The number of people signing up for memberships at Planet Fitness has been at 2019 levels during May, according to CEO Chris Rondeau.

Speaking on CNBC, Rondeau delivered an optimistic outlook on the fitness franchise's prospects.

The interview coincides with the US gym industry slowly beginning to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions on businesses.

″We currently have around 50 sites open and I’m really encouraged by what I’m seeing,” he said in an interview with the channel (watch the entire exchange here).

"There was a slight cancellation bump on the very first day, but after that it's been like a normal May – and new joins are on par with last year.

"That is encouraging, mostly because there isn't any marketing out there – we've just been doing soft openings. So the fact that we're doing this many new joins, lille we would in any normal May month – I'm very pleased so far."

He also suggested that the company might be better equipped to tackle the challenges of operating in a post-lockdown environment.

"I truly believe that this will create a huge competitive advantage for us – bigger than we even had before.

"When you look at our strong franchise system. The average franchisee has 15 to 20 sites – and they might be across three different states. So

Planet Fitness has about 130 franchisees. In 2019, it opened 261 new sites, reaching the landmark of having 2,000 locations open in the US.

• To watch the entire CNBC interview, click here.