Starting in March all the way through mid-June, America was in quarantine due to the Coronavirus. Kids and adults had to change their entire life in a single weekend. Nothing was open for these months, including gyms. Many people had to come up with alternatives, such as at home gyms and work out challenges.

“I plotted my gym around the 4 main lifts so a deadlift, bench press, overhead press, and squats,” Alan Marietta, 11, said, “it took me about two weeks for it to all come together.”

While some made at home gyms, others did not have the resources to do this. A couple of people ran outside, did at home workout challenges, and even went on bike rides.

“I played soccer and field hockey at the Western Branch fields,”  Katherine Foley, 11,  said, “I also went kayaking a lot and took my dog to the park.”

People may think it is not that hard to get up and do stuff during the quarantine, but it can be extremely difficult. Finding the motivation to go out and be active is hard during a global pandemic because it would be much easier to sit and binge tv.

“I found the motivation to workout by trying to get ahead of people when baseball started to back up,” Roberto Velasquez, 12, said, “I knew I had to keep working out and working hard so I would not fall behind.”

Now that Governor Northam has moved into phase three, which is opening things up to 75% capacity, people are going back to gyms, and are very appreciative of them.

“Working out from home during quarantine really helped me appreciate having access to work out at a gym,” Kayleigh Eason, 12, said, “They maintain social distancing and have a team of cleaners regularly cleaning around the gym. I feel safe at the gym and have gladly been able to get back into the routine I had before COVID.”