UK gyms reopen maybe July?

[OldFartTom]

No date but rumour is gyms in UK reopen July if all is well.

The uk's trade association for gyms ukactive has guidance which is fairly vague https://www.ukactive.com/covid-19 but does have specific things such as workout towels banned, 3m squared per person and obvious things about cleaning. Pools and spa likely can open (chlorine 3rd kills virus) but no mention of Saunas or steam rooms
One gym chain (Nuffield) is planning to no longer provide towels anywhere and actively discourage showers except swimmers and even discourage locker room use - doesn't sound great for pre work workout unless you're WFH.

[robpalwrites]

That sucks! I'm wasting away with just bodyweight workouts, and I wasn't very big to begin with. All my efforts for the last year have almost gone. The gyms can't open soon enough. I always keep my distance from others anyway, and take a towel to wipe down benches and machines before I use them too, so not worried at all about catching the virus. As I live alone and only have distant friends via phone or video call, there's no chance of me spreading any germs even if I do get something.

Whinge over.

[OldFartTom]

...I always... take a towel to wipe down benches and machines before I use them too....

You'll no longer be allowed to bring your own towel to wipe anything. Provided spray and paper only

[OldFartTom]

A lot of safety precautions will be put in place so as to safe guard gym users.

A lot of commercial gyms (that I went to anyway) were over capacity a lot of the time for certain bits of equipment like squat racks (sometimes bench, but I'm not a big bench user).I

People are likely to stop accepting working-in? So unless everyone stays away from gyms the capacity issues will get worse. If they have reduced facilities will they reduce fees? (Probably unlikely). I just wish more than ever that a home gym was an option for me

[Eternalstuden79]

It is going to be really hard to regulate the gym entry.

I could say I got fed up with the gym but part of that was I had the same work routine as 90% of the users, and we all wanted to train at the same time. But outside of rush times the gym's were empty.

Limiting numbers of people during peak times is either going to see a rise in the number of gyms or a huge explosion of the garage gym.

I gave up on commercial gyms, a long time ago and only went back when the wife wanted to train, and she needed a class environment so we ended up at a CF gym.

[dazlittle]

Glad I had the space and built my home gym during this pandemic, think I'll stay away from the commercial gyms I'm a member of until a lot later in the year.

[dazlittle]

but no mention of Saunas or steam rooms

Following the link you supplied I found a downloadable PDF they have written as guidance, it says...

"Saunas/steam rooms/hot tubs/spa pools will only open if social distancing can be adhered to"

[OldFartTom]

No idea how distancing could be done in a Sauna. 2 metres is no guarantee anyone is immune and it's guidance based on exposure time and risk factor.

So in theory if you are in a shop and remain 2m away from someone for 2 minutes that is equivalent risk as being 1 metre from them for 12 seconds. Even 4 metres isn't zero risk.

Will higher air temperature help (any evidence?)
One of the first cases in Singapore they identified a lady who went to Church who was a carrier (on visit from China). The person who sat in the same seat in the next service later on that day (but had never come in any other contact) contracted COVID

Maybe for a sauna you can use it if you keep 2 metres, wear a mask, spend less than 2 minutes and don't sit down or touch anything. You could spend longer than 2 minutes when wearing full PPE such as plastic apron gloves and face shield. That would meet distancing guidelines.

I think it's safe to assume gym saunas are impractical currently?

[dazlittle]

No idea how distancing could be done in a Sauna. 2 metres is no guarantee anyone is immune and it's guidance based on exposure time and risk factor.

So in theory if you are in a shop and remain 2m away from someone for 2 minutes that is equivalent risk as being 1 metre from them for 12 seconds. Even 4 metres isn't zero risk.

Will higher air temperature help (any evidence?)
One of the first cases in Singapore they identified a lady who went to Church who was a carrier (on visit from China). The person who sat in the same seat in the next service later on that day (but had never come in any other contact) contracted COVID

Maybe for a sauna you can use it if you keep 2 metres, wear a mask, spend less than 2 minutes and don't sit down or touch anything. You could spend longer than 2 minutes when wearing full PPE such as plastic apron gloves and face shield. That would meet distancing guidelines.

I think it's safe to assume gym saunas are impractical currently?

I agree, and I certainly won't be using one for a while!! was just quoting from the link you posted up top.

[Garage Rat]

Good luck!
They just opened in my area in the U.S.
Many big box gyms have closed permanently.

[OldFartTom]

Good luck!
They just opened in my area in the U.S.
Many big box gyms have closed permanently.

Since I won't be commuting in out of the city, when gyms reopen I think I'll cancel my big chain gym membership (Nuffield health) and go back to a local gym (no chain, industrial unit) which was way better anyway. If big chain gyms close but local gyms and up doing well it could be a good thing in some ways

[OldFartTom]

There's a very small tree in my back yard, I can throw a bit of rope over a branch and use a pole (intended for painting/window cleaning) for pull-ups and when set down low for bodyweight rows. The tree is barely big enough and really shakes especially when doing the rows.

