WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — President Donald Trump has said repeatedly he wants the nation's businesses and economy to open back up as soon as possible.

The state mandate to shut down all non-essential businesses caused CrossFit Winter Garden's building to close last month. 

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But that has not stopped owner Lee Lovette from coming up with creative ways to work out his clients, who he says they are all very close. 

"Our family doesn't stop being family, we don't stop working out," Lovette said.

Lovette adapted workouts to be done from home by clients or in outdoor sessions where class size is limited to less than 10 people. 

"We were prepared. We had Zoom workouts, we have program workouts for outdoors all set up," he said.

But even with the adjustments, CrossFit is losing money as smaller class sizes mean less clients per class. 

And many of the gym’s members have been laid off from their jobs and can no longer afford the training. 

So Lovette is trying to take advantage of every program available to help small businesses during this time. 

“You have the CARES Act, you have SBA, you have all those. The day those were released, we were applying for them. I mean our bills don’t stop,” Lovette said.

That government help, he says though, is not keeping pace with their needs.


In an effort to keep businesses from shutting down permanently, Trump has said several times he wants certain governors to open their economies back up as soon as possible. 

“It’s going to be very, very close. Maybe even before the date of May 1,” the president said in a press conference on Tuesday. 

But Florida’s COVID-19 numbers are still not looking good. When asked about states that do not have decreasing coronavirus numbers, Trump clarified, saying some states will open before others. 

"These will be individual dates ... and the governors are going to come out at a time when they are ready. Some are going to come out very, very shortly and we look forward to watching that process," Trump said. 

The president also went on to say that he will not force any governor to open his or her state back up before he or she feels ready. 

But as much as Lovette would love to open his gym again, he does not want to make the problem worse.


“If it goes too early then we’re going to end up in the same spot we’re in right now,” Lovette said.

So Lovette waits for help promised by state and federal governments. But he is not just waiting sitting around.


“We have zero intentions of shutting our doors, we have zero intentions of closing our business, and we're gonna push through this," he said.