healthy heart. And we can see with COVID-19 that the people that are generally more healthy tend to do better if they do get COVID-19. So that's a huge benefit right there. As well as just, you know, other types of diseases, heart disease is the number one killer in America and in the world, I think as well. So yeah, there's huge benefits to coming back, especially if you're coming back to a safe facility.

Host: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And I think that's important when you touch upon mental health is, you know, if you've been kind of shut up into a home, your home, preferably not somebody else's home, but if you've been kind of quarantined away it kind of starts to mentally wear on you after awhile. You know, I always, I shouldn't say always, but during the whole lockdown, I really felt like I was in my own kind of version of the shining. And it was really, you start to notice after a while, like, alright, I got to get out of the house. And so getting a good workout in and getting out of the house in a safe environment is a prime opportunity to kind of get yourself mentally back into where you should be mentally wellbeing.

Kyle Rybolt: And there's a lot of stresses going on too. You know, people have been laid off or lost their jobs. Exercise has been known to help with relieving some stress. You release endorphins, you know, runners, oftentimes they'll talk about the runners high. So that's an aspect of it. And just generally higher confidence too.

Host: Yeah, yeah. Going forward. What are some other steps that the fitness center is looking at doing or any other precautions or other openings that you're looking at phase wise?

Danielle Norby: So, we just are continuing to monitor current situations and watch the numbers in the County and adjust our plan accordingly. We are always going to be striving to keep our employees and our members as safe as they can be. So whether that's becoming stricter with the rules or whatever, it may be, our members have been really good at adapting to different protocols that we've been implementing. And they're excited when things reopen and stuff like that. But we will always continue to provide awesome service and keep our community fit healthy and happy.

Host: Excellent. The fitness center is not just open to Riverside employees or people who are affiliated with Riverside is open to the entire public. It's a great facility. The premier facility here in Kankakee County, I feel like and I am sure everyone will agree. It's fantastic setup, fantastic classes, fantastic staff. So I think, you know, if you've never been to the fitness center by all means, feel free to drop by, or should they make an appointment to come in?

Danielle Norby: Nope. They can just drop by. We're there till 6:30 every day. We can come in and give you a tour, show you around and show you what it's all about.

Host: Excellent. Yeah, that's fantastic. And other information is available on the fitness center website, which is?

Danielle Norby: rhfc.me.

Host: Fantastic. All right. Well, Kyle and Danielle, thank you for coming in today. We appreciate it. We look forward to staying fit and healthy and we hope to have you back again soon sometime.

Danielle Norby: Thanks for having us.

Kyle Rybolt: Yup. Thanks.