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?

@Bumble84

Why comment? It's like Friggin in the Riggin (Google it or ask yer mother); there's fuck all else to do!

I was so happy in July when the pool opened, there is nothing that can replace a swim. As was my MIL who is in her 80s and was shielding during the last lockdown. She lives alone and once the pool opened she went back to her aquafit and it has really lifted her mood. She doesn't want to hide away on her own, she wants to live her life as normally as possible.

I am with you opener . All those people going on about exercising at home are missing the point . Closing gyms is nibbling the edges of Covid transmissions. It will make hardly a ripple on the numbers meanwhile effecting hundreds/thousands of people’s livelihoods, mental health and opportunity to keep fit. I run outside but I must admit today at 7pm with the dark nights I didn’t feel completely safe pounding the streets and if you work and have no space at home often evenings are your only opportunity to exercise. Without gyms we don’t have the safety element they provide.

I completely agree, I put 10lb on over lockdown and have only just lost it with dieting and swimming. Swimming is what is keeping me sane. I actually cried on Thursday at the leaked news and the prospect of my SW group and gym closing.
I can’t exercise outdoors as I have arthritis and bowel disease, so inside and non weight bearing is all I can realistically do.

I think all those telling you to exercise at home never exercise so have no idea of the difference between a gym and a living room. I agree with you Op. I guess those who don't regularly exercise have no idea how it feels when you can't.

I agree OP. But typical of this country that you can stuff your face with junk food with impunity, in fact are actively encouraged to, but god forbid you should actually do something constructive to give your body a better chance of dealing with covid

I started working put at home during lockdown, and don't see myself going back to the gym in the future. I can get a workout done in the time it used to take me to travel to the gym and back, and I can make myself a nice cup of tea to sip during my warmup. And it's saving me lots of money, and I don't have to wait to use the equipment I want.

I used to love going to the gym. I bought a folding exercise bike over lockdown thinking I would hate it; I never use the bike at the gym, prefer the cross trainer and stair machine, but the bike was the only thing I could find in stock. I use it every morning now, get up, splash my face with water, put workout clothes on and do 20/30 minutes while watching Netflix. So much less faff than going to the gym on the way to work.

This is the one, it can be folded up to store against wall and has wheels so can be moved around quite easily, best £109.99 I've spent this year:
www.argos.co.uk/product/5999374

Cool. I can:

• buy some weights and work out at home

• cook food at home; who needs restaurants?

• drink at home; who needs the pub?

• work at home, thanks to the impressive nature of modern technology

Great. I can stay at home. Alone. I may never need to venture out again.

Is there any friggin wonder that I'm a shell of my former self?

Weaning myself away from gym classes has been one of the admittedly small number of positives in this while situation.

I signed up for a FB monthly running challenge and now run at least 50km a month, including a weekly outdoor run with my friend. My neighbour has moved her metafit classes outdoors, so that has been fab. She's now started doing zoom lunchtime pilates which is great for home working.

I did join a ritzy well known gym when they reopened on a cheap introductory rate, so I could have access to the outdoor pool. I love the outdoor pool, but the rest of the place doesn't feel very covid proof with large groups in the jacuzzi and big numbers in the pool at the weekend, therefore I hadn't attended any indoor classes or been to the gym and indoor classes are now suspended as we're in Scotland.

It will be tricky to keep up the outdoor exercise now it's getting darker, but my mental well-being mostly hinges on schools remaining open, plus we've got a dog who needs walked regardless of the weather or darkness so I'll have a core level of activity anyway.

I go to 2 gym's and both are the safest place ever temp taken on entry hand sanitize . oneway system no sharing equipment
.Allocated gym space clearly marked out . very limited numbers and all pre booked .
Covid spreads by social contact if you don't SD warned once then asked to leave in 1 gym .
To be blunt we are the fattest nation in Europe and fat people are at VERY high risk from covid we need gyms

I don’t go the gym but I can’t see any evidence based reasoning for closing them

THAT'S how much I love my gym!

I am with you. The first day they reopened I was lined up outside so eager to get in. However for me it is a mental health boost not just a physical boost. I bought an exercise bike at the beginning of lockdown and did some walking. However having a destination to go to, workout and come home somehow makes me feel so much better.

