Training Matters: Getting back in the gym

By ED STILES on July 10, 2020.

It’s good to be back, so many happy faces back on the fitness floor… at least there was Monday. However, Tuesday and Wednesday some of those same faces were wincing pretty good as they struggled to walk up the stairs.

It’s funny that after almost four months off and with limited access to resistance exercises many gym goers are so pumped to be back that they jump right back in head first. Regardless of the wincing, it is inspiring how many people have shared how much better they feel, how much they missed the working out, the camaraderie and opportunities of training in a gym. Truly makes the last three decades on the fitness floor and the last three weeks of scrambling to open seem worthwhile.

As other workout spaces continue to open in our fair city, I think it is vital to address a few basic gym etiquette standards that will help keep us open and go a long way towards everyone enjoying their workouts.

Please put your weights away. The increased demands on staff for disinfecting surfaces means they won’t be as available to pick up after you like mommy must have done. Sorry if that comes off as a little nasty but it is amazing how much time is spent in picking up after grown adults who should know better.

Many gyms have limited their locker usage so gym bags will be everywhere, please keep yours off to the side out of traffic flow lanes.

Do not work out right in front of the dumbbell racks as others want access too. Grab your weights then head to an open area so we are not tripping over each other.

The elephant in the room is COVID, so let’s address it. The ongoing explosion of cases in the states as they open points to how important it is to respect the few basic measures that will help prevent the spread. We have all heard and seen them but complacency seems to be settling in so please embrace the following:

1. If you are not feeling well stay home!

2. Maintain your physical distance, two metres in general and three metres when high-intensity huffing and puffing is going on.

3. Wash your hands, use hand sanitizers and wipe down all the equipment touch points you use with disinfectant provided.

4. Cough or sneeze away from others into your elbow and then sanitize

5. On that note, as airborne transmission research continues, it is pointing more and more to the benefits of masking up especially when physical distances can’t be maintained, please respect the rights of others who choose to mask as they are actually protecting you from their spit/moist talking.

There you go, some basic, easy practices to put in place so we can keep enjoying all the great benefits that working out gives us. Happy to be back let’s keep it that way.

Ed Stiles BPE, Certified Exercise Physiologist is a member of the Alberta Sport Development Centre’s Performance Enhancement Team and is the Fitness Coordinator at the Family Leisure Centre he can be reached via e-mail at asdc@mhc.ab.ca, or at ed1sti@medicinehat.ca. If you are looking for an informative yet lighthearted Health and Wellness Podcast to replace your favorite dental operation give Stiles and Giles a listen. (On Spotify and Apple).

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