With the recent CDC announcements, along with having been vaccinated with the Moderna version, I am considering unfreezing my gym membership and heading back. I kept myself fit via a rowing machine and walking, but simply don’t have the same volume of activity as before the pandemic.
My gym has an app to use to schedule times in the gym, so the volume wouldn’t get too extreme, and the machines I use, the rowing and cross country skiing machines, get used less than others.
If I lived somewhere that the prevailing wisdom was to get vaccinated and follow guidelines as best as possible I’d be much more inclined to return to the gym than where I do live—- where a lot of people have just insisted it’s a hoax all along, stopped washing their hands because hand washing was advised, refused to wear masks, and literally line up on the side of the road with anti-vaccination signs
I don’t think I’ll be returning to the gym around here any time soon
We live in Manhattan, NYC, not Kansas, and people are very compliant. Even though NYC is considered medium risk - I use CovidActNow.org for NYC numbers - Manhattan is within that and lower risk than the other boroughs.
Ideally the gym should limit the gym usage to only fellow vaccinated users while you are there. That’s how my ice hockey pickup games have restarted, vaccinated players only. Although it is managed on the honor system there have been no outbreaks.
Precaution is free and has no negative consequences besides minor nuisance.
I would personally feel safer during spring/summer due to seasonality etc.
I gave up my membership mostly due to cost and just do bodyweight pushups, pulls ups, lifting furniture, squats, lunges, etc…
Need to get the immune system in shape don’t let it become too quiescent as well.
It will be interesting to see how next fall/winter shape up in terms of respiratory illnesses. Not convinced there will not be unintended things surfacing.
I’m not vaccinated and do not plan to for various reasons - so take it with a tablespoon or two of salt.
I would go back if that’s what I had a mind to do. Masks at this point are for the unvaccinated. I believe its been determined that your vaccination serves you well with only a slight chance of infection and and even lesser chance of death if you are infected.
I believe its also very unlikely that you will infect anyone else. Why shouldn’t you go back.
My exercise of choice is swimming and I do mean SWIMMING prior to COVID I was in the pool at least 4 times a week. I do long distance lapping of the pool my normal time was usually 2+ hours . With COVID the pool I used converted to 1hr use and no more then 10 people in the water and you have to make a appointment. I started this routine in 2015 at 295# and A1c of 7.1 and had by the lock down dropped to 210# and A1c of 5.9
So the bottom line regained 30#. But have managed to keep A1c down.
Thanks for your thoughts, which makes me cautious, and I still wonder, but did go to the gym last night.
Moderna: 94% effective.
Zip Code: A better performing district in NYC, as is much of Manhattan
Gym Itself: Entry is scheduled and limited to 38 people per hour, which covers the floor of a moderate-sized commercial building. There seems to be less use on the aerobic machines, which are what I use, unlike the weight area which is crowded. They claim to have installed Hyper-HEPA filters, but a careful read indicates that it is only in the studios. The windows are closed with A/C on.
Immunocompromised (or not): I’m considered well-controlled, and from what I’ve read, although diabetics are at increased risk, it does not consider it immunocompromised unless poorly-controlled.
I still have doubts, and may schedule workouts during low usage periods, which would mean late morning or in the afternoon, as early AM and early evening are the highest use periods.
We are continuing to mask and sd etc. and will do so until infections rates are way down and vaccination rates are hopefully a lot higher. There are already variants here which some of the vaccines are not as effective against and more may develop with the new mask guidelines and low vaccination rates since people will lie about being vaccinated and go unmasked.
No vaccine protects you 100% and each person has a different immune response. It is a good idea to get tested to make sure that you responded to your vaccination in my opinion. I am avoiding as best I can any chance of another covid infection after what it has done to me and my father.
The cdc also decided not to report all breakthrough cases now, instead they are only reporting those that need hospitalizations and or cause deaths. So it will be difficult to tell what’s really going on with the breakthrough infections. I believe the first set of data on breakthrough infections has been affected by the fact that the large majority of people were wearing masks during that period.
As for gyms they are a prime location for transmission of infectious diseases so I stopped going to them a long time ago as I always pick something up there.
Maybe stick to home exercise equipment and outdoor activities and or mask at the gym.
Hi @JamesIgoe,
Hopefully, the gym doesn’t have a daycare for children, or allow kids in the pool/locker rooms. I’d take a look and see concentrated it is and consider going when it’s less crowded.
Last month I renewed my gym membership, and went there several times. Nobody was wearing masks or checking vaccines – which I would’ve gladly showed them. I went on Saturday afternoon, when there were few people, and felt relatively safe, while enjoying being mask-free. But now with the Delta variant being such a big concern even for the vaccinated, I’m going to go back to just working out at home again.
I think NYC is doing the right thing with requiring proof of vaccines and masks (as of today, I believe). Hopefully, that’ll catch on.
Nothing like that, plus, in line with NYC’s new rules, only the vaccinated will be allowed to enter the facility. I was considering going back to masking, at least while weightlifting, since that area of the floor is crowded, and maybe while on the machines, but there I am usually distanced from others, along the lines of 20 feet. The gyms I use have controlled entry times, and at times they can be crowded, but my machine choices mean that I am separated from others.
While at the gym, I’ve started wearing a mask while working out, both while lifting and while on aerobic machines. Tried to do a little with/without mask comparison, but it didn’t seem to make a difference at the intensity I was working at, but will retry, since I am usually 10 to 20 feet away from the nearest person.
I just reopened my gym membership 2 weeks again. I am now about to freeze it. Our local guidance is to wear 2 masks indoor regardless of vaccination status. I have a manual treadmill and weights. I will do videos but it is not the same. I was so looking forward to getting back to the gym. Maybe in Oct.
I wore my mask at the gym except when on treadmill. I hope my gym goes to vaccinated only.
