Restaurants, bars, salons and other businesses have had to shut their doors during the COVID-19 crisis.

These places now have been allowed to slowly open.

Gyms and athletic clubs in the area are starting to reopen too under strict social distancing and safety guidelines, which is a welcome relief to active people who miss their weight machines and maybe just want to get out of the house to be active.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on June 10 allowed such facilities to reopen in the Upper Peninsula.

The YMCA of Marquette County kept a clean shop before the pandemic, but is even more so now that it has reopened.

Staff at the YMCA, along with area fitness facilities such as Synergy Fitness and Anytime Fitness, will wear masks. Clients in most places are asked to bring their own towels and water bottles, and are asked to socially distance.

At the YMCA, members have to step up and clean equipment before and after each use, which many members already had been doing. To also improve safety, coffee, bubblers and water coolers will not be available. Fans also will not be available or allowed to be used in workout spaces.

These practices might be inconvenient, but they are necessary to keep people healthy at a place where health is one of its main goals.

In a front-page Monday Mining Journal story, it was reported that Barbara Rabitoy, owner of Snap Fitness in Houghton, now uses Virex, a hospital-grade cleaning agent, and has to refill her disinfecting wipes a lot more now than before the shutdown.

It’s good to hear gym owners are taking COVID-19 seriously.

The warm season in the Upper Peninsula, assuming it gets here for any length of time, brings more people out on bike trails, the woods and the beaches. This makes it more enjoyable to keep active.

However, some people might need the structured regimen of a gym and being able to conduct special exercises they can do only on specific weight machines.

They probably like the social camaraderie of being with like-minded, physically fit people too.

Exercise is key to keeping physically healthy and having a positive mental outlook, so having gyms open again — even if they don’t resemble their normal selves at first — is great for the communities they serve.