To clarify the one hour of exercise 'rule'

[Itstheprinciple]

I've seen this mentioned on so many posts and I've seen people clarify it within the post but I've not seen a specific post about it. I thought this could help people who seem confused about what is 'allowed'.

Michael Gove was asked on the Andrew Marr show what he considered to be reasonable exercise. This is his response:

"I would have thought that for most people, a walk of up to an hour, or a run of 30 minutes or a cycle ride of between that, depending on their level of fitness is appropriate."

So it is not a hard and fast rule or law. No one is standing with a stopwatch as it gets to 59 mins. It's guidance and it will vary between individuals as Mr Gove says himself.

Since then she hasn't stopped attacking me, throwing insults at me, pointing out my failings. And then has the cheek to ask me why I'm attacking her.

Everything's very personal and attack and insulting to you. It's quite strange, really.

And yes the help does exist
But it is stretched very thin
And I won't be wasting it on someone who has no desire to engage
I have plenty of people who are desperate as it is
My sanity due to my work is on a thin enough edge

You offered help and I said yes please.

There is the option to hand a list in and we get the shopping for you, your DH could do that and then have it delivered.

But that isn't advertised anywhere. Can I phone the store? We don't have a Morrisons near us but he could drive to collect the shopping if it was done. Why on earth aren't they advertising that?

And yes the help does exist
But it is stretched very thin
And I won't be wasting it on someone who has no desire to engage

As soon as you offered I said yes please. How is that not being willing to engage? It very clearly doesn't exist but if you admit that you can't keep bashing me can you?

I haven't slagged my neighbours off - I said there are five adults and a child living in the house and spending all day in the garden. Not slagging them off, just stating the situation.

You talked about all your neighbours and called them all sorts. And their dogs.

You said people were fighting and spitting and absolutely abusive to staff where you work.

You have been given advice. You havent been locked in.

You are choosing to take it to extremes

The store isnt taking calls per se in that no general calls just now but there is a 'press 1 for X' list to direct you to home delivery, click and collect etc. I dont know how it works exactly I just helped out with picking today, not my usual job.
I can find out on saturday if the boss is in.

So, if you were told by the government to stay indoors because your medical condition means you are at very high risk of becoming very seriously ill from an infection for which there is no treatment you'd think oh, I won't do that. I'll just carry on regardless, would you?

I would like them to explain properly the reasoning behind them telling us to do this. Then I can assess the risk and how likely it is to affect me. As I don't know what the risk is simply from going outside, how do I assess this? I'm not ready to just risk my life right now.

And I haven't slagged off my neighbours or any customers. I complained about the customers behaving atrociously.

I can find out on saturday if the boss is in.

If you can please. It's too far to drive if they aren't doing it or if it's just your store doing it for some customers. Thank you

My husband. I've said it about ten times now

Right, so why do you need a delivery slot?

And I haven't slagged off my neighbours or any customers. I complained about the customers behaving atrociously.

Yes you did. You even talked about how they walk with their staffies. Maybe not you immediate neighbours.

But yes, you did piss and moan they dare use their garden when you can

So, if you were told by the government to stay indoors because your medical condition means you are at very high risk of becoming very seriously ill from an infection for which there is no treatment you'd think oh, I won't do that. I'll just carry on regardless, would you?

Not sure. But what I chose to do with advice would be my choice.

I’m frontline NHS staff and it’s REALLY annoying that everyone seems to be out exercising when I’m trying to get to and from the train station! Like whole families cycling along a shared footpath/cycle path, or people dawdling with dogs, or joggers who expect you to step into the bushes/road to let them pass.

Mums with 3 kids and double buggy out for a wander, blocking the entire pavement and not thinking someone might need to pass.

Please be sensible and stick to exercising once a day, and not at commuter times when key workers are trying to get to and from their jobs!

Exercise somewhere it’s easy to pass, not on narrow pavements and if you must cycle avoid letting your kids go full pelt around corners! It’s selfish and annoying.

Right, so why do you need a delivery slot?

