Coronavirus – How Safe is Fitness Exercise?
The past year has been confusing for all the visitors to the fitness centers. In early March, gyms and fitness centers were instructed to close their doors as one of the measures to combat the then-new Coronavirus. Home online training has become the norm and everyday. Then, the end of June was marked by the reopening of all fitness and sports facilities, of course under strictly regulated conditions.
Fitness and coronavirus – what do the statistics say?
After the opening of the gyms in England, a research was conducted which covered more than 1300 gyms. In the first three weeks of reopening (July 25 to August 16), there were more than eight million visits to fitness centers. From the data, only 17 people who visited gyms in England were tested positive for covid-19, resulting in 0.020 cases per 10,000 visits.
On the other hand, according to the report of the Public Health Surveillance in England, in the period from 19 to 25 October, 107,046 people were registered who were positive for coronavirus.
Of these, 33,233 reported contact with other persons in the previous seven days. 930 people said they were in the gym – that is 2.8% of all reported locations. It is not known if they were exposed to the coronavirus in the gym – it is only known that they visited the gym.
According to these data, gyms are mentioned in 2.8% of cases, while supermarkets are present in 11.2%, and pubs and bars in 7.4% of the total number of visited locations.
In the absence of such statistics in our country, we could only conclude what exactly happened in our fitness center:
In October, out of a total of 6,066 visits and a total of 356 active membership fees, 4 clients reported being positive for covid. This is 1.12% of the total number of members, without any possibility of transmission between them, given that each of them came in a different term, and some in a different period.
According to the above, adhering to the protocol is essential – adhering to the terms, using your own towel, maintaining a decent physical distance, disinfecting equipment before and after each use and how they contribute to staying physically active with a minimal likelihood of infection or expose someone else if we carry the virus.
When is the best time to go back to the gym after a coronavirus?
Make sure you are completely better.
The longer and more serious your coronavirus experience, the longer it will take you to recover and return to exercise. It is important to monitor your condition and not have high expectations of yourself.
Start slowly
Use your reason. Start with short, low-intensity workouts. Depending on how you feel, gradually increase the intensity and duration of the training.
Listen to your body
If you start to feel bad again or feel completely incapable of the activity you are doing, then just take a step back and try again with something easier when you feel the opportunity to do so.
Rest and recover
Your body has been engaged in fighting a very serious virus. If, in addition to this, you additionally engage your body and with exercise you can experience side effects. Therefore, it is a good idea to allow yourself extra sleep and rest to get your body back to normal.
Stay positive
Slow down. At first you may feel like you are starting to exercise again, but you will be surprised at how quickly you regain your physical fitness. Remember that your activity will help you keep your immunity in good shape for future infections.
