In Livorno the idea came to a group of personal trainers: if the gyms risk being closed for a long time, they said, why not organize training sessions in the open? In Capannori, in the province of Lucca, the mayor took care of it, working to identify possible green spaces in which to welcome athletes safely. And even in Florence there are those who have already equipped themselves, bringing weights and barbells to the garden. Instructors and fitness centers crushed by the pandemic are looking for a way to get up. And with Tuscany in the orange zone for (at least) another week, more and more are trying to move the business to the open air.
At the Time Out in Ponte alla Vittoria we will start tomorrow, with the outdoor “functional training” course: appointment at the tennis court in the Cascine area, with limited places and admission by reservation. Similar program to the Wellness Firenze Marathon in Campo di Marte, where the free body lessons “en plein air” started yesterday. You arrive already changed – showers and changing rooms remain forbidden – with a mat and a bottle under your arm. And, above all, with the mask on the face, to be kept until the beginning of the course. The sessions take place on the lawn in front of the entrance, maximum 10 people, strictly two meters away from each other.
Someone, in fact, had already tried in recent months to move dumbbells and barbells out of the enclosure of the tool rooms. In November, the Evolution gym in Novoli was fined by the municipal administration for allowing members to train in the internal courtyard. The managers had filed an appeal, complaining that they had not violated any rule of the dpcm.
To shed some light, a month ago the new guidelines envisaged by the latest decree were published on the website of the Department for Sport. “In the yellow and orange regions – it reads – without prejudice to the suspension of swimming pool and gym activities, basic sports and physical activity generally carried out outdoors in public and private sports centers and clubs are allowed in compliance with the rules of social distancing and without any gathering “.
“We too were sanctioned – says Mauro Cinti, owner of the two B-Side centers in via Pistoiese and Campo di Marte – but then the Prefect acknowledged that we were right.” Under the tents set up outside the B-Side for several weeks we practice spinning, tools and total body, “40 people in all, by reservation and with placeholders drawn on the ground.” Cinti is convinced: “Outdoor training is the only possible solution, the situation it will not be resolved in a short time. And even after, when everything is over, few will want to go back to crowded places “.
The mayor of Capannori, Luca Menesini, also thinks so. Two days ago he launched the idea of ”gyms under the sky” via Facebook: why not make squares and parks in the area available, he asked himself, for small groups of people who want to exercise? “In the coming days I will meet the managers of the local gyms and I will present the idea to them, we already have a couple of suitable places in mind,” he explains. “The category is exasperated, we need a signal to restart”.
In Livorno, three personal trainers tried to give that “signal”: their project is called “MeleSane”, and is defined as a “traveling health format” in the city parks. Yesterday the first lesson, sold out. But the organizers’ idea is to repeat every weekend, at least until September.
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