I haven't particularly said I need a delivery slot. He is in the vulnerable group - serious, but not serious enough, asthma and hypertension but not shielding. So, it's not a good idea for him to be going shopping, but not much we can do. If he gets ill however we'll be screwed. Many posters on MN seem to think if one member of the household is shielding than they all need to, but we aren't doing that. Lots also want delivery slots because they're vulnerable.

You even talked about how they walk with their staffies. Maybe not you immediate neighbours.

Nope. Not my neighbours. People who walk past my house. Not neighbours.

But yes, you did piss and moan they dare use their garden when you can I've said they are in their garden and I can't maintain two metres distance. Sorry if you view that as pissing and moaning.

But what I chose to do with advice would be my choice.

Oh of course. Being told to shield because I could die otherwise is absolutely a choice. You're so right.

So you complained you couldnt get a slot. But dont really need one and your husband goes out. It's a nice to have, not a must have sounds like it would be a good idea and I hope pp can help. But you dont absolutely need one.

I said twice 'not your immediate neighbours'. You posted a scathing attack on pretty much anyone who walked anywhere near your house.

As I said. Have a moan, we all need one from time to time. When that turns into nastiness, dont expect people to remain sy pathetic and say 'there there'.

Yes, choosing to not go out at all, is a choice. Not a chance are you neigh ours in their garden all day, everyday.

You can now travel for exercise. So you would be able to travel somewhere quieter to exercise. So you can exercise.

You can do the things you have been telling other people to do. Like exercise indoor. I have just spent 20 mins sat in my garden now. It's cool, I put a jacket on. I am starting work soon. Wont be outside again until late this evening.

Not ideal. But it's kind of tough. The woman next door still has to get up, get ready and go to work in an office. She is in a room in her own and sees non of the other Skelton staff there. I feel more sorry for her.

You need to start looking at what you can do. Not looking at what everyone else is doing and getting angry about it. and remember you have it better than some people.

Yes some people have it better than you in some ways. Some people have it worse in some ways.

If you posted saying you drove to your kids and stopd at the end of the garden because you felt it was essential and it was damaging your mental health, I wouldnt jump on you and tell you, you were breaking the rules, extending the lockdown (which isnt true) and damaging people. I would have some empathy that you are struggling so much, you felt the need to do that.

Someone who works for me was in tears on the phone. It was her granddaughters birthday. Her daughter walked to her house so she could speak to her from the front gate. The woman who works for me is shielding. All I felt was sympathy. They didnt drop essentials off, they went so she could see her granddaughter. Technically against the rules.

I would love to drive to mums and do the same. But it's a long journey so I wont do it.
I didnt feel anger at her or at her daughter. I felt bad my colleague was so upset and how much she is struggling.

There are completely healthy posters on here, with completely healthy families who are getting delivery slots - do they need them? There are vulnerable people, not shielding, who want delivery slots ( so in the same category as my husband) - do they need them? Arguably, my husband is higher risk than I am - he's male, late 50s, with a serious lung condition and high blood pressure - looking at the statistics he fits the profile of those who are dying in the greatest numbers. I might be at lower risk than him, but we don't know because no.one will have those discussions, we aren't being given the information. All I'm told is to shield. So, no, I don't think it's a nice thing to have. I think we are a very high risk household. Him going out more often is increasing the risks of this household getting it and suffering huge consequences. At the same time, we aren't going to fight for a delivery. But if he gets ill then we were will be in dire straits, as will our neighbour, because we cannot get any external help. What angers me is when posters on here insist that there is lots of help and I'm just not trying to access it. When I explain why that isn't true I get bullied and belittled, yet when I show proof everyone just picks something else to attack me over. Like the Morrisons list, like the snappy shopper app or whatever it was called. Then the lady from Morrisons and another poster just couldn't wait to put the boot in again - then it turns out that wasn't the list that she was talking about.

As for the neighbours comment, you accused me of slagging off all of my neighbours and their dogs. Then later you said maybe not my best neighbours. So, you did say it was my neighbours. I dispute that I was slagging anyone off, but there we go.

