Time Marches On, We Cannot Stand Still

JT Scott | 07/26/2020 | 4

Hello Team! It’s been a LONG few months at Virtual City Hall, but I’m glad to say that at least the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget has been passed. We avoided any layoffs of teachers or other staff, and are even adjusting our spending priorities to invest heavily in racial and social justice initiatives alongside our extensive COVID public health response costs. It really is amazing what we’ve been able to do as a city to support residents, and I’d be happy to talk more about those things in future weeks.

One thing that is absolutely GREAT news is that we continue to maintain our eviction moratorium indefinitely – so PLEASE don’t allow yourself to be scared out or pushed out of your apartment during this time. You cannot be evicted, and the City’s Office of Housing Stability has increased staff and resources to help people who are being taken advantage of by predatory landlords.

On the Fitness front (I keep typing “CrossFit” and then remembering that’s not us anymore) gyms are still closed in Somerville until at least August 3.

Guidelines were just published Friday afternoon for group exercise classes to apply to be taught outdoors. This means any fitness business operating outdoors in Somerville before this week was doing so illegally, without having or following the guidelines published by the city. Obviously, that’s not us; we understand that everyone’s excited to get back to their favorite classes, but we are holding ourselves to the highest standards because

1. I am an elected official, and
2. We really care about your health and ours, and all of our families.

Taking a look at those guidelines, they are incredibly tight and all plans have to be reviewed and approved in advance by the Inspectional Services Department. Here’s an excerpt of what outdoor classes would look like:

* Face coverings are required at all times. 
* Activities are limited to classes and group fitness activities 
* To ensure group separation, groups must be spaced at least 20 feet apart while sharing a single parking lot area 
* Social distancing of 6 feet is required when participants are not actively engaged in an activity 
* No public access to interior spaces of the gym (no locker room / bathroom access for the public) 
* Individuals cannot congregate in common areas or in parking lots following workouts

Outdoor set up requirements:  
* an outer boundary must be clearly demarcated by a vertical barrier at least 32 inches high (rope and stanchion, fencing, jersey barrier, parade barrier, etc.) 
* a 6-foot buffer must be maintained between the outer boundary and the activity area.   The buffer is designed to ensure that group participants maintain proper social distance from any persons traveling past or standing near the outer boundary. 
* the activity area, where the class or group fitness activity takes place, must be demarcated with paint, a rope barrier, cones or similar barrier.

What would this mean for CFSV? Well, here’s our beloved parking lot. The area is a triangle roughly 100ft on each long side, and 40 feet wide at the base.

Now here’s what a layout that follows the guidelines above would look like, from how I am reading it… We could get 3 people going outdoors at one time.

Its clear that our current business model does not support this. Even more important though is the safety and support of our families, and at this time none of your coaches feel confident enough in our ability to keep you (and them) safe to think reopening is a good idea. 

Given what the possible options are here, I think it will be a significant amount of time longer before gyms are allowed to open for indoor operation at all, and that it will look very different from any setup allowed today. Even then, the question will be how safe do WE feel those measures make everyone. And many of us are also looking at the looming questions of schools reopening and whether or not our kids will be going back into buildings.

None of these are easy questions, but the TLDR here is that CFSV is going to remain closed for the time being. Possibly for quite a long time.

With that in mind, it’s time for a test-retest; think of it as checking in at the conclusion of our first 4-month “Workout From Home” cycle. Think all the way back to March 23, look it up in your journals, or check the blog for comments. 17 of you posted to comments then, so I hope to see that many today at least…

We’re doing this workout again today. Are you stronger and faster than you were 4 months ago?  I know the answer for myself – but here’s our opportunity to test it for sure. Do the workout just as you did back then, and write down that score. If you’re not faster and stronger now, then it’s absolutely time to refocus on our Workout From Home regimen going forward.

Because while we may all be staying inside for now, we can ill afford to stand still as time marches on.

WFH WOD:
5 Rounds for Time
10 Tap-Tap-Pushups
15 Inverted Table Rows
20 Air Squats
* sub situps for inverted rows if you can’t make them work