Planning around COVID-19 at StrengthSpace

Good morning,

I wanted to send an update on our plans around the public health situation. First, if you haven’t seen our previous post, please read here how we offer a uniquely hygienic environment.

As of Thursday morning, March 18th, 2020, in accordance with the latest federal guidelines, the Governor of Virginia effectively banned exercising in large commercial gyms or group exercise studios by placing a limit of 10 patrons or less on any businesses that serve multiple customers. The rationale for avoiding groups of 10 or more is obvious: limit exposure to large groups and you limit the chances that one person can spread the virus to a huge number of other people. Sharing air with groups appears to be a key means of spread, and we should all continue to avoid entering buildings with 10 or more people.

StrengthSpace is not accepting any new clients at this time. With only a few dozen total clients, we are able to facilitate social distancing for the time in 3 key ways:

  • Our studio rarely has more than 2-3 people in the building, and we ventilate it frequently by opening our garage door.
  • We are personally verifying that each client uses appropriate hand sanitizer or washes their hands prior to training.
  • Our 1-on-1 nature allows for the complete sanitation of every piece of equipment, water spigot/faucet, and door handle after each use, using a cleaning agent specifically designed to sanitize medical respiratory equipment.

Our state AND federal governments are taking this very seriously, and we are trusting their judgement. We will immediately comply with any order to close. In the meantime, we will continue to promote distancing, sanitation, and hygiene, while helping our clients remain physically robust, as strength training remains a key tool we can all use to improve our resilience to chronic and acute diseases alike, including viruses. Now is the worst time to become frail, sedentary, and metabolically unhealthy. We will work to help you remain physically robust in preparation for, and during, any potential order to shelter in place.

Here is the key point: You won’t lose any sessions you pay for!

In the event of a short term (2-4 week) closure, please don’t be worry about losing any of the sessions you have paid for. If you keep your membership active with us, all sessions will remain in your account. When business resumes as usual, any sessions you have unused will then be credited towards your next month’s payment, so you won’t overpay for anything you don’t use.

Crucially, this also applies to anyone who wishes to hold off on training at this time. If you believe you are safest isolating at home for the next few weeks, we respect your decision and will gladly support you in the same way: keep your membership active, and any unused sessions in your account upon your return will be credited towards your next months payment.

Let me restate that: If you miss any sessions due to Covid-19, keep your membership active so we can remain in business, and we will refund those sessions back to you in the month after you return.

We promise, we will make it square so you can get exactly what you pay for, and we can stay open and in business to continue to serve you!

Thank you for trusting us with your business, your strength training, and your health. We look forward to years of continuing to help you build a strong and healthy future, and will keep each of you individually in our prayers for safety over the next few months.

With your health in mind,

-Dr. Bryce Lee, DPT Owner, StrengthSpace