Coronavirus affecting my gym

flynntrader
flynntrader Posts: 210 Member
in Motivation and Support
I work on Wall Street and apart from the bloodbath currently happening in the markets, the coronavirus global pandemic is affecting every aspect of my life. The latest fiasco being the gym.

I go to equinox and despite their assurances that they are deep cleaning with hospital grade disinfectants, I doubt they deep clean barbells. And my wife sent me an article last night that barbells are a high enough candidate for the virus to linger on.

Beside, the psychological effect of being around people and an estimated 4000 people in quarantine in the state, it’s been really discouraging to enter the gym because of the risk of getting infected and passing it on to my wife and child 😨😰

I also commute into Manhattan and haven't been to the city in a week. Thankfully, I don’t need to be on the exchange physically but there are coworkers who have to be and they are in a high state of anxiety every day. It’s not the scare of virus or health per se, but it’s the quarantine. It’s like house arrest and the chances of passing it to loved ones who will also be in precautionary quarantine

How is everyone coping? Even in the pre coronavirus days, I used to find sick people in the gym - they always show up and sick people in the NYC subway is a daily event. New Yorkers are at a very high risk of the contagion because of the density of people and tourists. Hope it all passes.

I have a basement gym (a squat rack, treadmill and a rower) but it’s filled with spiders and *kitten* and I need to make my derrière go downstairs and clean it.

Replies

  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    flynntrader wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    I also live in NYC and I go about my day like normal and that includes the gym 4 days a week. I personally wipe down barbells and wash my hands often. 🤷🏼‍♀️
    One of my rowing club acquaintances who said the same thing in January is currently in mandatory quarantine in Westchester county. It’s just the flu right. Except that it isn’t

    Then so be it... what can one do? 🤷🏼‍♀️
  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,371 Member
    edited March 2020
    A lot of people are great and they will self isolate, but some people are quite selfish and will not self isolate when they should be. In Tasmania, we have had two people who were waiting for the results of their covid tests who went out. One the supermarket, the other a food and beverage worker went to work and then to two night clubs. Both results came back positive.

    Fortunately so far in Tasmania, only two confirmed cases but apparently we don't have any toilet paper :wink:
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,447 Member
    Ok so if you are nervous about touching gym equipment I will admit i have been bringing disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer with me. I wipe down stuff before and after i use it. I purell my hands and avoid touching my face.
    These are prudent cautionary actions. No need to go insane but a tub of wipes in your gym bag may make your life a but nicer
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    Eh. I go to a gym in Manhattan and nothing there is ever cleaned.

    When I come in from the outside world, I decontaminate by washing my hands really well (and finish with rubbing alcohol if I was in an especially high-germ environment (like the gym)).

    When medical people say "don't touch your face," they mainly mean _don't pick your nose_. And don't rub your eyes. Don't stick your bare fingers in there; you'll get sick. Use toilet paper or tissue only.

    So I'm being super-conscious of that. And also figuring out how to keep the inside of my nose from getting too dry and cracking (which is dangerous and makes you more susceptible to infection). Saline spray and "saline nasal gel" are the best things I've found so far.

    Don't freak out, man. Do what you can, and you'll probably be fine.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    flynntrader wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    I also live in NYC and I go about my day like normal and that includes the gym 4 days a week. I personally wipe down barbells and wash my hands often. 🤷🏼‍♀️
    One of my rowing club acquaintances who said the same thing in January is currently in mandatory quarantine in Westchester county. It’s just the flu right. Except that it isn’t

    You're intelligent. Just take it all back outside for awhile. Do you belong to a club that has an outside running track and field. Climb stairs. Lift heavy things at home. When the storm blows over you'll be right back in biz. What's your prognostications about those oil prices. Zowza. <3
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    feisty_bucket wrote: »
    Eh. I go to a gym in Manhattan and nothing there is ever cleaned.

    When I come in from the outside world, I decontaminate by washing my hands really well (and finish with rubbing alcohol if I was in an especially high-germ environment (like the gym)).

    When medical people say "don't touch your face," they mainly mean _don't pick your nose_. And don't rub your eyes. Don't stick your bare fingers in there; you'll get sick. Use toilet paper or tissue only.

    So I'm being super-conscious of that. And also figuring out how to keep the inside of my nose from getting too dry and cracking (which is dangerous and makes you more susceptible to infection). Saline spray and "saline nasal gel" are the best things I've found so far.

    Don't freak out, man. Do what you can, and you'll probably be fine.

