{"id":4929,"date":"2021-10-24T20:43:09","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T00:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/?p=4929"},"modified":"2021-10-25T11:08:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T15:08:46","slug":"mask-up-in-the-gym-its-worth-the-workout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/2021\/10\/24\/mask-up-in-the-gym-its-worth-the-workout\/","title":{"rendered":"Mask Up in the Gym: It&#8217;s Worth the Workout!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As we all know, URI has a mask mandate that requires all students and staff to wear masks while indoors on campus. This includes our facilities like the Anna Fascitelli Fitness &amp; Wellness Center and the Mackal Field House.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4932 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/unnamed-13-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Gym with Students in Masks\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\">Don\u2019t we all remember when we were in the thick of the pandemic and everything was shut down? We couldn\u2019t even go to the gyms let alone workout with a mask on. Of course it is not ideal, but it is still worth it to go to the gym. The gyms on campus are FREE to all students. Don\u2019t let masks stop you from being active! I myself haven\u2019t been as consistent as I would like working out and using our facilities. So, I decided to go to Fascitelli the other night to see how it was.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>It\u2019s Too Empty in Our Gyms!<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4934 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/unnamed-1-4-300x161.jpg\" alt=\"Gym Anna Fascitelli\" width=\"300\" height=\"161\">The first thing I noticed was how it was not nearly as packed as it would\u2019ve been in 2019 at 4:30 on a Tuesday evening. There were a good amount of students lifting weights and doing core work, but it was pretty empty in the cardio section. I understand how hard it can be to do cardio with masks on. If you go to the gym to run on the treadmill or do the stair climber and don\u2019t feel comfortable doing it with a mask, I suggest going on a run around campus! It is perfect running weather around this time and there are plenty of hills and stairs around that could help give you a killer workout. It gets easier and easier once you get used to wearing a mask, though. It\u2019s absolutely still possible to get a good workout while masked up.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>My Experience Wearing a Mask in the Gym<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As for my workout, I felt just as good coming out of it as I would during a workout without a mask. I didn\u2019t feel any less comfortable or less energetic under the circumstances. It might take a few times to get used to it, but once you do you won\u2019t even think twice about having to wear a mask in the gym. <em><strong>Something I would suggest is wearing a light, but comfortable mask.<\/strong><\/em> I went with one of the classic disposable ones because that\u2019s all I had on me. That worked for me, but if you would prefer something else there are plenty of reusable athletic ones you can find online if you plan on going regularly.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Masks shouldn\u2019t affect the quality of your workout if you<em><strong> stay focused and positive<\/strong><\/em>.&nbsp; And it\u2019s not a crime to put your mask down for a quick second. It is ok to take a break, grab a sip of water and catch your breath while staying socially distanced from other students. One thing I will mention, though, is it is only fair to everyone to go by the guidelines. If you look around, all of the campus rec staff have them on, as well as all of the students working out. So don\u2019t just walk around with your mask down without consideration for everyone else who is wearing one.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Watch our most recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@uricampusrec\/video\/7013018375844547845?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1\">TikTok<\/a> on how to <strong><em>NOT<\/em><\/strong> wear a mask this year at the gym!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the end of the day, we just want to keep URI safe while encouraging our students to use our gyms and stay active. Again, if you don\u2019t feel comfortable wearing a mask while working out, try working out at home and or outside. <em><strong>But I assure you, it is 100 percent worth it to take advantage of all of our facilities!<\/strong><\/em> I know I will be!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4930 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/unnamed-1-2-244x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"244\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/unnamed-1-2-244x300.png 244w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/unnamed-1-2-364x448.png 364w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/unnamed-1-2.png 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px\" \/><br \/>\nHi Everyone! My name is Collin and I am a senior majoring in Sports Media and Communications with minors in Journalism and Business. I\u2019m excited to be a part of the Campus Rec team here at URI! I have always enjoyed writing and I\u2019m happy to have this great opportunity to get my name out there and gain experience. I love sports, especially the Boston teams, and follow them each and every day. I also write for our student-run Sports Media club here on campus, Anchor Sports Network. I enjoy being active, whether it\u2019s on campus or off, going to the gym, and playing sports. I am on the Club baseball team at URI and also enjoy playing basketball. I hope to give everyone a different perspective on things and spark interest with you in whatever I write about!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we all know, URI has a mask mandate that requires all students and staff to wear masks while indoors on campus. This includes our facilities like the Anna Fascitelli Fitness &amp; Wellness Center and the Mackal Field House.&nbsp; Don\u2019t we all remember when we were in the thick of the pandemic and everything was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4096,"featured_media":4999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2021"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4096"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4929"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5000,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4929\/revisions\/5000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}