Crush NTX and IVP Biodefense Make Going Back To Gym Safe

I did my first workout at a new gym this morning. A year ago that phrase would pass with very little notice. But in 2020, the year of the pandemic, that phrase takes on a whole new meaning.

Yes, it was my first gym workout since everything got shut down last March and I fully expect to feel it tomorrow. But more importantly it was my first workout in a new place with new people, during a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and I actually feel pretty good about it.

We're constantly being told of the dangers of coronavirus particles in the air and we're being given hope with several new vaccine options on the verge of being made available to the public sometime in the next year or so. But I still felt pretty good about my workout.

You see, Crush NTX Fitness is one of the first gyms in the nation to utilize a new Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System from IVP Air. This new air filtration system invented by Integrated Viral Protection in Houston constantly filters the air in the room and removes more than 99% of the SARS CoV2 virus that causes COVID-19. In the world we live in, that's HUGE!

The system is already in use in schools, restaurants, and a few other public places and could be a game changer in how we respond to our current situation.

I attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at Crush NTX Fitness earlier this week and a representative from IVP was there explaining how the system works.

Essentially, it's a three part filtration system. The air is drawn into the bottom of the unit and goes through your typical HVAC filter, then in stage two it is heated to 200 degrees, killing off nearly all of the live virus particles in the air (they claim 99.999%), including SARS CoV-2 and Anthrax. After that the air passes through a charcoal filter and is released back into the room. The larger units are capable of filtering 1,800 cubic feet of air per minute. That capacity would recirculate the air in a standard school classroom more than ten times per hour.

Houston based Integrated Viral Protection is an enterprise formed by engineer and real estate developer, Monzer Hourani. The technology in this new system was largely developed by researchers at the University of Houston.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the George R. Brown Convention Center was one of the first businesses to use the system.

While the three units in use at Crush NTX Fitness are portable stand-alone devices, IVP Air says that their new system can easily be added a new system being installed in a building or even retrofitted to some existing HVAC systems.

What this means to you and me, is that with systems like IVP Air in place we can begin to get back to some sort of normal lifestyle again. For many of us it was coronavirus and the fear of contracting COVID-19 that kept us out of the gyms and trying to work out at home. Crush NTX Fitness is the only Wichita Falls gym, or business of any sort, with this filtration system in use right now, but it probably won't be long before we see these pop up all over the place.

Suddenly, going back to the gym isn't nearly as scary as it was just a couple of weeks ago.

I'll probably still be sore in the morning, but I'm good with that.