Thoughts about going to the gym and COVID exposure

I go to a gym 3-5 days a week. Some people are still wearing a mask at the gym. mostly they are not. I quit going to the gym at the start of the pandemic and rejoined several years later. At first I found only equipment away from others, avoiding having too many people around. One does get used to wearing a mask. I am from the Bay Area of Cal. We had some of the strictest protocols. I wasn't able to work for 9 months. When my line of work was able to restart I wore a mask. I must have worn it for a year. I was one of the last to take it off. My husband who was retired but had many health issues and a compromised immune system so I was very careful. You do get used to wearing a mask. One does build up a tolerance for its limitations. What kind of exercises do you do? How is the gym set up? Do you already have a gym in mind? I am 71 with mild copd. I run every morning outside [at 5:30 am] when the air is fresh and clean, no else is usually out. I then go to the gym to do weights. At first I just started slowly, getting used to where everything was and building up muscle. As my tolerance and comfort level increased, so did the length of time I'm there. I am never there more than an hour. More like 45 min. I do not do classes. I go early [ for one reason I would lose momentum if I just didn't get it done], not as many people there, those that are often need to get to jobs so aren't just idle but serious about their workout. It is fairly easy to avoid groups of people. If you are wanting support and structure are you looking at classes? Most gyms have private trainers. That may be the way for you to go until you are comfortable with your surroundings.

@crabby55 thank you for your feedback; you've given me a lot to think about from your description of how you do things and how you have adapted to conditions over time. I am thinking of a trainer because when I tried group classes several years ago there was very little that I could do till I had problems with shortness of breath. I do walk everyday early as you do; because I live in Texas if I don't walk early the heat and humidity are simply unbearable. But I love the early morning anyway so I'm glad I have to do it that way! I'm still not sure what to do about masking but I have been doing it pretty religiously since the pandemic in public places with lots of people. I may try one of the k95 masks that's kind of duck billed because they seem easier to breathe with..

I also had to make the decision about a gym.
I had been going to gyms for many years. Then the pandemic hit and I heard someone in my class say they didn't intend to get vaccinated, and I knew it was time to leave. I have European friends and they warned me about how bad it was in Europe and told me to be careful. I was distancing before it was required here. In fact, I asked my doctor why no distancing!
Then my lung problems started (lung cancer and pulmonary fibrosis). I am now on supplemental oxygen for exertion and sleep with total lung capacity of 55% and DLCO 43%. I am vaccinated for everything (shingles, flu, Covid, RSV, pneumonia)
There is no way I can risk going to a gym where everyone is huffing and puffing and many people don't care or believe medicine. If I catch something, the consequences could be very serious because I have no lung reserve. I miss the ability to socialize. Fortunately, there is a small gym in my building for residents and 80% of the time there is no one there so I can exercise on equipment all alone....and I can take my stable oxygen concentrator there easily and am able to do more than just on my portable. Also my pulmonologist said I cannot snorkel and can only swim in shallow water gently... darn
I also didn't want to go to a hair salon. I found a great hair stylist who shares a studio with a colleague and gives me appointments when she is all alone...really helps. My family is very good about people not coming to family gatherings if they are sick. There are several vulnerable people in the family so that is really nice.

I'm sorry you've had to curtail some of your most enjoyed activities -- I share your distress as I'm doing/have done some similar things that I didn't want to do. It is continually discouraging to see that people don't consider masking even in really obviously needed contexts -- like airplanes. I read a comment recently somewhere within which an MD was chastising airplane passengers for wearing masks, calling them 'frightened' and so on. They might be frightened -- which is realistic, anyway -- but they're also exhibiting some level of concern for other people. I went to the Y yesterday which is really good in my area and signed up for an intro pkg of 3 personal training sessions. These will be out of the mainstream of activities at the gym; I'll see how it goes. I really need exercise, not only for the obvious physical reasons, but for my mental:emotional wellbeing, so I'm going to keep trying to work around things as necessary. Thank you for sharing your struggles. And, congratulations on continuing to work with what you have creatively and consistently!!

Better than ymca. Ask your pulmonologist about pulmonary rehab. Medicare with pay for 36 sessions and probably 72. I’m in cardiac rehab on my 151 session. Good luck.

I live in San Antonio TX and apparently we have maybe 1 pulmonary rehab which my Dr. didn't recommend. Since my 'level' of severity is moderate I also believe I'm ineligible for it -- or so I was told somewhere (can't remember). That would have been my 1st preference.

@mersterling In a city as large as San Antonio, I can't believe that there's only one pulmo. rehab program. I suspect that you could google it. But... there are scads of pulmonary rehab routines online, free. I'm fortunate to be able to access through V.A., a remote program, I monitor myself daily, meet with my "coach" weekly, it's 12 weeks, well worth the effort - besides the exercises and health monitoring, it instills a sense of self-discipline which we might find otherwise lacking.

@capnjack I assume your program is through the Veteran's Administration? I wonder if there is a similar thing for non-veterans, in particular, with a 'coach'... I'll do some looking around online. I'd hope to find something that isn't AI in terms of coaching; in my experience AI tends to be very error-prone among other negative issues.

@mersterling Yes, it's through the Veterans' Administration, and absolutely not AI. The coach I meet with weekly in a zoom chat is someone I've personally met, eye-to-eye, at the beginning of the course. I found this one online to be very helpful, again, for sure not AI. https://www.youtube.com/watch

@tjphillipp You must have a great pulmonary rehab facility in your town. I went for 13 sessions and quit. I hated it! Monitoring of O2 was not happening while exercising. The respiratory therapist said I wasn’t pushing myself hard enough. (I’m on 4L of oxygen 24/7) with severe emphysema) I had to go once a week to the education part of the rehab. That was horribly boring. The day I quit, I told the gal in charge, “I don’t have the time to come in here and watch a video of pulmonary rehab.” The video was a bunch of old people doing the exact same machines and exercises we were doing in our class. What was the sense of watching that? It was like sitting back and watching our class. Stupid. I am very active and I use a walking pad at home. I cannot stand the heat and humidity during our PA summers. Anyway, breathe easy and continued luck to you!