AN AYR gym owner says it is ‘bizarre’ to see pubs, fast food restaurants and bingo halls open ahead of gyms leaving her and her partner frustrated.

Linzi Noble, 28, and her partner and co-owner Ricci Carrino, 27, just celebrated the first year of their gym, LivFit, but it was toasted in an empty fitness hall.

The training camp on Saltfield Lane will have to wait another two months before it can welcome back members keen to return to classes and spend time with personal trainers.

Ayr Advertiser: The couple celebrated a year since they opened last month.The couple celebrated a year since they opened last month.

Last week Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that gyms will open on September 14 with the possibility of an earlier return in August taken into consideration next week.

England has already opened gyms last month but Linzi is struggling to see why hers should remain shut. It comes as links are made between coronavirus deaths and obesity.

She told the Advertiser:“It’s really frustrating it’s been bizarre.

“They are talking about tackling the obesity pandemic to fight COVID, but bingo halls and amusements open before they even consider gyms “They put alcohol, fast food and gambling ahead of fitness.”

The gym which has 65 members has been running online classes for the past 18 weeks but Linzi is concerned of the detrimental impact not having access to a gym will have on people’s mental health.

Ayr Advertiser: Nicola Sturgeon

She said: “It’s about a community who want to reunite to help push each other and motivate each other.

“The mental health side of things is the most worrying.

“People are not wanting to work out for weight loss. It is for their mind.

“It’s been hard for us trying to keep everyone motivated over 18 weeks, you just want to go and lift heavy weights again and be around that atmosphere.

“We want to help their physical and mental wellbeing.”

With professional football kicking off in Scotland last week and other sports teams able to return to training, Linzi can’t believe that a small gym can’t open.

She believes having a close knit unit would make contact tracing just as easy as a local pub. Linzi added: “We are different to large commercial gyms, we’ve got 65 members, we could spread everyone out provide that service for them, but all gyms must stay closed.

“We have everyone ’ s details, we could make sure everyone is kept safe. “To see sports teams in gyms is quite frustrating, I don’t think it’s different from six people going to their local gym.”

“The gym launched an online petition asking for Nicola Sturgeon to bring back gyms in August, the petition has since gathered over 200 signatures.”