We have two things to celebrate this week: our very first COVID survivor and zero in-gym transmissions.

Midnight November 23rd the quarantine was lifted for our first Empower COVID case and a return to work and activity permit was officially signed, sealed and delivered.

It is 9 days since the member was in the gym and two of the attendees that day have both tested negative.  The other two members who were not in close proximity during that training session have not manifested any symptoms either.  In fact, the members’ entire household has tested negative for COVID-19.

The member in question suffered almost no symptoms apart from some lingering lethargy and was working out via Zoom throughout most of the quarantine and zoomed with us yesterday to complete the kettlebell swing WOD without any sign of difficulty.  It is encouraging to see someone 50+ take on the virus so successfully with so few symptoms and such a quick rebound.

What might surprise you considering all the extreme precautions being taken to prevent the spread of the virus is that the quarantine release process appears rather laissez faire.  Less than 1 week after the positive test result the Public health Authority lifted the quarantine order.  As a lay person perhaps I do not properly understand the infectious period for this virus but considering all the precautions we are taking everywhere else in our lives I would have assumed a negative COVID test result would have been part of the quarantine completion process and was thus surprised that this was not the case.  Having read the medical release letter myself, signed by the supervising doctor, there seemed to be no concern of potential transmission.  And this is very reassuring.

So what are we doing to keep you safe?

– We are continuing to offer the Zoom-WOD option for those of you who want to continue to receive coaching from the safety of your home
– We are continuing to provide personal training for those of you who want coaching outside a group setting
– We are continuing to provide open gym times for those of you who want to access the equipment and space in order to follow an individualized training program
– We are continuing to limit gym access to 7 members at a time
– Members are continuing to train within their own stations 9+ feet apart from one another
– We are asking members to refrain from engaging in high intensity interval training inside the gym
– We are continuing to symptom screen all members using the gym
– We are continuing with mask wearing, hand washing, and sanitizing equipment before and after use
– We are continuing to sanitize the gym between classes
– We are keeping our windows open for maximal airflow*

*On Airflow
Wednesday night’s power outage shut down all the businesses in our section of the building.  It also shut down all their airflow systems driving our neighbours out of their units as they filled with unvented exhaust fumes.  They all rushed outside in search of fresh air and were surprised that we hadn’t noticed the overpowering fumes until they came into our space where we could not smell any fumes at all thanks to our wide open windows and doors and fantastic airflow!  It was a very good demonstration of exactly how lucky we are and how much our gym space differs from most.  There was not a hint of exhaust fumes even in the back corner of the gym!  Very encouraging.

Sandman’s contractor will be providing us another quote on Radar’s window next month.  Fingers crossed.

Friday Make Up Day

5 Rounds
1 min Cal Row
DB TGU
total 40 reps/round

Barbara
5 Rounds, record lowest time:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
3 min rest

45 KB Swings @1.5/2 pood
400m Run
35 KB Swings @1.5/2 pood
800m Run
25 KB Swings @1.5/2 pood
1200m Run
15 KB Swings @1.5/2 pood

Empower reset #13
1 min belly breathing on back, knees to chest30/30 sec Head nods/rotations

2 mins Frog rolls

2 mins
20 Cross-touch Dead Bugs
10 Windshield Wipers

2 mins
10 Rocking Judo Push Ups
10 Cross Crawl Planks

3 Rounds
Hands & Knees Box CrawlLeopard Box Crawl

3 mins
10 Get Ups (alternate sides)
20 Cross Crawls

1 min Bar Hang
400m Plate Carry @25/45#