Swimming / gyms

[Orangeblossom1977]

Any thoughts as to when these might re-open. Missing swimming so much.

Im a Swimming teacher I wouldn't be surprised if it was June possibly even later. I think they will reopen schools in phrases like last time, they might open for public swimming but not fitness classes or swimming lessons. I think school swimming will be off the cards for this academic year although I might be wrong. Honestly I rather they do the lockdown properly and reopen instead of opening and closing, opening and closing. I miss my work and I'm so frustrated when it feels like things are back to normal and then aren't.

@Orangeblossom1977

Yes I know the feeling I miss going to local Healthspa at a local hotel.

I don't miss our towns swimming pool though as its bloody freezing water,i am sure our pool would be a good place for anybody wanting to train practice for a charity English channel event like comedian David Williams of Little Britain tv fame.

I like being relaxing in the jacuzzi and let my imagination wander thinking of on a sunny day,thinking of hols abroad.
Also like the steam room and hot steam room too.😊

@Orangeblossom1977

I like the Healthspa hotel swimming pool the only thing is its not a big swimming pool,it can get easly overcrowded with just more than a few swimmers.

@Orangeblossom1977

Did you think I asked if they should open, instead of when they will?

You said did you have any thoughts .. she said no. In other words she doesn't know when they might be open. Nor do I.

Ok I see now.

Does anyone else not think gyms are one of the worst places for transmission?

I was an avid gym class attendee until the gyms closed in March and have not returned even when they reopened. I didn’t feel it was safe. No matter how much people wipe the equipment down and sanitise their hands, the thought of people puffing & panting without masks on even 2 metres away with an airborne virus doing the rounds was enough to keep me away - also aware of the risks of wearing masks while exercising and would never advocate that.

So I’m not sure when they’ll reopen but probably much later than schools/non essential shops etc.

I'm desperate to go swimming so I hope soon. But I will wait as I think schools need to open asap and before anything else. If pools could open at the same time that would be great but id give anything up for schools to open

I'm quite optimistic pools will be open soon-ish, maybe a few weeks after schools, but gyms later. The numbers in our pool were so low (we're talking 6 people in a full sized pool) and contained and they have massive changing rooms- I know that's not the case everywhere but lots should be possible to open safely.

Outdoor pools should be open now. I usually swim outside in the winter in a lake and god knows how 6 people in a 5 degree lake, outside, is supposed to be a risk when the rest of the surrounding park is more busy. Ditto outdoor lidos. As long as the stay local advice is followed.

I'm really worried lots of pools won't reopen. One of our local ones hasn't reopened at all since last March and our local competition pool has also been drained with only the smaller one in use. If the government is serious about improving public health a massive injection of cash is going to be needed. LAs certainly don't have the money and the outsourcing model is bust.

I have access to an outdoor pool and I miss swimming as well, but while it’s currently snowing outside I can’t imagine doing any outdoor swimming right now anyway!! April time is when it gets warm enough to swim outside anyway really. I do miss taking my son swimming indoors as well to his swimming club so hoping they open up before things like pubs/clubs/casinos etc which I don’t care about at all tbh.

I am missing outdoor lake swimming so much, i really hope venues are able.to open soon.

It was the middle of September last year before they reopened in Scotland so I'm not hopeful of them being open any time soon :(

I’m thinking April and one of the first to reopen. There is a lot of pressure from the industry and huge amounts of data which shows they were not causing the spread. That coupled with the fact that they help with the fight against covid and overall reliving NHS pressure means they have a good chance of opening earlier this time than last. There has been talk within the industry of being allowed before non essential retail which I completely agree with.

shib yes. I've not returned to the gym. Indoor workout must spread the virus all over the place.
Lucky my gym teacher gets a few of us in their garden to work out, we have our own spots and loads of space (obvs not during lockdown though). So I still have the opportunity to be yelled at when I'm doing burpees .

@Shibees if you haven’t been in a gym since March then please don’t feel the need to comment on how safe they are.

My gym felt safer than shopping in a supermarket. Limited booking slots. Staff and users wiping down equipment, socially distanced classes and people who actually care about their health attending. Data from both the UK and Europe shows they had a minimal impact on transmission and were responsible for very few cases. My gym reopened in July and did not have a single link through track and trace until they closed again in January.

