5 Things to be Mindful of when Returning to Physical Activity Post Lockdown
It has been a challenging 3 months, to say the least. The world as we know has come to somewhat of a standstill and shifted in many aspects of the way we live our lives. It’s a time in history that will be etched in our minds forever.
From a health perspective COVID forced the closure of gyms, fitness centres and studios across the country and most of the world, forcing us all to create an alternative way we take care of our health needs.
With restrictions easing last week and access to gym available again, I am betting some of you may have stopped exercising completely or perhaps just walked daily or a few times per week to keep active. All of which are very normal ways to handle a crisis.
So, as we all start heading back to gyms and studios, I’d love to share with you some helpful tips to consider when integrating back into your exercise regime to ensure you are doing so safely and with consideration to your physical, mental and emotional health.
The world has shifted and I’m sure a part of you has too..
Please take some time to:
1. Re-evaluate – How are you feeling? Where is your energy at? Do you need to be more kind to yourself and consider a different approach to exercise post lockdown?
Set your intentions for your new ‘normal’ moving forward. You may have gone to the gym or engaged in exercise 5 times per week pre lockdown, but mentally and physically right now you can only manage 2 or 3 times per week.
Honour that feeling and listen to your body by slowly integrating back to movement as you feel will serve you best. Drop your expectations.
2. Reinvent – Now is the perfect time to listen to your intuition and engage in a more suitable exercise routine to cater for your health goals effectively. We often get stuck in a rhythm or rut and think that this is what we have to do to lose the weight because everyone else is doing it this way, however that way you were exercising in the past may not have served you so are you listening to what your body needs?
As an example, do you have aches and pains that you have ignored and kept pushing through, thinking this is what I ‘have’ to do to reach my goals? Now might be your opportunity to get your body right with structured exercise program to avoid injury when loading the body in the gym.
3. Recover – Once commencing regular exercise again, ensure you are getting enough rest. If you are strength training, it’s important to allow your muscles to recover the following day. As tempting as it may be to rush back into exercise full throttle, chances are you may injury yourself.
4. Return – Something I encourage you to do when returning to the gym is exercising the major muscle groups rather than specific isolated muscles to allow for the adaptation of load on the structures of body and the nervous system after some time away. Building your tolerance to load and weight gradually is important.
This is the safest way to avoid injury. With time limits being placed in the gym, I also suggest you complete your warm up, cool down and your core exercises at home to save time and allow you to focus on the strength component in the gym.
5. Reconsider – If the gym isn’t for you, that’s completely ok – there are many other ways to exercise to regain strength and improve your health, fitness and fat loss goals.
Consider being accountable a health professional who can help you online during this time via zoom and exercise programs. Get in touch as I run my business online and would love the opportunity to help you.
If you haven’t engaged in much exercise other than walking in the last 12 weeks and would like to ease back into movement, I have prepared an exercise video that you can do in the comfort of your own home to improve flexibility and core strength and prevent and manage back pain.
Click here to get access your Back Pain Reset Kit
