Start 7 days of isolation effective immediately!!! what am I going to do???
It’s day one of isolation, try to keep to your normal routine as best as you possibly can. This includes getting up at your usual time, and starting your day how you would normally start it. If you go to the gym in the mornings then this is the best time for you to do your home workout. Put on some music and jump into your favourite bodyweight and cardio exercises.
While this is a great way to get started, some of the main reasons we go to the gym are not just to keep physically fit, but to be held accountable, motivated, learning correct technique, be in a social environment and enjoy working out with others. When this is taken away, suddenly a lot of us struggle in this situation.
Please be assured you are not alone. If you find isolation to be a stressful time, this is where your most powerful tool comes into play.
Your Mindset.
So how do we keep a Healthy Happy Mindset in this situation?
Every little bit helps, so here are some tips to help you get started:
- Keep contact with friends and family everyday
- Ask somebody to be your accountability buddy and you be theirs. (maybe there is someone at the gym who you usually workout with, they maybe feeling lost without you too)
- If you are working from home, keep productive and be sure to get up and move around at least every hour.
- Drink lots of water
- Eat lots of fresh wholefoods, fruits and Vegetables. (Yes I know uber eats sounds much easier sometimes, but you can choose a healthier option to be delivered to your door).
Oh and please remember to check in on anyone you know who is in isolation, it could be the one thing that changes their mindset and helps them feel better that day.
Getting back to the gym after COVID
Getting back to the gym after recovering from COVID may not be as easy as you might think. Pushing yourself too hard, too soon, could do more damage than good to your recovery.
Current medical recommendation is to wait at least seven days after you first experience symptoms to resume any form of exercise.
The organs most affected are our lungs so it is likely you could be more out of breath than usual when restarting back at the gym (even when it has only been a week). Be sure to keep an eye on your levels of fatigue or exhaustion, breathlessness, racing heart, dizziness, cough … This is where concentrating on your breathing technique is very important and will greatly help you ease back.
Even if you only suffered mild symptoms and are usually very physically fit you may struggle with exhaustion when getting back into your normal gym routine. Your poor energy levels have just taken a beating so be kind to your body and ease yourself back starting with low intensity activities like light strength training to get the muscle fibres firing again.
Just remember it could take weeks for some of you to get back to your old fitness level, some will bounce back a lot quicker.
Whatever your journey, take care and be kind to yourself. Every step forward no matter how small is getting you closer to your fitness goals.
