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?

As I have previously stated, I can and do exercise at home. I invested in a good range of equipment and Les Mills On Demand right at the beginning of lockdown. It is not comparable to being at a class in the gym with an actual instructor and the (small) group to help motivate you.

Everyone who visits my gym is logged, and numbers are limited to 10 with strict booking, even during open gym sessions. The doors are kept open at all times. Track and trace would be a piece if cake if there was an incident of COVID-19 among one of the members. As it stands there hasn’t been a single one. The same can’t be said about a number of local bars and restaurants.

My gym is far cleaner and provides more space than other ‘essential’ establishments. Returning has improved my mental health dramatically. I am quite risk averse and thought long and hard before joining a gym again. I don’t visit pubs or restaurants at all as many are far too busy and tables are not adequately distanced. I would not attend the gym if it wasn’t safe.

Exactly, places have worked so hard to be able to re-open again and seem as safe and clean as they can be.

People saying that you should just do it at home either don't live in blocks of flats, or don't care how unbearable it is to have someone living above you jumping up and down for four hours a week.

If they close the gyms I'm going to be utterly miserable. They've taken lots of precaution, we all have our temperature taken on the way in etc etc, and working out is pretty essential to my sanity.

People died earlier because gyms weren't around in history? And how are gyms going to prevent the effect of covid? Is that actual medical official advice?

Oh shut up @seayork2020. You clearly don't use a gym and have no idea what effort they've gone to in order to protect their members.

I've no doubt the gyms have got excellent covid prevention measures inside although that doesn't seem to be born out at the swimming pool of the gym I go to. You could say the same for the vast majority of pubs and restaurants.
Unfortunately life isn't fair at the minute, and just about the only thing the experts appear to agree on is that the more human interactions there are - particularly indoors - the more the virus is spread, therefore decisions do have to be made about what shuts and what remains open.

I'm praying my gym can stay open. Limited to 12 people per class at any time, lots of space/cleaning etc. I'd happily forgo all pubs/, restaurants travel etc if I can keep the gym!

I have asthma and I feel it's really important to keep my lungs and heart as healthy as possible right now. Outdoor exercise isn't really possible for me, other than walking, as the three times I tried it in full lockdown I had an asthma attack each time (colder air outdoors triggers it)

Those saying that you can 'probably' work out at home the same as in a gym I suspect haven't ever done a decent gym workout. Equipment and space make a massive difference, plus the ventilation and the ability to make noise (jumping etc) without driving the neighbours potty.

My work is in a stressful job and it's more important than ever that I can get a mental break from it and leave some of the crisis at the gym. I honestly think I'd burn out and end up on sick leave if I had to keep doing my job the same but without my classes.

But why is the entire focus on spread rather than acknowledging those things that help us fight it.

Far too little emphasis is being put on the general health and fitness of the population. Even though we know that makes a significant difference.

I'm in Scotland but thankfully where we are group classes can still run as I would struggle without them. I have health issues which are controlled by the exercise I do so lockdown was horrible for me. I really don't have the space (or motivation) to do them at home and one of the activities you need special equipment for so I can't do that at home at all. It's also safer for me to have the instructor there to correct me if I do anything wrong as it can make things worse for me. There are very few things I can do because of my health issues as it is so I can't just take up running or do random fitness videos as I could really hurt myself. Every single one of my classes has been spaced out and felt totally safe. I'd rather be there than a restaurant or pub for sure.

Yeah.. well, be happy you're not disabled and stuck in the house not just for lockdown, for bloody ever. No chance of exercise anywhere for people like us. Surely you can just make the best of what you can do at home and get outside on dry days.

I think in general we'll realise at some point down the line that the population has become massively more sedentary during the last few months and that it'll be a big blow to our already crap health as a nation that'll be hard to reverse and have repercussions for a long time. I agree that gyms should stay open but my big concern is the drop in 'built in' movement with more people working from home, fewer using public transport, fewer going out the house for leisure - all the evidence is that so much of the rise in obesity isn't down to what we eat or how much deliberate 'exercise' people do, it's because of the dramatic drop in movement people do as part of their normal lives and even a small further accelerated of that trend is going to have a big, big population-level impact.

Groups of people in gyms do not tent to leave the venue drunk.

Groups of people in gyms are not consuming excess calories

Groups of people in gyms are not sedentary, letting their physical body deteriorate

COVID risk is directly linked to overweight and lack of fitness

Opening gyms and helping people to lose weight will improve the REAL pandemic facing the UK
obesity

I live near several long unused large buildings. I've long thought an indoor space made to be like an outdoor gym would work well there, even more now with COVID and upcoming winter, having a space like that professionals could oversee would be nice though unsure how it would work with the ever changing rules.