Weathering coronavirus and the Greg Glassman CrossFit scandal – how Hong Kong gym Typhoon is responding in crisis
- David Baker, one of five owners of Typhoon, says it is important to react quickly to Covid-19 policies to keep the business operating and provide workouts for members
- The gym is waiting to see how the change in CrossFit leadership manifests itself before making a final decision on affiliation
It has been a tumultuous year for CrossFit gyms having to navigate closures in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and a scandal from the organisation’s CEO that split the community. At CrossFit Typhoon, a gym in Sai Ying Pun, co-owner David Baker has been at the centre of the storm dealing with a succession of obstacles.
“The virus has really kept us on our toes. Because the policy changes are so rapid, it doesn’t give us a lot of time to think through the decisions we need to make to accommodate our membership. We’re always thinking about the members first and foremost,” said Baker, 41, an associate professor of biology at Hong Kong University.
During the first lockdown in Hong Kong, which saw gyms closed from May, Baker said they lost around 60 per cent of their membership. For those remaining, they offered park workouts. Now, there is a new challenge in the latest lockdown, as groups are at limited to just two, so even park workouts are out of bounds.
“We tapped into our coaches’ experience, some of them have already run online courses routinely. So we do have a knowledge base we can draw from. Two of the owners are teachers, so we are already running courses over Zoom at work as well,” he said.
“At this point, I can’t complain. We all recognise that the government’s decisions are based on science. It’s encouraging how quickly the population is responding to policies. There’s no doubt, none of us are hiding from the fact that gyms are a high risk area,” said Baker, one of five owners.