My gym has done a lot to adhere to the guidelines; no toilet, shower or changing facilities, mats taped off so people can't get too close, machines not in use so you can distance, no water fountain etc.

No where is safe though, be it a school, pub, supermarket or gym. You take your chances and I am happy to take mine at the gym.

'I think all those telling you to exercise at home never exercise so have no idea of the difference between a gym and a living room'

This! Would love to know how to emulate my local cross fit box in my tiny house, nevermind the people in tiny flats with kids and no space.

Completely agree, OP. I can't see any scientific evidence in favour of closing them and, at the gym I attend anyway, it would take a brave virus to survive for very long whilst we're all sanitising as much.

I started running during lockdown, which was great, but for those who do weights and swimming, there's no way of keeping up with your regime if the gyms close.

My leisure centre feels very safe. The kids are all lined up outside in the cold before swimming lessons, there are one way systems, no cafe open. I don’t use the gym but it is well thought out and it would be a shame if it had to close.

I agree - gyms are a priority to stay open. Top priorities are healthcare, retail food supply and education. But we know you have a better chance of surviving covid if you're fit, healthy and a normal weight. The government encourages eat out to help out and keeps takeaways open but would close gyms and casinos. Casinos!!! on the same tier as gyms. It's just not joined up or coherent.

Hey Baby - my house is very small. I don't have the full range of a CrossFit box, but mamage to get very good bodyweight based workouts. I have a pull-up bar permanently installed in a doorway with a set of gymnastics rings which are easily attached. I have a rowing machine which folds up to take up very little space. I have existing furniture, such as a kitchen bench which can be used for exercise. I mostly do bodyweight/gymnastics based workouts, but I also have a set of kettlebells and a skipping rope for when I want more variety. I have an app which sets,times and records my workouts. It all takes up roughly the floorspace of a recycling box and cost roughly the same as 2 months membership of my CrossFit box.

@VirginiaWolverine I applaud your inventiveness but I already have my work office in a corner of my bedroom. I don't want another space in my house taken up by stuff I should do outside of the house. I just want to get OUT OF THE SODDING HOUSE to do just ONE THING!!

Takes deep breath and books spin class for later

Also if the gyms do close please can I bring home my spin instructor to live with me? He's super hot and would cheer me up no end.

Tbh, cross trainer and free weights are the only thing I can do satisfactorily at home (and as before, that's only because I'm lucky enough to have the space and equipment). I do home aerobics workouts too, but I can't get the same level of energy when I'm by myself and can hear the bookshelves juddering with every jump.

Mini trampoline? They don't take up much room and they do work up a sweat. I know all these suggestions are nowhere near as good as the gym but I'm trying to think of the next best thing that could work with limited space and money.

I used to visit the gym regularly but since lockdown have got into weights and aerobic exercise at home (I run a bit but am a little injury prone so not as much as I'd like). I don't really have space for more elaborate fitness equipment but use to have a mini trampoline when I was a student.

I would be interested to know how many cases have been transmitted in gyms before people start clamouring for them to be closed.

If businesses have shown that they can operate with little to no transmission, and have invested money in safety measures then I think closing them would be absolutely awful.

Ultimately its down to what is deemed "essential". They want to keep schools open, most of MN wants to keep schools open, so anything else that can be shut will be if it's deemed necessary. Cases didn't start increasing until schools/unis went back. We could have kept them shut and carried on with what we did have open and it may well have been ok. Imagine the uproar over that though! At the moment it is not possible to please everyone. This won't go on forever.

It is counter-productive, it's not just gyms with weights and so on that have closed/might close but any exercise class in village halls, sports centres etc.

Yes, yes, yes I can do my yoga at home and did so for months but it is not the same as a live class, I push myself much more when the teacher and other people are there. Also yoga is absolutely the best thing I could be doing now, it always clears up any slight congestion or sniffle, my body is so strong and it is so good for my mental health.

And then they say "Oh, people have gained loads of weight during lockdown when the gyms were shut and exercise classes were banned." No shit Sherlock. And then that was spring, the effect would be massively compounded by winter.

We have to think of health and well-being holistically, it's a balance of not spreading disease but also getting people as strong and as fit as possible so they can fight it off.