During these difficult times, our routines have been totally turned on their heads.
Not only are many of us stuck at home, but if your routine included going to the gym that’s out now, too.
This can be anxiety-provoking for some gym-goers. You work so hard to achieve certain results in the gym, and when you can’t go it feels like you could lose everything you’ve worked for.
Here’s the thing: With the current world pandemic situation, our exercise can’t and won’t be perfect.
And that is perfectly fine.
What is most important right now is to move with intention and consistency. Being intentional about resistance and bodyweight-based training will give a huge return on investment in terms of your physical and emotional health.
Let’s dispel the myth that you will lose muscle if you are not always lifting gym-style-heavy.
You can lift lighter loads and maintain your fitness level for the most part.
The fact is that well-written programs allow for variations in weight reps and rest periods.
Professional athletes, for example, have seasons.
They are not always putting their body through enormous stress. The current home restrictions at the time of this writing, are an opportune time to approach your exercise program with some variation and flexibility.
The same goes for nutrition: It is always a good idea to eat for your best health. Aim for 90% consistency.
There is no need, and in fact, it is harmful to your metabolism, to be constantly in a restrictive diet phase.
Related: Is 80/20 consistency good enough?
Right now is a great time to be in maintenance mode.
Unless you have a well-stocked home gym with heavyweight this is also not time to eat to gain muscle. A maintenance approach will match you home workouts to your nutrition, and keep you feeling satisfied and healthy.
About the cardio. Neither exclusive cardio or exclusive resistance training is right. Your body and emotional health need both. Cardio is necessary for heart and vascular health as well as a mental outlet. Resistance training is necessary for bone health, posture, and to prevent injuries. Both resistance training and cardio produce endorphins… a.k.a. Happy hormones
It is far better to be consistent than to worry about following a perfect plan. This is an opportune time to reinforce the exercise habit by committing to 5 or 6 shorter sessions per week. Making this an almost daily habit can… Click To Tweet
The benefits of this go way beyond calorie burning.
This daily habit can help you establish your optimal Circadian rhythm. Being in sync with your Circadian rhythm been proven to help you sleep better, reduce the production of stress hormones, and in turn, may prevent you from holding onto extra fat. Without being in a restrictive diet you may even lean out.
Workouts may look different for each of us, and as long as most of your exercise sessions have some form of resistance involved, your body will stay strong and the risk of injury will be lowered.
Make an outside walk a habit daily as well, and aim to get in between 10,000-20,000 steps per day. Once again your stress hormones will be lowered.
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