    Too keep the inside of my nose from getting too dry I use a little vaseline. I swim (usually) and it sure does the trick.
  • JRsLateInLifeMom
    JRsLateInLifeMom Posts: 2,275 Member
    Time to clean off the home gym sounds like.We did but closest Coronovirus case is 3minutes from my house. I’m exercising in the house hubby in the garage.

    If want the gym just Bring a ziplock bag full of some bleached up rags wipe them down go home toss in the washing machine with the gym clothes.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    The not touching your face part is the hard part for me...spring has hit and pollen is everywhere and my eyes itch and I don't always notice I'm rubbing them until after...

    No breakouts here yet, but heading to NYC this weekend for indoor track nationals, so will pack sanitizer to keep in my purse...if they don't cancel it before then.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    Washington state is a hot spot too, though I'm down in Vancouver about 3 hours from Seattle. I used wipes on the treadmill before and after Saturday. I'm not sure what to do about my martial arts classes. We are, obviously, all over each other. I went last week, and I'm in a low risk category but am around a lot of people that aren't. I'm guessing that my work will send us all home within a week too. All of the Seattle tech companies have, and as I said, we're a little close for comfort.

    I'm also considering if I want to go back to maintenance to keep my immune system strong. Anyone playing with that?
  • chelleedub
    chelleedub Posts: 50 Member
    Eeeek! I like the tip about bringing your own wipes. Be aware that only specific cleaners can kill coronavirus. CDC has a list. Clorox, Lysol and Purell make cleaners that are on it. The PDF can be found on this page:

    https://cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/home/cleaning-disinfection.html
  • chelleedub
    chelleedub Posts: 50 Member
    JRsLateInLifeMom wrote: »
    Time to clean off the home gym sounds like.We did but closest Coronovirus case is 3minutes from my house. I’m exercising in the house hubby in the garage.

    If want the gym just Bring a ziplock bag full of some bleached up rags wipe them down go home toss in the washing machine with the gym clothes.

    You'll want to use oil, rather than vaseline, inside of your nose, as vaseline can migrate to, and damage your lungs, as well as cause swelling to your nasal tissues.
  • oocdc2
    oocdc2 Posts: 1,361 Member
    At the gym last night: not only was a guy hogging the fly machine (e.g., spending ten minutes on his phone between sets), he was actively picking his nose..a lot. That's really gross normally, but in this day and age? Douchery all around...

    Thank you for letting me place this here--this was still bugging me today.
  • thenewkayla
    thenewkayla Posts: 313 Member
    I'm taking a break from the gym till at least April.
  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
    My gym had an infected person visit on Tuesday. They found out late Wednesday night, closed that location immediately (as in they texted customers 1AM), and later on Thursday they closed all locations across 4 different countries. Good thing it’s spring so I can start running again, and I guess this is the time to get over myself and start doing video workouts. The gym chain has an online training service that normally costs extra, they are now offering that for free to all members on top of membership fees being paused until they reopen. Between that, YouTube and the outdoors, I don’t really have any excuses.

    I’m more freaked out by the fact that there’s a deconstruction site across from my home, and the dust is causing me throat and lugn irritation, stuffy nose etc. While the symptoms from this irritation ease when I leave the house, it’s impossible to tell which is which before actually leaving the house, which I’m under no circumstances supposed to do if I’m having any symptoms, especially anymore.
  • flynntrader
    flynntrader Posts: 210 Member
    Last 2 weeks I squeezed workout in between 8:30 and 10pm to beat the crowd and now equinox is closed indefinitely 🤮🤮🤮🤮
  • flagrantavidity
    flagrantavidity Posts: 218 Member
    flynntrader wrote: »
    Last 2 weeks I squeezed workout in between 8:30 and 10pm to beat the crowd and now equinox is closed indefinitely 🤮🤮🤮🤮

    Yea because people kept going and we are trying to prevent the spread.

    Go Rocky style, go to a butcher and hit some meat, drag some logs around. Seriously though work on cardio and cut, there are ways to exercise without equipment.
  • blobby10
    blobby10 Posts: 357 Member
    I'm in England and use a 24/7 gym at 5am. Its a big space and with only 10-12 of us there, we rarely get closer than a couple of metres (at that time of the morning we are all a bit anti-social anyway even preCOVID). I wear gloves which I hope diminishes my risk of catching and/or passing on the virus as well as wiping down the equipment with the spray stuff. Although two of the eight blokes today weren't doing that! I could understand the classes being cancelled - 14 people in a way too small studio (in my opinion!) would be a breeding ground for the virus - but until governments ban folk using those virus incubation machines (some call them aeroplanes!!) I would feel very pissed off and hard done to if my one pleasure outside of work is cancelled.

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