If they close the gyms...

[chocolatesaltyballs22]

....how the hell do they expect us to stay fit and healthy in order to give us our best chance if we get the virus? Wouldn't this be counter productive?

I'm a member of a big gym chain who have gone to a huge effort to be Covid safe. They were closed during the original lockdown and when they reopened for outdoor classes in June I honestly could have cried with relief when I went to my first class. The gym is what is keeping me sane.

Exercising outdoors is unpleasant in the winter, so I'm worried my fitness will suffer if the gyms close again. I'm waiting on the news later with dread.

Is anyone with me?

In Scotland here so classes cancelled but the gym is still open. I don't really understand why because classes where everyone has their own space and equipment seems less risk than folk wandering round the gym and using equipment others have touched. It's not just about being able to do the exercise though, it's about the social side and motivation of working out with others, especially when you've been working at home alone all day. It's like the pub - you can buy beer elsewhere but that's not just why people go to the pub.
It's bad enough turning the living room into an office without it needing to be a gym as well!

I did Les Mills on demand at home in lockdown. Lost 1 stone!! I've still kept in going as well as my gym membership

I wish I could run. I used to be able to, but menopausal aches and dodgy joints have put a stop to it. The only thing that really burns a ton of calories for me is a good hard spin class.

I'm not joking when I say that I could've hugged the instructor on my first class back (I obviously didn't). And when I hear the first track of that first class back, it still makes me emotional.

THAT'S how much I love my gym!

Agree with the poster who said the social side of gyms needs to be clamped down if anything. The only time I've used the clubhouse has been for lunch with my husband or daughter. Not with others outside of my household.

Are you for real?
What do you think people do who can't afford gyms? Use your imagination.
YABU and a bit weird.

Gyms have membership so you can track and trace as easily as anywhere. Numbers overall can be restricted, equipment spaced out.

Yes you can do park runs by yourself, exercises at home etc, but I still don't see the case for shutting them to stop the virus. As for education, as universities seem to be the places with the most per person cases, at the very least all in-person face to face teaching could be stopped.

What do you think people do who can't afford gyms? Use your imagination.
Membership of "The Gym" is £3 per week
if you think you cannot afford £3 a week to improve your health and fitness
YABU

I don't think it's about being able to exercise at home. I think it's about mental health. I don't think the government are giving a thought to that at all.

Going to the gym is what helps some pejole mentally. Exercising at home when you have children is not an escape that some people need.

Protecting people's mental health is as important, if not more than Covid and I seriously think there is going to be a massive mental health crisis in the coming months, years.

Are you for real?
What do you think people do who can't afford gyms? Use your imagination.
YABU and a bit weird.

The gym next to me is £12.99 a month. Pretty sure most people spend around that amount on one visit to the pub or on one takeaway which usually requires a min of £15 for delivery. Priorities right..:

Listening
I'm glad you find it amusing that poor people exist.

Eating is a priority to me, as well as exercise.
I'm not on my own, we aren't all in our little rich bubbles
Exercise is free, my point to the OP was and still is that you don't need a gym to be fit.

Gyms closing is my main worry. As long as the gym stays open I will take everything else in my stride.

We have a lot of exercise equipment at home so are very fortunate.

However - those who don't / can't -
who live in flats with limited access to outdoor space - gyms / leisure centres are CRUCIAL.

Exercise is so important and many people need the routine / option of something organised and/or accessible.

It's shocking to close those that a religiously following safe practice, in my opinion.

YANBU

Horses for courses. I like running and outdoor group classes, but gyms/ pools and indoor classes have an essential function within society.
Especially for the disabled/ injured, people with no space, people needing to get out of home with its various distractions, people needing social contact. Just being in a room of like-minded people is enough, it doesn't mean you're close and actively socialising.

Home is often not an ideal environment, the heating/ ventilation, the flooring. My lounge/ bedroom carpet on a wood floor is hardly a sprung studio floor, and my hard tiles are begging for an injury to happen.

People need instructors present for appropriate developmemt and advice to prevent injury.

Closing gyms for the benefit of the public health is a false economy.

Well it appears they're closing them in Liverpool (that's not where I live), but letting restaurants and pubs which serve food remain open. I love the pub as much as I love the gym but how the fuck does that even make sense? 😡

My neighbour is a gymaholic and built like a Greek God. I don’t know how he will cope if they all close. I’m thinking of offering my body up as something for him to pump away at to keep everything firm and throbtastic.

It doesn't. This isn't about making sense, it's about making points and political survival.

Closing pubs and restaurants/ cafes outright endangers those industries and more critically their supply chains, and unlike subsitituting withhome or outdoor exercise, people taking to social gatherings at home feeds the highest risk of transmission. Plus the risk of civil unrest if pubs are gone outright.

Still no practical reason to shut down the well managed fitness industry though.

@Devlesko

Eating is a priority to me, as well as exercise. I'm not on my own, we aren't all in our little rich bubbles Exercise is free, my point to the OP was and still is that you don't need a gym to be fit.

But people can get more benefit from going to a gym, not everyone can work out at home and not everyone wants to run outside.

Gyms don't have a high transmission rate so there is no justification in closing them when they are beneficial, if people honestly think gyms have no purpose then I'm not surprised there is an obesity issue in this country, which is also a major risk factor for Covid

You'll just have to go outside. It's the UK, not Alaska. I've never been a member of a gym but stay fit by running and walking outside. I also have some kettlebells I use in my living room.

YANBU You wouldn't catch me anywhere near a gym but I do have a subscription to a paid app I do at home and I would be gutted if someone took that away from me. There are a lot of alternatives to do at home, but only if it's something you love and have the space/equipment.

stay fit
How very sympathetic to those recovering from hip replacements
or cancer
or heart attacks
or strokes

I went running regularly/ did at home workouts when gyms were closed but my metabolism slowed, I put on weight and lost definition. I was queuing outside my gym on first day it opened and have loved going back. It’s probably on the busiest days now 30% of previous capacity, most days about 20/25%. It’s been so well thought out with every machine to either side out of use/ clear routes round gym/ hand sanitising/ wipes everywhere. Everyone wipes equipment before and after use. It’s well ventilated. I feel far safer in my gym than at a crowded supermarket.
It’s restored a lot of my sanity - as well as my fitness. I really hope along with schools they’d be part to close. For many people at home training - especially in winter just doesn’t come close.

#last to close

@ListeningQuietly

stay fit How very sympathetic to those recovering from hip replacements or cancer or heart attacks or strokes

Hang on a sec....because I want to stay fit, I'm somehow offending others who are recovering from an illness? Oooooookay then. My mum is having treatment for cancer. I'm pretty sure that me going to the gym doesn't offend her.

FFS, what a stupid comment.

Someone's hardly going to suddenly become more susceptible to corona just because they missed some gym sessions...

Exercising outdoors is unpleasant in the winter, so I'm worried my fitness will suffer if the gyms close again. I'm waiting on the news later with dread.

Is anyone with me?

There are plenty of ways to stay fit without gyms. People managed it for centuries.

If you’re serious about valuing your fitness, you’ll be able to use your imagination to come up with ways to stay fit under less-than-ideal circumstances. Gyms are not the last word in health and fitness.