Are you going out for exercise?

[TalkSenseIntoMe]

I feel stupid asking this but as the COVID rate is now up to 1 in 15 in some parts of London...are people still going out for exercise? I had planned a forest walk with my DC today but now I’m wondering if I’m being irresponsible? We know the virus doesn’t hang around in the air but the message seems so clearly focused on STAY AT HOME. Exercise is allowed, I know, but it seems at odds with the stay at home message. Maybe the new variant does hang around in the air? Oh I’m being hysterical aren’t I? Tell me to get a grip and go out please.

I'm in London and still going out for exercise. I have an exercise bike I use but, some days, I just want to see people (not friends, just other random humans) and get some fresh air. I go for a walk as part of a food shopping trip or part of buying something I need. I did go to the park once. Understandably the park is packed and you can't distance as the green spaces are muddy and you'd need wellies and a great sense of balance to walk on them (I have neither) so everyone is on the paths. I don't blame anyone for being there, how could I, I am there too!

Also central London.

I don’t find Sadiq a crap mayor, nor do most people I know. Can’t be arsed to argue the finer points though.

Re wearing masks outside, a LOT of other countries recommend this. I’m able to wear a mask, therefore this seems like a sensible step.

Last lockdown I was running most days, long walk the other days. This time I am feeling much more concerned, doing exercise inside and going out every few days at less busy times.

The hospital numbers and 1 in 50 community numbers are very worrying.

Yes you must! You'll feel better for it. It's good for the mind as well as the body

Use some common sense.

If your walk is along crowded streets so busy that social distancing is difficult then probably not a good idea.
If your local area, park or countryside is sparsley populated then the risk is low.

I walk my dog twice a day. The path along the Thames and the adjacent park was packed yesterday with kids on scooters. Never seen it so busy. The 6m was certainly not being followed.

I'm not a parent yet but I do feel sorry for kids tbh
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Absolutely - I'm out exercising daily, did a three hour walk yesterday. Chance of catching Covid outside in the fresh air is vanishingly small. This government is really ramping up the fear agenda, crikey.

Not any more. Just feels to busy and risky now for our family circumstances. Exercising indoors.

No and not that many are here (very low local rates). I live on one of the more popular “edge of town walks” and last lockdown had tens of people walking past every hour. I haven’t seen anyone all week.

Kids go in the garden for a forced 20 mins of fresh air every day and use exercise equipment inside. We’ve been asked to stay home, so we do.

yabu
children (and adults) need exercise daily, preferably outside.
it's vital for physical and mental health.

parks/playgrounds might be very busy in good weather at weekends, but go out for a walk at least.
maybe see if you can spot christmas decoration still in your area.

Good grief! Are you people all 85+ with underlying health conditions?

Or are you like this in a regular year with flu, which is far more dangerous in healthy younger people?

So much fear mongering. You need to get outside and exercise or you'll be storing up years of healthcare issues that will blight your later life.

Of course I'm going out for exercise. Totally illogical and counter productive not to. I really don't understand this ridiculous fear to do perfectly safe things - and the advice is not always stay at home.

In fact I'll be exercising in another country today! Picking my DC up from their dad's. He's in Scotland, 2 hours away, I'm in England. Picking them up at 2pm then going to a woodland area a couple of miles form ex's house to enjoy the snow while it lasts.

You need to get outside and exercise or you'll be storing up years of healthcare issues that will blight your later life.

It's perfectly possible to exercise inside.

Yes I'm outside every day walking my dogs and I run 4 times a week too . Also doing garden jobs when the weather allows. Being outside is vital for me it always has been .

I'm a dog walker so I'm out everyday regardless of the weather. The infection rate here is low anyway, but even if it wasn't I'd still need to go to work.

Yes, but I live close to open areas so it's easy to get away from people....

@Changi it's not healthy to never get fresh air and not everybody has a garden.

The chances of transmission outdoors when social distance are negligible. What exactly are people afraid of?

Go for a walk - if nothing else sitting cooped up indoors all day is a bigger risk to your health than the tiny chance of catching covid from going for a walk.

I was chatting to my grandad the other day (cev, shielding as he’s been told to etc) and he said “to be honest with you I think this has all gone a bit mad now, healthy people are scared to go out. Years ago, before we had the flu vaccine, we just carried on even if there was a bad year for it. I don’t really know what we’re gaining anymore”.

Admittedly the only thing he’s scared of is mice, but he makes a good point too!

I go out every day for exercise. Although I think the new variant may spread more easily outside where there are lots of people eg a school playground (though obviously not at the moment) or an outdoor food market, I don't think I am going to catch it passing someone in the street.

As it's cold OP wear a scarf and keep it up around your mouth and nose. If you have to pass a big group you can pull it over your face for those few seconds. I have a snood when I am running and if I pass a big group or elderly people I pull it up - more so they feel safer than for me.

You don't want to be lumps of lard when this is over, I think getting out outweighs the risks by some way. My area isn't as highly infected as London, but it's not great.

[quote JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows]@Changi it's not healthy to never get fresh air and not everybody has a garden.

The chances of transmission outdoors when social distance are negligible. What exactly are people afraid of?[/quote]
I think they genuinely think it floats about in the air.

@Changi

You need to get outside and exercise or you'll be storing up years of healthcare issues that will blight your later life.

It's perfectly possible to exercise inside.

Well that is true, but you need the fresh air too. And aerobic exercise is much easier to get outside. Conditioning or yoga obviously work well inside but I'd rather run outside than on a treadmill (which I don't have, anyway).

Thanks all for continuing good sense.
About to go out to walk to the Thames and back. I’ll see if it still there and report back.
IMO Sadiq Khan has been a good mayor overall. A thousand times better than some previous post holders !
Gonna go look at the bit of the Thames not obliterated by a stupid private corporate garden bridge. View of st pauls will be uplifting. Parliament maybe a bit less so.

@cyclingmad Wearing masks in busy places outdoors protects the people around the person wearing the mask.

How far from your home is the forest? Will you have to drive a long way to get there?

I am, outer SW London, but most of my usual circular walk is on very quiet roads where I can walk down the middle of it quite safely much of the time (pavement only on one side) to avoid other people inc. wretched joggers, who hardly ever seem to think they might perhaps move, instead - they have to go steaming along in a dead straight line.🤬.
I started making the first move not long into the first lockdown, after it became clear that hardly anyone else was ever going to.

We have a huge Royal Park close by, but that’s often very busy around the entrance/exit, so I’ve been avoiding that for months now.

I also walk to a Sainsbury’s Local a 20 min walk away, but the pavements are not usually busy.

Re the virus floating in the air, yesterday it was extremely humid. I could see millions of tiny droplets of water in the dark with my torch. Some of these condensed onto my coat. I imagine that droplets like this could hold onto the virus.