The Effect of COVID-19 on Workouts & Toilet Paper, #SOL20, Day 11/ Year 3.

I am curious if your gym or workout “place” has been affected by the fear caused by COVID-19 hysteria. This morning my husband and I went to the YMCA for our morning exercise. It is something we’ve been trying to do on a regular basis at least 2-3 days a week.  Usually, he swims and I use the treadmill. But, he recently had carpal tunnel surgery and cannot get back into the water yet. So, we’ve been walking the indoor track until we accomplish at least 2.5 miles, usually in about 45 minutes.

As we arrived today, we noted that the parking lot was very full. There were no spots in the side lot where we usually park, so we drove out to the lot in front of the building. There, we found a spot about three-quarters of the way out. Inside, it seemed calmer than it was on Tuesday morning with fewer people walking the track and using the weight machines. But, there are classes being conducted all morning – spinning, Zumba, pi-yo, yoga, water aerobics – to name just a few. The fullness of the parking lot indicated that many people were still participating in these classes. In addition, the lobby of our YMCA has a common area where people congregate at tables and play cards, visit, and read. This area was as full as it is on any given day in recent history.

Our assessment? The mass hysteria and concern over COVID-19 has not affected our local population’s desire to work out!  This is awesome on the one hand and slightly (only slightly) concerning on the other.  Many of the people that attend the YMCA during the morning are older – I mean it is a workday and most people of working age do work.  So, like my husband and me, there are many retirees at the Y in the morning. I noticed that people are wiping down the machines diligently for the most part. There were two young ladies (much younger than I) who used the treadmills near me last month who never wiped them down after they were done and one had admitted to recently being sick.  This made me angry!  I do have concern for the older people using the facilities at the YMCA during this viral outbreak. It seems they are the most vulnerable to a poor outcome if the virus is contracted. But, maybe since we have not had many cases in Wisconsin, they feel their risk is minimal – and, it probably truly is.

So, our YMCA remains a busy and productive place on weekday mornings despite the COVID-19 concerns.

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On the flip side, toilet paper is disappearing like the way quicksilver does after a thermometer breaks! You cannot seem to find it anywhere! It’s been reported that our local Sam’s Club is out of it. We were fortunate to get our supply before it was diminished. We are considering ourselves to be lucky with respect to that!

How are you fairing amid the COVID-19 concerns?

 

17 thoughts

  1. I work in a sub-acute rehab hospital, so we’ve taken precautions and have begun limiting visitors. Other than that, no difference whatsoever. It frightens me that people are more adamant about washing their hands now. I assume that means many weren’t doing so prior to this issue. Yuck! If this whole thing gets people to start washing their hands regularly, that’s at least one positive side effect.

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  3. My area, outside NYC, has almost shut down…..even at the YMCA. There is no disinfectant anywhere. Its crazy deserted everywhere. Stay safe.

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    1. Thanks for offering another perspective on what is going on in other communities. Some areas still seem calm but the grocery stores have been absolutely crazy – we are not used to that here! Stay healthy!

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    1. Wow! Our TP panic is still going on! My husband talked to our local grocer this morning and he said the Toilet Paper is still flying off the shelves as fast as they can stock it. I don’t quite understand that – but there is a hysterical component to all of this and I don’t think people think straight during times of crisis. Stay well!

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  6. I hope your area won’t be affected, and that you’ll be able to keep enjoying your workout with your husband 🙂 But I have to add; wiping a machine with a towel after using it, if a person truly has Covid-19 and is infectious, won’t help at all. Best one can do is hoping nobody in the gym has it. 🙂 If someone in a gym has it and is infectious, with all the sweat etc. it is virtually inevitable that it spreads to other gym goers. Still, I hope your gym will stay safe from it. 🙂

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    1. We have certainly come a far way in a week.. Everything here is closed, for the most part. We have not been back to the YMCA since I wrote that post last week. I think I mis-represented what I was trying to say about wiping the machines down with a towel- I wasn’t trying to convey that would in any way prevent COVID-19. At our Y, there are disinfectant spray bottles and rags to use to clean the equipement after one uses it. It’s just common courtesy to do it – whether there is a pandemic or not. When I say the young women not wiping down their treadmills, it was well before the virus outbreak. But, that said, it was the middle of winter and they should have wiped down their machine after use – especially since one of them had been recently ill. In any case, no one in going anyway. Walks in the great outdoors will suffice (and actually be better) than those at the Y! Thanks for weighing in! I hope you are well.

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      1. I understand! We indeed have… The whole situation feels quite unreal. I hope the extensive social distancing strategy in the west will pay off. But this was not the beginning of the decade I had hoped for.

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