How to Reintroduce Movement to Your Body After Extended Rest
With gyms and sports facilities closed for over a year, many of us are out of our regular fitness routines.
Simply working from home means you're probably reaching fewer step counts as you commute from your bedroom to the kitchen table instead of your home to the office.
Consider the following tips when you're feeling ready to reintroduce movement back to your body.
Manage your expectations
If you haven't been consistently moving, you may not be at the same fitness level that you once were. That is okay! Life happens. It's more sustainable to expect fitness cycles along your journey rather than setting too high expectations from the start.
Set short-term fitness goals that you know you can achieve to kickstart your habit.
For example, if you’re struggling to get yourself out for walks, set a goal to simply go outside around the block for five minutes. As long as you get yourself out of the house, you’re making progress to get out of your usual routine.
You may even find that once you’re out of the house, you’ll feel inspired to walk beyond the block!
Shift your mindset to progress over perfection.
Always start slowly, modify when needed, and focus on foundational movements before adding advanced exercises. A progress mindset builds off small, achievable goals, while a perfectionist mindset will leave you feeling unaccomplished.
Consider tracking how you’re progressing toward workout goals, such as increasing the number of exercise repetitions you can complete or how far you can run.
Be kind to yourself.
Try practicing self-compassion if you’re not where you want to be with your movement practice.
Remember, everyone has faced a dramatic lifestyle shift recently.
Try catching yourself when you notice any self-criticism as you re-enter movement. If a loved one approached you sharing the same attitude about themselves, how would you respond?
Extend the kindness, compassion, and encouragement you'd offer to your loved one to yourself.
Prioritize Fun
If you're having a hard time looking forward to your workouts, try exploring fun, playful forms of exercise to help you enjoy moving again.
Movement should be fun! I love strength training, yoga, and riding my bike when the sun's out.
No gym? No problem!
You are much more likely to be compliant with movement if you already have everything that you need at home.
Stick to exercise that requires minimal space and equipment; your body is the only weight you need.
Compound movements involving multiple muscle groups will give you the most bang for your buck. Try squats, lunges, mountain climbers, push-ups, side planks, and knee drives.
Take your workout outside.
Outdoor exercising is one of my favourite things to do as the weather improves. Bonus points for the extra hit of Vitamin D!
Work out smarter, not longer.
If you're short on time, not to worry! Try High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
HIIT is a broad term for workouts that involve short bursts of vigorous exercise alternating with low-intensity recovery periods.
HIIT workouts are the most time-efficient way to exercise, with typical workouts ranging from 10 to 30 minutes long.
Despite being short, HIIT workouts yield similar benefits to twice as much moderate-intensity exercise 1,2.
To reap the most rewards from HIIT, aim for three HIIT sessions per week. Each session should be under 30 minutes long and involve at least 10 minutes of intense exercise.
Benefits of HIIT training include:
Improving aerobic capacity and reducing heart rate and blood pressure3.
Increasing metabolism
Research shows that HIIT training burns 25-30% more calories than other forms of exercise4.
HIIT workouts have been found to elevate metabolism for hours after exercise
Promoting fat loss without losing muscle mass by encouraging weight loss from fat stores
Slowing down the ageing process by improving mitochondrial function
Improving your skeletal muscle's ability to use oxygen which enhances endurance and exercise tolerance
Lowering blood sugar, and therefore, improving insulin resistance
Create Your Own HIIT Workout:
Customizing your own HIIT routine is super easy:
For a 10 minute workout, select five exercises.
Do each exercise for 40 seconds and then rest for 20 seconds. You will complete two rounds of the five exercises.
Try to combine upper body movements, lower body movements, cardio and core exercises.
Examples:
High knees (40 sec on, 20 sec off)
Push-ups (40 sec on, 20 sec off)
Squats (40 sec on, 20 sec off)
Mountain climbers (40 sec on, 20 sec off)
Hip bridges (40 sec on, 20 sec off)
Complete one cycle, and repeat a second time
You can find HIIT timer apps to program your work time and rest time for a seamless workout. Here are a few suggestions:
Want personalized exercise recommendations?
Feel free to ask for exercise recommendations tailored to your needs at your next appointment. I would be happy to help you structure a routine that gets you closer to your fitness goals!
Sources:
Kong Z, Fan X, Sun S, Song L, Shi Q, Nie J. Comparison of High-Intensity Interval Training and Moderate-to-Vigorous Continuous Training for Cardiometabolic Health and Exercise Enjoyment in Obese Young Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS One. 2016 Jul 1;11(7):e0158589. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158589. PMID: 27368057; PMCID: PMC4930190.
Skutnik BC, Smith JR, Johnson AM, Kurti SP, Harms CA. The Effect of Low Volume Interval Training on Resting Blood Pressure in Pre-hypertensive Subjects: A Preliminary Study. Phys Sportsmed. 2016;44(2):177-83. doi: 10.1080/00913847.2016.1159501. Epub 2016 Mar 17. PMID: 26918846.
Gillen JB, Gibala MJ. Is high-intensity interval training a time-efficient exercise strategy to improve health and fitness? Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2014 Mar;39(3):409-12. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2013-0187. Epub 2013 Sep 27. PMID: 24552392.
Falcone PH, Tai CY, Carson LR, Joy JM, Mosman MM, McCann TR, Crona KP, Kim MP, Moon JR. Caloric expenditure of aerobic, resistance, or combined high-intensity interval training using a hydraulic resistance system in healthy men. J Strength Cond Res. 2015 Mar;29(3):779-85. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000661. PMID: 25162652.
