Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition • Hacker News Board

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#331

Post by dredmorbius » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:11 PM UTC

tengbretson wrote: post #289

reaperducer wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since each person's conception of "essential" is different There was someone on WGN-TV a few weeks ago lamenting that it was insulting for all of the hairdressers and manicurists and yoga instructors to be called "non-essential." I thought it was more insulting for that person to value the work of hairdressers and manicurists and yoga instructors on an equal basis with firefighters, doctors, paramedics, and actual re…

If the income from teaching yoga is what feeds and shelters you then yes, teaching yoga is essential.

Essential services are essential to others.

Income is trivially addressed, given political will.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#332

Post by andrelayer » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:12 PM UTC

I think a lot of people in this discussion are pitting the argument at people prioritizing their individual choices over the collective health of the community. I think that is a very singular framing from one side. A lot of people I know just believe that the virus itself is not as deadly as the reaction warrants. The infectious mortality rate of Covid is at best twice that of the normal flu, which isn't nothing and warrants action but probably not 40M people unemployed and possible national depression. The fact is if your under 30 you have a better chance of being hit by lightning then dying of Covid. It's pretty rational for someone to understand that and make personal choices without feeling like they're causing real danger to the community.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#333

Post by ISL » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:12 PM UTC

readingnews wrote: post #211

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…

Depending on the state, calling sufficiently-far up the chain of command may do something.

The officer's immediate superior may be inclined to cut the officer some slack, but the buck stops with the person charged with ensuring that the pandemic is effectively managed.

The buck stops with all of us. We either beat this thing together or it keeps killing our relatives. Those are the only options. Pick one.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#334

Post by ramoz » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:12 PM UTC

ehnto wrote: post #273

readingnews wrote: post #211

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…

Let me preface: I've abstained from going to the gym since we went into lockdown, and even now that we are out of it here. I am looking into equipment at home, and I can at least keep my fitness, if not my strength, by going mountain biking. That said, there are many types of training you can't do without the right equipment, so it's at least a bit more than just wanting to be with others. Strength training/powerlift…

Im an introvert, Ive abstained. Lost a ton of strength and weight. And im over it. I still have to shop groceries. I still need to lift weights.

Joined my local gym. It's packed everyday.

This is not a social injustice. I want to lift. Not chat over sweat.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#335

Post by guerrilla » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:12 PM UTC

odnorazovyj wrote: post #312

Anyone dedicated enough to be still going to the gym is going to be healthy enough that they will have no problem with the coronavirus. The obese, diabetic etc will take any excuse to skip gym.

You must have forgotten that they're spreading it to everyone and thus indirectly killing people.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#336

Post by polote » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

esalman wrote: post #293

polote wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it amazing we can not see short term sacrifice for long term gain. Maybe because nobody successfully proved to these people (me included) that this sacrifice is useful. You can't tell to people, you have no risk of dying (0.5% death rate for population, much much lower for healthy and young people), people who are at risk of dying can protect themselves even around sick people (wearing a mask, staying at hom…

US didn't have a federal strategy to deal with the pandemic. They shot at their own foot and didn't give themselves a chance to be successful. The rest of the (developed, and many underdeveloped) world dealt with it and are moving on. I'm watching Champions league finals on TV and Wuhan pool party clips on twitter, thinking wtf went wrong here.

> The rest of the (developed, and many underdeveloped) world dealt with it and are moving on.

I'm not really sure on that, lets take greece, which was praised for their strategy (I was in greece during the lockdown). They didnt have a strategy, they just locked down before there was an outbreak and blocked flights, so no spread. Now they have an outbreak because they stopped all there restrictions. They were just lucky

Look at New Zealand, their strategy is to prevent anyone to enter the country with covid, well that works as long as not a log of people fly to NZ. Now that flights have restarted, they have like 3 cases so they lockdown the entire city, well, doesnt seem very smart in my opinion.

The only countries which are doing well, are the Asian countries, China (can't really trust their figure), Taiwan, south korea same as NZ, but restricting all freedom of citizens.

The smartest country of all, is Sweden, never locked down, explained to citizen the situation. Managed to get the situation under control without any lockdown, and probably will reach herd immunity before anyone else. Time will tell this is too soon to judge, but they seem well positioned for winning

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#337

Post by eanzenberg » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

It’s not even a secret. Outside, in Lake Merritt are roughly 50 people daily working out with weights in the grass. No distancing. No masks. No fuss. No china flu. No china cold.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#338

Post by ativzzz » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

LegitShady wrote: post #122

ativzzz wrote: 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.

Yea the workouts obviously won't be similar because you're not going to simulate that weight properly without a squat rack, but there are plenty of workouts you can do that will have similar positive effects on your body mechanics.

The exceptions are sport specific exercises which require certain movements that may require certain equipment.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#339

Post by zelly » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

abeppu wrote: post #25

mbosch wrote: post #5

I started toying around with the idea of building something out for a gym sharing idea. https://gymlender.com

Related, I really don't understand why gyms in my city haven't turned to renting out their equipment. I know people that bought dumbbells, over paid, and picked from really limited inventory. Meanwhile, the gym a block away has a giant pile of weights not being used, and has basically no revenue right now.

They won't make enough on rentals to break even on the amount that people steal and never return. A single 45 lb plate costs $60-$100 with covid pricing.

Re: Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

#340

Post by dopylitty » Wed, Aug 19, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

vharuck wrote: post #128

Enginerrrd wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd guess the threat model is something like: relatively low local disease prevalence rate, the likelihood that infected people show up to workout is lower than other activities like office-work, and relatively low likelihood of personal adverse outcomes in someone healthy enough to be going to an underground gym. Further, there are major benefits to psychological state, social/emotional state, mental acuity, health,…

>I'd love to see you try and add all that up in micromorts of personal risk and show me that it's actually a bad rational decision. On an individual level, I have no doubt you're right. The health benefits from exercise would definitely outweigh the risk of COVID-19 (assuming the individual's not over 65 or has a majorly risky health condition). But this is a pandemic, so decisions are made on the community level. Th…

It's not true to say that Covid is only risky for the elderly or folks with pre-existing conditions. Many many young people have been hospitalized and even those who caught the disease and were not hospitalized are finding they have long term health impacts such as difficulty breathing, strokes, and heart problems that can lead to sudden death.

It's extremely dangerous to give people the impression that the disease is only serious for those over 65 or with pre-existing conditions. That sort of impression is why people are engaging in risky behavior such as going to gyms.