Protestors In Clearwater, Florida Are Calling For Gyms To Reopen By Working Out Outside Of A Courthouse

Despite Florida being one of the quickest states to reopen during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, that process doesn’t seem to be moving fast enough for folks who are desperate to work up a sweat and get back to their gym routines. According to local Clearwater (FL.) NBC News affiliate WFLA, on Monday afternoon a small group of protestors (20-30 people in total) gathered outside of the Pinellas County Courthouse to protest the state’s phased reopening and call on gyms to reopen so employees could get back to work and customers could start getting fit with professional equipment again.

During the protest, several attendees began defiantly performing squats and push-ups on the courthouse steps, which hopefully made it clear that they didn’t need gyms to reopen at all and could just, you know, workout outside or in their homes. “See those pushups you’re already doing outside?” you can imagine public officials saying while rubbing their temples. “Keep doing them… outside!”

Florida is currently in phase one of its reopening process which notably doesn’t include gyms. When gyms do get the go-ahead to reopen, they’ll have to limit their capacity to 75% and will have to adopt new strict protocols to increase sanitation procedures and ensure social distancing. Considering that there was already a problem with people not wiping down their equipment in Pre-COVID-19 times, keeping things controlled and sanitary right now as gyms do reopen seems incredibly important.