My gym shut its doors the other day after another COVID outbreak.
It’s closed for the rest of the year, and based on the latest Omicron numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t reopen until mid-January. Obviously, there are far worse plights than not being able to go lift weights for 45 minutes, but the development still stings. There’s a bit of PTSD at play. It brings me back to this time last year, when we were deep in the throes of quarantine, and all the usual outlets — gym, office, bar — were still closed or unthinkable.
December’s unwanted reversion aside, though, this was a worthwhile year for personal fitness. While 2020 forced us into sudden DIY workouts (lots of desk-side pushups and online fights for dumbbell sets), 2021 saw us ease into wellness’s new and chaotic world order.
For many Americans, it was nearly a full year of WFH, capped by a sneak peak in Q4 at what would appear to be the permanent future of the workplace: some sort of hybrid, on-off schedule, which should continue to afford employees a degree of flexibility as they plot their workouts for the week.