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.

I think physical distancing is more important than the duration. My exercise today was my allotment and it took 30 min. 2 days ago I was there for over 2 hours. Both times I was on my plot over 5m from anyone. The duration is irrelevant. I get closer to people on a 1 hour cycle down the local cycle track and that's mainly due to the people who insist on walking in pairs next to each other. If everyone cycled or walked alone there would be more space but fycling in household groups is allowed so I just accept it although I find the Noahs Arc couples more of a distancing problem than people doing their own thing for 2 or 3 hours.

Well if you live rurally and there are few houses in the area then who could you be impacting on? Not the other people who live in the area, because they are all able to leave their houses to exercise if they need to, whilst staying distant from other people.

Where in law does it say there are separate laws for town and country dwellers? If we are following the law then it means that we can all do whatever we want doesn't it, as long as it complies with the law?

Where in law does it say there are separate laws for town and country dwellers? If we are following the law then it means that we can all do whatever we want doesn't it, as long as it complies with the law?

You didn't mention the law. You asked how you could be sure you aren't impacting on anyone else.

And I didn't say anything about breaking the law either. It is perfectly legal to exercise. But then you know that.

I think it’s doctors, my doc has always been obsessed with it because so much London life is Tube, workplace....ergo not much vit D.

But that's my point. No one has bothered about it before now. People stayed indoors, kids on computers, no one bothered about vit D3. Since lockdown everyone is obsessed and it's trotted out as a reason for extended outdoor exercise multiple times on every thread.

If we are following the law then it means that we can all do whatever we want doesn't it, as long as it complies with the law

You can.

It doesn't mean you should.

Common sense needs to be applied - certainly living in a built up, busy city with millions of people is different to living in a tiny village with maybe 100 people in when it comes to how you should behave.

Since lockdown everyone is obsessed and it's trotted out as a reason for extended outdoor exercise multiple times on every thread

No one has bothered about it before now. People stayed indoors, kids on computers, no one bothered about vit D3

Everyone? No one?

Surely there is an inbetween view - rather than these extremes

Where in law does it say there are separate laws for town and country dwellers?

There isn't, there's one.

But the length or frequency of exercise which is reasonable in one may not be in the other.

There's no benefit to the country as a whole at defining a law at the level apt for the most constrained situation, which is what you seem to be wanting.

I think most of the people constantly banging on about exercising for no more than an hour probably wouldn't go out for an hour's walk for love nor money at the nest of times. Some people can't get their head around the fact that some other people exercise for an hour or so quite regularly. The current situation gives them the perfect opportunity to pontificate.

Yes @AlecTrevelyan006

Normally I take my dogs out for at least 40 minutes for a long slow sniffy toddler style walk. It’s by no means exercise really.

Then I’d go a run myself doing couch to 10K or go to PT. I’m really slow so it takes ages.

Seems normal to me. And helps my ageing self and my mental health.

Guidelines clarified you can exercise and also walk the dog. Hopefully no one is still getting grief about that.

Herd “ People stayed indoors, kids on computers, no one bothered about vit D3. Since lockdown everyone is obsessed and it's trotted out as a reason for extended outdoor exercise multiple times on every thread.”

Well, maybe it’s not new for flat dwellers. It has seemed a good reason- among many - for outdoor exercise for years!

But that's my point. No one has bothered about it before now. People stayed indoors, kids on computers, no one bothered about vit D3.

It's because Vit d3 is good for respiratory health. Which feels alot more important now, than it did 6 months ago.

And not sure who you are talking about. My family have always spent alot of time outside. As do all my friend families.

I’m rural. I can go out of my door and walk for hours and see no one. I do the shopping for family and friends who can’t get out once per week by ringing the local shops in the nearby larger village and getting them to pack up and order. I pay by phone and arrive in my car and open the boot and the shop guys put the order straight in. Other than that I’ve been nowhere. I sometimes open my front door and chat to the nearby neighbours on the street. I wave to Alan (the postman) every morning.

I walk my dog twice per day as I always have done along routes that are empty of people (deserted quarries, woodland footpaths, across empty fields). I understand guidance - it’s there to guide. My situation is not the same as that of someone living in an inner city location and I interpret the guidance in accordance with my situation.

I quite like the fact that people seem to be doing a lot more exercise than usual during "lockdown". Good for them for getting fitter. However have to admit that I'm not liking the fact that the foot paths near me (which are usually empty) are really busy all of a sudden, and some people seem to have no concept of social distancing. I've started going out for a early morning walk or run, as it's nice and quiet then. No time limit though.

“ I quite like the fact that people seem to be doing a lot more exercise than usual during "lockdown". Good for them for getting fitter.”

I don’t know if that’s the case, the gyms have closed. So if that was your preference - we have a 24 hour gym in my area - then you’ll be outside at the mo. I don’t know if lots of people have just taken up exercise.

@LilacTree1 Yeah, to be fair I'm actually a member at a 24 hour gym and usually go there early before work 3 - 4 times a week rather than running outside here. I can't run that often as it'll knacker my knees. I was looking at buying a exercise bike or cross trainer last month, big regret that I didn't!

