After a decade of lifting heavy stuff, at the beginning of COVID I switched from powerlifting to running. I don't feel as powerful and definitely have lost some muscle mass, but I'm down 35 lbs and my resting heart rate sits in the 40's now. Fitness is absolutely what you make of it.
Not everyone want to run with mask around dirty city block.
It is really interesting to see this mental gymnastics, if someone is fat, gets virus and dies, it is "the plague". But here we have dozen people talking about "personal responsibility".
a) Never seen a single city mandate masks for exercising outside. Especially since it’s quite dangerous to limit your oxygen flow. So you should have been fine to run outside.
b) Some of the toughest workouts I’ve done were inside. You need to stop being so close minded.
Mask is needed for the smog, that is why I want to run indoors at gym on threadmill. It also shields me from aggressive drivers and traffic.
Masks do not restrict oxygen flow, there are several studies to prove it! It is perfectly safe to wear double mask for entire day at work or at school!
I also like to do tough workouts inside, at gym! I do not have gear or space at home.
That would be truly impressive if less than 2 years of occasional closed gyms turned you from perfectly healthy to at risk of a heart attack. You've managed to squeeze a lifetime of bad choices into two years.
I agree about the gym - you can’t replace it at home unless you’re seriously rich, like many tens of millions of net worth. My gym has pools, lots of heavy weights, many odds and ends and equipment you’d never buy.
I can get a vastly better workout there than by doing pushups at home.
For various reasons, I don’t run, which leaves cycling and swimming for cardio. I also like to lift heavy - this means a large variety and quantity of weight. I need a gym.