As for I need to start looking at what I can do - you have no idea of my situation not what I can or cannot do. Again, driving to my children or going out to exercise does not feel like choices that are open to me. Making a 120 mile trip to see my kids is not the right thing to do. It isn't sensible, it isn't permitted and it puts people at risk. We would have to get petrol. We risk breaking down or having an accident. Whether you would view it sympathetically or not is irrelevant - it would be foolhardy and selfish to do it.

And yes, my neighbours are in their garden all day, unless it is raining. There are a lot of them, living in a house that isn't very big. They are using the garden. It's hardly surprising.

When your colleague was on the phone crying about her grand daughter, did you berated her for feeling sorry for herself, tell her all the ways that she was so much better off than lots of other people? So, she was in tears because she misses a grand daughter that she could walk to see but I'm self centred and wallowing because I'm upset that I can't see my daughter on her 21st birthday and am 60 odd miles away? How come?

As for going out for a walk - I've said, until I am blue in the face, if a medic would explain the risks to me then maybe I would be able to go for a walk. But I do not know what the risks are, what I need to avoid, how remote a place I need to go to - because I do not know what the increased risks are. I do not know the rationale behind telling shielded people to stay in their homes. No one has explained it to us. If staying two metres apart stops transmission then what is the risk? There must be a risk in just going out because that is what we are told not to do - so what is that risk? I'm not willing to risk my life, no. I am 50. I am not ready to think "sod it. I've had a good life I'll take the chance". I want to be here to see my children again, to see my daughter graduate, to be a part of their lives. I'm not risking that just to stop ransoms on the internet having a go at me.

You have no idea what difficulties I have day to day and yet you feel qualified to attack me, to accuse me of not wanting to help myself, of wallowing in self pity. I hope it makes you feel better about yourself.

But give yourself a big pat on the back for being so much braver, stronger, resilient than me. Well done.

You said that to somebody who just told you their daughter had died? Wow. Unforgivable. What the hell is wrong with you, hooves?

If you look back, I empathised with that poster when she said about her son. All that followed after that was a tirade of attacking posts from them and others.

Why not pull them up on the things they said to me? None of you know what my medical is, nor how it affects me but apparently I'm lying because I need to have a special diet, prescribed by the hospital, I'm simply not trying because I won't do exercises on YouTube or pull ups on my dining room table. I'm lying because I can't get shopping deliveries and so on.

But that's ok is it? Everyone has piled on me because I dared to answer back. The people that you are criticising me for saying that to have not held back with what they've said to me.

The things that people have said to me on here, about my disability, aren't ok. This has just turned into a massive pile on with posters thinking that it's ok to just abuse a person who's struggling. Clearly though, you think that's ok.

I might be at lower risk than him, but we don't know because no.one will have those discussions, we aren't being given the information.

The precision of information that you want simply doesn't exist. I am sorry for that.

Public health officials don't get to make dainty individual distinctions about exactly who is at higher risk in a couple. They do have to make broad decisions about who should shield, even if those decision are of necessity based on partial an imprecise data. Within those broad decisions, you and your husband have discretion to decide between you who should go shopping. But individuals don't get to override the rules altogether, because if they do then there is no point having them.

And I don't quite understand why your husband hasn't been told to shield if he has a serious lung condition, and why you wont "fight" for a delivery if you are both shielding.

if a medic would explain the risks to me then maybe I would be able to go for a walk. But I do not know what the risks are, what I need to avoid, how remote a place I need to go to - because I do not know what the increased risks are. I do not know the rationale behind telling shielded people to stay in their homes. No one has explained it to us. If staying two metres apart stops transmission then what is the risk?

Even medics don't know the answers to your questions in the level of detail and precision that you want. Keeping a six-foot distance from other people doesn't stop transmission altoegther, but it decreases the risk. And no, it is not possible to say by exactly how much. So does staying at home - but it also can't stop the risk altogether because your husband might bring the illness in. Getting a supermarket delivery is safer than going to a shop - but no-one can say by exactly how much. Nobody knows how remote a place you need to go to - and of course there is the downside that if the place is very remote and you are ill already, or you catch covid because one other person in your remote location already has it because you can't isolate from humanity altogether - your remote place may not have the facilities to manage the illness.

