Our Safety Measures and Covid Guidelines

Our mission is to help people to discover and unlock their inner awesomeness in the name of growing beyond any previously limiting ideas about their own potential.

Our goal is to build a radically inclusive fitness community of people who are working on their own versions of strength, excellence and badassery. We embrace a model of deep health–a hopeful and empowering vision of people’s capability for change.

What all of this means is that we’re not going to be like any other “gym” you may have seen AND it means that we take your safety and that of our community very seriously.

Consequently, our industry-leading safety measures are going a step beyond the current guidelines.

That means that every time you step into our Studio (or House of Fitness Badassery, whichever you prefer)…

Masks are required as of August 23, 2021 by all who enter the building regardless of vaccination status.
For that time when we return to not requiring masks, we require to see vaccination cards before an individual (member or visitor) is able to be in the space without a mask.
Our ceiling fans and brand new HVAC (with electrostatic air filters) will always be running while people are in the space.
You’ll also be arriving to freshly disinfected equipment with strict measures in place to protect our Reimagym Family.

Please check out our protocols below:

Covid-19 Protocols (Updated August 22, 2021)

As of Monday, August 23^rd, 2021 it will once again be mandatory for everyone to wear a mask while inside the studio.

I suspect we’ve all seen this coming: the news has been consistently reminding us that cases are on the rise…pretty much everywhere. Here in Medford, the Mayor declared that all city buildings will require masks to be worn indoors as of today as well.

At the time of writing, the infection rate in Middlesex County has been steadily dropping over the past two weeks. Correspondingly, the daily number of new cases over the past five days seems to be plateauing. (Admittedly, five days isn’t quite enough to call a ‘trend’…but again: I’m stubbornly hopeful that we’ll head back in a positive direction soon).

While we continue to have the advantage of keeping everyone’s time in the studio down to about an hour, the fans and HVAC are always running during sessions and the number of people in the studio is always really low… we also recognize that each of us is connected to, and can thus impact, the various people around us in our lives—our family, our friends and the larger community of which we are a part.

The health and safety of the Reimagym community, and by extension everyone y’all are connected to, are our top concern, so we’re going back to mask-wearing for the time being.

Covid-19 Protocols (Updated August 3, 2021)

With the rise in the number of new Covid-19 infections, all signs point to these being mainly Delta variant infections, we are updating our protocols again.

Underpinning our thinking on all of this is our core value of community. We are all connected and each of us has the potential to have an impact on others in the community. And we believe it’s important for us to look out for each other.

For the moment, we are not making any changes to our mask policy.
- Vaccinated people do not have to wear a mask. (You certainly can, if you prefer, and we support that decision!)
- Unvaccinated people must wear a mask at all times while in the studio. That mask must be at least a two-layer mask that fits snugly across the bridge of the nose, the cheeks and under the chin. (It is, of course, ok to remove your mask briefly to take a sip of water, but it must go back on once the water is in your mouth).
Up until now, we have relied on the honor system with people when it comes to vaccination status. Going forward, we are going to ask all currently members, new members and prospective members who do one of our trial memberships to provide proof of vaccination status before we allow them to be in the space without a mask on.
All visitors will still be required to wear a mask.

Covid-19 Protocols (Updated June 1, 2021)

We want you to know that we believe in and deeply value community. The health and safety of our community is of the utmost importance to us – and that’s why we’re raising the bar with our safety protocols.

WHAT WE’RE DOING

At the time of update, the State of Massachusetts has crested 56% of the population being fully vaccinated, 66.8% of the population has had at least one shot and, most notably in the Medford area, case numbers have been dropping steadily. In accordance with the recent announcement from the Governor ending the mask mandate and lifting all restrictions from businesses, and in line with CDC guidance, we’re happy to announce the following updates and changes, all of which will be effective June 1^st, 2021.

We want you to know that we believe in and deeply value community. The health and safety of our community is of the utmost importance to us – and that’s why we’re raising the bar with our safety protocols.

97% of our member community are fully vaccinated and 2% are almost to fully vaccinated. The owners, Mike and Theresa, are fully vaccinated. We as a whole member community care for each other’s health and safety and continue with that commitment even with state Covid-19 guidance changing.

