5 votes

How fitness will change forever

5 comments

  1. [5]
    UniquelyGeneric
    Link
    While most of the article focuses on the effects of quarantine and coronavirus precautions are moving gyms to the home, I did think this last reflection on how everyone's lives has changed was...

    While most of the article focuses on the effects of quarantine and coronavirus precautions are moving gyms to the home, I did think this last reflection on how everyone's lives has changed was well said:

    One of the quieter casualties of these pandemic months is dedicated space. Hospitals, grocery stores, and warehouses have held on to clear functions, but for everything else, there’s your apartment. Confinement leads to a kind of versatility; it means we figure out how to use the same room to work and raise kids and play and sleep, the same ingredients to make three dinners in a row, the same video software to conduct every kind of social exchange. It also means that the functions of office and restaurant and church and beach and bar hover over the same sad little seafoam Ikea carpet, mirrored in the same screen, shadowed by the same cool plant.

    5 votes
    1. DrStone
      Link Parent
      Before the pandemic, articles were being written lamenting the lack of a "Third Place" in most people's lives and the effects that has on mental health. Now, most people don't even have a "Second...

      Before the pandemic, articles were being written lamenting the lack of a "Third Place" in most people's lives and the effects that has on mental health. Now, most people don't even have a "Second Place".

      We've been fortunate where I live that while most places were closed and local travel restricted, one of the few allowed reasons to go outside is to exercise (specifically running and biking) at open alone at open-air parks as long as it's within short walking distance of your home and you don't loiter before or after. Sure, it was like everyone wanted to become a marathon runner the first few weeks since it was the only thing to do, and there's some grey area for enforcement, but I think it was a smart move overall. It helps people stay a bit sane compared to locking themselves inside almost 24/7, keep their baseline health up (and for some, improve), and delay quarantine-fatigue that could lead to more risk taking.

      7 votes
    2. krg
      Link Parent
      poor people have figured this out a long time ago. and this thing starts at over $2000. lamentations of the upper-middle class.

      we figure out how to use the same room to work and raise kids and play and sleep, the same ingredients to make three dinners in a row,

      poor people have figured this out a long time ago.

      Robin’s home is also, at the moment, a television studio that is broadcasting to a Peloton bike in my home. I ordered the device in March, when weeks of anxiety annealed into American lockdown.

      and this thing starts at over $2000.

      lamentations of the upper-middle class.

      7 votes
    3. [2]
      unknown user
      Link Parent
      I find these kinds of notions overblowing, given the amount of TNT they're being given to work with. "How Grocery Shopping is Changing Forever"... Self-isolation is temporary, isn't it? COVID-19...

      I find these kinds of notions overblowing, given the amount of TNT they're being given to work with.

      "How Grocery Shopping is Changing Forever"... Self-isolation is temporary, isn't it? COVID-19 will blow over eventually. Sure, some businesses will go under as a result of a sudden loss of customers, others will arise... But massive changes in lifestyle based on a temporary condition, sudden and harsh though it may be?

      If this is remotely true, I must be out of the loop in a way that makes me want to read up.

      2 votes
      1. DrStone
        Link Parent
        I think the uncertainty of how long these various social and physical distancing measures are going to be in place is helping fuel some of these articles. Near-complete isolation may lift...

        I think the uncertainty of how long these various social and physical distancing measures are going to be in place is helping fuel some of these articles. Near-complete isolation may lift relatively soon, but the less "essential" a service, the longer it'll be to get back to normal. Some are speculated not to reopen / be allowed until the pandemic is more or less over (whether that's a vaccine, herd immunity, or something else). Grocery shopping is high on the essentials list, so it is/will be one of the first things to be reopened and grocery-as-a-service isn't a good enough experience to change lives, definitely not in the time frame here. Gyms, on the other hand, are low on the essential list and high on the risk list, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're not fully reopened for a year or more. That's a long time for people to find more permanent alternatives that work for them, including purchasing home gym equipment.

        3 votes