With the new COVID-19 measures mandating only vaccinated people entry, a gym may be one of the safest places to be at the moment in Guyana.
One can say with confidence that going to the gym will be a much safer exercise than going to a supermarket, a store, using public transportation or even attending places of worship, since all occupants of the gym are now required to show proof of vaccination with their ID card.
Gyms have for years been portrayed as hot zones for infectious pathogens and as a result have doubled down on sanitizing to remove that image.
It means they are relatively well positioned to do all that must be done to keep COVID-19 at bay.
Gyms actually have advantages over other places where people gather or shop, as is well known, gym goers tend to be more health-conscious than, say, the person in the market who inspects a dozen pieces of fruit before selecting one. For the most part, gym goers wash their hands, use sanitizers and wipe down the equipment they have used when they are finished. Because gyms have so much glass and chrome and because those surfaces look terrible when they are dirty or smudged, most facilities tend to have them kept spotless. Today’s selling point for a gym though, is no longer just about spotless equipment, but about sanitized equipment. Instead of cleaning once or twice a day, gym goers and/or staff now clean after every workout.
Quite a lot of my colleagues have hesitated about returning to the gym since they were given the greenlight to reopen last November. Perhaps now knowing that everyone working out has at least taken one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine will instill a bit more confidence in their return to the gym where occupants still are required to wear masks while exercising.
Not only will it be good for your mental health (this aspect of the gym is massively understated), but like I said before, it would be much safer than a bar or the market.
Speaking of mental health, regular exercise has been identified as a protective mechanism to prevent the onset of depressive disorders. One of the original studies conducted over an 18-year period, found that those who exercised regularly were at lower risk of developing a depressive disorder than those who didn’t exercise or ceased exercising after a period of time. In respect to assisting the management of depression, a meta-analysis of clinical trials discovered that with comparison to no treatment, exercise reduced depression equally as well as cognitive therapy and is therefore considered an established treatment for depression. It is typically evaluated as an adjunctive treatment to pharmacotherapy or psychological therapy.
Exercise has also been shown to improve stress management, general well-being and self-esteem. It is recommended that exercise dose should meet minimum public health guidelines for maintaining health. It has been suggested that higher doses may have stronger effects on mental health, but may be more difficult to implement in practice. Let’s get back to the gym, not only for our physical health, but mental health as well. It is much safer now.
