I'll be the first to say it out loud: I have a problem with your fitness facility if you are not only required to wear your mask inside the building but also when you're working out.

On July 6, the SouthCoast of Massachusetts proceeded with the third phase of reopening which granted access once again to indoor fitness facilities, under specific rules and regulations. Basically, like most places, you have to have a mask on to enter the facility and must first wash your hands and sanitize. If you are within six feet of someone working out, you must have your mask on but are allowed to take it off if you are 14 feet apart.

However, some gyms have gone as far as pushing the mask to be worn from the moment you enter the building until you leave and obviously safe from the public and others around you before you can safely remove it. What I don't understand is why anywhere else you go, such as a restaurant, you are free to remove your mask once you are seated.

Of course, eating and lifting are two different things, but not that far off.

As I worked out inside of a gym for the very first time in months, I was gassed up to finally be able to lift weights and bench-press and get back that "pump" I've been desperately craving for quite some time. Well, that feeling quickly lost steam once I was struggling to catch my breath after just a single set.

I was inhaling more carbon dioxide than I was exhaling, since it was becoming trapped within the mask and had no wiggle room to escape. Immediately I became dizzy and by the time I left, I had the worst nausea.

Now, you tell me, how the hell is this safe?

Of course, it's a choice to use the facility or not, because, in the end, rules are rules, but why are some gyms more strict than others when it comes to this? I'm not one to argue about any business's plan to advocate the safety and health of its clients, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that there's a better solution than having someone running on a treadmill with a mask or lifting heavy with a thick cloth filter wrapped around their air passageways.

All I'm saying is that I shouldn't be harming myself for something that helps with my own mental and physical health, regardless of the situation we are in. If it wasn't safe to reopen gyms, then they wouldn't have gone through it in the first place. Working out with a mask on is just plain dangerous.

There's a time and place to practice social distancing and making sure your mask is worn in public places, and inside of a gym where strenuous physical activity is performed isn't one of them.

Sorry, not sorry.

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