To think that we need to Reopen Gyms

[Coconut1978]

With the weather this time of year it’s so horrible to exercise outside and the parks are packed making it difficult to run.

It’s really hurting my mental and physical health not being able to adequately exercise.

I’m at a low risk of covid if I was infected and have already had the virus and recovered.

We know that obese nations like the US, UK and Mexico have done worse with the virus than nations like Japan and the Netherlands who are healthier.

I think as long as numbers are managed you should be able to book to use the gym and social distance and clean in there.

There are so few cases linked to gyms and they are a really low infection risk but are so beneficial to many of our mental and physical health.

Aibu to think gyms should be included in our daily exercise given our climate and poor health.

I actually got stuck behind a jogger today

If she wasn't running facing the traffic, she was an idiot.

I agree OP.

echt

Nobody needs a gym.

You have no idea

Schools before gyms.

If our kids are supposed to carry out their entire education and social life on zoom, then people can manage to do one of the millions of free online body weight workouts. Many people in prisons are ripped, this is entirely achievable for the vast majority of people.

this virus is airborne. Any indoor activity with people in the same space breathing shared air is a risk. it doesn't matter how many times you wipe down the surfaces or whether you keep 2m distance - the risk is in the air you breath. And exercise causes heavy breathing which is more risk.

So for now, the gyms have to stay closed.

I'm a gym rat of many decades and I really miss it, but I'm not sure it's safe with the new variants tbh:(

Many people in prisons are ripped
mostly they have access to a gym with proper weights, I know you can train at home but it's hard to replace proper gym stuff:(

Gyms really should not open.

There have been several spreading events from gyms and they are far from essential. Better to get out for a run (or even walk) to maintain a basic fitness level. And you get vitamin D into the bargain.

Those training as if they were professional athletes are often temporarily immunocompromised, definitely not what you want with a viral threat.

If they open anything, it should be outdoor tennis, golf and running tracks, where children. as well as adults, can train and enjoy sport.

There have been several spreading events from gyms
are you sure about that?

@Yohoheaveho,

There are a couple of articles with evidence that they have been (us admittedly).

Why wouldn’t they be? indoors, often poorly ventilated, no masks, heavy breathing. Some are safer than others, but none are safe.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.huffingtonpost.ca/amp/entry/gyms-coronavirus-superspreading-risk_ca_5f8873dcc5b6c5eccffe5060/

www.statnews.com/2020/11/10/restaurants-gyms-were-spring-superspreader-sites-occupancy-limits-could-control-spread/

[quote TheReluctantPhoenix]@Yohoheaveho,

There are a couple of articles with evidence that they have been (us admittedly).

Why wouldn’t they be? indoors, often poorly ventilated, no masks, heavy breathing. Some are safer than others, but none are safe.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.huffingtonpost.ca/amp/entry/gyms-coronavirus-superspreading-risk_ca_5f8873dcc5b6c5eccffe5060/

www.statnews.com/2020/11/10/restaurants-gyms-were-spring-superspreader-sites-occupancy-limits-could-control-spread/[/quote]
I notice you couldn't find anything to backup your claim that there have been several super spreader events linked to gyms

I had only been using the outdoor pool at my gym, and coming and going in bathrobe + mask. Even walking through the changing rooms felt risky though with the number of people drying hair, chatting etc. People with PTs and friends always looked pretty close when I glanced into the gym too.

As the pool won't reopen until the gym does (and to indicate how keen I am to swim, Christmas week I was swimming before dawn) I will feel better once the gym reopens. But it certainly isn't covid safe and so shouldn't open soon.

I am/was a gym goer 6/7 times a week 4/5 weights sessions and 3/4hiit classes a week.

As many posters have said it is possible to exercise without a gym indoors. I have not been in a gym since March, live in a small flat and managed to maintain my cardio fitness with my resting HR at 50 bpm. Its possible to do cardio indoors in little space (weighted step ups, mountain climbers, jumping jacks etc), although walking, running, weighted walking and cycling outdoors are more enjoyable I'll admit..

For strength training, you need little space to do squats, deadlifts, rows, lunges, pushups and other compound movements.

If you can lie down on floor anywhere in your house, whether the hallway, by the side of your bed, kitchen, etc then you have enough space. You can use household objects or weighted backpack for extra weight as required. Or get resistance bands for less than £20 on Amazon (which is less than most people's gym membership a month!).

During spring/summer I was cycling outdoors before and after work, but since October its been cardio indoors only.

