Mary Oost of Bowling Green lifts weights at the F.O. Moxley Community Center fitness facility Monday, June 1, 2020, as fitness centers reopen under Gov. Andy Beshear’s Healthy at Work plan.

Mary Oost admits she was a little worried about going back into a fitness center with COVID-19 still a threat.

Her concerns were lifted once Oost stepped inside the F.O. Moxley Community Center fitness facility Monday, with the facility going through a social distancing makeover to accommodate its members while maintaining the guidelines for reopening set by Gov. Andy Beshear.

“I feel safe actually working out,” Oost said. “I like what they have done.

“A gym has a lot of bacteria. People get staph. People get a lot of infections, so I like they have the 6 feet apart rule and only 75 minutes allowed so it is not so crowded. I really like how clean it is, too. It’s super clean.”

Monday was the first day fitness centers were allowed to reopen under Beshear’s plan. All the fitness centers the Daily News spoke to said reopening included new guidelines to provide for a safe and clean environment.

Frank LaManna, Bowling Green parks and recreation fitness and wellness supervisor, said the department has always had a strict policy in place for cleaning even before the coronavirus pandemic that forced the closure of all fitness centers in mid-March.

“Even before this happened, we maintained a strict standard for cleanliness because gyms kind of do get a bad rep for getting germs,” LaManna said. “I kinda understand that because you have so many people coming in and out and so much hand contact with weights and so forth. What we’ve always tried to do since day one is wipe down the equipment. We encourage members before and after use to wipe down equipment and we’ve had staff that it is part of their duties – to go through the fitness center throughout the day and wipe down equipment.”

LaManna said the Moxley Center facility has put a lot of things in place to keep the facility safe. These new policies include sanitizing more frequently – including door handles and knobs – and requiring members to wipe down before and after use. The Moxley Center will have additional staffing on cleaning patrol and has added additional hand sanitizers outside the facility as well as more sanitation facilities inside.

The Moxley Center has a separate entrance and exit points to keep traffic one way and has socially distanced the machines – with every other machine in the cardio room blocked off.

The facility will run with a reduced capacity and reduced hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Locker rooms are for restrooms and to change clothes, but no showers or saunas are allowed for the time being. The water fountains are out of service, but LaManna said touchless bottle fillers on the machines are available.

There are no classes offered right now, but LaManna said the hope is to phase that in next month.

Face masks are encouraged but not required for customers, with employees wearing face masks.

“We don’t want to do anything to cause additional harm on that person, but yet we want to protect on all our staff and members to the greatest extent that we can without infringing on anybody’s rights or violations of privacy due to HIPPA or cause further harm to a person that is trying to come in and work out for their benefit,” LaManna said.

Other local facilities are instilling the same changes.

BAC’s Scottsville Road location is open with temporarily reduced hours: 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

BAC requests that members bring and wear a mask when safe to do so and asks that members sanitize their hands upon entry into the club with the sanitizer provided. Sanitizing wipes are available so members can wipe down equipment before and after use, with members asked to maintain six feet of social distancing at all times and limit casual conversations.

Child care, basketball and racquetball courts, saunas, classrooms, the smoothie cafe, lockers, showers, tanning beds and common areas remain closed and no guest passes are allowed for now.

The Nashville Road location remains closed for now.

Planet Fitness has blocked off every other machine and every third locker to allow for social distancing. Most of the check-ins have been moved to the Planet Fitness app with the goal to limit as much contact as possible.

Director of Marketing Ken Horn said Planet Fitness’ corporate office has led the way with a thought-out plan. Every franchise and every club received a 100-page manual on how to improve the experience and keep everyone healthy.

“One of the things that is very important to us is that, even before our closure, all of our clubs are known for being very clean to begin with,” Horn said. “Now they are just going to be even cleaner. If there is a positive to come out of it, it is giving people a cleaner and safer opportunity to improve their fitness.”

Workout Anytime officials told the Daily News they have opened on a regular schedule and the crowd was very happy.

Horn said that from social media response, Planet Fitness knew there was a pent-up demand from their members to get back to their routines.

LaManna said he thinks there will be apprehension – but that a majority of the members at the Moxley Center expressed eagerness to return.

“Everybody needs to be aware,” LaManna said. “They need to do their part to protect themselves and each other as much as possible. Everybody needs to practice good hygiene, hand washing and other etiquette to keep everybody safe regardless of your age or any issues that you have.”