3 Valuable Lessons You Need to Know Returning to the Gym

No one will tell you when, but go with these tips in mind

Yesterday was my first day back at the gym after 6 months. If it wasn’t for my son, I would probably still work out at home. No vaccine has been produced to help people affected by COVID-19. Companies are running tests, but I’m sure a cure is still months away.

My son plays football and starts for his team. He has a lot of potential since he is a big kid for a 14-year-old. Many people think he is a 16 or 17-year-old when you look at him.

So you get an idea, I’m 5’11” and weight about 197 lbs. My son is almost my height and already outweighs me by 30+ lbs.

For a football player, my son has a lot of potential and I want to help him as best as I can.

As a 14-year old, he’s not old enough to go to a gym by himself. For at least the next two years, I need to take him myself and workout with him.

Let me get to the real reason why you clicked on the article. COVID-19 is still affecting people today but not as high as earlier in the year. So you still need to take precautions when you venture outside of your home wearing a mask and using hand sanitizer.

These are the three areas I’ll highlight.

• People are going to the gym
• Some people don’t wear their mask
• Clean up after yourself

I knew about some of these before I went to the gym since a few of my friends are physical trainers and they post pictures on Facebook.

People are going to the gym

Life may be full of pain, but that’s not an excuse to give up.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

I went to the gym on a Friday afternoon around 5 pm. Previously, I went to Planet Fitness but since I canceled my account when COVID-19 started, I opened a new account with a different locally-owned gym.

This gym was closer to my son’s school and it has more weights which is what he needs. Planet Fitness is great but the selection of gym equipment forced me to make a change.

As we entered the gym, the gym staff wore masks. My son and I had our masks on as well. When we got a tour of the facility, I saw the weight room was pretty big compared to Planet Fitness. Then there was another room for the fitness classes and another room for the cardio equipment. Compared to Planet Fitness, this was three to four times the size of what I was used.

In all of the rooms, people were working out. Most were probably around 20 to 40 years old. The place wasn’t packed and there were about 30 people in total.

Some people don’t wear their mask

The threat is the virus, not the people.

United Nations

As we worked out, we saw a few people exercising and not wearing their masks. I understand, gyms allow people to workout without wearing their masks. I don’t fully understand this reasoning.

Personally, I feel more comfortable wearing a mask. Even though someone may not show signs of being sick, they can still carry the COVID-19 virus in their system. I’ll take the chance and continue wearing my mask for my safety.

I encourage you that this is not the time to have conversations with people in the gym especially if they are not wearing a mask. They may appear healthy but they can still carry the virus.

Clean up after yourself

Cleanliness is a mindset — a positive habit that keeps the body, mind, environment happy, healthy, simple, neat, and delightful.

Amit Ray

The gym manager didn’t tell me to clean up after working out, but I understood that I should clean up the equipment I used. I think that’s a common courtesy to clean up since the virus is still running rampant. Plus you never know someone may be watching you and tell you to clean up after yourself.

There were cleaning material and paper towels along different sections of the gym. This only took a few minutes after each exercise to get the cleaning material and wipe down the equipment.

This keeps other people healthy and gives you the satisfaction you’re not spreading any germs whether you’re sick or not.

My thoughts

For a while, I was hesitant to go back to the gym. With all of the repeated information about COVID-19 on the news and social media, sometimes it makes you think the virus will kill anyone including you.

If you are feeling sick, I encourage you to stay home. You don’t need to spread what you have and get others sick.

We’re also getting ready for flu season as we head into October, and that is another issue we’ll all deal with shortly.

I honestly think as long as you wear a mask and keep your hands clean, you’ll be fine. The virus is similar to the flu and we take more precautions now than compared to the flu. Of course, this is because there isn’t a vaccine yet.

Schools are starting to partially open and limiting the number of students. Restaurants are also allowing people to eat inside as well. Limiting the number inside has not gone away completely since places have to limit overcrowding their business.

This gives me reason to believe that people want things to return back to normal. I think we’re slowly getting there and have to put the fear behind us. I think we have seen the worst case for the virus as numbers are decreasing.

Have you started to venture out more than you were a few months ago?

Tom Handy is a top Writing, Finance, Investment, and Bitcoin writer on Medium, and the father of two kids. He retired from the Army and sits on several non-profit boards. You can find him on Twitter @tomhandy1.