I have a pigeon nesting in the tree (not great because it's a small tree and surprised a cat hasn't got it yet). But it is sitting on the nest and if I shake the tree it might abandon its eggs.

First Covid takes away my gym, then I injure my achilles, now a ******* pigeon has taken my tree!!!

I have no suitable door frames, no garage or basement that has any beams to pull from, pull-ups in a kids play area are illegal. Exercising is becoming more challenging to get done every day. Waiting for the gyms to reopen...

[Eternalstuden79]

There's a very small tree in my back yard, I can throw a bit of rope over a branch and use a pole (intended for painting/window cleaning) for pull-ups and when set down low for bodyweight rows. The tree is barely big enough and really shakes especially when doing the rows.

I have a pigeon nesting in the tree (not great because it's a small tree and surprised a cat hasn't got it yet). But it is sitting on the nest and if I shake the tree it might abandon its eggs.

First Covid takes away my gym, then I injure my achilles, now a ******* pigeon has taken my tree!!!

I have no suitable door frames, no garage or basement that has any beams to pull from, pull-ups in a kids play area are illegal. Exercising is becoming more challenging to get done every day. Waiting for the gyms to reopen...

I feel your pain. When I lived in a flat up Newcastle way, my training was all outside in playparks and down in the dean.

I would cycle to work and get my pull ups and dips weighted sit ups etc all done on the helicopter climbing frame. Never thought about the legality of it ;-)

[sy2502]

Good luck!
They just opened in my area in the U.S.
Many big box gyms have closed permanently.

So jealous! The SF Bay Area is opening gyms July 1st. 24 Hour Fitness will have appointment only workouts, basically they set aside an hour for workout, then close 30 mins for cleanup, then another hour for workout etc. Members have to reserve their hour the day before.
I have been watching in utter horror the muscle I built with years of effort melt away in a few months. Feels bad.

[OldFartTom]

...get my pull ups and dips weighted sit ups etc all done on the helicopter climbing frame. Never thought about the legality of it ;-)

It's only illegal for the current lockdown rules, previously if it's before work and nobody around, sure it'd have been no problem.

What amuses me though is loads of councils gave up on pull ups bars, dips etc in parks but recently many have paid out good money to have outdoor fitness equipment including things like a dangerous and impractical "running machine" lots of metal rollers like some factory conveyor in a park?? why not just jog round the park, or some kind of airdyne bike copy but with no fan. Clearly the view is spreading "fitness" (including cardio) is only possible with special equipment.

[LWW]

So jealous! The SF Bay Area is opening gyms July 1st. 24 Hour Fitness will have appointment only workouts, basically they set aside an hour for workout, then close 30 mins for cleanup, then another hour for workout etc. Members have to reserve their hour the day before.
I have been watching in utter horror the muscle I built with years of effort melt away in a few months. Feels bad.

Those a$$hole protesters don’t have to make an appointment to go protest.

[MaxMaximorum]

That sounds crazy. I just can't see how that is possibly profitable without at least doubling if not tripling membership fees. Seems to me by the time this is over the entire sector is going to be stripped to the studs and rebuilt. I can't imagine any gym had such great margins that they will be profitable charging January 2020 fees for Summer 2020 service.

So jealous! The SF Bay Area is opening gyms July 1st. 24 Hour Fitness will have appointment only workouts, basically they set aside an hour for workout, then close 30 mins for cleanup, then another hour for workout etc. Members have to reserve their hour the day before.
I have been watching in utter horror the muscle I built with years of effort melt away in a few months. Feels bad.

[Cass40]

So jealous! The SF Bay Area is opening gyms July 1st. 24 Hour Fitness will have appointment only workouts, basically they set aside an hour for workout, then close 30 mins for cleanup, then another hour for workout etc. Members have to reserve their hour the day before.
I have been watching in utter horror the muscle I built with years of effort melt away in a few months. Feels bad.

Wow, that really sounds like a nightmare

I have LA Fitness and live in LA. The gym opened Friday. I went Monday the first time. There was a line that we waited in for about twenty minutes but then it was an hour before closing and they let everyone in. All they did was take your temperature. Nothing had changed except it was way less crowded.

Yesterday I went a bit earlier and there was no line at all and gym was not packed. All you have to do is have a mask on when you walk in and out, and that's it.

I had no idea how it was going to be but it doesn't seem bad at all. Actually pretty nice. Oh and no locker rooms. While using cardio machines you can't be next to someone, so like you can use only every other machine but that doesn't really matter to me since I don't have to use cardio machines. All I really need is the squat rack where I can squat and deadlift since I don't have heavy enough weights at home.

[MrCarrot]

Can't wait for the gym to reopen. With zero equipment at home the lengths I've gone to try and maintain you wouldn't believe. Including lifting heavy items out and about in the rain, using pull up bars at the closed park gyms at 4am in the morning so I'm not seen, makeshift barbells made with buckets, sand and bricks.

I think I have managed to maintain nearly all of my gains. Certainly my weight hasn't changed. My arms look a bit smaller but I measured them the other day and they were the same size.

