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A California gym reopens with bizarre looking plastic workout pods to enable customers to exercise in groups and maintain social distancing

The owner of Inspire South Bay Fitness in Redondo Beach, California has set up individual plastic workout pods to enable customers to exercise in groups and maintain social distancing.

South Bay Fitness
  • Owner Peet Sapsin told Business Insider that the pods took three days to build and are made out of shower curtains and PVC pipes. There are nine pods in total.
  • Each pod is enclosed on three sides but has an open back and open top, which has led some customers to question how safe they are as an alternative.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .
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The owner of a California gym has found an innovative way for customers to work out in a group while maintaining social distancing rules.

Peet Sapsin, who owns Inspire South Bay Fitness in Redondo Beach, California, reopened his gym on Monday as per state guidelines, with a new set of individual plastic workout pods.

The pods enable customers to take a group class in the gym while working out in the plastic box.

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Sapsin told Business Insider that he came up with the idea for these pods after he asked customers to test out working out with masks and they said that they had found it hard to breathe. As a result, he started to look for other solutions.

The new pods took around three days to build and are made out of shower curtains and PVC pipes, a more cost-effective alternative to using plexiglass, he said.

"Our clients are loving it," he told Business Insider in a phone call on Tuesday.

On arrival, customers are asked to hand sanitize and have their temperature taken with a touchless gun. Each customer is then assigned to one of the nine pods, which has all the equipment they need for the class inside so they don't need to leave.

Each pod is enclosed on three sides and has an open back and an open top, which has led some customers to question how safe they are as an alternative.

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"This makes zero sense the pods are open from the top," one commenter said on Instagram. "You think the virus goes down."

"If this isn't a joke, you need to wake up!" another wrote.

Gyms and fitness centers across the country have been grappling with the effects of the pandemic, which is estimated to have kept around 38,000 gyms and fitness studios closed over the past few months.

As restrictions have eased across the country, these businesses have been working out how best to reopen to the public in a way that keeps customers safe but doesn't hinder the workout experience too much.

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Sapsin said that the past few months have been "extremely difficult."

"If we had to shut down for two more months, I don't think we could have reopened," he added.

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