Many of us may be seeing big changes in our work environment as restrictions are lifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But what will that mean for our health and fitness plans? For some, weeks of quarantine may have led to decrease in physical activity and regression in health. For others, there was extra time to spend working out at home and results may have been accelerated. With gyms closed, limited access to fitness equipment, and struggle to stay motivated, the last few weeks and months have been unprecedented. As we all move towards a sense of normalcy, I want to encourage everyone that though your health and fitness plans may be drastically different, there are often times many roads that can lead you to your goal. Below I will discuss some critical steps you should take to ensure success no matter what your living or working environment may look like in the future.
Back to Work
Some of you may be headed back to work. The single most important factor in engaging in any health and fitness program is consistency. With the added time spent getting ready for work and commuting, the amount of time you could be spending working out will be dramatically affected. Adjusting your schedule so you can fit in the required amount of time to complete the workouts you need to reach your goal can be difficult. This may mean you need to wake up earlier, shorten your workout time, or chose different types of workouts to help you reach your goals. Take some time to sit down and find the blocks of time you can commit to working out. Pick as many blocks as possible before trying to figure out what types of workouts you should be completing in those blocks. If you had been planning on doing 60 minutes of cardio 5 days a week, but now only have 30 minutes free each day, you may need to increase the frequency of workout days to ensure you are still getting the required amount of cardio exercise to meet your goals.
To Gym or Not to Gym?
Many people were waiting outside gyms doors to get back to the workouts they love. But many were are still hesitant about the safety of working out with increased exposure to larger groups of people. If you are still uncomfortable with the gym environment, then you should continue to create an effective home gym environment to help keep yourself on track, and potentially increase the effectiveness of your home gym should another lock down present itself in the future. If you are ready to go back to any commercial fitness facility, just keep in mind that it may look much different than the last time you visited. You should also consider all the new regulations and procedures that may cause you to spend more time thinking about how to keep germs away and think less about how effect your workout is. If you find yourself becoming distracted with all the changes and new rules to follow, you may want to save time and effort by continuing to utilize your home gym.
Bottom Line
If it was difficult your you to keep a regular fitness schedule at a commercial facility, it may be best for you to focus on increasing your ability to create an effective workout at home. This will help you save the time and energy it takes to get to and from the gym. It will also potentially save you a bunch of money as well. You will also be putting yourself in the best position to avoid increase contact with people as we continue to deal with the presences of COVID-19. If you are ready to get back to the gym, keep in mind you will need to reorganize your schedule. Gym schedules may be different and your work schedule may be different. Finding the right workout schedule that you can commit to is one of the most critical components to a successful fitness program. Consistency gets results.