The day I can lie back on a nice soft bench and press a nicely balanced barbell over my chest will be a great day indeed. Tomorrow I'll be doing pushups with two bags of sand and 3 bricks balanced on my back.

[OldFartTom]

... Tomorrow I'll be doing pushups with two bags of sand and 3 bricks balanced on my back.

What do you make of the progression scheme instead of using weights/sand/bricks:

* Wall pushups
* Counter top pushups
* On your knees pushups
* "Real" pushups - top half only
* "Real" pushups - full RoM
* Diamond pushups (tips of thumbs and tip of index finger touching)
* Uneven push ups (ordinaryish pushup but a football/soccer ball under one hand)
* 1/2 One arm pushup (i.e. doing the top half of the move only)
* Uneven pushups with the football holding hand right out to one side, full RoM
* One arm pushup (full RoM)

You use reps between 5 and 20 as a double-progression
It is not very specific to barbell bench, so sub-optimal for competitive powerlifters
It does offer a progression with no equipment or weights at all

[sy2502]

Wow, that really sounds like a nightmare

Yes especially since I am still working, even though I work from home, and I have crap loads of meetings and I am supporting a team which means I am supposed to be reachable to jump in if someone has a problem so I can't just say "bye everybody, going to the gym, sorry but I could only get a workout spot right when the sky is falling".
Fortunately I got my membership when they were doing a promotional sale, so I got access to all 24 Hour Fitness gyms for the price of access to just one. There are about 4 of their gyms I can get to in reasonable time around here (unless they closed any of them, they are closing a few) so hopefully I can get a decent slot in one of them.

[Cass40]

Yes especially since I am still working, even though I work from home, and I have crap loads of meetings and I am supporting a team which means I am supposed to be reachable to jump in if someone has a problem so I can't just say "bye everybody, going to the gym, sorry but I could only get a workout spot right when the sky is falling".
Fortunately I got my membership when they were doing a promotional sale, so I got access to all 24 Hour Fitness gyms for the price of access to just one. There are about 4 of their gyms I can get to in reasonable time around here (unless they closed any of them, they are closing a few) so hopefully I can get a decent slot in one of them.

Yeah that sucks. There's no way I would know exactly when I'll be going to the gym. I don't have a set schedule. I don't have that luxury unfortunately so I don't know what I'd do if I had to make appointments beforehand.

So far it has been good. Today was my third day back and it's getting a bit busier but still pretty nice.

[LWW]

sorry but I could only get a workout spot right when the sky is falling".

Oh no, don't say that, you gotta make up a more serious matter, that's what I do, then I make sure someone see's me online late

J/K, well maybe not

[sy2502]

Yeah that sucks. There's no way I would know exactly when I'll be going to the gym. I don't have a set schedule. I don't have that luxury unfortunately so I don't know what I'd do if I had to make appointments beforehand.

So far it has been good. Today was my third day back and it's getting a bit busier but still pretty nice.

Same here, especially during the week. It was handy to have a gym at work because that way I can just grab my gym bag and run there whenever (and people at work could come get me if they needed me, although they knew grave bodily harm could come to them if they did). That's the other thing with working from home, there's no set work hours anymore, people think they can schedule meetings at any time, message you whenever AND EXPECT YOU TO ANSWER.

[A-man]

No news yet here in Toronto.

Looking forward to going back to the gym when it does open, however that will look like.

I’m assuming plexi glass between all machines, time limits for workouts, no lockers, no busy classes etc. Not sure how the free weight section is going to work though.

I have a really good home gym so I have actually gained size during the pandemic. I just miss all the extra equipment (like the leg press to follow up some nice squats).

[dazlittle]

So we can go for a haircut and then get pissed in a pub, but we still can't go to the gym.

God bless the UK.

[Eternalstuden79]

So we can go for a haircut and then get pissed in a pub, but we still can't go to the gym.

God bless the UK.

Got to love the logic of our govt!

[OldFartTom]

Date gyms allowed to open in England: 25th July!!!!

Not sure if that's the same in other parts of UK?

[SuffolkPunch]

Date gyms allowed to open in England: 25th July!!!!

Not sure if that's the same in other parts of UK?

It's good news but I have a feeling our gym won't open on that date - it's a work gym and currently, only about 10% of the usual people are onsite here - so they might not think it's worth it. OTOH, they will have to put limits on the number of people - plus the staff are probably keen to come back so who knows...

[xTeTe]

A lot of commercial gyms (that I went to anyway) were over capacity a lot of the time for certain bits of equipment like squat racks (sometimes bench, but I'm not a big bench user).I

People are likely to stop accepting working-in? So unless everyone stays away from gyms the capacity issues will get worse. If they have reduced facilities will they reduce fees? (Probably unlikely). I just wish more than ever that a home gym was an option for me

My gym has always been super busy and now that they're running at half capacity with appointments, it's just as bad as before.

Here in California they just mandated that everyone has to wear a mask... even while working out. Although it's not really enforced. Hey whatever, as long as they don't close them again. I get anxiety even thinking about them closing again.