This past Wednesday morning, I found myself doing something I had never done before: waiting in line outside of a gym to work out.
As someone who has been able to work out from home throughout most of the pandemic, I’ve largely avoided much of the inconveniences caused by COVID-19 restrictions.
So, I was entirely unsuspecting when I walked up to the gym around 9:30 that morning and found a line of people outside the door.
It wasn’t until I got closer that I realized what was happening: the gym’s state-imposed 25 percent indoor capacity limit had been reached and I’d have to wait until enough people left before I could enter the building.
With the temperature hovering around the freezing mark and me dressed in lightweight gym attire, I briefly considered leaving, but figured that as long as everyone inside wasn’t training for a marathon, the line would probably move relatively quickly.
So, I took my place in the socially distanced line, utterly perplexed that so many people were at the gym at 9:30 a.m. on a weekday. What kind of flexible work schedules do these gym-goers have, I asked myself, completely disregarding the fact that I too, was able to exercise at a time when many people had already started their work days.
Ten long minutes later, I was finally inside and was miraculously able to secure a free exercise bike — I’ve abandoned the notion of running on a treadmill until I’m able to breathe freely without having to wear a mask — which is difficult even when there’s not people waiting outside since so many cardio machines are shut down for social distancing purposes.
Based on a conversation I overheard from a fellow gym-goer who was ahead of me in line, waiting outside the gym — at least in Salem (Lynn gyms are closed) — is not an uncommon occurrence, although he also seemed surprised there was a line so early in the morning.
Up until last week, getting a daily workout in was not much of a challenge for me. I transported an old exercise bike from my parents’ house in Connecticut to my apartment here back in April when businesses began to close down, and had been faithfully using it every day.
Unfortunately, nine months of daily use of a 12-year-old exercise bike that had largely been collecting dust in my parents’ basement for years was too much for the machine and it broke mid-workout early last week. A sad day, indeed.
Luckily, I had a gym membership to fall back on, but trying to adhere to shortened hours due to COVID-19 restrictions has been a bit of an adjustment after being able to work out at any time for much of the past year.
Since I’m working a later shift these days, my options are to take a chance that I’ll still be able to get to the gym before it closes after work, or start going in the mornings.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a morning person so it’s been a small miracle that I’ve been able to coerce myself to get out of bed before 7 for the past couple of mornings to fit in some exercise before work.
At least it’s not forever.
I took a financial hit and purchased a replacement for my formerly functioning piece of exercise equipment: a NordicTrack studio cycle bike, which had a much more reasonable delivery time than the 8-10 weeks that it would have taken for the popular Peloton to arrive at my apartment.
And as much as I loathe early mornings, I’m kind of liking the new routine. I might even keep it when I’m able to start exercising from home again.
President Joe Biden said in his inaugural speech Wednesday, “Don’t tell me things can’t change.”
Sure, he was referring to the country electing its first female vice president, and other sweeping changes seen in the country’s history as evidence that its current divisions can be healed, but I’ll also take it as a challenge to adapt to an earlier schedule.
After all, crazier things have happened.