Basically the rule of thumb for a walk is that if you can stay two metres away from other people throughout your walk you're probably OK. Unless you're in the group who have been told to stay at home and shield altogether, in which case even that risk isn't worth taking because of how extra-likely you are to be in danger if you did catch it.

But this is not exact. You need to make good decisions under uncertainties which can't be quantified. And if you have not been told to shield then remember that there are benefits to a walk and risks from confinement, as well as risks of going for a walk and benefits to staying indoors.

Ah, the classic bully. Dish out all sorts and as soon as people stand up to you, start complaining about being the victim.

I think this has gone a little bit far now. Yes, Hooves likes a pity party which can be frustrating. But this whole thread has descended into a bitch fest of ganging up and that is sad to see.

Public health officials don't get to make dainty individual distinctions about exactly who is at higher risk in a couple.

I don't want them to and haven't indicated that I want them to. I would like to see statistics, like we see X% are men, X% are women, age ranges etc. It isn't helpful when they just say this number had serious health conditions. It would help us to make decisions if they said which health conditions are the highest risk. As it stands, I'm told to shield but I'm female and younger than my husband. That makes my risk much lower. But I am immunosuppressed and have a lung problem. What I can't know is how much extra risk that puts me at and, out of the two of us, who is at the highest risk. So, we can't make an informed decision because we don't have the information. I dont understand why me saying that is deserving of your snarky reply?

As for why isn't my husband shielding - because he doesn't meet the criteria. Having asthma isnt a reason in itself. You need to have had three courses of prednisolone in the past year to need to shield, and he hasn't. But, assessing his risk, with sex, she and two co morbidities isn't straightforward.

And if you have not been told to shield then remember that there are benefits to a walk and risks from confinement, as well as risks of going for a walk and benefits to staying indoors.

I have been told to shield so not sure how this is relevant, other than to.jyst have another dig at me?

Unless you're in the group who have been told to stay at home and shield altogether, in which case even that risk isn't worth taking because of how extra-likely you are to be in danger if you did catch it.

Which I am - I have the shielding letter. Again, what's the purpose of this?

I would like to see statistics, like we see X% are men, X% are women, age ranges etc.

And so would the public health officials, but reliable statistics don't exist in any more detail than that.

What I can't know is how much extra risk that puts me at and, out of the two of us, who is at the highest risk.

No-one else does either, and that's hard. I wasn't being snarky I was trying to explain clearly.

I have been told to shield so not sure how this is relevant, other than to.jyst have another dig at me?

I am sorry, I couldn't keep track of every aspect of your situation during a long thread, so I was trying to cover all bases.

So, you've been advised that you can go out in your garden - assuming enough space between you and the neighbours - but you've been told not to go out for exercise? Then it might be a good decide whether "barely" six feet means six feet or less than sex feet. If it means less then definitely don't use your garden when they're out - but you might be OK if it does mean six feet or a bit more.

It is less than six feet when they are outside.

And what was saying about making a decision about who.is actually at greater risk, me.or my dh, is that in order to do that we need information. Without information we are just basically rolling a dice. That isn't making a decision, it's taking a chance.

So right now, we are going with me having received a shielding letter as being at highest risk. But looking at the data that we do have he is clearly at high risk. It isn't a clear cut decision at all. I don't want him to risk his life to save mine.

So right now, we are going with me having received a shielding letter as being at highest risk. But looking at the data that we do have he is clearly at high risk. It isn't a clear cut decision at all. I don't want him to risk his life to save mine.

Yes, that is difficult and must be very worrying, and I don't have any better solution. Though maybe that's a good enough reason to keep agitating for a supermarket delivery?

And we are trying. Along with many other people that are shielding too. There just aren't enough slots and it makes it even more annoying when posters on here tell you you are lying, not trying hard enough or just don't want help.

I wish people could just accept that in some areas services are not as good as in others.