HOUSTON – On the treadmill, the weight bench, or in a class, this is one place that a lot of people have missed.
“I was excited. I was like, ‘Let me in! I’m ready!' I was ready to go!” said one gym-goer.
But what should you watch out for when you take your workout from the street to the gym?
For starters, make sure you give yourself plenty of space and machines have been moved apart. Texas guidelines suggest one way to do that is for every other machine to be powered off to give space.
“I would argue even more than six feet, maybe 10 feet or so, because the big problem is when you’re breathing hard and panting and at the gym, you’re actually spreading more of the virus than if you’re sitting and not exerting yourself,” said Purvi Parikh, MD, of the Immunologist, Allergy and Asthma Network.
With that in mind, he said masks are a must. Make sure machines have disinfectant nearby or bring your own wipes. Finally, avoid the locker room showers which Texas has recommended to close to the public anyway.
The Texas Medical Association ranks how safe places are on a 1-10 chart with one being pretty low risk and ten being higher risk. They say gyms are an eight.