Ok...I'm headed to my gym...

[Anonymous]

I'm talking myself through the anxiety here. Bear with me.

I am a lifter who doesn't have a home setup (nor room or available funds for one, tbh). I haven't lifted since March. My gym has been open for a while, but I've been nervous about going for all obvious good reasons.

Here is the deal I'm making with myself. I'm going to bike there. Once I'm there, I'll decide if I want to go in or not. If I decide to go in, I'll look around, ask about busy times, and make a decision to stay or not. If I decide to stay and can't get to the rack (always an issue in the before-times), I'll just bench and leave.

I've got my mask, hand sanitizer, bar collars, and gloves. I'm biking over in my Chucks (I lift in good old Chucky Ts). Here goes.

[Anonymous]

I've been going to the gym 3x a week for 2 months. Not using hand sanitizer or gloves, or masking while exercising (but do walking in/out and common areas)

Still alive, healthy, and covid free.

[Anonymous]

I could have written your post. The anxiety about returning after a hiatus was awful. I overcame it by getting a trainer. Once I had to pay the bill whether or not I went, I got over the initial hump. And, it didn't take long to get back to heavy lifting, though I am not yet at my top form. Long story, but a crisis before Christmas reduced my precovid gym time and I didn't go into Covid in my best form.

Do it. You've got this. One foot in front of the other. And, don't be stupid and hurt yourself.

[Anonymous]

I've been going to the gym for 6 weeks. No mask. Have not been exposed to it and there are no current cases tied to the gym. I do work out classes of about 6-12 people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been going to the gym for 6 weeks. No mask. Have not been exposed to it and there are no current cases tied to the gym. I do work out classes of about 6-12 people.

I'm not telling you not to go to the gym, but unless you live in another country that is actually carrying out contact tracing, there's no way for you to know this. It's an assertion based on optimism and blind faith.

[Anonymous]

If you have anxiety about it, that’s your brain’s way of telling you it’s a bad idea. Because, you know, it is really a colossally bad idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have anxiety about it, that’s your brain’s way of telling you it’s a bad idea. Because, you know, it is really a colossally bad idea.

I don't think you know what anxiety is or how it works. It has no connection to ration or reason, and is often the opposite of those things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been going to the gym for 6 weeks. No mask. Have not been exposed to it and there are no current cases tied to the gym. I do work out classes of about 6-12 people.

I'm not telling you not to go to the gym, but unless you live in another country that is actually carrying out contact tracing, there's no way for you to know this. It's an assertion based on optimism and blind faith.

True. But there have been no "if you were at X gym on X days you may have been exposed" like there have been for some restaurants in my area. And the same 6-12 people are there all the time so either they have been asymptomatic or they have not had it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been going to the gym for 6 weeks. No mask. Have not been exposed to it and there are no current cases tied to the gym. I do work out classes of about 6-12 people.

I'm not telling you not to go to the gym, but unless you live in another country that is actually carrying out contact tracing, there's no way for you to know this. It's an assertion based on optimism and blind faith.

True. But there have been no "if you were at X gym on X days you may have been exposed" like there have been for some restaurants in my area. And the same 6-12 people are there all the time so either they have been asymptomatic or they have not had it.

NP: do you consider this practice to be high risk, as public health experts do? If not, why not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been going to the gym for 6 weeks. No mask. Have not been exposed to it and there are no current cases tied to the gym. I do work out classes of about 6-12 people.

I'm not telling you not to go to the gym, but unless you live in another country that is actually carrying out contact tracing, there's no way for you to know this. It's an assertion based on optimism and blind faith.

This. Many (most?) people don’t even know they have it!

[Anonymous]

Do you have access to an n-95 mask? If you must lift, I think getting in and out in 20 mins with an n-95 would be pretty low risk.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure why you feel the need to talk yourself into going to the gym, which is precisely the kind of indoor space conducive to transmission -- enclosed space, people are there for extended periods of time, and they tend to be breathing heavily. But if you really want to go, then I think you just have to hope that you are lucky. The odds are, right now, pretty decent that no one in the gym before you or with you is currently contagious with COVID. And even if someone is, if you wear a mask, you reduce the risk a bit. So there you are.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who is going to the gym without a mask and gloves is criminally negligent and has likely transmitted viral particles.

Just because you haven't had symptoms, it doesn't mean that you were not potentially exposed, infected and passed it on to someone else, thereby extending the chain of transmission. You are one link in the chain and you bear your share of responsibility in the deaths and suffering that ensue. Because make no mistake, someone has died because of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have anxiety about it, that’s your brain’s way of telling you it’s a bad idea. Because, you know, it is really a colossally bad idea.

I don't think you know what anxiety is or how it works. It has no connection to ration or reason, and is often the opposite of those things.

Oh Christ. What OP has is not a general anxiety disorder. OP has the kind of anxiety that keeps humans alive. The kind where you assess risk and know something is a bad idea and the voice in your head says “no” to keep you safe. I actually have anxiety and depression so don’t tell me anything, PP. You know going to the gym is about the worst thing anyone can do right now, don’t be obtuse.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who is going to the gym without a mask and gloves is criminally negligent and has likely transmitted viral particles

Dumbest take of the very dumb thread.