Masks in gym?

[Whathefisgoingon]

I’m considering joining the gym.

This is a big deal as I’m really worried about covid and have been all along. Gyms seem like a total covid cesspit too.

So, I’m curious - has anyone worn a mask to the gym?

@Whathefisgoingon

I’m considering joining the gym.

This is a big deal as I’m really worried about covid and have been all along. Gyms seem like a total covid cesspit too.

So, I’m curious - has anyone worn a mask to the gym?

Only when in the corridor. Not required for exercising. Feels very clean at our gym

Masks don’t protect the wearer - they protect others from the mask wearer if they are infectious but a symptomatic

@DesperateForSun

Masks don’t protect the wearer - they protect others from the mask wearer if they are infectious but a symptomatic

Do they? Has that ever definitively been proven? Particular for your average square piece of cotton? Debatable

I’ve gone to the gym since they reopened. I don’t wear a mask there and I’ve never had Covid (had an antibody test recently to verify that). As far as I know there’s been no outbreaks linked to my gym. The health benefits of exercise likely outweigh the risk of Covid. Go to the gym.

Working out whilst restricting your air flow capacity. Good idea!

Do they? Has that ever definitively been proven? Particular for your average square piece of cotton? Debatable

Exactly it must at least offer some level of protection if it stops things getting out, likely hood it stops things getting in.

@Pootle40

A very fair point - they definitely don’t protect the wearer. At best they offer marginal protection to others from large droplets. At worst they aerosolise the droplets and increase transmission.

My point was, wearing one won’t protect OP

@DesperateForSun Actually, they do. I use FFP2 & FFP3’s.

If you had put that mask type in your OP then this would have been a much shorter thread. FFP2/3 masks are not recommended for exercise at all.

blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2020/06/12/should-people-wear-a-face-mask-during-exercise-what-should-clinicians-advise/

“Ventilation, cardiopulmonary exercise capacity and comfort are reduced by surgical masks and highly impaired by FFP2/N95 face masks in healthy individuals.”

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7338098/

I don’t really see the point in going to the gym if you perceive the risks associated with covid (and the likelihood of catching it at the gym) to be greater than the health benefits you would gain by going.

Well, I’ve decided I won’t be going back to the gym any time soon and have instead opted to see my PT a couple times a week in a small studio.

Thanks all!

I wear a mask when walking around and in changing rooms (though most don't) but remove for classes and when I get to the pool. I go at quiet times and also use the outdoor pool quite a lot, and/or outdoor classes. It's never that busy when I go as I have off peak membership.
If you are really anxious about gyms though maybe look into things like outdoor classes in local parks / parkrun etc?

Sorry didn't RTFT. That feels like a good compromise!

@Whathefisgoingon

Well, I’ve decided I won’t be going back to the gym any time soon and have instead opted to see my PT a couple times a week in a small studio.

Thanks all!

You had already decided that before you started the thread though, hadn't you?

@IcedPurple No. it’s obviously much cheaper to just get a gym membership than pay for a PT. With the gym I’d also be able to go whenever I wanted to. The risk isn’t worth it though as it’s definitely high risk.

I wear a mask when walking around and in changing rooms (though most don't) *

I don't as most of time I'm in there I am heading to the shower so not going to wear in there. Why does there always have to be a snide most dont at end when they aren't required to.

[quote Whathefisgoingon]@IcedPurple No. it’s obviously much cheaper to just get a gym membership than pay for a PT. With the gym I’d also be able to go whenever I wanted to. The risk isn’t worth it though as it’s definitely high risk.[/quote]
Depends how you define 'high risk'. For me, like for many thousands of others, it's a risk I'd be happy to take. Although if you regard going to the gym as 'definitely high risk' you'd have to wonder why you ever even considered it?

Mask wearing has never been compulsory anywhere in my gym (England). I'm not sure what the actual law was pre July 19th.
You can see on their app how busy they are if you want to avoid busier times (although the highest I've seen is 30% capacity).

@Againstmachine

* I wear a mask when walking around and in changing rooms (though most don't) *

I don't as most of time I'm in there I am heading to the shower so not going to wear in there. Why does there always have to be a snide most dont at end when they aren't required to.

It wasn't intended to be snide. It was an observation, as if you think masks help (which the OP may have done) then you'd possibly be bothered about the number of people wearing masks or not in that setting, especially if you are very anxious about Covid.

I mostly keep mine on rather than constantly touching it to pull it up and down to the point I reach the showers / pool etc, but I'm aware I'm in the minority as like you say, if you're heading to the shower it's not very helpful to wear in there, and I'm aware I probably look stupid walking around in a towel and mask and whipping it off at the last minute. My personal preference is if I am mask wearing I don't really want to be touching it constantly so it's either on from point of entry to the pool/class etc, or from the showers and out, I don't really care what others do or in fact notice hugely, but I don't have strong feelings about masks anyway, it's just a fairly easy habit now.

I don't particularly notice or care what others are doing re masks, personal space is a bigger thing for me (poss not just covid related) but if you're feeling anxious about returning to the gym and care about masks, it could be a helpful observation.

I'm in the camp of gym being a risk worth taking too. I don't think it's "definitely high risk" either, especially not if you go at quieter times and/or there's a reasonable amount of space to distance / good ventilation etc. Not sure whether there's an to evidence to back up the point about risk but not sure there are a huge number of cases traced back to gyms???

@IcedPurple I considered it because I was thinking about wearing a mask.... hence the thread.

Great if you have the room.

I sold a full size cross training machine to a colleague. When we delivered it, I found out that she lived in a one bedroom flat. Luckily, on the ground floor. The machine took up about a quarter of the sitting room floor space.