The Advantages of Being Orange

[EverHopeful]

On Monday, the area where I live, work, and go to the gym was designated an orange zone, and one of the restrictions imposed was that gyms must close.  When gyms closed in March, I think I did a pretty good job with adapting to a home workout routine, and I kept at it for the 5 months that gyms were closed.  I was so happy when they re-opened in August, and it felt so good just to be able to use some of those machines again.  How I had missed them!

Rather than grumbling about something I have no control over, I am going to get back to my home workout schedule, and — in the spirit of Thanksgiving — I decided to enumerate some of the advantages that there are to working out at home. 
 

1.   Complete control of the music playing in the home gym.  If I want to listen to Christmas music, AND I MIGHT, by golly, by holly, this gym will be blasting Christmas music. 

2.   No mask requirement.   I never found this restriction too onerous, but twice I had to get in my car and go back home to pick up the mask I had forgotten.  Never an issue in the home gym!

3.   Don’t have to shovel snow to get to the gym, if there’s bad weather.   I don’t have to put on boots, a heavy coat, anything.  I can just enjoy the beauty of the snow while I work out inside.  And listen to Christmas music. 

4.   No need to wipe down equipment with sanitizing wipes before and after use.  And if anyone reports me to the manager of the home gym, he will probably just turn up the Christmas music and ignore them.  
 

5.   No lines at any of the equipment.  Sure, I may have to push my cat off the flat bench from time to time, but it’s so much better than eying someone from across the gym who is using the one piece of equipment I desperately want to use.  
 

6.    No worries about social distancing   I usually went to my gym at 5 am because that’s when it was quietest.   A lot of the time, would be the only one there then.   In the home gym, I can work out at 4 pm and I will still be the only one there.   I’m doing my part, Dr. Fauci.

 

7.    No problems trying to locate the set of dumbbells I need.  As much as I love my gym, it seems as though some of the people who work out there have no idea that it’s actually a good idea to re-rack each dumbbell next to its respective mate, and to arrange these in sequence in the racks.  This is not an issue in the home gym!   There are not that many dumbbells to begin with, and it’s as if the person who works out here has a mild case of OCD, because they are always in the exact same place. 
 

8.   I can work out without a shirt if I want.  The home gym is the ultimate No Judgement Zone.  I can wear anything I want.  Or not wear anything I want. 
 

9.   No difficult choices.  At the gym I would go to, I would sometimes have to think.  Which bar to use?  Which grip?  Which leg extension machine?  At the home gym, it’s one size fits all.   Or as Mom would say, “You’ll eat what I put on your plate, and you’ll like it.”   Not having to choose can be so liberating.  
 

10.   I can develop an increased appreciation for my non-home gym, so that when it DOES re-open, I don’t take for granted any moment I have the chance to work out there, I don’t forget to treasure every wonderful machine and piece of equipment the owner has assembled there, I don’t fail to show my gratitude for every masked “Good morning” greeting and head nod from a fellow morning person.  It’s a gift having the opportunity to work out there, and not being able to have it for a brief bit will only make it more precious.  

 

Rochester friends, I wish you well in this second closing.  Keep up your hearts and your heads and do the best you can, and I will see you all on the other side!

— EverHopeful