Delayed opening of gyms, pools is leading to helplessness - survey
80% of participants reported failing to find an alternative health and fitness plan since the closures.
By SARAH BEN-NUNGym illustrative (photo credit: SNEHALKANODIA/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
Holmes Place, a fitness center chain with branches throughout Israel, surveyed 4,488 individuals in the past month, curious about their physical, mental and emotional well-being following the closure of fitness centers.Participants were sent a link to the survey via text. Two-thirds (67%) of participants responded feeling less emotionally sound because they don't have easy and comfortable access to fitness centers and equipment. And 80% reported failing to find an alternative health and fitness plan since the closures.The decision to close these fitness centers "is hurting the public in a critical way," said Keren Shtevy, Homes Place CEO. "It damages the country's financial stability, and it attacks a health care system that's crumbling under the pressure resulting from the pandemic." Some 81% of respondents reported the deterioration of their physical health since the closure, and 60% attested to weight gains since then, with a majority gaining at least five kilograms.Shtevy urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other MPs to do the "right and honorable thing" – allow for an altered and appropriate opening of gyms and pools.Other countries, Shtevy said, have already adopted altered openings to fitness centers.Do this, Shtevy concluded, "in order to give millions of Israelis the opportunity to take care of their health by accessing workout equipment and resources, which are essential to their physical, mental and emotional health."
