If you live in one of the more hardcore lockdown states in USA you probably don't have access to a gym anyway but one thing always happens in every part of the States that I have ever lived in and that is in November the gyms will do some sort of Christmas promotion that gets a bunch of people to buy gift memberships for friends or family or maybe themselves (I can't think of a more insulting gift to possibly give someone) and then in mid-December these promotions completely disappear in preparation for the inevitable "new year, new me" crowd that invariably gives up a few weeks into the month of Jan.
We haven't even made it a full week into 2021 and my local gym has brought the promotions back out. I wouldn't say it is a tremendous deal but it is still a bit cheaper than before. I am guessing this is because they didn't sell as many memberships as they had hoped and honestly, I am surprised that a lot of them are still open since they seem to be a target any time the positive numbers go even slightly up.
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completely absurd, but I guess, if it gets the job done
In many places the gyms are back open but only with quite extreme restrictions. In my gym, you have to wear a mask at all times, you have to sanitize your hands every time you change equipment, only a certain amount of people are allowed in at a time and I do not know what this number is but 2 days in a row I had to wait in the lobby - spaced apart of course - while we waited for our turn to get in. It's like waiting for your number at a deli counter.
Although this is not the case in my gym, many that I have heard of are requiring surgical gloves as well which is a completely absurd requirement because if you lift anything of substance they are going to break almost immediately. There are bottles of sanitizer all over the place and "enforcers" are wandering the weight stacks constantly.
In my gym, every other cardio machine is not in use and honestly, since I really don't like running directly next to a stranger this is just fine with me.
The reason why none of these pictures aren't my own is because the gym does not allow the taking of photos of any sort while in the center and I presume this is because even though they are really going out of their way to comply there is always going to be a Karen out there that has nothing better to do than to try to screw up everyone else's good time - or get in the way of their fitness goals that she (or he) is too lazy to pursue on their own.
After you use any piece of machinery you are supposed to thoroughly spray it down and wipe it with a one time cloth and this is when the overseer comes along and pays very close attention to you. They are friendly about it but they are also very strict and I can completely understand why. These businesses are likely struggling just as badly if not worse than other industries and this person will not get a salary if they have to close again.
So for now working out in a gym kind of sucks because of all the restrictions and it takes a lot longer to get things done with all the measures in place but if this is what it takes in order for me to continue my weight training I will happily comply. I do look forward to the day when this is all behind us though because going to the gym just seems other-worldly at the moment. I reckon we are a few steps away from needing to wear full hazmat suits in order to lift weights.