Social distancing at the Gym

People seemed curious about what the gym is like in Korea so I thought I'd provide some insight. The first thing you do when you walk in is to get your temperature scanned. Then you write down your name, number, address, and temperature on the log.

If anyone who turns out to have COVID-19 went to the gym, contact tracers will use this information to notify everyone who's been to the gym since then that they need to self-isolate.

Once you're in, you need to stay 1.5 to 2 meters away from other guests, which this sign announces. You also need to wear a mask the whole time, and if you take it off someone will come and scold you. This feels a little like high altitude training because the mask makes it harder to breathe so you get less oxygen.

Every other treadmill has a sign on it saying it's been decommissioned to help maintain social distancing. This is true for all the cardio equipment in the gym. There are also bottles of hand sanitizer all over the gym.

I'd say overall the gym is doing a pretty great job. The one challenge is dealing with competition for equipment like the squat rack. It's harder to maintain distance, as you can see here, particularly at popular times like 7pm.

The gym does have limited hours, closing at 8pm on weekdays and not opening at all on weekends. I'll be curious to see what things look like in the US when gyms start to open back up.