Its not much fun sometimes, but its doable. Motivating, upbeat playlists help. I miss the gym a lot. I miss access to equipment I don't have at home (squat rack, assisted pull up machine, lat pulldown etc), being really pushed in classes by PTs and my gym-fam.

It is possible to maintain/improve fitness without a gym and you don't require loads of space or equipment.

If my children were not grown up now I would be squatting, bench pressing, and deadlifting them 🤭

I am also starting to get really annoyed with the nothing can open before schools brigade. Schools are hotbeds for spreading covid social distancing is impossible. Gyms are the opposite and data found very limited cases being caught in the gym. Everyone else shouldn’t have to suffer just because they can’t find a way to get kids into school safely. We want to take pressure off the NHS but close the one sector that actually takes some of that pressure off its madness.

👏👏👏

Pretty sure the parks aren't packed at 7am or 8pm

Our local park us closed at those times.

I heard one covid denyer in the gym mouthing off about how he wasn't wiping weights down before/after use.

That's why you always wipe down equipment before you use it and never assume that someone else wiped it after themselves.

Yanbu.

My gym reopened for a while last year, and it was very well managed. You had to book a slot so social distancing was easy and there were cleaning materials and sanitizer at every machine.

Its pointless comparing it to schools because they are totally different.

Some people (including me; I have a back problem) do struggle to exercise without access to equipment. Swimming is often a form of exercise that people can do who have disabilities which make it harder to exercise. I wish at least they would open some swimming pools to those who need them for physio style reasons. I'm able to do some outdoor exercise, even if it's not ideal, but there's a couple of people I know from my swimming pool who at the moment would be unable to do much exercise at all. As we're in Wales, that's been the case for a lot of the year for them.

Ultimately, no one can be certain where people pick up infections.

The only data is PHE data which, in November, showed gyms as the 6th most likely place to have visited before becoming infected. This is really quite high as it is an absolute, not a relative number. Clearly, it is correlation and not causation. However, given the nature of gyms and people, the mechanism is plausible. Here is the BBC fact checker:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/newsbeat-54540188

I think that, if we have capacity to open anything, it should be outdoor facilities that all can use, including children (Tenno, swimming pools, tracks). Maybe the government can also build some outdoor gym facilities open for all.

The idea of prioritising paid facility for (predominantly) comfortably off adults (most gyms don’t allow or severely limit usage for under 14s) whilst keeping children at home, with limited opportunities to do meaningful exercise, does not sit well with me.

Lots of people crammed inside coughing, sweating and spluttering together. Sounds like a great idea

I have never had a gym membership but I love running. The winter weather is tough as too is the darkness. I ditch my usual park route and instead do loop after loop after loop of a smaller, well lit route. Could you do that?

I love the gym but come on.....2 of my friends almost certainly caught it there. All that heavy breathing.....

As previous have said, entirely possible to exercise even in a small space. Plus you can walk absolutely anywhere. Doesn’t need to be a park. I fast walk our dog around our estate. Takes me an hour and Apple Watch tells me I’ve burned 350 cals. Not bad and I’m nicely out of breath.

Look, as a fitness instructor who’s income is next to nothing , at this point in time the gyms should not be reopened. I’m a big advocate for exercising for mental health, but certainly not in these circumstances.
Our gym had zero cases and as a franchise I think they could only count on one hand. I still wouldn’t want to see them open.

So many people bitch about online but instructors aren’t online for fun. We’re charging discounted fees, still paying licenses and making not a hell of a lot because people are drawn in by big names such as Joe, Les Mills... Les Mills have screwed their very own instructors over.
We’re just trying to put food on the table, we’re doing what we’ve spent thousands in training to do. We’re desperately making the effort.

Definitely agree.
Near me is an open air (heated) pool that had tip shut -totally barmy.
The gvt and lockdown fanatics on here are presumably couch potatoes who are glad of the excuse to settle for a Netflix life with complete contempt the mental (and physical) health of those who are more responsible about staying healthy.

In Autumn I treated myself to a temporary membership of a luxury gym so I could use the outdoor heated pool. I was somewhat shocked when I arrived one Saturday morning to discover the pool absolutely heaving with children's lessons and families all together in the pool. It was impossible to get in the jacuzzi as usually a group of young people in it.
Cafe had groups of friends sitting together, when it was meant to be two households only.
My normal cheap gym was a lot better as you can genuinely only go for exercise, but I can't see that an closed environment where you're sweating a lot and breathing heavily can be particularly safe.