AUSTIN, Texas -- When the steel doors open at CrossFit Austin, sunlight pours over the room to reveal an almost desolate gym.

What You Need To Know


  • CrossFit Austin among gyms made to close by executive order

  • Owners argue small facilities that specialize in personal training and coaching can operate safely

  • So far more than 5,000 people have signed petition 

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced gyms and exercise facilities may reopen May 18

Floor mats and weight racks remain but the facility has been cleared out and rearranged.

Some gyms have started selling equipment after having to close due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, Genevieve Rounkles and Tim Garland will tell you their gym looks somewhat empty because they started preparations early.

“Prior to any mandates we taped out 12x12 boxes with six-foot spaces between them. Our sessions are capped at eight members and are by appointment only,” Rounkles said.

CrossFit Austin had the City of Austin perform an official occupancy report and eight members per session is only 16 percent capacity for the facility, lower than the recommended 25 percent many businesses are asked to adhere to when they reopen.

“We want to do the best we can to offer the service they (members) signed up for but also allow their family who may not come to this facility feel it is safe for them to come here.” Garland said.  

Before the shutdown in mid-March, members had to wash their hands before and after every session. They were given disinfectant spray and wipes to clean equipment before and after use. And coaches did extra cleaning and preparation between classes. CrossFit Austin also has monthly tests and cleanings done by an Austin-based company using hospital grade disinfectants.

Members work out at CrossFit Austin in this undated image. (Courtesy: CrossFit Austin)

Still, they had no choice but to shut down when the stay-at-home order was initially enforced in March.

While the gym has done its best to offer virtual classes and has allowed members to borrow weights, some say it’s just not the same.

“Complete honesty, it’s nothing like coming here. This gym is my family. This gym is my home, it’s my safe place,” member Paul Patek said.

Patek is a longtime member at CrossFit Austin and has recovered from a shoulder injury with the help of the gym. With the precautions the gym had in place, the 47-year-old feels safe returning to sessions with the gym. Patek has joined more than 5,000 other people signing a petition calling on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to allow smaller, more personal gyms to reopen. This despite the fact that Abbott, by executive order, is permitting gyms and exercise facilites in Texas to reopen beginning May 18. 

“Smaller facilities like ours are being lumped in with that greater definition of a gym which includes those bigger, box style gyms where members are coming in and going out. Who knows if they’re being monitored to wipe down equipment?” Rounkles said.

CrossFit Austin says it's also a step ahead of businesses that never had to close like grocery stores where people can touch items that are not disinfected between each touch. Above all else, they believe gyms and fitness professionals are able to help people prepare for the ultimate fight should they catch the coronavirus.

“We are taking care of the issues that are complicating COVID-19: diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure. Those things that make recovery from the virus a little more challenging,” Garland said.