Life Time making big push to reopen health clubs

Life Time CEO Bahram Akradi says he’s in the business of keeping people healthy. So he was surprised when Gov. Tim Walz included health clubs along with bars, restaurants and other entertainment venues in a COVID-19 related “pause” on businesses last month.

“They have thrown the bars, restaurants and gyms into the same sentence for nine months,” Akradi told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. He says that’s unfair because his chain of health clubs and many others have gone to great lengths to keep people safe from COVID infections.

“We are conducting the COVID safe environment,” Akradi says. “Costco isn’t. Three hundred people shoulder-to-shoulder.”

It bothers Akradi that health clubs and gyms can’t even be open at 25% capacity while big-box retailers are open at 100% capacity and drawing big crowds during the holiday shopping season. Not only are those crowds hard to manage in-store aisles and checkout lines, but it’s not easy to contact trace who was there and when unless they buy something and charge it.