MADISON, Ohio — Alexis Hungerford is back in the gym.

"I’ve missed it so much. It’s been, it’s been so hard, so hard trying to do at-home workouts. You just can’t get that motivation at home that you can when you’re here,” said Hungerford.

Owner Michelle Armstrong opened up almost immediately after the judge's ruling. The State Health Department's scheduled "Restart Responsible Ohio" date is May 26. 
 
"I opened my doors and I started doing a live Facebook video and said, 'come on back and we’re open and we’re safe.'"

Things will look a little different here today, compared to pre-COVID-19. Before you walk in the door, you have to sanitize your hands, each member gets their own towel and spray, and some treadmills are taped off and spots are labeled on the ground so social distancing is followed. 

"I’ve been ready to open for about four weeks. I mean, as soon as this happened, I started setting precedents to make sure that I would have everything ready for my clients and members and personal training clients to come in. And I just started contacting as many people as I possibly could to get what I needed," said Armstrong.

Armstrong claims she’s following CDC guidelines for reopening. And says it’s good to be back after a tough time time off.

"It’s been a struggle bus for a lot of fitness instructors and we’ve been trying to provide what we can for our clients, but we got past the eight-week point and we started getting just itchy about getting back in the gym," she said.

And Hungerford feels comfortable getting a workout in, with the staff doing what they can to keep members safe. 

"My mom was a little iffy at first and then I told her everything that they were doing. She’s like okay, so it definitely made my mom feel a lot better."