We had that wear a mask unless you are exerting yourself rule for awhile. I would lift weights when it was very empty to avoid other people and I would wear a mask. When the gym first reopened, however, I noticed people were very careful, including people running on the treadmill who were wearing masks. Yuck. I ran outside instead. Now I see no masks on people actively exercising and few masks on people moving between pieces of equipment. Are people vaccinated? For this place, likely. It is an older crowd and the gym sponsored a vax site. I am on the verge of running indoors myself—I am vaccinated so I could.
We have been swimming outside for about a year fwiw. The gym closed down completely, then slowly bits reopened, outdoor pool and tennis courts first. At first we had to sign up to swim ahead of time, one person per lane, no visiting on the deck, no locker room access. Then we were two/lane, but on opposite ends of the lane. I hear normalcy is right around the corner. We will be able to just show up and sort ourselves out.
No one wears a mask at “my” gym. I’m vaccinated and most everyone I’ve talked to is also vaccinated as well.
The gym is a large industrial space with a large roll-up door, which is almost always open, in the same style more or less as this pic that I found on the Internet:
And the membership is limited and at it’s busiest time may have 10 +/- members working out. I usually locate myself away from others anyway. We also have air sucking fans in the ceiling which exhausts the air inside.
For a while after the club re-opened, yes, masks were worn while playing. Of course almost everyone realizing that this was ridiculous after we were vaccinated, just wore them around our chins.
Everyone in my gym just south of San Francisco wears masks. I’m pretty sure once June 15 hits, which is when the state ends its mask mandates, that will end and most people in the gym will stop wearing them. I’m certainly taking mine off. The owner is somewhat right-wing, and didn’t make people wear masks until the county threatened him.
I was on a road trip through Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota a couple weeks ago. About 10% of the people wore masks outside, and maybe 1/3 wore masks inside. Here in the SF Bay Area, about 90% of people still wear masks outside even though they aren’t required to, while everyone wears masks inside.
We ended up suspending our membership for 3 months as we didn’t feel comfortable with the enforcement of the mask policy. Masks were supposed to be worn when not exercising and social distancing of ten feet was to be maintained. People wore their masks into the facility but then would roam freely among the equipment, not maintaining distancing. Our gym then opened private pods that could be reserved and I used those for several months until I was fully vaccinated. I am still not completely comfortable attending group fitness as the ventilation is not as good as the rest of the gym. Masks are no longer required in Virginia, although the employees at the gym still wear them. I suspect that is because they are employed by the hospital system. I keep reminding myself that the unvaccinated have more to fear from each other than I from them. I’m glad to go back as I have missed it.
I was thinking about joining a gym recently, but decided that walking outdoors and lifting at home would suffice for now. In my area, the numbers are amazing - based on mask-wearing alone, nearly 100 percent of residents are fully vaccinated. According to the local health department, only 40 percent are.
There are still those wearing masks at the stores, including myself. Sometimes even younger people - one young guy apologized for coming into my personal space accidentally. So there are people out there who are still wearing them and social distancing when possible, even when fully vaccinated such as myself.
Masks still required by law here, at least for another week, and compliance at the gym is pretty good. I think everyone has just gotten used to wearing masks indoors, and by now everyone has figured out how to exercise with the mask on. I assume the masks will be gone in a couple of weeks.
We have a very high vaccination rate locally, over 85%, so I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal going forward.
