A study solicited by a fitness trade group indicated that there’s little risk of coronavirus spread from gyms, but an expert says there remains “considerable debate” about the facilities’ role in the pandemic.

In a press release this week, the Colorado Fitness Coalition touted the results of a study by the Oregon Consulting Group that “visiting health clubs poses a very low risk of COVID-19 transmission.” The study compared 32 weeks of gym attendances against COVID case rates in Colorado and found no correlation between spikes and gym attendance.

“There’s a lot of speculation regarding gyms that just isn’t based on facts and data,” said Paula Neubert, a member of the coalition’s advisory board. “This independent study confirms that gyms are one of the safest places people will go all day. Furthermore, maintaining our physical activity and mental health is critical in fighting the worst impacts of COVID-19.”

Capacity within Colorado’s gyms has been limited in hot spots across the state, as officials have instituted ever-restrictive measures to tamp down the fall spike. Restaurants and bars have been other notable casualties. According to the Colorado Fitness Coalition, gyms’ revenues – already halved – were further cut after the latest round of restrictions were implemented in mid-November. 

The data from the study is indicative, the coalition said, that gyms are not a threat and thus should have their capacity increased. 

“In a typical year, Colorado’s fitness industry generates $695 million in revenue,” the coalition wrote in its release of the data. “If the current restrictions remain in place for much longer, Colorado will face the permanent loss of an estimated 200 gyms, 22,000 jobs and $12 million in payroll taxes.”

But the data around gyms’ role in the pandemic remains illusive, said Glen Mays, the department chair at the University of Colorado’s Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy.

“The analysis referenced in this press release is very rudimentary and purely correlational, so I certainly would not want to rely on it for policy or personal decision-making,” he said.

He noted a recently published study in Nature, in which researchers simulated the effects of reopening various public-facing businesses. The authors found that “full-service restaurants, gyms, hotels, cafes, religious organizations and limited-service restaurants produced the largest predicted increases in infections when reopened.” 

But even that study, he said, is limited because it doesn’t represent “real-world experience with virus transmission.” 

State data doesn’t indicate that gyms have been the site of their own outbreaks. New outbreak data published Wednesday indicates just one gym currently has an outbreak. Before the capacity limits were implemented, there were only two.

“If we look purely at the outbreak data for Colorado and other states, it does not appear that gyms are a major driver of virus transmission,” Mays said. “Those data are also imperfect, but they do provide a sense of what types of facilities are at elevated risk.”

He said that though gym employees would theoretically face the most risk – because they spend the longest time in the facilities – “I have not seen data indicating a major problem among gym employees.” 

Asked about the study, a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Health and Environment wrote that officials “are constantly monitoring and studying disease spread and adjusting policies accordingly. We use science-based information to inform our decisions.”