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Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

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Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#311
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can maintain a very healthy body using only body weight exercises, with practically no weights at all from the comfort of your home. With youtube and the like, you have access to near infinite workouts as well. Not having access to a gym is not a sufficient reason to be out of shape.

Once you start training weighted exercises it's very difficult to get similar workouts with bodyweight. If I'm squatting 250lb it's going to be tough to simulate that with my bodyweight and I'm not likely to be able to load the reps the same way.

You can work on your form, by slowing down the squat, using whatever weights you do have on hand (a broom handle or "yoke" with 5 gallon buckets filled with water/sand), dumbbells, kettle bells or weighted vest. You can also work on your fast twitch muscles and explosivity by jumping from a squat. Doing squats with a weight in only one hand also improves your core technique. Now is a great time to work on your neuromuscular fitness which will improve your lifts tremendously.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what if the polices were wrong? I have looked at the data and came to the conclusion that the danger from covid is tiny (to see how low - check qatar - probably the country with most extensive testing) and preventing is totally not worth it the sacrifices and damage to society. Qatar has 44000 cases per 1m pop and 69 deaths per 1m. That is not much higher than flu.

In the US, there's been 172k death in half a year for Covid. And if using the worst case data for flu season, it's 61k per year. So it's looking like for a full year, it'll be 344k death for Covid versus 61k death for the flu. That makes Covid 5.6 times more deadly than the flu. But, the Covid numbers here are from a complete lockdown, where people are social distancing, wearing masks, schools are closed, everyone is…

You can't just compare absolute death totals like that. We have a vaccine for the flu which reduces the infection rate. What if the reason COVID-19 has 5.6 times more deaths is because it has 5.6 times more infections.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#314

There is a crossfit gym that I pass by every morning on the way to work. It is full, and never stopped during this pandemic. Even at 7AM, it is full of patrons. I would call the "proper authorities", but since there is a State Police car parked outside every morning, and he is in there working out, just like before the pandemic, I doubt calling anyone would do anything. Adding to the post, I read it earlier... it is…

>>>I would call the "proper authorities"

Why? What harm is going on here? If you don’t like it, don’t participate. Leave us alone, narc.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#315

Did the "shutdown normal gym" mean that patrons would be violating whatever policies forced the gym to shutdown in the first place? If so, that really bothers me. Any excess contagion would endanger everyone, not just the gym users. Please consider reporting the details to the appropriate authorities. EDIT: If someone is inclined to downvote this comment, I'd be very grateful for a clarification why (comment or DM).…

yes, they said they were now a private club.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#316
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you know Congress could spend some money as the fed chairman has called for

Where is that money going to come from, if we've destroyed the engine of the economy? Small business is the engine of the economy, and since they can't afford FAANG's Irish Double Dutch sandwich tax dodges, they actually pay most of the taxes. With small businesses and their employees gone and not paying taxes, there is quite simply no money to spend. History shows that you can only print your way out of such a situa…

> Small business is the engine of the economy

For context, from the SBA’s advocacy page (2019):

“ U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of the goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States. Across the 16 years from 1998 to 2014, the small business share of GDP has fallen from 48.0 percent to 43.5 percent. Over the same period, the amount of small business GDP has grown by about 25 percent in real terms, or 1.4 percent annually. However, real GDP for large businesses has grown faster, at 2.5 percent annually.”

I have not critically considered whether or not these statistics are the best indicator of the most effective contribution to the economy (or society).

https://advocacy.sba.gov/2019/01/30/small-businesses-generat...

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#317

There is a crossfit gym that I pass by every morning on the way to work. It is full, and never stopped during this pandemic. Even at 7AM, it is full of patrons. I would call the "proper authorities", but since there is a State Police car parked outside every morning, and he is in there working out, just like before the pandemic, I doubt calling anyone would do anything. Adding to the post, I read it earlier... it is…

Introverts vs extroverts. Humans are social animals. Socialization is a basic human need. It is much harder for some people to stay inside and not socialize than others. We are now on month 7 of being told to not socialize or see or do anything. I continue to obey the orders, but I totally get why some people are starting to crack.

> We are now on month 7 of being told to not socialize or see or do anything.

What? That's a pretty exaggerated misrepresentation of what's actually being recommended. You can socialize and see or do plenty while still obeying the recommendations. For instance, my elderly neighbors regularly socialize with others -- they just put chairs out on the driveway or patio and maintain two or three times the distance as they would before the pandemic.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Introverts vs extroverts. Humans are social animals. Socialization is a basic human need. It is much harder for some people to stay inside and not socialize than others. We are now on month 7 of being told to not socialize or see or do anything. I continue to obey the orders, but I totally get why some people are starting to crack.

> We are now on month 7 of being told to not socialize... "Keep your distance, wear a mask, and stick to small groups" is not the same as "do not socialize".

I think you're both kind of right.

There are ads on pretty much every medium that say "Stay Home", which is not at all what you're describing. To say "nobody is saying do not socialize" is untrue, but to say "We're not allowed to socialize" is also untrue.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#319

There is a crossfit gym that I pass by every morning on the way to work. It is full, and never stopped during this pandemic. Even at 7AM, it is full of patrons. I would call the "proper authorities", but since there is a State Police car parked outside every morning, and he is in there working out, just like before the pandemic, I doubt calling anyone would do anything. Adding to the post, I read it earlier... it is…

Introverts vs extroverts. Humans are social animals. Socialization is a basic human need. It is much harder for some people to stay inside and not socialize than others. We are now on month 7 of being told to not socialize or see or do anything. I continue to obey the orders, but I totally get why some people are starting to crack.

That has nothing to do with lifting weights and availability to lifting.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#320
post #203

This seems incredibly dangerous. Are the speakeasy gyms requiring negative COVID tests? Are they doing temperature screenings upon entry? How diligently are they sanitizing equipment? How well ventilated are these various areas? Why are people ignoring all of these risks, what kind of threat model do they have?

By my rough calculations, for a 35M, going to the gym during Covid for an hour a day, for 160 straight days (so 6.67 days of gym time), can be expected to cut one's life expectancy by about 10 days. Odds of dying this year: 0.002138 [1]. Odds of dying this year if they get Covid: 0.00271 (~n*1.3) [2] Odds of contracting Covid over 160 days if going to gym: 60% Odds of contracting Covid if not going to Gym: 43% (assum…

Aren't the cofactors for COVID death highly unusual for gym exercisers? High BMI, low cardio health stats, diabetes, high blood pressure... Going to the gym is my only prevention for those cofactors...

Looking at the stats I'm more likely to spread the disease if I go to the gym, but much less likely to personally die of the disease if I stay healthy by going to the gym.

Complicating the situation is due to work and food delivery situation, I can't actually spread the disease to anyone at risk because they just aren't in my life.

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