Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Refuses to Work out at Gold’s Gym Right Now

Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t quite ready yet to get back into his routine at Gold’s Gym in Venice, California just yet. While he was eager to hit the gym once again, even making the bicycle ride down to the gym on Tuesday after it finally reopened, the Terminator star was taken aback when he learned gymgoers were not required to wear face masks while working out. He was so caught off guard that he left and went home.

TMZ reports that Schwarzenegger, who saw his Arnold Fitness Expo cancelled back in March as the coronavirus first began to ramp up, left after getting to the front desk because he felt uncomfortable with the gym’s rules. In California, regulations do not require marks to be worn inside when working out, so Gold’s Gym was in compliance. When guests enter the facility, they must be wearing a mask but do not need to keep them on, which bugged Schwarzenegger. The outlet says that the former governor will continue skipping his gym days until masks are required or even if it’s not until a vaccine is discovered. It looks like the movie star will be limited to his home gym, which in his case, is bigger than most gym chains.

With the pandemic continuing to be a major issue for the country, states have started to begin loosening restrictions, which is why places like gyms have opened back up in states like California and Florida. However, with the numbers increasing in more than 20 states, including Florida setting a new high for positive cases in one day on Tuesday, there’s a growing concern of a second wave coming. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that cases in the state have increased by 40% since reopening. Gov. Gavin Newsom said that they’re not “out of the woods” yet and explained how an increase was always likely with a testing increase. He said it’s the state’s “responsibility” to make sure they’re prepared for spikes. As of Tuesday, California sits at 155,000 confirmed cases with more than 5,100 deaths.

As for Florida and Texas, where gyms have reopened, regulations required more sanitizer to be made available and capacity limits to ensure proper social distancing. States like New Jersey and New York, both were the two hardest hits states by COVID-19, continue to order all fitness centers to remain shutdown.