STARTING GYM POST LOCK-DOWN

Since the lock-down in India, gyms have been shut. However, people have been more creative and hardworking doing their home workouts. Still, gyms have a different aura, the healthy completion, the feel of professional machines, gym gossips, etc. are exceptional. Although, the things will not be same sooner gyms were also the only earning source for trainers, helpers, bodybuilders, etc. So, it now became necessary to open the gyms.

As we all know that the government of India announced that gyms would be open in India from August 5, 2020, and many other countries have also opened their gyms/fitness centres.

So, as most people will be returning to the gym with more than three months’ break considering home workouts intensity is never as same as a gym workout. So, here are some strategies, dos and don’ts you should apply in your fitness regime.

Set an approachable/appropriate goal

In the lockdown, everyone’s fitness-related goals were paused or were modified. So, your goals need to be reconsidered or reconstructed. If you try to train with the same volume or sets, your body will be more fatigued. This is what a UK based personal trainer JJ Coutt is urging gym-goers to “ease back into it”.

“Coming back you should train different body parts just twice a week — rather than full-body sessions,” he said.

“Use light weights, 10-12 reps max and focus on your exercise form — then you’ll reduce your risk of injury and soreness and prevent overdoing it.”

To prevent injury, you should set short term easy and approachable goals.

Focus on warm-ups

Warm-ups and mobility drills are crucial before a workout session. Warming up is a way to heat your muscles/body to prepare it for exercise. Whereas Mobility drills are exercises that take the muscles, tendons, and the joints through their full range of motion.

At this time, warming up and a mobility routine is more necessary. It will not only prevent injuries but will also help in getting your fitness parameter (maybe strength / stenchibility) back sooner.

So, when you restart your fitness journey make sure you don’t neglect your warming-up and mobility routine.

Log your workouts

Logging your workout is also very important. We have always seen some big lifters carrying a diary. It is only there because they diarise their workouts. Now, I am not saying you all to carry a diary with you in the gym. All you can do is log your workouts. Maybe you can do after you come home from the gym, maybe you can use mobile applications like given below.

This will help you achieve your numbers quickly. You will have mental peace of achieving your fitness goals. It will also prevent you from overdoing the workout so that you will not be prone to injuries.

Sleep and eat well

One of the most important aspects of fitness is recovery. That will be taken care of by sleep and your nutrition. Sleep is the best recovering option known to us. It is free, relaxing and enjoyable!. Getting a proper sleep of 7 to 9-hour continuously is recommended, especially, when one is doing some kind of resistance training.

Further macro and micronutrients need to be taken care of. People often neglect this. Most of you will be in a caloric deficit, probably you all gained some extra fat in this lockdown. Now, you all will be in deficit. People often neglect micronutrients in the deficit that causes a delay in reaching the goal. It can also lead to various health problems.

So, track your sleep and eat well.

Hopefully, these tips will lead you to a safe and injury-free come back to the gym. I hope you apply these tips to your fitness regime. Thanks for reading this blog and if you have read till here, a bonus tip stays hydrated! it will help improve your overall health.

Thanks for reading this blog!

– Hardik Choudhary