The pandemic compelled a lot of people to cancel their memberships after the closure of gyms and fitness centers to stop the spread of the virus. While some people opted to work out at home, others fell to the wayside and stopped exercising as they focused on adjusting to their new routine at home.
But with more than 300 million vaccines administered, people are going back to their old fitness routines, especially those who received the full doses of the vaccine. At this point, you may be at a loss on how you can get back on track after the pandemic disrupted your fitness routine. Here are the things you can do to bring back the fitness level you had before the pandemic started.
Set Specific Objectives
The first thing you need to do is to set specific objectives in your fitness journey. The objectives should be realistic and measurable. Listing them down and ticking them off one by one is a good way for you to keep track of your achievements. For instance, you can start with manageable sets of push-ups, sit-ups, and planks. Then, you can gradually work yourself up to your pre-pandemic levels.
You can also start jogging or biking around the neighborhood. You can start with a few laps or a certain distance before increasing it. But you should still follow safety protocols if you are not yet fully vaccinated. You should be realistic and avoid overexerting yourself. Otherwise, you will end up getting too frustrated that you’ll lose your motivation.
Gradually Return to Form
Not exercising for around a year can take a toll on your fitness level. So, you’ll have to ease back into your pre-pandemic form. It may take several weeks, but you should focus on your achievements and challenge yourself to do more.
Looking at achieving 25 percent of your previous fitness level may be realistic if you haven’t exercised in a long while. Acknowledging the disruption in your routine can help you avoid getting discouraged and motivate you to work hard. You can increase your intensity by around 10 percent every week or every two weeks, depending on the length of your layoff.
Workout with Someone
Another option for you is to get an exercise buddy. Exercising with a friend offers several benefits, including having someone to motivate you if you feel frustrated. Your exercise buddy can also encourage you to become adventurous in your routines and challenge you to do more. Additionally, an exercise buddy also gives you an added motivation to show up for your scheduled run or bike around the neighborhood.
Take it up a notch by exercising with someone who recently received an AFAA recertification or recertification from the Athletics and Fitness Association of America. This will allow you to become acquainted with the latest developments in the fitness industry. This is important since the pandemic may have caused some changes in the way people exercise.
Be Accountable
While an exercise buddy helps keep you motivated, you should also hold yourself accountable for reaching your fitness objectives. Your exercise buddy is not always with you in your journey. So, you should make sure that you also focus on your objectives and attempt to achieve them even if you are alone.
To help you with this, you can use fitness apps to monitor your fitness level as you progress. You can even share your daily results with your exercise buddy so he or she can provide you with advice in case he or she is a fitness professional. Tracking your progress also provides you additional motivation to reach your pre-pandemic fitness level.
Manage Workouts
When you exercise, you do not have to block off a whole hour each day to work out. Since you are still trying to get back into shape, you can have shorter workouts during the day. You can exercise for five to ten minutes after an hour of sitting in front of your computer. The exercise routines can vary, ranging from cardio workouts to strength exercises.
You can even go out for a five or ten-minute jog around the block or move around to avoid the negative effects of sitting in front of your computer the whole day. When you sit all day, you’ll have a bigger risk of developing high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and even death. So, taking breaks is advisable. You can use these breaks as opportunities to exercise. Even if you miss some instances due to your heavy workload, you can always make it up the next day.
The pandemic may have disrupted your exercise routines, but you can gradually get back into shape by focusing on your fitness objectives and exercising whenever you can.