I can quite easily exercise for a couple of hours per day. I run up to half marathon distance and am not a fast runner so that does take up a lot of time! In addition to that, there's all the background activity such as the school run that's been knocked on the head. I do a lot of functional walking and my trainers easily do as much milage per week as my car tyres.

I'm very fortunate to live on the suburban fringe with access to countryside 500m away. 1km and the public footpaths get very quiet. Running hilly trails is far slower work than a flat road, so it takes more time which is a moot point when there isn't anyone there to share the virus with. Anyone else in the area is at higher risk when using the same supermarkets as me which puts the minimal risk of transfer from a gate/ stile into context. It's more sensible to go out for a 10k lasting over an hour meeting less than a handful of people than to spend 40 mins playing the social distancing weave around the suburban streets. That's where context and logic/ common sense comes in. Other people will have less options about access to space while encountering few people.

I find exercise at home hard. There are distracting, squabbling siblings. The house is not air-conditioned or with sprung floors like a fitness studio. I have an awkward record of getting injured with HITT/ weights type workouts and I have no access to my osteopath at present, so I'll stick with my legal safer running which offers a mental escape from domestic life, regardless of fictious/ average suggestions of an hour, because I'm pleased to say that my fitness is better than average, which really isn't that fit across the population.

I am generally adhering to the guidelines, but there was one night that I ended up taking the DCs on a midnight walk because they were far too wired to sleep. I had been out running earlier, but they hadn't. It was a completely moot point for virus spread as there was no one out. Two cars in a mile and a half's walk. My neighbourhood is that quiet anyway- I did a lot of C25k runs that late when baby slept.

This is not a punishment. It is a set of measures to reduce social contact to manage the spread of the virus. Keeping within the law and using logic to live healthily in body and mind while keeping a low risk of virus transmission is fine.

@PicsInRed Jesus - it’s not a matter of coming up with a reasonable excuse - it’s do you ACTUALLY have one. What is reasonable by the way is not, in paw, the individual’s subjective opinion, it is what a hypothetical person would decide as reasonable and would in turn be interpreted in light of the spirit of the legislation- people’s lack of understanding of basic legal concepts is mind blowing.

If the only thing stopping a person murdering their kids is a walk in the park then there’s way bigger problems there than social distancing rules!

In law, not in paw lol

While I agree that people should be using their common sense, nobody needs to be exercising outside for longer than 30 minutes.

It’s people constantly telling us what we need that I find amusing. I’m sticking to the rules; not seeing friends and family, supermarket once a week and daily exercise. Most of the time I am keeping to the hour, but occasionally out longer. But I need more exercise - I’m used to constant movement, if I don’t move more, I put weight on very quickly, even though I calorie count, I don’t sleep well, I end up pacing rooms. I’m lucky because I have space indoors, and equipment, to exercise further.

If I didn’t have space, I’d probably sneak in another run at an antisocial hour to avoid people. The rules exist to stop us coming into contact with others, we should be allowed to use some common sense in applying them.

We've been taking my son out at least twice per day. Walking the dogs, a jog or on his bike. We've also been verbally abused for doing so 🙄

I blame the legal system. We are so used to following, 'the letter of the law' rather than the 'spirit' of the law, we, as a society love to bend rules.

Basically the government would like everyone to stay home, but it's not practical and if they said 'stay home unless you have to' loads of people would have loads of reasons to go out.

My brother and his wife are both NHS, he walks 3 miles to and from work, but was concerned he shouldn't have an hour's walk for exercise on top of that. He is much more of a rule follower than I am.

I've been out once in 3 weeks so I offered him my exercise time.

But seriously 2 NHS workers who want to go for an evening walk after work which is good for their mental and physical health is surely better for society than them not going for a walk.

The poster with the two autistic children with different needs is obeying the spirit of the law, not going out unless she has to.

spirit of the law

Im seeing this reductive bollocks trotted out on all CV-19 threads lately, wtf is the 'spirit' of the law? What about the spirit of the spirit of the law? Does that need to be adhered to? Obey the law as its currently set out in legislation, a ministers opinion/guidance is of little value and not enforceable by law

Hearhoovesthinkzebras

Vitamin D has always been an issue, particularly amongst those in the UK with dark skin. It's only being very widely discussed because of coronavirus. That doesn't change how vitally important it is. Some people are down to the last pound each week and can't afford to buy something which is meant to be free.

If the only thing stopping a person murdering their kids is a walk in the park then there’s way bigger problems there than social distancing rules

Well, yes, that is the point. A lot of peoples lives are grim beyond imagining and, deadly or not, coronavirus won't be the worst thing to happen to them this year. I dont see the issue with them taking another walk (or 3) to prevent total despair and suicide.

I really think some posters sit in a middle class garden sipping pimms and have no idea how the other half live.

Those who claim getting outside for long periods of time is vital for your mental health, physical health, weight loss, pain management etc how do you think those of us who are shielding are having to cope?

No one gives a stuff about our mental or physical health or whether we are used to doing exercise. We just have to get through this however we can yet you just can't manage unless you go out every day, some of you more than once, some of you much longer than an hour. How come? How do you think we are managing?