Why the Mask Goes Over Your Nose

I've decided that a lot of people who frequent my gym are idiots. It's not "the rules don't apply to me" syndrome. No, it's the idea that the "wear a mask rule" especially applies if you are breathing heavily in an enclosed space with people you don't know the health status of. What we have all suspected for some time and what is the only reasonable explanation for the superspreader effect of many cases, is that viral particles can be inhaled in the aerosol that hangs in the air. Viruses are not confined to large exhaled droplets from sneezing and coughing. 

This means if you get on a cardio machine, you are going to inhale particles from the last person on that machine. Especially if you are working hard enough to pant. Especially if the last person also was breathing heavily. The good news is that if you're both wearing decent masks properly, over both your nose and mouth, the number of particles you'll inhale is probably negligible. 

The bad news is that if you insist on wearing your mask under your nose, you'll likely inhale a lot more of those particles. While there's a good chance that there are no coronavirus particles in that air at that moment, why risk it? There are no fans circulating air in the gym anymore except in the small, enclosed Aerobic Room. Although both the front and back doors are open to the gym, there's little to suggest that air is actually circulating at a decent rate. 

I see the newbie dude with his mask under the nose while he does cardio. Then he pulls his mask up to walk down to the different machines. At each station, after he adjusts himself, he pulls his mask down under his nose. Going from station to station isn't the danger. It's breathing hard in a spot where someone else has also had to exert themselves. It's not that difficult a concept to understand, is it? If he gets sick, I'm sure he'll claim that masks are useless because he got sick, not that he couldn't follow instructions. 

I get to the gym mid-morning and it's really crowded. Both ellipticals are in use so I climb the StepMill for 20 minutes. I see a lot of regulars from pre-pandemic times. Everyone is masked but there's no social distancing. When the ellipticals are free I decide to change my routine a tiny bit by doing back-to-back cardio first. My mask is sodden but doesn't stick to my face. I can still breathe through it, as unpleasant as it feels. I have two spare masks in my gear bag just in case though. The gym starts to empty out so, by the time I need to do my DB shoulder supersets, there's hardly anyone around. Fine by me!

Between sets, I read the local news online that this town has pulled back their in-person schooling due to a few positive infections. In my town, one of the elementary schools and the middle school have both closed temporarily for the same reason. My son is at his 2nd day of in-person school and he says it's the worst of everything. All his friends are either completely online (and never coming back in-person until everything is "normal") or are in the other half that attends in-person during the second half of the week. At least when he's doing online classes, he doesn't need to sit with a mask on for 6 hours. 

6October2020
Fog Then Sun Tuesday

Matrix Step
Speed 5
Min 20
HR 127
Cal 137
Steps 912
Floors 57

Precor elliptical
35 min
Program 2
HR 80, 141, 189
Cal 309
Distance 2.80

Crunches x 2 x 60
50 Bicycles
Piriformis Stretch
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Pushups 25
Piriformis Stretch
Quick Mat Stretch

DB raises supersets
lateral standing 15 lbs x 15 x 4
reverse inclined flys 15 lbs x 20 w/u
20lbs x 20 x 3

Rip Skulls s/s Bicep Curls
30 lbs x 12/12 reps x 3 sets