Planet Fitness Will Now Require Masks At All NH Locations

Walmart just made news by announcing that it would require face masks in all stores, now another business is following in that direction.

Planet Fitness is the latest company that will now require masks at all time inside their facilities. The mandate will go into effect on August 1st.

According to WMUR, the masks will be required at all times inside the gym. Currently, only Planet Fitness employees had been mandated to wear the masks.

Chris Rondeau, Chief Executive Officer at Planet Fitness, said in a press release:

"Given our leadership position within the industry, we believe it’s our responsibility to further protect our members, employees, and communities so that we can all safely focus on our health, which is more important now than ever before.”

Planet Fitness had already put other procedures into place to address Covid-19 with more extensive cleaning and sanitization policies and procedures.

They have also implemented more social distancing between machines, and are reducing physical touch points with touch-less check-in, according to their press release. 

So, is it safe to wear a face mask while exercising? I know sometimes it feels hard to breathe just having it on for extended periods during regular activities. I did a little digging to find out more.

According to CNET, Grayson Wickham, a physical therapist and certified strength and conditioning specialist says:

"Most people can perform every and all exercises with a face mask on, you will want to monitor how you're feeling while exercising and watch out for specific symptoms such as lightheadedness, dizziness, numbness or tingling and shortness of breath."

Wickham also told CNET that if you have an underlying heart or respiratory condition you should take caution when exercising with a face mask on.