If Boris and the government had a brain cell between them they would realise that gyms are part of the solution not the problem but no we decided to encourage the already fattest nation in Europe to “stay home” stuff our faces with fast food and binge Netflix for nearly a year while making up nonsensical guidelines about only exercising and hour a day which is no where near enough for most people.

Our pool opened in August and I was massively grateful as a lot didn’t. I think maybe April (after Easter) as its recognised that it’s a form of exercise many people with health conditions really benefit from. I miss swimming so much. I’ve swum every week for so long I had just taken it for granted. I even considered open water swimming (but only for about 30 seconds as I hate the cold!)

And I don’t use the gym but did go to exercise classes when they reopened and was impressed with how well they were managed. The best one was in a massive hall with so much space and ventilation. I would feel safe going again to that one, maybe not the one in a smaller hall (even though it was socially distanced)

Maybe after Easter for Tennis/golf
End of April for indoor swimming and gym
May for outdoor group exercise classes. June for indoor group exercise classes????
Who knows really, it's all speculation at the moment. We will just have to hope and wait & see

We miss it so much we invested in a swim spa for the garden!!

[quote Katie517]@Shibees if you haven’t been in a gym since March then please don’t feel the need to comment on how safe they are.

My gym felt safer than shopping in a supermarket. Limited booking slots. Staff and users wiping down equipment, socially distanced classes and people who actually care about their health attending. Data from both the UK and Europe shows they had a minimal impact on transmission and were responsible for very few cases. My gym reopened in July and did not have a single link through track and trace until they closed again in January.

If Boris and the government had a brain cell between them they would realise that gyms are part of the solution not the problem but no we decided to encourage the already fattest nation in Europe to “stay home” stuff our faces with fast food and binge Netflix for nearly a year while making up nonsensical guidelines about only exercising and hour a day which is no where near enough for most people.[/quote]
I completely get your point & agree of the vital importance that gyms play in the long term fight against Covid and many other conditions/diseases.

My hubby returned to the gym from August and spoke very highly on how safe it felt & how everyone contributed to the cleaning & wiping down of equipment. However, he found that after a few months, some people did not keep their distance & he got fed up of people coming over to grab equipment that was right next to him.

I have several friends in the fitness industry all of whom were pinged on the T&T app to self isolate on more than one occasion after their shifts in the gym.

I am not saying that gyms are a definitive vector for spread - not even the scientists know enough about this bloody virus - it’s just something I have been thinking about.

I would love to get back to my gym routine but I won’t feel comfortable for a while yet.

I went swimming 2-3x/week with my phone & the NHS app; never got any T&T pings. Most the time to pool where you couldn't use changing rooms,but sometimes to pool with changing cubicle access: still no pings.

I haven’t been to the gym or pool for a a year, I miss it so much but feel it’s not safe, being in a room of sweaty people has to be a recipe for disaster? Though I feel pools are safer, I don’t tend to get within 2 metres of another person in the pool and tend to have a lane to myself. My local pool were doing ‘book a lane’ when the reopened last time so you had to book before turning up and would have a lane for a hour.

The statistics for covid transmission for anyone who had been to a gym in the last 7 days were around 2.8% and that does not mean they contracted it at the gym, just that they had visited it.

Pub, shops, supermarkets, restaurants, work, care homes, schools & hospitals all have higher stats.

@PilatesPeach

The statistics for covid transmission for anyone who had been to a gym in the last 7 days were around 2.8% and that does not mean they contracted it at the gym, just that they had visited it.

Pub, shops, supermarkets, restaurants, work, care homes, schools & hospitals all have higher stats.

It’s all relative though. The amount of people who visit a gym versus the amount of people who go shopping/to school/work is far greater surely.

Yes of course that is true but plenty of people who gym visit daily but go to supermarkets once a week. Plenty of people who gym never visit pubs or restaurants. Plenty of people who do not gym never visit pubs and restaurants. I was simply trying to indicate that statistics alone do not justify or explain things.

I also think the actual people puffing and grunting and forcefully exhaling at gyms and clubs is quite low. Many gym users and many class goers do not do much cardio at all just conditioning or holistic.

The government are always trying to use statistics to justify what they do. I do not think that the stats necessarily back up the order that the government re-open things after schools etc.

There is now some thought that having a few drinks reduces the likelihood of social distancing etc in pubs and bars for example.

Gyms provide mental and physical health benefits and whilst I do have a vested interest, I would like to seem them ahead in the order of re-opening. The Welsh government have indicated that they will be doing this.