With our member’s safety in mind, current scientific guidance, and after requesting members feedback on how they would feel the most comfortable and safe while training in the space, we have come up with our most recent update to our Covid-19 safety protocols.

Updated Covid-19 Protocols, effective June 1^st, 2021

Hygiene

Before and after your training session, wash your hands or hand-sanitize. Hand sanitizer is still located just inside the door.
Clean the bottom of the shoes you plan to wear in the space with the wipes in the member area.
If you sneeze or cough, do so into your elbow and not your hand. If you do sneeze or cough into your hand, hand-sanitize right away using our touchless hand sanitizer dispensers.
If you are feeling like you’re coming down with a cold…or something else…our preference is that you stay home.
- For Members: We’ll always happily early cancel you for making the choice to stay home to avoid spreading something to others. If you do come in while experiencing symptoms of a mild cold or something, wear a mask.
Our water fountain is still only for filling water bottles at this time. If you forgot your water bottle we have some cups you can borrow for the duration of your session.

Cleaning

One thing that the research thus far has made pretty clear is that the risk of Covid transmission via ‘contaminated surfaces’ is really low.

We’ve been aware for some time now that the risk—as far as Covid transmission is concerned—posed by contact with ‘contaminated’ surfaces is really low. Having all of the State’s Covid Safety restrictions lifted means that we no longer have to clean every piece of equipment before and after each use.

However, we like having a sparkly clean gym and so do our members. Therefore many of the cleaning protocols we had in place are staying around to minimize the chances of other viruses and germs being transmitted via contact with surfaces.

Equipment will [still] be cleaned before and after each training session. But now, members will share in the cleaning process at their end of their training session.
Using wipes located throughout the studio, wipe down:
- Handles of any kettlebells, dumbbells or barbells you used. As well as re-rack your weights.
- Bands, mats, benches, boxes and exercise/medicine balls you used.
- Any conditioning equipment you use: handles of the battle ropes, handles on the sled, the exercise bike and the treadmill
Wipe down your cubby in the member area.

Masks

All visitors will be required to wear a mask. If you are coming in for an appointment please bring a mask with you to wear, even if you are fully vaccinated. The safety and comfort of our community is of the utmost importance.
Fully vaccinated members, who are at full efficacy (two weeks after the second shot, or two weeks after the J&J shot), do not need to wear a mask. If you want to continue to wear a mask for any reason, we are here to support you.
- We do ask that members still bring a mask with them. This is because we are all in this together, if a member of our community were to express that they feel uncomfortable working out with maskless people, we would like to make space for that.
- We would like to make space for expressing and sharing that discomfort, first of all—because this should be a space where you can feel safe expressing such things. And secondly, we would like Reimagym to be a space where we reward that kind of candor with support from the #ReimagymFam in the form of mask-wearing.

For members who are not currently vaccinated or who are in the process of achieving full efficacy of your vaccine, wearing a mask continues to be mandatory while inside the Studio.
- Given the declining infection rates, we are rolling back to our original mask rule:
  - Your mask must fit snugly over your nose, under your chin and along the sides of your mouth/cheeks.
  - It must be at least two layers of fabric.
  - N95 and KN95s are, of course, always acceptable.
  - To take a sip of water, please turn away from others, and have your mask off only long enough to take a sip; OR
  - Go into the bathroom, turn on the light/fan, and enjoy your water.

If you need to remove your mask to catch your breath, please either
- Step into the bathroom, close the door and turn on the fan, OR
- Step outside.

Social Distancing

We have no immediate plans to increase the number of people in the studio at any one time.
We are also going to stick with the ‘pod’ system for now.
Social distancing is no longer required for vaccinated people…but not everyone is there yet and we’re all in this together, so we’re going to maintain good social distancing.

Other Information

It will continue to be our policy to have the fans and HVAC fans running during training times. We’ve also recently added two wall-mounted fans to provide additional air circulation in the back of the Studio.
Group Fitness Classes will remain virtual at this time, with the exception of the two in-person spots for Ahhhh the Recovery class on Friday’s at 5:30pm.

Love and virtual high fives,

Theresa and Mike